Can America be Wonderful, Again?
I was born in London in 1967. This means a few things:
- I was alive (just) when man landed on the Moon
- I was a kid when home computers happened
- Star Wars was released when I was 9
- Affordable air travel arrived when I was a teenager
And thus for me — any many folks from my age/background — America was the epicenter of utter wonder.
America was where Hollywood was. America gave us Blondie. They built rockets and their cops were cool. The Apple Macintosh was designed in America. And of course there was New York, New York, New York!!
My heroes of film, TV, art, fashion and music went to America to make it big. And to a degree the British fascination with America was reciprocated. Certainly my time hanging out in Cupertino as a 12 year-old and in New York and San Francisco as a 15 year-old reflected that.
But then 2016 happened and something really changed.
Look, there’d been some wobbles before, but when the GOP handed over all power and control to the Trump family that things went spectacularly tits-up.
Suddenly America just wasn’t fun anymore.
I’ve travelled extensively to America for work and pleasure since the 1980’s but it was 2016 and the Trump election when the US of A just totally lost it’s mojo.
Yeah — they’d had George W. and they’d had 9/11 and they’d had a systemic issue with racism and (in many areas) sexisim and homophobia.
But it took Trump to really fuck it up for everyone.
He didn’t just divide the nation. He fully broke it. I write this before they’ve fully called the 2020 Election results but it’s clear to see that the American pubic is pretty much 52% Democrat and 48% Republican. Which means 48% of America is a problem for me.
Look at the imagery above. An orange-caste Twitler, an X-Box toy soldier, immigrant children separated from their parents and porn stars under non-disclosure agreements.
This is Trump’s legacy.
And even with this lying, raping, tax-avoiding, draft-dodging bully out of the White House I can’t get over the fact that even with 4 years of gaslighting and Fox News, there is no excuse for the Proud Boys.
They’re the fucking KKK, pure and simple. But too stupid to join the police force and too fat or scared to sign up to the armed forces.
Even with 4 years of gaslighting and Fox News, there is no excuse for any educated female to vote for this cunt. He’s got 27 charges of rape against him.
Even with 4 years of gaslighting and Fox News, there is no excuse for anyone who has experienced Covid-19 or known of anyone who has, or knows anyone in the medical profession, to vote for someone who encourages people not to wear masks. 234,000 dead and rising.
Even with 4 years of gaslighting and Fox News, there is no excuse to vote for this prick, yet 48% of Americans did, and that worries me.
Yes, America can be wonderful, again — but it’s going to take some work.
