I’m Still Here… not sure I want to be.
But I did read a good editorial about Trump this morning on Politico; it was a fine bit of journalistic prose that stayed my hand. I haven’t cut my ear off yet or jetted for Canada. I should thank author Jack Shafer not with a direct email but an open letter, so that all the Medium-reading world may know both his talents and my thanks.
(Politico wasn’t on my short-list of readings in the past, but it’s not bad given the alternatives. AND all that “fake news” out there from seedy outlets like PBS, the Washington Post, and The New York Times. Those yellow bastards! Truly Enemies of The People.*)
*Yeah, enemies of people who don’t like to read multiple sources, don’t like unpleasant truths that call their “beliefs” into question, and don’t want to acknowledge they have to go somewhere other than dogshit, unvetted** outlets like Facebook, NewsMax, and Breitbart to get real reporting.
**strictly my opinion, of course!
And now for the letter of thanks… .
Well done, sir. Well done!
I’m not a partisan animal by nature (and generally not a fan of Clintons or Bushes) but the 2016 election, its trappings, and the result sent me into a cynical doom-spiral. I didn’t think it was possible to have less faith in my fellow American until 60-odd million of us voted for Donald Effing Trump. Yes, a full 20% of our alleged “first-world educated” citizens —also ostensibly “adults” since they’re old enough to vote — couldn’t determine why voting for Donald Trump was a bad idea. They figured “hey man, I want to turn the Executive Branch into a reality show because the federal government isn’t dysfunctional enough!”
Can any sentient person be blamed for staring at their wrists afterward? Luckily I found a good editorial this morning that sent me in a more positive direction. Yet allow me to digress for a bit… .
If someone had submitted a fictitious book with the Trump as President premise two years ago, the editor would’ve rejected it out of hand, saying, “… this concept is over the top and overly partisan — Republican voters aren’t that stupid. They may have a problem with basic math concepts (and short memories of spend-happy Republicans), they may claim Obama is a Communist (read: someone needs to re-read their history books)… hell, some even think the UN is coming for their guns. But Donald Trump? Come on! You can do better.”
But it was clear by the fall of 2016 that we had lost our greatness and as a nation were seeking a new kind of political solution.
Causes of The Doom-Spiral
Clearly, one root cause of this country losing greatness during the “Commie-bama” years, was the loss of coal mines. More specifically, the loss of coal mining jobs (sure we could have machines to do most of it, but why?). It seems we “forgot who we were” as Americans and in the process forgot to rely on highly inefficient energy sources and the shit-barrel jobs they can create. Only “Baby Trump” (good one!), could hear the cries of our lost brothers in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, who in their wide-ranging American travels and readings, realized that coal is all that life has to offer them. Coal. I’ve seen documentaries and interviews aplenty, Jack… to paraphrase, they just “don’t know anything else... it’s who we are.” So clearly the solution is to reinvigorate the Black Lung, Filthy Streams, and Melting Glaciers movements. Only Trump could see this truth.
What we definitely DO NOT want, is to show our friends in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, central Illinois, Kentucky, et al… that there are these crazy concepts called learning and on-the-job training and vocational schools, whereby people who formerly worked bad-for-everyone jobs, can learn new stuff and start doing other kinds of work. Work that pays better and as a general rule does not turn their lungs into a tarball. But let’s be real: that new-agey style learning crap is not how a great nation treats its forgotten citizens. Kasich and Hillary so insensitive like that!
The other factor clearly inhibiting the return of our greatness is the over-abundance of people of hispanic origin and their innately criminal musings. And let’s face it Jack, when all those coal miners start living the dream again, their teenage kids will need jobs to pay for the Mountain Dew, dental implants, and weekly Camaro expenses. Within the coal boom-towns that surely arise, these go-getter kids will be happy to wash other people’s dishes and public toilets, or take a long ride on the back of a truck every morning to harvest fruits and vegetables by hand for $20 a day without benefits. No problem! ***
***I kid alot. Actually there is a huge problem: We The People treat hispanic immigrants like shit and should be ashamed of ourselves — especially all the “Christian” Republicans who follow the teachings of Christ so closely in their M-F, 9–5 worlds. I like to call them CINOs —Christians In Name Only. Seems more relevant to the betterment of humanity than their “RINO” BS. RINO is just another way of saying, “a Republican who does not have a problem with centrist solutions and compromise, so that Congress’ work can get done.”
So the other solution there is a wall. Walls have always proven effective throughout human history. Unfake fact: pretty much every wall ever built to keep people out was just as effective as the Great China Wall and the Berlin Wall. I’m capitalizing because walls are important, like Dumb Donald **** and his ambition to have a wall with his name on it that people will see 1000 years from now. So beautiful… and only he can build it. Believe me.
****How Dumb Is He? Dumb enough to consider a guy like Steve Bannon as worthy of crafting executive orders and sitting on the NSC… and to consider a guy like Pruitt as safe to run the EPA… and to consider a guy like Perry as safe to run the Energy Dept.
That’s just Months 1 and 2. 46 to go, folks. 46 to go.
Jack’s Silver Lining
But there is one thing that will be good about this next four years, and I genuinelly thank Jack Shafer for pointing it out, because if we don’t all look for whatever silver linings we can find it’s going to be difficult to stay sane during the next four years. I mean that. This stuff is not good for Americans on a psychological level. It’s depressing (for those who understand what freedom and tyranny actually are — not the horseshit GOP definitions they’ve thrown around so often in recent years), it’s divisive, and it’s destructive.
The silver lining is this: we no longer have to deal with the pretentions and media fawning over the social and stylistic aspects of The President and His First Lady. What she’s wearing, what their non-existent dog is doing, their fancy dinners and entertainments. Nobody should ever give a damn about this stuff and now it’s pretty much out the window with Trump. It’s bad enough the media and Americans in general take an interest in the British royal family (file under: This is The Real World Not a Fairy Tale)— no need to play along with our own version.
The Chief Executive (as it were) should be evaluated on the solutions he is executing, not the posh trappings of his life in LaLa Land (overrated BTW). So despite all the added BS Trump is adding to our lives, at least one element of BS is being removed.
Stay positive, America! ; )
