Back when I was trusting and naive....
Well, back when I was even more trusting and naive, I fell for the old "jostle and lift" routine on a crowded subway more than I care to admit. Polite and woefully not suspicious, I would apologize profusely for being bumped while the bumper's pal stole my wallet.
It hasn't happened in quite a while --not because I've gotten any wiser, but because I spend a lot less time on subways and, anyway, I usually just leave my purse somewhere safe, like in plain view on the front seat of my car.
If America circa 2017 is any indication, I'm not the only one who falls for the jostle and lift on a regular basis. Every day we get jostled; every day we remain polite; every day our most prized possessions are lifted. While we sleepily follow the rules, a motley team of shameless con artists has taken a sledgehammer to all that we hold dear. All that we have, for so long, taken for granted, like the stuff in my wallets. With much higher stakes.
Jared. A pampered and entitled rich boy, crooked by birth and by marriage. Michael Flynn. A has- been military guy who somehow went awry. 45. Our narcissistic ego-maniacal greedy and moronic president. The perfect foils for the forces of true evil, the ones who really want to throw us into chaos. Hey look over there. We look over there, while the sleeping giant is being slain.
Every day, we watch the previous day's news pale in comparison to the latest ridiculousness, while we hope to elect somebody new in four years -- FOUR YEARS. While we seriously debate whether our president can invoke executive privilege for criminal conversations he has freely discussed. While we feel embarrassed by our President's behavior toward our allies, while our allies band together so they can avoid falling prey, the way we did. While we wonder who the heck would fall for the Paris versus Pittsburgh bullshit, or the indignant screaming about wasting our tax dollars while we pay for his wife to stay in her gilded Manhattan penthouse.
I'm all for playing by the rules, if I only understood what they are.
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