Bananas Republic

We the people. 

I try to confine my morning anxiety attacks to the garden variety stuff, like having procrastinated on a few too many work deadlines or wondering whether I remembered to let the dog in before I fell asleep. I'm trying, really hard, while I work, to find an alternative white noise source to MSNBC.

This morning, relieved that Eli was safely curled up on the couch, I sat down with my mega mug of coffee to get right to work. All is right with the world, I suppose, when you set the bar that low.

Aargh. I was so close, except I couldn't unsee the video of some twisted version of "we the people" at a Trump rally in Florida the other day, spewing venom at the press and thrusting fingers at them and calling them liars and uttering various obscenities that had to be bleeped out to protect the "we the people" being treated to the spectacle in our living rooms. Oh, yeah, it was "our" president right there at the helm, stoking the mob. Why the bleep? Whatever they're saying, it's got the presidential stamp of approval.

So much for getting an early start this morning. My fingers wandered aimlessly on the keyboard, and I opened some new tabs, scanned a few articles about James Madison and the Bill of Rights  and separation of powers and freedom of the press and all that other nonsense those folks fought so hard for so long ago. America then and America now. I search in vain for some vestigial resemblance. The best I can come up with is odd hairdos on the men in power. And even that's gone haywire.

Mobs and revolutions are nothing new. It's how a lot of modern democracies earned their footing, toppling iron-fisted rulers who did as they please. But mobs attacking the press? The messengers? While they dance merrily around an illegitimate leader who cares about nobody but himself, cares particularly little about the obscenity spewing deplorables dancing around him and kissing his ring.

At least the folks in Congress are doing their job, protecting us from unfettered executive power. A bunch of them even called our president's behavior inappropriate. Glad they're not holding back. Deplorables. Yes, I said it again.

We the people are having an identity crisis the likes of which most of us -- certainly our founders -- could not have imagined. We are a republic gone bananas, and I don't think we can sit back and wait for God or anybody else to bless America. November is approaching, and "we the people" have a lot of work to do.