Twenty days ago, I posted my despair. Words flowed from my grief like teardrops, like the blood dripping from the picture I had included of a mortally wounded American flag. My only solace was that it was over. The new abnormal was upon us, the unthinkable had happened, but at least I could go back to my life, stop watching the carnage.
The good news is that I haven't had to watch any more Trump campaign pitches, listen to ratcheted up (albeit inarticulately expressed) hate designed solely to inspire the basest instincts within a hateful and vocal base that I have to believe is not representative of my country. No more discussion of emails (in fact, emails and the actual release of classified information to a lover, as it turns out, is a big fat non-issue), no more chants of "lock her up," no more infuriating self-righteous evasion (no evasion necessary when you can just flip everyone the bird and declare that you are free to enjoy and profit from as many conflicts of interest as you want), no more incendiary lies (do tweets count?). I vowed to reflect, to emerge from the bubble that has had me believing for so long that prejudice and hate -- in deed or by association -- would be a deal killer in this country, no matter how legitimate your woes about your paycheck.
Okay, well I guess the best news is that I don't have to see or listen to our president-elect directly while he holes up in his glitzy tower or at Mara Lago and tries to figure out his new job without reading the employee manual -- or anything. And, with any luck, Kelly Anne has truly gone rogue and might disappear from the air waves, because she is just incredibly annoying.
Yesterday, a crazy person mowed down some people on a major college campus and then went at some others with a butcher knife. All I have heard, this morning, on that minor topic, is that "they" are trying to figure out whether this was an act of terrorism. I'm sorry, am I missing something, or have we all now bought into the idea that a terrifying and terrorizing act is only terrorism if it is carried out in the name of Allah?
Yep, the conversation on all the news shows is about the latest episode of "The Apprentice," as we all stay tuned to find out who gets hired. It's a veritable circus, with supposedly respectable government figures parading in and out of the gilt trimmed lobby for meetings with the boss in hopes he will pick them. Behind the closed door is the incoming buffoon in chief, the mysterious and all powerful wizard. He may not know much, but he is savvy enough to know he doesn't want anyone ripping open that curtain. Dorothy, we are definitely not in Kansas anymore.
And, from behind the safety of his boardroom door and his phone, he tweets with reckless abandon and continues to dictate the media narrative. "Flag burners should have citizenship revoked!" Oh my, what did he mean by that? "Millions of people voted illegally!" Oh dear, did he really say that? I suppose it was amusing, for a while, but now it's kind of scary. Our new abnormal.
A diploma didn't make the scarecrow smart (he actually got the Pythagorean theorem wrong), and a key to the White House does not make this guy presidential. For him, it's just business as usual.
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