Google +1

Friday, January 31, 2020

The Fall of a Nation

So. The United States is being ruled by a corrupt, inept, incompetent, Russia-loving, lying, bloated, morbidly obese, narcissistic, orange-tinted, insecure, cheating grifter. 

He is backed up by a cabal of corrupt, Russia-loving, lying, cheating cabinet members and senators. His fondest dream appears to be to make himself king, or at least a dictator. Worse, if that is even possible, is that these corrupt people are aided and abetted by so-called evangelical Christians who support them and encourage their no-longer-disguised hatred and racism.

He has told more than 15,000 lies since his election, and he continues to add to that total on a daily basis. His incessant trips to his various golf clubs and resorts have cost American taxpayers well over $100 million. He has been impeached. He has brazenly tried to coerce a foreign government to dig up dirt on a leading Democratic political opponent in the run-up to the November 2020 election. He has dismantled environmental protections. He has appointed cabinet members who have a long-standing financial interest in undermining the agencies they are supposed to oversee. He has announced his love for some of the world's worst tyrants. He held a secret meeting with his Russian counterpart at which no notes were taken. He has abandoned our Kurdish allies to slaughter. He has insulted our (former) staunchest allies. He declared that the traumatic brain injuries suffered by 50 American soldiers in an attack by Iran -- an attack precipitated by his unhinged actions -- aren't serious and are nothing more than a headache. He pretends to be religious, but only to appease his 'base.' And this is just a small part of what he has done to destroy America.

People like me are scared. We are sickened. We are tired of the never-ending assaults on our country and on everything for which it once stood. We are tired of being ignored by our so-called representatives. And we are frustrated by our inability to peacefully bring about changes in the way our government is being run. Phone calls to politicians. Petitions. Marches. All are ignored by the Republican mob that runs our government. These self-serving clowns are not making America great again. What they are doing is lining their pockets and those of their cronies. They delight in removing health care from the elderly and the poor. They gloat as they discuss second-term plans to slash Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. They cut food stamp benefits.

Those of us who are scared for our country, who are watching the destruction of the American republic as it is turned into an autocracy, feel helpless to stop its demise. We feel powerless. "Make sure to register and vote in the November election," we are told. I have voted in every presidential election since I became eligible to vote. Sometimes, as in the last election, I have to hold my nose when I vote. But vote I did. I have a good friend who did not vote in the 2016 election because she didn't like either candidate. I have told her that she must register and vote in the 2020 election. Our country cannot endure another four years of the current clown show.

"Don't give up," we are told. "Keep on resisting," we are advised. "If we give up, they win." Well, we haven't given up, and they are winning. The cards are stacked against us. Those who hold power aren't going to give it up. It must be taken from them. The Senate has done nothing to help secure our elections against meddling by Russia or other nations. Ivanka Trump was granted a Chinese patent for voting machines.

How do we not give up hope, when the very people who are supposed to act on behalf of American citizens instead care only about holding onto power and enriching themselves? How do we continue to hope when the US Senate holds a sham trial and refuses to allow witnesses who have direct knowledge of the misdeeds of the president? How do I and others stop this run-away train while there is still a shred of hope left? How do we stop the destruction of our country, the environment, its relations with our allies overseas? How do we stop the growing overt acts of racism, anti-Semitism and anti-gay rhetoric and attacks?

I wish I knew how to do these things. I hope that the American people come to their senses and vote out of office every Republican in the November elections. Democrats certainly aren't perfect. Our entire political system needs to be thrown in the trash bin so we can start over and have a more representative government rather than a government run by the wealthy. 

Maybe then we can start to restore our country to what it once was.

No comments:

Post a Comment