I Am In Tears

I am in tears.

I am in tears as I see photographs and videos of California, where I lived for 28 years, in flames, the air unfit to breathe and a strange yellow-orange color. 

I am in tears as I watch this beautiful country go up in flames, its people left homeless, its wildlife fleeing for (and often losing) their lives. More than 80 wildfires are tearing across not only California, but Oregon, Washing, Colorado and Idaho as well.

I am in tears as I see the devastation caused by twin hurricanes that hit the same part of the US within days, causing untold loss and suffering.

I am in tears as I learn that the president* of the United States admits that he knew ... he knew ... how deadly and how easily spread the coronavirus is as early as January. And yet he did NOTHING to warn the American public. He refused to warn us about this virus. He dismissed it. He said it would go away when the weather warmed up. He refused (and still refuses) to tell people they must wear masks and distance themselves from others. He knew that people of all ages can die from this virus, yet he lied, time and again, about how young people "are almost immune" to the virus. He dismissed the pandemic task force established by his predecessor, Barack Obama. He refused to heed the advice of infectious disease specialists and public health officials. He doled out ventilators and protective equipment to rethuglican-led states, while states led by Democrats scrambled and competed against each other to purchase critical supplies. He lied, and he stood by and watched as nearly 200,000 Americans died. a number that would have been so much smaller had he not refused to act.

I am in tears as I watch this evil, corrupt administration proceed with plans to allow oil drilling in the very fragile Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,.

I am in tears as I watch this administration proceed with plans to allow hunters to murder hibernating bears and wolves in their dens with their pups.

I am in tears as this president* calls our military 'losers and suckers' for serving, and in many cases, dying, in defense of this country.

I am in tears as this president* does NOTHING since learning that the Russian president has promised bounties to Afghan insurgents for each American soldier killed.

I am in tears as I watch the rethuglican party systematically destroy America, if not by its overt actions, then by sitting by and allowing the president* and his minions to destroy it. I grew up in a Republican household, although I have voted for Republican (the old GOP) candidates only three times in my life. And that was decades ago, before the GOP became a cult.

I am in tears as I watch heavily armed 'patriots' (their term, certainly not mine) march around with assault rifles, threatening anyone with whom they disagree and anyone who doesn't praise the president's* agenda 

I am in tears as I see stories about business owners who have lost their businesses due to the economic shutdown that has resulted from the president's* incompetent handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

I am in tears as I hear about people losing their homes, their jobs, their dignity, their ability to care for their families -- impacts that should have, and would have, been so much less had this country had a government that actually cared.
 
I only hope that come Nov. 3 I can shed tears of joy that the nightmare of the past 4 years will at last come to an end.