So, by my count, it has been well over 5 months since I posted here. There are a multitude of reasons for it, few of them good, but they were consumers of my time. It has been a busy five months as I was engrossed in a project as well as a postgraduate course or two – and more importantly- I was back in the sacred soil of Nihon, watching that nation deal with a dangerous epidemic far earlier and far more responsibly than the land of my birth did or appears to be doing.
The real truth of the matter was, I just could not sit down to write rational thoughts. I was just dumbfounded at the literal evil and foolishness that was occurring in our nation’s capital – and I was in utter disbelief at the pure evil that was coming forth from the Chief Executive of the United States. In all of my worrying and derision of him in 2016, I never imagined that he could be actually worse than he appeared to be then. However, I was wrong. Donald J. Trump aka President Shitgibbon, proved himself to be far more unfit and traitorous than even I, ever the pessimist and cynic, could ever have imagined. It became literally impossible for me to control my rage, rage that a country of such vast potential and wealth as the United States has and had could cheapen itself by failing to toss out a vile and disgusting man. A man who has no place in our society, no place among civilized people of any country and certainly no place as a President of a country possessing the largest nuclear arsenal on earth.
I tried to sit down and write – and to comment on the hideous spectacle unfolding before our eyes. Every day, I found myself screaming the most unspeakable profanities at my radio and at my smartphone. Euphemisms for death and disfigurement, coupled with repeated use of the word “mother-fucker” came out so much that I had to switch off the carnage to simply regain my composure and sanity. I really came to appreciate the beauty of a Spotify playlist and music from the ’70s 80’s and ’90s. In moments of less than sober reflection, I asked myself again and again – how could we as a nation have failed so miserably? And what was all my work, throughout my life for? It could not have been for this. Not for this vile farce of an attack on our Constitutional democracy, the document, and concept I gave a good deal of my life to defend.
And now, as the world goes increasingly mad from a plague that has been struck upon us and the orange monster’s incompetence has been exposed in front of the cameras for all the world to see – my life savings and hard-earned near to be retirement comes crashing down around us, and, as an added bonus, the risk of a painful sickness and death – there are still people who have the unmitigated gall to defend this cretin. It really is too much to bear.
And to quote my favorite political writer, when he says,
Who the Hell Wants Another Four Years of This?Will the deserted subways be enough? Will the empty arenas and ballparks be enough? Is the plunging stock market enough? When the ambulances start hauling away the old folks down the block, will that be enough? {What will it take to make people wake up and see this man’s fundamental unfitness?}
Is this enough? Truly, is this enough for the country that looked at itself after eight years of a competent presidency and decided to hand things over to a vulgar talking yam? Are the vacant airports and deserted subways enough? Will the empty arenas and ballparks be enough? Is the plunging stock market enough? When the ambulances start hauling away the old folks down the block, will that be enough? How in god’s name can anyone vote for four more years of this, four more years of a choleric fatburg of a man who calls a press conference about a global health emergency and asks a reporter for Fox News how the ratings were for his last town hall? How does that man carry a precinct, let alone a state, let alone the country? Christ, even Ted Cruz is doing the right thing here.
Certainly, I don’t want even one more day of this.
So it’s kind of appropriate, to break my self imposed silence on this publication on the anniversary of the gigantic mistake that led the nation down this path to ruin and brought about most, if not all, of our current misery. I have not shed any of my rage, which I feel is more than justified at both the orange monster and the dullards that are my fellow citizens who support the orange monster, but I have learned to control it……somewhat. And given the uncertainty of the present time and my recent presence in Japan, who knows how long I may have to say it?
Accordingly, its time to get back in the saddle and beat up on the old and new dead horses that are appearing, in desperate need of being beaten.
So for now, here are the cliff notes for your consumption:
The President* was fucking guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors. The Senate failed miserably in its responsibility and every Senator who voted to acquit this worthless human being must suffer mightily for their malfeasance.
Even before the stock market tanked, the economic foundations of the country were shaky and aside from the stock market, there had been warning signs for months. It’s not surprising that when someone in China or Italy or South Korea sneezed, it all came tumbling down.
And as for coronavirus? Well, let Mr. Boot explain it:
We should not be especially surprised by our failure at pandemic-fighting, because if we are being honest with ourselves, we would have to admit that the United States has long been failing. We remain one of the richest countries in the world, but by international standards we look more like a Third World nation.
…….we lag in almost every measure of societal well-being among the wealthy nations (now 36) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). As of 2016, we had the second-highest poverty rate, the highest level of income inequality and the highest level of obesity. We spent the most on education but produced less-than-average results. We were also below average on renewable energy, infrastructure investment and voter turnout. We are the only OECD nation that doesn’t mandate paid family leave. One area where we do lead is gun violence. Our homicide rate is nearly 50 percent above the OECD average.
Our health-care failures are particularly important now. We spend more on health care than any other country in the world, but we are the only OECD country without universal medical coverage (27.9 million Americans lacked health insurance in 2018). Child mortality in the United States is the highest in the OECD, and life expectancy is below average. We have far fewer hospital beds per capita than other advanced democracies (2.4 compared to 12.2 in South Korea), which makes us particularly vulnerable to a pandemic.
Trump has exacerbated the problem, but he didn’t start it. He is himself the product of decades of right-wing revolt against government and increasingly against reason itself. America is unusual in having a major party — and a major television network — devoted to climate denialism and protecting the “right” of everyone to own an assault rifle. The GOP and the right-wing media have long been a hotbed of nutty conspiracy theories, and their reluctance to face the reality of the new coronavirus set back efforts to save lives.
The coronavirus failure should be a wake-up call that Trump has not made America great again. Quite the opposite: He has accelerated our decline. We must not only beat this pandemic; we must also address a host of other ills that have been festering for decades. In recent years, America has been “exceptional” mainly in the scale of our governmental failures compared with those of other industrialized democracies.
Mr. Boot – who ironically was one of the cheerleaders of the George W, Bush sponsored disaster that brought us here- understands what I have been saying in this space for now 15 years. That he’s come to the side of decency is good, but it will have no real meaning until the orange monster is pushed onto the ash heap of history.
So, I am back to bang that particular drum – hard.