THE FOURTH HORSEMAN – Aim For the Plump One With the Tiny Hands

Here we are, mired in a compound national crisis of historic proportions. It’s occurring on four fronts.

First, there’s the COVID 19 pandemic, which promises to challenge the devastating 1918 Spanish flu pandemic for its worldwide death toll. The U.S. is, through our shameful inaction, soaring past the rest of the world in both cases and deaths.

Then there’s the generation-defining paroxysm of outrage and self-examination over systemic racism, rekindled by the indefensible Memorial Day killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police—a reaction fed in part by the fears and frustrations of the pandemic.

Third, if we can even pretend to one day gain the upper hand on the both of these afflictions, our worries will be far from over. We’ll still have to face the dire threat of global climate change. The impact on lives, health, economies, cannot be overstated—and it’s already occurring.

Finally, as if that weren’t enough, while all three of these calamities threaten the security and the very lives of every single American, we find ourselves struggling to face any of them, gasping in a suffocating vacuum of national leadership. Oh, and did I mention the Trumpublicans’ continuing, full-on assault on democratic institutions?

      Others have had to step up and show us
      the way, kicking aside the shattered pieces
      of American exceptionalism.

THE ENVY OF NO ONE
So here we sit, those we wish would lead so consumed in their hubris that they no longer see beyond the reach of their own thieving grasp. So jealously hunched over what they insist is theirs to possess, that they see not, care not, that the states and the rest of the world—even places these ugly Americans love to diminish—have had to step up and show us the way, kicking aside the shattered pieces of American exceptionalism.

Leading the heroic effort to get ahead of COVID 19, cooperating to at least try saving the planet, delegitimizing hatred, reclaiming truth, defending freedom, fostering a vision of peace, love and happiness…all are opportunities our gutless, amoral president and his republican enablers have pointedly refused to seize.

These now represent ideals our country can no longer pretend to espouse. Values that, for nearly two-and-a-half centuries, have distinguished the United States of America, and stood as the envy of the rest of the world.

       It’s a mistaken idea of liberty as the right
       to do what ever they want…period.

THE FOOLS-GOLD EMPIRE
Here we sit, abandoned by our own president, who, having sold his soul to the devil by the time he was ten, still prizes wealth above wisdom, loyalty above respect, rumor above reality, the approval of dictators above the honor of his nation.

And his equally soulless disciples keep begging to be in on the deal, cheering on the hate and intolerance they’d inflict themselves if they thought they could get away with it. Howling for a piece of his vapid, fools-gold empire.

All so they can enjoy their mistaken idea of liberty as the right exclude anyone not like them and simply do whatever they want…period.

A FUNCTIONING ADULT
Of these four desperate crises, three will require years, perhaps even decades, of smart, vision-driven work. There will be more heart-rending sacrifices. And staggering investments.

The fourth disaster, the hijacked presidency of the United States, begs for a much easier resolution (and thank God this remedy has not yet fallen victim to the republican party’s wrecking ball approach to our Constitution): The presidential election just four months hence.

       It will not be enough for us democrats to
       simply get to the polls on election day.

Though I appreciate the lawn signs I’ve been seeing which read: “Any Functioning Adult - 2020,” we do have a better alternative than that to oust the man who’s brought America to its knees. Former Senator and Vice President Joe Biden, while he has his flaws, is still a capable, accomplished public servant, and, perhaps even more important right now, a genuine, thinking, caring…yes…functioning adult.

With the all-but-certain interference of Russia and other adversaries in the November election, and the republicans’ dogged efforts at voter suppression, it will not be enough for us democrats to simply get to the polls on election day.

Each one of us who cares about this country’s true, time-honored values must find a way to leverage our own power of the vote and convince at least one or two others who might not yet know which side they’re on, or who are considering not voting at all, TO VOTE!

• Talk to people.
• Write letters through VoteForward, the organization mobilizing a massive, ten-million-letter, get-out-the-vote mail blitz right before election day.
• Join up with the League of Women Voters, Let America Vote, Fair Fight or another fair-voting advocacy group.
• Inform older or more vulnerable family members and acquaintances about easy alternatives to in-person, at-the-polls voting.
• Do something!

 Please! We may not yet have a whole lot of power over COVID 19, and it could well take a generation to quash congenital racism or mitigate climate change, but for the small-hand, small-mind, big-ego traitor now infecting the presidency, there is a timely, sure-fire cure.

VOTE…and help others to vote.

PREDATORY CREDIT – How He Will Claim He Saved Us

It’s March 29, exactly a month since the Donald J. Trump, the reality-show “president” of the United States, declared the coronavirus “a hoax” and then minimized it by comparing it with the common seasonal flu.

Now, with the nation’s having surpassed China in the number of COVID 19 cases, he’s saying everything’s okay, insisting his only regret is not getting good press, and suggesting we’ll all be back to normal by Easter (two weeks from now).

Meanwhile, governors, mayors, doctors, epidemiologists and other functioning, fact-informed heroes across the nation have stepped in to fill the leadership vacuum. They’re the ones actually in touch with the knowledge—and the courage—to face the awful reality, employing the best possible data and infection modeling tech to keep citizens informed.
 
They’re the ones telling us the hard truths we need to know and prescribing the steps necessary to buy time for the necessary infrastructure and supplies—the need for which Trump has insisted for months be ignored—to even begin meeting the expected demand.

DAMNING PROOF
Donald Trump is a man of extremely limited intellect, poor judgement and low regard for anyone but himself and those willing to sell out their own integrity to ingratiate themselves to him.

But one thing the man-baby president does know how to do is delude folks—including himself—into believing he never fails. Let’s be clear, the man has rarely, if ever, accomplished anything without lying, cheating, intimidation and lawsuits. This is why he’s so afraid of any confrontation with the truth, why he’s so zealously concealing his tax returns, banking records, school transcripts—anything that might prove what a loser and crook he truly is.

         It’s a delicate balancing feat: to act
         responsibly for the sake of our country…
         while making their boss believe it’s all his idea.

If such damning proof were ever revealed, the average narcissistic psychopath might start to crumble. Not this psychopath. His ruthless father taught him from an early age that money and power is absolutely all he’d ever need to be “a winner.” He learned those lessons well, and has kept learning, from crooked politicians, corporate robber barons, attack lawyers, and a few of history’s most brutal dictators, all of whom he’s clearly idolized.

It is entirely predictable how this man will act. No matter the situation, he knows only one M.O.: Don’t think. Boast, lie, steal the limelight, deny your failures and claim credit for others’ successes.

So this brings us to the current crisis facing our country—and the human race for that matter. We may not know what our clueless, reckless president will do from day to day. But we do know exactly how this scene will ultimately play out for him.

       They, just as their hero would, will be first
       in line to demand their government save them.

THE CHILDREN OF ADDICTS
Trump has botched the national response to COVID 19, a failing that’s already likely to cost hundreds of thousands of lives. Like the children of addicts, the real infectious disease experts he deigns to share the podium with face a delicate balancing act: to perform responsibly for the sake of our country…while making their boss believe it’s all his idea.

As with anyone appearing to be smarter than he, DJT's patience with Dr. Fauci is wearing thin.

There are other heroes, too, working around Trump’s little ego tornado—like New York’s governor Cuomo, Washington’s Inslee and Minnesota’s Walz; like some visionary philanthropists like Bill and Melinda Gates. They are the ones who just may be able navigate these turbulent seas for us with a lower casualty rate than many other countries have suffered. Hopefully, most Americans will choose to listen to the real heroes, not the fool's-gold one, and make the sacrifices necessary to accomplish that.

Gov. Tim Walz (D. Minnesota)

Bill Gates

Many among Trump’s base will not. Then they, just as their hero would if he needed anything but admiration, will be first in line to demand their government save them. We know this.

And we know, with 100 percent certainty, that once America’s crest of the pandemic begins to ebb, a certain doughy, tiny-hands reality show star will once again show up to photo-bomb the real heroes, elbow his way to the mic and proclaim that it was his genius that turned the tide.

He's clawing his way up behind them. Wait for it...

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE – Something Positive to Say About Trump

I don't want you to think this blog is just one man's unhinged rants about the 45th president of the United States. I believe in giving credit where credit is due. So I've come up with something positive to say about Donald J. Trump: he is not responsible for the start of COVID 19.



That is the only thing.