November 27, 2020
Back in the good old days of high school and college in the late 1940s and early ‘50s, social events like proms and dance parties always ended with a last dance. The ballroom lights were dimmed, and the orchestra played a slow, soft, romantic, tune that allowed for some close snuggling with whoever your sweetheart happened to be at that time. The party was ending, but the memory would linger like a sweetheart’s soft kiss on your cheek when the dance was over.
How different the end of the Donald Trump nightmare dance macabre of these last four years feels, now that the lights of the fires of death and destruction are being dimmed by the prospect of a vaccine to protect what’s left of our population against the Covid-19 virus, and the arrival of the new orchestra leader, the ‘Lawrence Welk’ of American politics, Uncle Joe Biden. The juvenile tantrums, shouting and screaming of vindictive, expressions of hatred, threats, Twitters an Tweets, and just plain meanness, of Donald J. Trump and his administration, hasn’t quite ended but, a soft tone of calm and the expectation of ‘reasonable-ness’ in the near future seems to be emanating from the dance hall called Washington, D. C. This last Trump dance certainly will not end with a kiss on anyone’s cheek. More likely, it will end with Trump throwing as many bricks as he can into the orchestra pit we call government on his way off the bandstand and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will take over a badly out-of-tune and leaderless orchestra. Let’s just hope that there is somebody big enough to give Donald at least a kick in his ass, instead of the twenty-plus-year jail term he deserves, on his way out the White House door. Uncle Joe is too much of a gentleman to do it but, maybe, Kamala would cherish the task?
Now that most of the recounts have confirmed the early announced results, a few of the most critical states are ‘certifying’ the Biden-Harris victory, and the legal door has opened to allow the flood of money, that the new administration should have received weeks ago to pay for its’ transition efforts, is pouring out of our Treasury, 51% of the electorate can breathe a collective sigh of relief and can sit with empty pockets, bated breath, and elevated heart beats until the Georgia run-off(s) take place on January 6th. I think it’s amazing that the difference between four more years of Republican Senate legislation-constipation and the opportunity for the new administration to restore some elements of democracy, decency and morality in our government, comes down to a run-off election in the State of Georgia. Maybe Joe Biden should have picked Stacy Abrams as his Vice President? She deserves full credit for Biden’s squeaker of a win in Georgia. If both Warnock and Ossoff win in the run-offs, Stacy will have to be given some kind of an award as the ‘Ultimate Savior of Our Democracy’ in the 2020 election. And, that this is happening in Georgia where corrupt Republican control has ruled for almost the last 20 years, is almost beyond belief!
Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic rages unchecked again in much of America and most of the world. While at first, the reason for the incredible resurgence of numbers of infections and deaths seemed to me to be due to seasonal changes in the virus’ ability to survive, thrive, and infect, I now realize that the virus has been allowed to run rampart due to most government’s wishful thinking, also called ‘failure to deal with reality’. Our government, which for almost the last four years has been embodied in the singular idiot-persona of Donald J. Trump, comes very close to being included in that class. However, I believe there are two other very unique and highly significant factors which differentiates Trump’s disconnect, in relation to governmental efforts to prepare for a potential pandemic and then direct societal measures designed to mitigate its effect, from most of the rest of the world. The first of those two factors is that Donald Trump believed, and continues to believe, his only chance for re-election depended on a thriving economy. The second factor is that Donald Trump’s character is completely lacking of Empathy. The combination of those two factors was verified early in the spread of the virus from China to the United States when Trump was asked by reporters, “Why the United States was not prepared for a pandemic?” His response was one very simple but very revealing sentence. Trump replied, “That’s not my problem.” Economic chaos and over 250,000 deaths later, Trump still refuses to
recognize the pandemic as a significant problem for the United States or that his administration failed miserably to deal with it either before the fact of its known existence or after its subsequent spread to the country in which he held the office of President.
Given Trump’s behavior before and during his time in the office, I believe it is reasonable to conclude that the only significant reason for his losing the 2020 election was his failure to deal with the pandemic. Evidence: He was a known liar, cheat, and failure in his personal and business life before his nomination and election. He was known for his outlandish ego before his election and that fact was confirmed during his term in office. He had a well-deserved reputation for dealing with women as property that could be bought, used, and sold as chattel, before his election and that character condition was well confirmed during his term in office.. He had absolutely no experience in government at any level before his election. During his time campaigning for and while in, office, he constantly and consistently gave voice to his belief in ‘white supremacy’ and hatred of ‘others’. And yet, his base of supporters loved him, admired him, totally accepted and approved of his (lack of) ‘character’, and voted for him! And thus, he became our 45th President.
Just think fellow democracy lovers, If Donald had just acknowledged that the virus was a problem and even tried in his humble (joke), but inept (no joke), way to deal with it, he may well be entering his second term in office as our President on January 20, 2021. Aren’t we lucky that the Donald is such a simple-minded fool that he failed to do the one easy thing that could have kept him in office? Think about it! He missed the Presidency and we missed the bullet.
Hubris said that we would be lucky we haven’t run out alfalfa, given all the time I have been wasting on writing my blogs. Hubris doesn’t realize that I have such a difficult time even trying to walk that I am now at the point of not even wanting to think about saddling him up and going for a ride. I’m going to find a local teenager to ride Hubris and teach him, or her, to shout, “Hi Ho Hubris, Aawaay! So, until next week-
Adios Amigos! –and stay safe!
Lou
Copyright, November 27, 2020, Louis J. Christen