For the rare person who may have stumbled upon this blog and occasionally checks in, it might seem that my only motivations for writing are outrage and critique. Donald Trump and those who support him are favorite targets most days, as are other Republican officials in various states, along with an occasional Democrat, maybe even an Independent or two.

It might appear that I live for the cynical take on things, and I guess I do sometimes. Yet it’s not like I don’t notice other things. I’ll write about places I’ve been, things I’ve seen, and the wonder of it all.

I do occasionally feel like just another commentator taking shots from the sidelines, offering criticism without motivation toward any constructive end. But most days I don’t consider this blog as some sort of advice column. I don’t consider myself to be particularly insightful. I don’t write in hopes of enlightening anybody or starting arguments. I do little research, rarely use multiple sources, though I do check spelling and verify word meanings and other details from time to time.

Basically, I just write how I’m feeling, what I’m seeing, for myself. It’s mostly reactive, an outlet and nothing more, though I must say I enjoy the (very) occasional “like.”

Maybe evolution in thought will eventually bring me to a different place, where I feel more obligated to look beyond my own feelings and opinions to reflect a deeper understanding and shift in perspective. But right now, in this time and space, it’s more about catharsis, and trying to clear my own head.  

Truth lies in the eye of the beholder. Put Rachel Maddow and Donald Trump in the same room and you’ll have your proof. This is always the rub. This is what we always have to deal with. There are probably many truths, but some emerge as being more consequential than others. Dare one even say universal?

To anyone for whom the rule of law matters, what happened yesterday on Capitol Hill should trigger vehement disgust. Are there standards to which we hold our elected leaders, or not? Whose standards are they, and who abides by them? I’ve had enough of the dueling realities, where nearly half the country thinks Donald Trump is STILL electable, keeps getting a raw deal, and somehow maintains a decent level of public trust. If there is truth in any of that, then I need to keep an eye out for the flying pigs.

The kowtowing is hard to watch, on full display when Trump returned to the scene of the crime, as CNN put it. There was Trump, surrounded by his groupies, who were falling over themselves with adoration and praise, paying tribute to their tainted emperor, hoping to get or remain on the good side of a convicted felon.

I think this is the most sickening thing of all—the swooning House and Senate members, the intentional blindness, the starstruck sycophants who get sucked into the Trump vortex and so readily compromise themselves for a chance to serve such a lowlife, deluded pretender.

Anyone with a sense for what is fair and reasonable may have been just slightly miffed as they attempted to make heads or tails of the image of Trump back on Capitol Hill for the first time since he left office, surrounded by people who are smiling as if they’re welcoming back a long lost loved one.

The scene was so obtuse that I remain at a loss for words, really. The only thing that comes to mind is to wonder what’s going on inside the brains of those gathered ‘round the 34-time felon and insurrectionist and all-around stooge. He really must be some kind of god to them.

This is way beyond “forgive and forget.” Based on that image, it is as if nothing has happened in the last eight years. They’re welcoming back a hero. He’s their ticket to staying put.

It’s official. We’re in trouble.

The heat is coming. There was a time when we’d just grumble and complain and chalk it up to the time of year. But now we might be haunted by the spectre of climate change, maybe even concerned that we aren’t going to do anything about it.

We keep hearing scientists ring the alarm bell, but that’s just background noise most days. It’s like we hear them but we keep thinking someone else will handle the problems in time, and things will just magically improve.

And all we have to do is carry on with our neglectful lives.

Southern Florida experiences relentless rain and flooding. Poetic, given that Ron DeSantis and allies are OK with deleting climate change from the conversation when making environmental policy. That’s one way to do it—just ignore it, bury one’s head, and say it doesn’t exist. Sounds very DeSantis-like. Or Trumpian.

I wonder if he ran this by his Surgeon General first.

Liz Cheney’s recent book, Oath and Honor, is enlightening. It’s more detailed, of course, than what you might get in an 8-minute sound bite on one of the networks. It corroborates details of just how slimy and impressionable– not to mention calculating– Kevin McCarthy and Josh Hawley and Mike Johnson, among others, were and still are (whatever happened to Kevin McCarthy, by the way?).

Ms. Cheney’s account clears up any doubts about what Trump—and those in his orbit—wanted to do. It was blatant election interference, leading to insurrection. Trump was mad, sitting in his high chair with a bib on, crying because his Cheerios were soggy. He picked a story and stuck to it, is still sticking to it, because he doesn’t know how to do anything other than double down and cling to the image of “winner.”

Fewer and fewer people are thinking of him as a winner. At best, he’s a poor sport. At worst, he’s a traitor, though maybe that’s a bit harsh. Trump emanates a vibe of not being smart enough to know better. Pure image, zero substance, at the mercy of his many delusions.

Has there ever been a candidate for high office who is so sufficiently unfit? He’s not even trying anymore, and people still love him. Or at least are willing to defend him.

It’s remarkable in a stunningly tragic way. It doesn’t matter that he doesn’t care about them or the country. It’s enough that he’s the front man for their fears and hatreds, saying what they want to hear.

That, and they just can’t get enough of pissing off the left.

Trump’s rally in Vegas on Saturday was, perhaps, further evidence that he’s feeling the pressure of being a convicted felon. Or maybe he’s just generally unraveling.

He was standing in triple-digit temps, making those who attended listen as he expounded on wet batteries and sharks and told those in attendance that he didn’t care if they were wilting in the heat. In fact, he told them he didn’t care about them—he just needed their vote.

Maybe that’ll be as close as he gets to shooting someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue. We’ll see if they still vote for him. One might dare entertain the possibility that some are starting to have second thoughts.

I know I should shift gears and write about something besides the sad state of our politics or the pile of dry tinder in Europe, but it’s difficult to ignore the reality that human beings are basically animals with a superior brain that sometimes gets used for beneficial things.

Maybe we are foragers at heart and we’ve never learned how to handle evolution that happened too quickly. We have the capabilities to find solutions, but our instincts win out– they are stronger than certain less prominent impulses. Instincts that lead us down the path to war and strife and pain and suffering, over and over again.

We keep hitting our heads, putting our hands on a hot stove. Over and over.

“Never again” doesn’t hold water. It’s the infuriating inevitability of the downward spiral—that, in the end, we’re powerless to fix things, condemned to making the same mistakes ad infinitum. Maybe our brain isn’t all that superior, and peacemaking will be the mainstay of some future iteration of human.

If we’re around that long.

Trump and Noem. There you go. That’s the ticket—the one that would reinforce the notion that the Right has lost its mind. That would make it official.

First of all, who in their right mind would want to be Trump’s VP, especially this time around? And second of all, why is Trump still standing? The fact that he’s the bona fide Republican candidate for POTUS in 2024 will provide fodder for anyone wanting to write a book on this period of American history. It’s an ugly, albeit interesting time to be alive.