A new normal. That’s what we often longingly spoke of back in the midst of the darkest pandemic days.

It’s here now, and it is new, and it is not normal— not if our frame of reference is remembering being able to stop at the local coffee shop or restaurant any old time of day and expecting to be waited on. Some—many—of those places are closed now, or understaffed with reduced hours, because their employees never came back. And it’s not just eating establishments. Help Wanted signs are everywhere, and the signing bonuses are mind-boggling.

New car dealerships still have mostly used cars displayed out front, people are still being hospitalized with the virus, case numbers are still high, the only difference being that many of us are protected by vaccines or having already been infected. The fact that the virus is mutating and poking holes in the vaccine defense appears to raise few eyebrows anymore.

The CDC is offering a mea culpa, saying it could have done better, even though they warned us all along the way and their guidance wasn’t as confusing as some are making it out to have been. What seems to get lost in this conversation is that the President was doing his best ostrich imitation the entire time by telling everyone not to be concerned, preaching that there was nothing to worry about, or coming late to the party and pitching ridiculous and dangerous treatment options. Isn’t it possible that the CDC was off its game at least in part because the Trump administration had done a thorough enough job of controlling the narrative and itself cultivating mass confusion? The people who needed to be on the same page weren’t close to being on the same page.

One of the most frustrating aspects of this long nightmare was the tendency for many all of a sudden becoming experts on things they knew little or nothing about. Perhaps because they listened to and believed their heartless President, and the talking heads at Fox News.

My blog posts aren’t well-researched New York Times pieces, but I believe my opinions are rarely out in left field. While some of what ends up in a published post might be considered a collection of unformed or loosely connected thoughts and a shooting from the hip, I’ve more often written things that are sooner or later corroborated or confirmed to one extent or another.

Sometimes it’s difficult to tell if my insights are actual insights or if I’m simply forgetting where I’ve read or heard something and later writing as if it is an original thought. But I’ve seen enough over the years in pastoral ministry to make what I consider safe assumptions about human nature. While not a recommended path, one can on occasion make generalizations about what one hears from people, what they say and the way they say it. Stereotyping isn’t always a jumping to conclusions. Peoples’ words reveal things about them.

I’ll always believe that each one of us is a unique being, but this by itself doesn’t mean we are all equally endowed with a capacity to process information. There are too many variables, among them the wise guidance of an elder or the lack thereof, or a somehow deprived view of the world that engenders hopelessness and futility and anger.

It seems this neglect has loomed large over the last six years, though most likely longer. The mind-numbing reality that a person like Donald Trump could become President of the United States has led many to believe that this nation is in trouble, that cracks are being revealed, that America is following a path that well-intentioned, freedom-loving people eventually follow, or succumb to, namely that the burden of (relative) freedom is too much to bear and we just need a “strongman” to show us the way.

What is disheartening and extremely disappointing is seeing that enough people still take this bait, still believe such a thing to be true. And that America, sadly, is destined to be no different than other failed experiments strewn across human history.

How can Sarah Palin be winning a primary for a seat in Congress? I think people vote a certain way just to spite. They waste their vote but derive joy because they know it will piss off others of a different political stripe. They may even know she’s a quack, but that doesn’t matter. It’s all about not letting anyone tell them how to vote, and making sure the damned libs don’t get their way or have undue influence.

This “one nation under God” is falling apart, succumbing to paranoia and ignorance, wallowing in a cult of personality, listening to—and believing—the wrong people. Many like their people one way and one way only—white, straight, and Christian.

Liz Cheney lost her bid to remain in the House, to a trump-backed candidate. It wasn’t unexpected, but it still feels like a harbinger. She’s really gonna go all-in on orange hair now.

On a somehow related note, I wonder how potent the trump loyalists really are. Could they really foment a rebellion leading to civil war? And why would they want to do that? Which America are they so worried about—the one who finally wakes up to embrace its potential, or the one mired in narrowmindedness and old thinking? I guess both?

We have other things to worry about, namely a climate that seems to be deteriorating fast. A drought that’s affecting ¾ of American farmers. I’m beginning to hate the sun. Day after day of threatening clouds but no rain. I know that in the summer things can get dry, but it’s difficult not to think climate change has something to do with this. And the media’s constant harping doesn’t help.  

Putin and Xi have to be in cahoots. It’s a WWII dynamic with new/similar players who really have had enough of the U.S.

So, WWIII. Fucking humans.

Will this need to dominate and exert influence ever evolve into something less consequential for the majority of us who just want to live our lives in relative peace? Why this unquenchable desire to prevail and control and inflict unjustified and horrific suffering, and death?

We’re all expendable. We’re all paying the price for leaders who could always pursue plans for actual peace and cooperation and sharing but decide instead that they need to compare dick sizes and claim bragging rights.

All the stuff we’re taught growing up—about sharing and being nice? It’s all useless on the world stage, just irrelevant and naïve.

Bringing more children into the world borders on irresponsible anymore. It’s tough to argue with primal urges, but we really do have a hard time with reality, with seeing the writing on the wall and making changes to our expectations and attitudes, and our sense of entitlement.

Some trends we make it our business to indulge, while others we simply ignore at our own peril. The flooding in Kentucky might be “just” a 500-year event, or it could have been made worse by climate change. The searing heat just about everywhere might be just a heat wave. It is summertime, after all.

I guess we’ll never know, though we have to know by now.

Are there, or have there ever been, any great men? Or are they all just pretenders, master story tellers with dreams and aspirations and a bit of smarts? Has society and daily life softened us to a point where things like strength and bravery and a healthy savviness—whatever that looks like—have gone the way of the tail and communicating in grunts?

I’m beginning to think that those men toward whom history has been kind and even reverent have never truly existed apart from the passage of time and a long-standing patriarchal bias. No doubt, some have found something inside, risen to the occasion, maybe surprised themselves, or were just doing what they knew they could do. And maybe they just aren’t made like that anymore.

Today it seems there are mostly people with an imagination and a command of the English language who deal in sound bites, know how and when to say the “right” things.

I don’t know. Ambition isn’t always a bad thing, and self-confidence can be an asset. As far as politicians are concerned, I suppose some are idealists who want to serve and make life better for their constituents and country. And others are plainly, objectively awful.

In this moment, we need someone—man or woman—with a gift for wise, compassionate leadership. Not just another talking head on a power trip who’s driven by a need for adulation, or a nice person who should call it a day after one term. Someone who’s humble, most days unflappable, tireless, kind, insightful, brave, and strong at her or his core.

Not sure who that might be, or if such a person even exists, but we need to keep our eyes open.

Scorching temps, monkey pox, world-wide inflation, Donald Trump. It’s time for some good news, one might think. Stop the presses and reset. Get off this Calamity Jane kick where everything and everyone are going to shit. We know you need clicks and viewership, but we can’t take this much longer. The alternative is to just stay away from our media. Tune out, take a break, find some peace. But we can’t be ostriches, either.

There’s nothing that happens simply because it happens every now and then. Anymore it’s because the earth is in the process of purging us, since we’ve been reluctant to take the hint about the effects we’re having with 8 billion of us vying for resources and spoiling the air. We hear that there’s still time but that time is running short. We latch on to the “there’s still time” part and then continue the procrastination, keep propping up the lie of not needing to do anything, not needing to change our habits and make sacrifices.

If this is the road we’ve chosen, then it’s only a matter of time before everything comes crashing down, and all the ”end of civilization as we know it” movies become fulfilled prophecy. Sooner than later.

Golfers need to stop saying they’re going with the LIV because they “want to grow the game.” Everyone on the planet knows that’s a crock.

It’s ok, guys. Just say you can’t turn down a decent pay day and maybe even win 4 or 5 million bucks if you finish on top. It is dirty, though, funded with fossil fuel-soaked Saudi money, not to mention whatever else those folks are into. So, along with the promise of riches comes the moral compromise. And The Shark sounds like a ruthless business man with no time for fealty, maybe even carrying some sort of lingering scars from his collapses and tough losses in big tournaments.

As far as the PGA is concerned, it’s tough not to sound like sour grapes or a nostalgic traditionalist, though it’s not like the PGA hasn’t been a monopoly forever. It’s an upset to the system when there’s a new kid in town.

I guess it becomes a matter of “making a decision for me and my family,” or being shown the money, or just jumping on the bandwagon. The allure must be intoxicating, especially for someone with a mountain of gambling debt.

Is the Hunter Biden story even real, or of any significance? Or are the Republicans/Fox News trying to distract and hit back in light of the Jan. 6 investigation? Interesting timing—that this finds its way back into the headlines the day before what looked to be a decidedly damaging hearing.

Executive privilege? Such a thing has been made to look risky, and even a bit pathetic. Pat Cipollone pleading the fifth without expressly pleading the fifth, the whole time looking like he’s hiding something yet somehow still answering the question. Trump should be sweating, because his role is clear now, despite efforts to c his a.

I’m glad that people who served in the Trump administration have been coming forward and offering testimony that incriminates and confirms what many already suspected. One thing that grates, though, is when these former officials mention that they are lifelong Republicans who were proud to serve and proud of the things President Trump had accomplished. This hits like fingernails on a chalkboard.

Accomplishments? Do they actually believe this, or is there a lot of self-talk going on? Accomplishments, like so much else, lie in the eye of the beholder. There’s a certain subjectivity and selectivity in play, a matter of perspective and opinion. Withdrawing from a major climate accord, deep-sixing regulations, or burning bridges with allies are accomplishments? Downplaying or attempting to ignore a pandemic is an accomplishment?

They were working for a soulless despot or at best an impostor the whole time, yet still managed to find something nice to say about him. Remarkable devotion.

The January 6 Committee’s work has revealed what many have long known: Trump is a devious and scheming derelict, the opposite of a patriot, an empty vessel who should never be able to come anywhere near another run for office, ever. Whether it’s POTUS or local Sewer Board.