Why would anyone want Donald Trump out front as the face of their cause?

Anyone who reads any of these posts knows that this is what has mystified me this whole long, excruciating time. What have people seen in him, heard from him, that inspires such loyalty, such a willingness to overlook the ugly persona and character flaws and the sewage passing for words?

Well, here we go. Election Day. The day many of us have been waiting for since November 8, 2016. Maybe, possibly, by sometime late tonight, we’ll know whether or not America is going to survive, or at least have a chance to right itself. (11/4 post script– this, of course, was pie-in-the-sky. We’re in deep shit. The election is undecided, and it looks like a long, protracted battle coming.)

This shit show passing for a presidency has exposed some glaring cracks in the façade—things many knew existed but could keep hiding in an “end room” where stuff gets piled. We can’t do that anymore. The racism, the xenophobia, the heavy-handed authoritarian tendencies, the ineptitude, the bald-faced lying, the plain ugliness of an empty vessel with no conscience. My friggin’ word—enough already!!! I hope a rational majority actually exists and votes in droves. I hope the system works, and all the doubt and fears of a stolen election turn out to be overreactions and ratings-driven hype. I hope.

Why would anyone want Donald Trump to be out front as the face of their cause? It’s been the mystery all along. Is it simply because he’s a wise ass, talks trash about “libtards?” Because he speaks to white peoples’ racist fears of losing control, of losing their arbitrary, undeserved place at the head of the line? Maybe their cause isn’t a cause at all.

I hope all of this will have served as a corrective, and not an indication that we have entered the downward spiral of what has been the best attempt at a democracy. Maybe we’ll have the chance to improve things, to make America something more than a “democracy” in name only.

To keep working on the ideal becoming real.

I’ve tried to flesh this out before, but it’s worth a fresh attempt every now and then. When I look at what is happening in this country on any given day, I come away feeling like we are living in at least two distinct realities. Well, three realities. Ok, two and a fantasy world– Trump has always operated in his own little bubble, used to whining and, if not getting what he wants, then meting out his own brand of justice, whether it’s a retributive ousting from a post, or a relentless and childish Twitter barrage slandering someone who disagrees with him, or of whom he is jealous.

Many of his supporters behave like barely sentient beings who buy the stock Trumpian/Republican talking points about freedom and low taxes and deregulation and Mexican rapists and “liberals are evil socialists” and “no one takes our guns away.” Oh, and Covid-19 is just gonna magically disappear.

Meanwhile, many others are wondering if they’ve ever been or will ever be heard, if there is even a place for them in America.

Trump really only cares about himself and those who can help him. He doesn’t have the capacity for empathy, he has neither the interest nor the energy to address the needs of anyone who doesn’t benefit him in some way. He is quid pro quo personified.

If Trump ends up pulling this off, what can’t get lost in the post-election furor is that he cheated his ass off. And it won’t be “Hey, that’s politics.” It will be premeditated, criminal thievery and obstruction. Yet he will be proud as a peacock, all puffed up because he got away with it, again! And he’ll be expecting kudos for his serpentine shrewdness.

It’s all just a game to him. He really doesn’t care about America. He is a warped, lost soul, in love with being the top dog.

Is this election really a referendum on the state of the nation’s soul? This is what we hear, with some regularity, from pundits and others who have a stake in wanting us to stay tuned to their networks.

But beyond ratings, what else is at stake here? Looking at the tactics being employed by Republicans, it would seem they really do want to remain in power in the worst way. They have proven that they will say and do just about anything to make this happen—from gerrymandering to sabotaging the USPS’ ability to deliver mail on time– and thus also ballots– to ramrodding a Supreme Court justice confirmation, a justice assumed to be “friendly” to Trump and someone who may or may not recuse herself from anticipated cases that arise in the aftermath of November 3.

There have been other less overt things along the way. The Republicans have been laying the groundwork for a while now. It has me wondering if the Democrats would do the same things. Are both parties similar in this vein? Are they both so desperate for power that they’d do pretty much anything to hang onto it?

Or are we seeing one party in particular descend into darkness? This nation’s institutions are under assault by Donald Trump and a party rife with enablers and self-serving, archaic ideas. When our institutions, the checks and balances, don’t matter and don’t appear to be working, then we are in trouble.

It seems we have indeed arrived at a tipping point, perhaps hastened by an irrational fear of progressive ideas, along with fearful white people who see their long-held yet undeserved status being threatened by a changing complexion.

It’s tiring to listen to even the politicians you like tell lies, misspeak and exaggerate. They all do it. They all develop their Santa Claus wish list material and things their constituents want to hear. They spout questionable statistics, and make fantastic promises that may or may not be kept.

Trump doesn’t say anything important, or at least helpful. And to the strains of overly dramatic music, Joe Biden promises the world, tries to inspire, promises to fix everything. His plans and their enactment depend on, among other things, a cooperative Congress and his capacity for staying healthy and energized and functional into his 80s.

Much of Biden’s appeal, and the main reason he may prevail, is because he seems to be a decent guy, while his opponent seems intent on being a perennial candidate for Worst Person In The World.

Is there any chance that ACB recognizes her newly elevated status as ill-gotten, delegitimized to some degree by the toxicity and turmoil and the fact that her confirmation was ram-rodded through, she was confirmed under a cloud and on a straight party line vote? Probably not. After all, this is her Golden Ticket. How could she say no to this opportunity?

I hope she indeed has a mind of her own. Our only hope is that she pleasantly surprises us on occasion, which would probably mean that she pisses off the Republicans. That wouldn’t be so bad.

So Amy Coney Barrett has been confirmed as the next Supreme Court justice.

Mitch McConnell has worked yet more dark magic. Republicans are celebrating, Democrats are most likely livid. And the election is a week away.

I suppose if a similar situation had presented itself to a Senate controlled by Democrats, the outcome might have been the same. But what if the Dem leadership actually decided to postpone the process until the election had been settled and a new President was in place? Would the Republicans simply offer up a derisive “Suckers…”, or would they be taken aback, take notice, not know what to say? Probably the former. Anyway, the SC now has a firmly conservative majority, and stands at the ready to turn back the clock a few decades or more. And on top of that, Trump has exactly what he was hoping for, in time for a contested election. The only hope is that many voters find all of this to be tiresome and repulsive, and we vote the bastards out in a blue wave.

What eats at me is how badly Trump needs to stay in power, and the lengths he has gone and will yet go to achieve that end. He has no plan for a second term. The lumbering thug just doesn’t want to lose, or go to jail. He’s throwing the actual voting majority under the bus, trying to take away our vote. You can’t mess with a person’s vote— it is the only arrow in many a quiver. One could figure that this will end up haunting him and whatever party he “leads.”

I’m fighting the feeling that 2021 isn’t gonna be any better than this God-forsaken year and the three before it have been. That asteroid scheduled to arrive on November 2 should be bigger, and on a specific trajectory.

“Pandemic fatigue.”

You think? Who isn’t tired of the restrictions and the unknowns? Who isn’t ready for this to be over?

The alternative to masks and social distancing and the rest is to just give up and say, “I can’t do this anymore. Come and get me, Covid. Come and get my family and friends. Because I don’t care anymore. This is too hard, masks aren’t a good look for me, and they’re unconstitutional. And Uncle Donny says we should just get on with our lives.”

When it comes to some really important things, Uncle Donny doesn’t know his ass from his elbow. He’s the last person you want to take advice from.

We’re going to hold your feet to the fire. We won’t let you weasel out of your decision to soft-pedal the virus, which has led to incomprehensible and avoidable suffering and death. We are not going to let you change the subject.

We want to let you know we’re on to you. Have been for awhile now. And our numbers are growing. You stir up such hate and visceral disgust, and appear to enjoy doing that. Why?

You are a scourge, and a drag on us all. It is long past time for you to go.

What the hell is a supermodel, and why do they matter?

The earth is burning, nearly a billion people are hungry on a daily basis, Donald Trump is still President, and we’re still dragging our asses through a pandemic. Why the hell do supermodels or the Kardashians even register at all? Oh, we need our distractions. OK. That explains everything.

People are suckers for superficiality, and there’s a shitload of options with which to indulge that fantasy life. Shallowness is part of what has gotten us into this mess. Shallowness, gullibility, ignorance, sheer stupidity– we keep coming back to the same things. Donald Trump is the poster child for all of it. What might have been somehow endearing four years ago is now evidence of rot to the core. And now we can add cornered rat to the list.

He let the dam break on Dr. Fauci, he’s rolling out the trusty damning email weapon, he’s holding super-spreader rallies everywhere. And there’s one more debate to suffer through.

Hold on to your hats, because these last two weeks are going to be wild. It’s probably best that we put on some heaphones or pop in some ear buds, and just tune out every now and then. Take a break from the constant assaults on reason and sanity.

If all the focus on the virus- the case numbers, deaths, vaccine progress, etc.- subsides on Nov. 4, then that will be reason to call it a day, give up on truth.

I don’t see that happening, but this is the mindset of those who watch Fox News and support Donald Trump— i.e., all this coverage of the virus is just more left-wing pants-on-fire over-reaction intended to make Trump look bad, and it will go away after the election.

There is no room in such a stance for recognizing or accepting that their man blew it big time. So they will carry on with their herd immunity, watch friends and family get sick, overload hospitals and their staffs, and for some reason feel like they’re doing the country a favor.