Maybe Trump will disappear, for some reason. Or succumb to a terminal case of loseritis, unable to handle the defeat (duh). His infantilism is terminal. He’s revealing all his cards now. Hard to tell what Washington or the country is going to look like by the end of the year. Imagine all the things he should be tending to, and he’s ignoring them all. We’re functioning without a functioning President or government, and there are, still, few adults in the room.

-Tragic spectacle. Hard to believe no one has invoked the 25^th Amendment. Trump is lashing out, using a platform on Facebook to spew 46 minutes worth of unhinged, along with more whining. He’s appealing to his rabid base, who are always ready for blood in the streets. What an awful human being. How could someone so cold and untethered to reality make it so far? How do we get him to go away? And not on January 20. Now.

-The power of doubling down. No admitting culpability or blame, or to simply getting something wrong. Always on the defensive, always full steam ahead with a Swiss cheese narrative. We should be mad as hell, but not about a fraudulent election. Much more about the President of the United States who’s so desperate and self-involved and emotionally stunted that he can’t feel anything other than his own self-inflicted wounds. 

I wrestle with holding a church service indoors. I’m not sure we’re being faithful, or if it’s just a variation on stubborn and stupid.

The things we’re doing to be safe… Taking a picture of the congregation as they sit in their pews, for contact tracing purposes. In one door, out another. Masks on, socially distanced, unable to sing or share the peace, Communion on the run, dressing in layers because windows are open and fans are running for airflow. Wondering perhaps if we’re just creatures of habit, motivated more by obligation and guilt than need. Feeling like we’re playing with fire, getting away with something each time we gather.

It’s not knowing for sure where the virus is that makes this difficult. Other than those doing testing and contact tracing, anyone who carries on as if they do know is kidding themselves.

And this in-your-face, anti-precautions mindset… where does this come from, if not an alternate reality where everything is a leftist conspiracy and people take their marching orders from a partisan TV network and a now lame duck president who can’t rise above acting like a bratty toddler?

Sometimes, and more frequently of late, it feels like we have it all wrong in this country. The emphasis on what the individual can do and achieve seems to have led to a society full of self-interested glory hounds. One of them became president.

Anymore, it often seems everyone must be motivated beyond reason, where we’re all striving for financial security and nice things and “success.” An ongoing Darwinian proof. More superficiality than substance.

There’s talk in Europe of providing some baseline of income for everyone, which sounds like a great idea to me but will inevitably be a non-starter here, because… America.

We’ve got it all wrong. Self-determination is fine, but a lot of people are being left out in the cold, and it’s not because they’re lazy. Maybe they’re motivated by different things, different pursuits. Or they aren’t even noticed.

It’s only money, and with money, people buy things. Sounds like perpetual stimulus all around. Maybe it would be enough to keep food on the table and a roof overhead. People would still have to work for the extras. It might put a dent in the lines of hundreds of vehicles and thousands of people waiting for sustenance.

Donald Trump can go to hell. This is on you, you uncaring, inhuman blob of plasma. While millions suffer, all you can think about is postponing the inevitable and torching the place.

And, as always, lining your pockets.

The dissonance comes as I look at the vehicles people are driving to the food banks. Maybe one of the reasons folks are low on funds is because many are driving vehicles or living in houses they can’t actually afford.

They may not have much money, but they have some sweet wheels.

Paycheck to paycheck. No margin for error. Inadequate contingency funds. Just a razor thin buffer between getting by and disaster. Along with a buy-in of the rotten, detestable mantra about having it all and having it now.

How different might things be at this point if there had been a more aggressive, competent pandemic response from the beginning?

Shorter food and testing lines? Fewer funerals? Less grumbling and whining about restrictions? Would hospitals and their staffs be crying “uncle” as frequently as they are now?

A proper response from Trump and his cronies might have paved the way for a second term, though.

So, will Trump and the minions be prosecuted over the next four years? Biden doesn’t seem too interested in that pre-occupation. Keith Olbermann, on the other hand, does. Vociferously.

One could argue that he makes some salient points. I just wish much of what he says isn’t said at the top of his lungs. It’s max volume, most of the time. Makes him come across as just another loud, slightly crazed talking head.

If he could say pretty much the same thing with an inside voice, maybe it would be more effective.

Often times I don’t really know what I’m talking about. This space is an outlet for giving voice to feelings and opinions that aren’t always informed by facts. It’s sometimes a place I come just to vent my anger and frustration.

When it comes to Donald Trump, I often feel that despite the attention he gets and the noise he makes, he is ultimately inconsequential and destined for the bone pile of history– once people make the effort to really listen to him and take a closer look. He is one of the few people in such lofty public office who has hardly ever said anything truly meaningful or edifying. He is an empty suit who somehow made it all the way to the White House. Nothing more than a conduit for other peoples’ dimness and sickness and anger.

He appeals to a certain white demographic that feels unnoticed and unheard, and threatened by the country’s changing complexion. These are the ones who propelled him to Pennsylvania Avenue. It’s no small number, and they can yet do damage, with their mindless buy-in of cockamamie conspiracy theories, their gullibility and ignorance, and their reluctance to embrace the changes. Their numbers will eventually wane, but not anytime soon.

When Joe Biden is sworn in on January 20, it will be a good day for many. But the MAGA crowd will still exist. They will still be a force to reckon with. They will be more than willing to fall in behind anyone who speaks their anachronistic language, or feeds their fears.

There are rumblings of Trump returning for another run in 2024 (as an Independent?), because he craves the attention and will always be motivated by a need to save face, along with an inability to handle defeat. His presence has and will always have nothing to do with a hopeful vision for the country. It will always just be Trump saying “Look at me.” Maybe that should have been the slogan on those damned red hats, accompanied by a picture of Trump and his shit-eating grin.

“Make America Great Again”? That was never going to happen. You didn’t even come close, Donald. You couldn’t. You just didn’t care. You’re incapable of caring.

And let’s face it– as slogans go, that one really sucks. It’s vague and uninspired, and has no real-world resonance.

We certainly are a fallen humanity.

Sin, or inescapable brokenness- whatever we want to call it- creeps in, manifests itself in endless ways. The gap between ideal and real will always remain. We will continue to elect people who promise real solutions to real problems but end up getting distracted and delivering something far less. It’s like they promise the world just to get elected or something…

What’s currently happening in Washington is no longer just painful to watch. It’s scary, because Trump’s reach and influence appear to be growing. More people seem to be coming under his spell, seem to be willing to bend to his desires. He’s playing the long game, he appears to have a plan. He is intent on wearing people down, intent on stealing the election from an actual majority of Americans.

He is a hateful and hate-filled person, motivated by a fear of losing, by a need for vengeance, by a need to stay out of jail. Motivated by all the wrong things. Someone must put a stop to this guy and the mindless bots around him.

Where are we heading with all this?

The litany of accusations and wrongdoing seems endless, though it’s obvious that none of this matters to Trump. If anything, he thrives on our anger and disenchantment. He enjoys having enemies, having someone to badmouth and gripe about, someone to try to piss off.

The thing is, how can we continue to put up with this, even for another 60 days or so? When has this nation ever seen such ice cold negligence and hell-bent self-preservation from its President?

No need to wait until January 20. With a different mindset among congressional leadership, we could be looking at calling the 25^th Amendment into play right now.

What is Donald Trump doing, if not behaving like a spoiled brat? And let’s add evil, detached, deranged, cornered rat.

The fact that he’s STILL got 72 million people eating out of his hand is mindblowing and frightening. It’s obvious that he doesn’t care a bit about the country or those who for some reason still support him.

He’s totally ignoring the ravages of a pandemic, crying over an election loss, risking a descent into hellish chaos, and 72 million people are ready to go there with him? This can’t be happening.

But it is.