. . . a few of them being my friends . . . that most people don’t listen, or watch any News/Views anymore; that they are Exhausted; that they are Offended by Extremism and Hyper-ventilating; that they are Fatigued by a Virus and the Abundant Ignorance that it has unveiled; that the Social Media Platforms that they once enjoyed have become Tainted and Suspicious with Posts and Tweets that are often Fabricated, Photo-shopped, Placed by Dubious Entities; that they Cannot Relate to that America which our Politics have turned into; that they have become too Fearful of the Future and, therefore, have Tuned Out . . . and . . . and . . . withdrawn into their little bubbles. Scary Situation, if you ask me!
And, it is at moments like this that I find myself in between a Rock and a Hard Place. On the one hand, it makes me fearful for this Country that I am proud of and love, and this Democracy – imperfect as it is, and about which I have ranted often enough – which the overwhelming majority of us appreciate and want very much to preserve, but that seems to have been overtaken by Arrogant Politicians, an Untrustworthy Media, and a Minority of loud-mouthed, immoral Extremists . . .
. . . and, on the other hand, I am saying: Ye Reap What Ye Sow, and the United States has been sowing a whole lot of blunders and screwed-up foreign policy decisions for far too long! Our meddling and bullying across the world have invited a backlash of counter-meddling and counter-bullying that brought us up to this dangerous moment. Do we now tone it down, cease and desist from swashbuckling across the globe and realize our humongous blunders? Could we start playing nice for a change? Maybe, just maybe, President Biden has an opening here, because . . .
. . . I heard . . . that he had called President Xi Jinping and that they spoke for nineteen minutes in an effort to lower the confrontational rhetoric and temperature and . . . start playing nice with each other? Agree to be Competitors, but not Sworn Enemies? Perhaps? Fingers-crossed!
Some Are Also Saying . . . that after we finally ended our Military Disaster in Afghanistan, and after our behavior and policies created thousands of Angry, Radicalized and Armed dangerous clusters across the World that we now have to deal with, we should be seriously listening to the many writers and journalists with Integrity who have been talking and writing for decades to the Deaf ears of the Media, Neo-Cons and Military Industrial Complex and, what Trump, as well as others, have called the “Deep State” (whatever that is!). After all, smart people are fully aware that a large amount of the so-called Trillions that this war has ostensibly cost us have come right back here to the US: to the Arms Manufacturers, Corporations, Contractors, Military etc. etc. Does anyone really believe that All of the Trillions were spent on needless projects and building schools in Afghanistan? Wake up, people! This is just one of the results (and they are numerous!) of our misadventures that I call “Socialism for the Ins,” for the Connected, for Corporate Executives, for the Profiteers and Contractors who then decry the Socialism of Bernie Sanders and Progressives because it benefits the People – White People, as well as all of us Others – and aims at bringing on just a little bit of Equality to a Society that has been witnessing Inequality and Injustice for far too long.
Moreover, They Are Also Saying . . . that with the High Drama and Relived Trauma of the Remembrance of 9/11 (which, most of all, stunned the US, because we never, ever, ever expected that Anyone would dare conceive of attacking us here at home) we should never forget how George Dubya Bush and his criminal gang manipulated the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) to declare that the toxic-infused air around the Twin Towers was Clean and Safe thus causing absolute harm, agony and death to many First Responders and all those in that vicinity, as well as students in schools, people in homes and merchants who went back to the area taking the EPA declaration to be an honest assessment and not the corrupt disinformation that it really was. Massaging the Truth so Wickedly, whether it was the non-existent WMDs in Iraq, or the toxic fumes from the 9/11 tragedy, is what has caused so many people to doubt the Truth/Facts and allowed the Trumpists to distort and mangle more of it to their heart’s content at the expense of Democracy, Freedom and the Physical and Mental Health of this nation. Case in Point is what we . . .
. . . recently heard . . . that the Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshida Suga, had resigned. Apparently, it was because he had failed to control Covid, and, that he had insisted on hosting the Olympics despite many of his own doctors telling him not to, thus sickening more of his people, as well as many athletes. What he did, in fact, was practice a modern form of Hara-kiri, which was a ritual suicide practiced in the olden days as an honorable alternative to disgrace. Contrast this, if you will, with the dishonorable way that so many of the Political Class in the US, and in many countries, behave: Arrogantly, Defiantly, Illegally, Unconstitutionally, Disgracefully. No Honorable Hara-kiri for them, no Resignations, no Apologies!
Nevertheless, Some Are Also Saying . . . that the Texas Anti-Abortion Effort (about which John Roberts had said that Roe vs. Wade is the Law of the Land?) Restrictive Voting Laws, Vaccines, Cancel Culture etc. etc. are merely more hot-button issues that will rile us up, create more chaos and mischief and keep us busy in the courts and on the streets while the Trumpists drink what has become the proverbial Lemonade as their Politicians prepare for a takeover in the 2022 Elections and . . . a Trump comeback in 2024? I saw a program on BBC’s HARDTalk with Stephen Sacker interviewing Lindsey Graham who stated his, and his Party’s cold-blooded convictions and relentless efforts towards realizing this goal which gave me chills! Only time will tell where their wicked agenda will go, and where this country is heading, unless the planned rallies taking place on Saturday, September 18 bring on an earlier and shocking drama!
And, finally, remember all those articles that were written when the Virus first hit us? All those Feel Good Predictions of how this Experience will lead to a Better Tomorrow, a Kumbaya Era of Love, Empathy, Justice, Equality, Compassion, Coexistence, Cooperation etc. etc.? Remember that? I do. Is it still possible, I wonder? Could it happen once we overcome Covid? Or, was it just Wishful, Idealistic Thinking? I don’t know. Do you? Does Anyone? All I can sense at the moment is several more years of turbulence, and I can’t foretell what might happen after that period! Alas, it is a very Unsettling, and Dangerous Situation!
My Seventy Year Old Eyes 
You’ve done it again. Brava!
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