By Philip Drucker
Are we having an American never again moment? Is the idea of a movement, a presidency, an atrocity that once gone, must never be forgotten or repeated? What happens when the horrors of fascism, racism as policy, forced sterilizations and corruption gone wild take hold in a significant percentage of the population as the way to Make America Grotesque Again?
A grotesque, circus like carnival atmosphere of out of our minds and out of control America leading the free world by kowtowing to a psychotic drug addled on the verge of stroking out infirm imbecile as their messianic leader. An America where wearing a mask is a political act of consequence, not because it is an actual act of freedom from tyranny, but because a visible percentage of our population have decided they are 14 years old and can’t be told what to do. That it is all a hoax and if you believe people are dying, you are watching the wrong television channel or reading the wrong online blog.
Inevitably, there will be those who will try to write it off as an anomaly. A few bad candy ass apples who managed to seize power at the highest levels. Or will we admit our system is sick and needs our attention? That we need to stop talking about it finally get rid of the Electoral College once and for all? That voter suppression or election tampering is not a valid exercise of State’s rights? That Florida cannot remain a state where the ballots in several counties are let’s say subject to change if the necessity so arises?
To frame the situation we currently find ourselves into a more easily recognizable as an American phenomenon, what happens when our duly or otherwise elected officials become so unresponsive and non-representative of the people they claim to represent, that the will of the people is not only silenced and ignored, but indeed thwarted to such a degree that a handful of so-called Federalist protectors of democracy and the American way of life are on the verge of placing a dangerous, high on Jesus with nothing but outward disdain for the separation of church and state, universal healthcare and a woman’s right to control her own body on the SCOTUS for life?
What happens when Amy Coney Barrett starts quoting scripture as the basis for her “legal” decisions? What happens when we find out she thinks all members of the LGBTQ community are “abominations” and subject to ritual stoning for practicing acts of love, empathy and caring? What happens when people continue to die due to the uncontrolled spreading of the Covid-19 virus and “it is what it is” becomes “the will of God?” Followed by if you went to the “right” church, you’d be fine. If not in this life, but at least and for sure the next. Talk about a never again moment? How about a never should have been even considered in the first-place moment?
Yet here we are. With an old, decrepit hillbilly hand of death and can’t let go Mitch McConnell’s hand on the crazy train throttle trying to shove the last vestiges of old time it was good enough for Moses religion down our throats and not only on us, right here and starting now, for the rest of our lives, but for the next generation, and perhaps even the generation after that to come. Should we wait for the Handmaiden’s Tale to become a reality before we say never again?
Are we going to wait for the so-called “charter schools” of Betsy DeVos to become full on revisionist history centers of American greatness, leaving out all stories of black and brown people, while forcing religious indoctrination onto the children of parents who “choose” to send and sentence their sons and daughters to a life based upon not so much the actual Bible, but whatever their “teachers” say it is? Are we going to wait until they begin teaching Prosperity Gospel becomes “real”?
The sane among us cry “Enough!” but it never is. There is always more. More lies, deceit, infighting, gas lighting and a seemingly endless parade of incapable, incompetent and in most cases brain dead Jerry Springer rejects who suddenly find themselves with fancy sounding titles such as “Press Secretary” and “FLOTUS” yet in the end will be remembered first and foremost as to whether they caught the Rona or not.
Or perhaps remembered for hating f*cking Christmas decorations (Melania, but then again, she doesn’t really care, now does she?), or massive campaign fund diversion and/or outright fraud (Ivanka). Or at the very least, gross mismanagement of the public trust (Mnuchin). Eventually we’ll get down to Kardashian/Reality TV basics like who had the best hair (Scaramucci) and the worst hair (Bannon)? And in the grand finale, who was the single biggest douche of all (fill in the blank). Winners and losers? Forget that. This isn’t the Bachelor, and there aren’t any. We all lost with this one.
Soon, we’ll begin watching what will amount to our own version of the Nuremburg Trials, interestingly with some real Nazis, the grand jury indictments and convictions along with playing the pardon me game for Federal crimes, but not state which believe me, there will be plenty of blame, guilt and sentencing to go around for everyone. My guess is it will be something akin to a Survivor, except the tag line will be Rat Out Admit & Nitwit.
Will that be enough? Or will we all unwittingly wait for the next Reality TV Presidency to take shape and we can all, at least the ones of us who are still alive, entertain ourselves through the 24/7 non-stop on air extravaganza of cable news that as it stands has turned into nothing more than mystery political science theater 3000?
What’s that you say? You’re already starting to forget? You are already looking forward to the “Was it really that bad of an era?” revisionist history blogs written by and for the religious intolerant, racist and still rabid persons who live to hate who will never themselves give up? Did he really say, “there were fine people on both sides?” Why yes, he did. And when you hear the exact opposite, is that when you will finally say never again?
In closing, here’s an idea, how about we all come to our senses, and admit our system is broken and agree that we have indeed experienced our American version of never again and begin the healing process, right here, right now, by declaring, when it comes to the Trump years, the slogan, the sentiment and the answer starts and ends with Never Again. For real. 25th Amendment? I’m in. You?
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