I Don’t Want to Write This
I want to write humorous pieces about my life — funny memories, fun times, witty, dry pages about growing up and growing old. I want to write about the silly, stupid mistakes I’ve made and make them entertaining but perhaps educational, so others don’t make the same mistakes, or at least not as many times as I’ve made them. But I have to write this one, and I’m afraid it’s not going to be at all entertaining. I’m not sure I can put an amusing slant on the topic in any shape, form, or manner. It’s political, and there is nothing witty about our politics right now.
I was in 7th grade when John F. Kennedy was killed. I cried, not even knowing exactly why, but even a 7th grader knows that if the President of the United States can be assassinated, no one can feel safe. I was in high school when Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were shot. I was more interested in boy friends and prom dates at the time, but I still knew it was a dangerous time in our country.
I was a freshman at The State University of New York at Albany when Kent State students were shot protesting the Viet Nam war. A fire bomb was shot into our dorm building that spring, and we were sent home early for the summer. From that time on, fall classes started at the end of August instead of the middle of September, and second semester was moved up from a February to January start date, so we could be finished by early May, before “riot season” could start. That change continues to this day.
My daughter was 3 months old when Nixon resigned over the Watergate scandal. I remember holding her and thinking history was being made.
When Ronald Reagan died, I tried to remember one good thing he did as president, and all I could come up with was that he changed me from an Independent to a Democrat. I had voted for him because he had been a union president and would therefore be good for unions. One of his first acts in office was to bust the air controllers’ union, and that did it for me. I think I’ve voted for one Republican since, and that was for the mayor of Auburn, because the old mayor was an alcoholic womanizer who had been in office way too long.
One of the proudest times in my life was when Barak Obama was elected President, and four years later I was shocked and overjoyed to see him re-elected. I was so proud of my country; I felt filled with hope that the country could change for the better, that just maybe we could get out from under the “Trickle down” theory and Newt Gingrich and the Tea Party, with their “it’s our way or no way” attitude.
And then came Trump. That pendulum swung not only to the other side — it swung right off the clock. I’m from New York originally, and most of us could never figure out why anyone put a microphone in front of that man’s face. He said stupid things, he was a snake-oil salesman who put everyone he hired out of business because he never paid his bills, and he was a business failure. He rented his name out to buildings, so it would look like he owned them. He was the biggest fake in New York City, and no one with any pride or ethics would have anything to do with him. And he got elected President of the United States. If no one else in the country knew what to expect, New Yorkers did. And he delivered. He appointed Cabinet Secretaries who either knew nothing about the department (DeVos) or people who wanted to destroy the very department they’d been assigned to. The positions went to big donors because they were big donors, not because they were suited to the jobs. I guess if you want to destroy the government, that’s the way you do it. He alienated our allies and made love to our enemies. I would blame it all on him, but the Republicans all either remained silent or openly agreed with him. The whole party became the Party of Trump, and even when he was impeached, the Republican Senate refused not only to remove him from office but even to hear any witnesses for the “trial.”
Well, they finally got their wish. Yesterday’s attack on the Congressional Building was the culmination of all their hard work. Trump and his cronies refused to accept the clean, clear election results, which remained clean and clear after 62 lawsuits, two attempts to go to the Supreme Court, and recount after recount in the swing states. (Biden won four times in Georgia.) Trump ranted and raved and tweeted and rallied so many times in the two months after the election that he brought out every loonie White Supremist, every Neo-Nazi, every KKK clan member, every hater in the country to form a band of terrorists all our own. Everyone knew they would show up January 6th to “object” to the Congress certifying the electoral votes. Trump told them to. Plans had been made for weeks. Social media was full of it. The mayor of Washington, DC asked for reinforcement for the security guards. But just like when Trump said, “Who knew health insurance could be so hard?” and we all raised our hands, the terrorist attack on the Congressional Building came, and people said, “Who knew this would happen?” We all raised our hands again.
I’ve lived a lot of years and through a lot of ups and downs in our country, and I can say we are as far down as we have been in my life time. And the worst thing about it all — after all, only 4 people died and no permanent structural damage was done — was that when Black Lives Matter peaceful marches were held in Washington, the riot police were out in force. There was no way this march on Congress was going to be peaceful. Trump told them not to be. But a peaceful march by people of color is so much worse than a violent terrorist attack by people who happen to be white that we don’t even worry about it, let alone call out every police officer available. Every Neo-Nazi, KKK clan member, and white supremist is more welcome in Washington than any peaceful person of color. And that is the great shame our country has ever faced, at least in my life time. I am ashamed.