photo by Brian W. Schaller, via Wikimedia
First, the running joke of the 1980s, Donald Trump, became president of the United States of America.
Next, it happened again — in spite of the record two impeachments, his criminal convictions and the fact that his followers had attacked, seized and momentarily held the U.S. Capitol.
At the moment, we’re at war with Iran. All my adult life, every sensible person in this country, regardless of political persuasion, has said that Iran is a problem all right, but one thing we know is that we don’t want a war with those guys, if it can possibly be avoided. And now here we are.
To branch out a bit… this week, I’ve been hearing that 1960s secular saint Cesar Chavez was a lech. Everybody’s disowning him.
Hawaii is so drenched by rain that people are being ordered to evacuate. Hawaii. People , I Iived in Hawaii. They don’t have bad weather. They barely have weather, period. Everything’s just nice. Sure, sometimes there’s a storm 100 miles out in the ocean, but all it does to Oahu is cause awesome waves on the North Shore.
Oh, and here’s the latest: Chuck Norris is dead. See if you can process that.
How is one supposed to make sense of all this? And once that’s done, what is one to do?
I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a long week. Maybe an extra nap would sort all this out. Maybe one that lasts a week. Then baseball will have started…
Related Posts
Let me tell you about rain in Hawaii.
When I was attending Radford High School, I lived in Foster Village, right across the street from the school. Our house was about 3 or 4 blocks up the hill. Because of my allergies (which make school cafeterias impractical), I used to walk home to eat, and walk back down to school by the time my next class started.
It was always a beautiful, comfortable walk, with the pleasant sun and the trade winds. It doesn’t get hot and sweaty there, at least not from walking.
Sure, sometimes it would rain. Here’s what that was like.
I’d set out from my house in the sunshine, and then, when I was about a block away, a small cloud would get into position to rain on me a bit, for another block at most, and I’d get about as wet as you get if you inadvertently walk a couple of steps through a lawn sprinkler.
Then it would stop, and I’d be in the pleasant — not blazing, like in South Carolina in summer, but pleasant — sun again.
By the time I got to school, I’d be dry…
I remember being uncomfortable because of weather once in Hawaii.
It was during the 1971 Crater Festival inside Diamond Head. Here’s what those were like. I spent all day on the ground on the bottom of that bowl under the sun. The trade winds couldn’t reach us down there. It was like being in the lowest point of a wok with particularly steep sides.
We got hot. We stayed hot. This was not helped by the fact that I don’t remember having any water, although we did pass around a jug of hard cider for awhile. Then, there’s the fact that some of us climbed the crater wall to check out a concrete bunker from the war, set into the stone at Diamond Head’s highest point.
So it was uncomfortable — just that once. But I was 17, and didn’t care. The next day was fine…
That link I gave indicates that Santana was there that year. I don’t remember that — and I would have, because I was a fan. The only band I remember being there, and me being conscious of it, was Pacific, Gas and Electric.
I hadn’t gone there because this or that band was there. A friend just said he was going to this festival — I don’t think I’d heard of it before — and asked if I wanted to go, so I said sure. It was just something to do. I suppose I bought a ticket, but I don’t remember. In any case, it probably didn’t cost more than five bucks…
Does deep depression and a sense of not really wanting to continue count as “something to do?”
I don’t find Trump starting a war or his band of sycophants in government supporting war as anything but a given.
It’s a bit strange though to listen to people who have a documented history of saying Trump won’t start any wars as their basis of supporting him loudly proclaiming how glad they are that we are now at war.
you can’t control people that are that hypocritical or rationalize it.
All you can, as I have done, is remove those people out of your life whether they be lifelong friends of even family.
Bonus: Some college athletes now make more than pro athletes.
Re: that Ralph Norman post that got chucked down the memory hole:
Norman is hawking the same political elixir now synonymous with the Republican brand, made from the corrosive spirits of cynicism and grievance. Two and more generations ago it was being sold in the genial packaging known as “Gipper Goodness” and promoted through the “Nine most terrifying words” ad campaign. Over time, as a significant portion of the public grew to need ever higher doses, the party’s patented potion has abandoned its good-natured packaging, culminating in nasty tasting Trump Extra-Strength.
Trump Extra-Strength? So you’re saying science has finally come up with something that tastes worse than Nyquil?