The Fall of America

Sitting in a hospital waiting room is sobering. You wait for someone to get a medical procedure done that will take hours, and cost thousands of dollars, and you hope that, when all is said and done, that they will get a clean bill of health. 

You hope that there is good news and everyone moves on with their lives. 

Until the bill comes. 

And another bill. 

And another. 

And another. 

And if they have something wrong? What then? You fight two battles, one for your health, and another for your survival. We have allowed the medical industry to hold all of us hostage, along with insurance companies, and survive at their pleasure. Last year, I went deep into debt trying to save the life of one of our dogs. 

And that was a dog. 

What if it was my child?

Or wife?

Or me?

You do whatever it takes and then wait for news, and for the bills to come. 

And yet, as our presidential dictator re-makes the nation in an image that pleases him, or rather, makes him wealthy, we all suffer. The government is currently shut down with Republicans ranting that it’s THEIR FAULT, the Dems being the ‘they’ here, naturally. If you listen to the Repubs, the Dems want to hand hundred dollar bills to everyone that has come here from another nation and isn’t yet a citizen. 

They want to push aside good, law-abiding Americans, to give “illegals” a place at the table – which is funny, because it sounds like something Jesus would do, but I digress. 

The Republican Party has become one motivated by hate, and fear. They find their target, then aim all of their resources against it, and in so doing, activate their cult, er supporters, to proselytize, and act on these hatreds. It’s the gays, the trans people, the people of color, the people from foreign lands, the liberals, and on and on. They put up umbrellas like “Wokeness” and “ANTIFA” and “Illegals” and on and on and on. We have become a nation that refuses to admit that it has a less than savory past, and that all things done, are done by the will of God. And that includes, especially includes, all of the whims of the presidential dictator. 

He has declared war on cities, and people are fine with it. They are fine seeing buildings under siege as masked officers roust and arrest people who MAY be part of a gang, maybe, possibly. To listen to the Republicans, we re a nation at war with a foreign gang that is destroying the nation. That is why the military has been sent. 

Only, we aren’t at war. 

And what we are using are Gaza tactics, meaning that we are willing to hurt people, kill people, and destroy a city if we have to, if it means getting what they want. Do they really care about this gang? No. Are they dangerous, of course they are, as are all gangs, but if they are SO dangerous, why wasn’t. Trump interested in them during his first term? Why not work with law enforcement to find these people and arrest and deport them?

Why not use less abrasive tactics?

Because they don’t care about the gang. 

They care about “Democratic” cities. They want to send a message, and that message is – shape up or ship out. 

If you don’t like it here, leave. 

In 10 months we have seen Trump destroy so many things that made America truly great, all to serve his pathetic ego. He can put out lists of enemies, and people think it’s fine. He can rake in money and favors, and people think its fine. He can do whatever he wants, so long as he makes sure that White Christians are in power. People who have strayed so far from the teachings of Christ that they wouldn’t know the man if he appeared before them. 

Everything that looks at people as human, and equal is woke. Anything that wants people to be treated equitably, and with care is woke. Anything that simply wants us all to work together is woke. The rhetoric has become school yard bullying. The president and his servants are bullies. They have no interest in the truth, they are interested in money. That’s what all of this is, a grift. A money grab. And the Dems can’t get out of their own way to stop it. They kick their shoes into the dirt, they play nice, and when they ever dare speak up, they are told to pipe down. We do things with decorum. 

There are so many issues to tackle, among them high prices, but the concern is over fat generals, rainbow crosswalks, and talk show hosts. Those are the downfalls of society. 

OK. 

Sure. 

Decorum, while the president mocks them, and mocks centuries of presidential etiquette. 

The Dems are expected to serve at a higher degree of professionalism than their free-wheeling Republican pals because, hey, man, the Repubs are just “telling it like it is.” 

And as ICE and the military take on the demeanor of the gestapo and tactics of fascist regimes, we are told that these cities are war zones. And people believe it, because they fear cities. They stay in their homes, in front of their televisions, and they cluck their tongues because ”those illegals are taking our jobs and money!” 

Only, they aren’t. 

Sure, there are always people that fall through the cracks. 

People who beat the system. 

People who are monsters hiding among us. 

This is not new. 

There are as many White Christians among us who are rapists, dealers, and demons, as anyone else, they just get a pass because God, or something. 

But I ask this – what happens when this hits the small cities and towns?

What happens when Mrs. Lu, who runs the Chinese restaurant is grabbed from her restaurant by masked men, zip tied, and thrown into a van and disappeared? Mrs. Lu who has been in town for decades. Maybe her papers weren’t in order. Or maybe they were. 

We’ll never know. 

What happens if Mr. Rodriguez, who coaches girls softball, is grabbed during a game, and has the same happen, as kids and families watch?

Shrug. 

It is easy to ignore horror when you can turn a channel, but what happens when it’s outside your door?

We can say, yes, people need to be legal citizens to reside in the country for the rest of their lives. Now, that’s very simplistic, but it’s a place to start. And if we start there, then we have to create a sensible means for people to become citizens. And for those that are not, well, we figure ways to find them, and to, I dunno, bring them in to figure what next steps are…but we don’t send in troops. 

What are we doing?

Everything this nation has stood for has been torn down. 

It’s fine to marry a “foreigner,” but you can’t be one. You can just own one, I guess. Or be one, if you are rich, there is that. 

How is this normal?

How is this OK?

Because we sit on our phones, and on socials, and let people wind us up and push us in the direction they want us to go. They use us as their ground troops, and we make our videos, and do our podcasts railing against one another, and we dehumanize each other. We’re no longer all American, we’re Republicans and Democrats. 

Us and Them.

And you are either with us, or against us. 

And if you are against us, you will pay. 

We will make you pay. 

The Republicans don’t care about “illegals.” 

They don’t care about people losing healthcare. 

They don’t care about people being out of work. 

They care about back room deals, money, and power. 

And it isn’t like the Dems are much different, but I don’t recall them sending the military against the people, and threatening to take over cities. 

I don’t recall a Dem president forcing through every last thing they wanted, by hook or crook, because the Supreme Court was a rubber stamp for them. 

Oh, people will “WHALE, ACKSHULLY,” because that is all the Republicans can do, argue. They all have the talking points, they just don’t have moral high ground. 

They don’t have humanity. 

I wonder if they have souls anymore. 

The nation has fractured. 

It is broken. 

All for the greed and pettiness of a small, sick man, who could never have been loved enough in a thousand years. 

History will know him, by god. 

And they will know him as all tyrants are known, and I pray, to a god I don’t believe in, that his story is told as yet another lesson, a warning of what happens when we fall asleep at the wheel, and not how one person can destroy the world. 

But sure, it’s all about “illegals” and the Repubs desperately care about you man, and about your healthcare. Let’s just hope they’re willing to pick up a shovel and help bury your dead when the insurance runs out. 

…c…