What's a Mother To Do?

To those of you who have raised a daughter, this will be all too familiar.
Your sweet young child will one day bring home a beau, not just anyone
but one who means enough to her to introduce him to Mom and Dad.
And your world will come crashing down around your feet.

Here is this beautiful creature that you nurtured for years; thru dancing
school, piano lessons, grammar school, private high school and the best
finishing school your retirement plan could afford, standing next to a
young man wearing torn jeans and a dirty, ill-fitting t-shirt.  She introduces
him and he answers with a grunt.  He needs a haircut, and a shave, his
neck washed, and his nails also.  He looks at your extended hand and he
wonders, what...??

Ok, you say, he must have some redeeming qualities, after all you raised
her to be kind, gentile, sweet and smart.  And then he opens his mouth and
you find him to be rude, ignorant, bigoted, ill-,mannered, and a narcissistic
ass.  It seems as he has gone from one job to another, getting fired or leaving
after making a mess of things, and blaming everyone else for his failures.
Now what?

You sit your beautiful daughter down and try to explain what you find
objectionable about him.  You point out his shortcomings, you tell her that
in the end he will just hurt her and then move on.  You explain how he
insults her friends, and he hangs around with bullies.  His friends are one
step up from criminals.  Does she listen, no way.  The more you put him
down the more she defends him.  You know she understands what you are
saying, she sees the same things that you see but it doesn't seem to matter.
He has told your daughter; you are the enemy, you are trying to control her,
to keep her from finding her true potential.

Sound familiar?  It is an age-old story.  If you are lucky, your child will see
the light before they make a commitment that they cannot undo.

And so, it is in our country today, a rude, ignorant, bigoted, ill-mannered,
narcissistic ass is inhabiting the White House.  What the electorate saw in
him is beyond comprehension.  It is not like theses traits were hidden during
his campaign, no, quite to the contrary, they were in full view.  What was it
then that so enchanted his voters?  Was it the fact that he bragged that he could
shoot someone on Fifth Avenue, and they would still love him?  How about his
degradation of women, the handicapped, and persons of color, was that what
endeared him to so many?  Was it his crude, vulgar language, did that speak to
them?  This tin-man, snake oil salesman, grifter, and two-bit hustler has ingratiated
himself to millions, and even to those in his own party.

Oh, not at first, the Republicans saw him for what he was, and they called him out
for it, the press ridiculed him.  But it appeared no one saw, or wanted to see, what
was happening, no one saw the disenchanted people who were tired of being second-
class citizens, tired of being ignored by their politicians and tired of being passed-by,
by the technical revolution.   Someone was telling them it was not their fault that they
were poor, it was the system's fault.  It was a giant conspiracy in Washington D.C.
that took their money and kept them down.   All be it, that for every dollar they send
to Washington, they get eight dollars back, on average.

Now those same Republicans who called him names, faun and flatter him.  But many
have found that he is fickle, the price of his patronage is constant adulation.  One
slip, one show of self-determination, will bring his wrath down upon the hapless
candidate in the form of a primary challenger.

But the man behind the curtain cannot hide forever, he was always one step away
from being found out for what he is, a charlatan, a pretender; and the coronavirus
was that one step.  His ignorance has been exposed for all the world to see.  And
once, where there was just the supposition of his incompetence there is the
realization that he is in over his head and floundering.  Hundreds of thousands of
people have died needlessly for his stupidity, for his vanity, for his inability to
admit to his failings.

The world now looks at us, not for leadership, but with pity.  They see a country
that once saved the world, unable to save itself.  And as for those who believed
he would save them; they are the ones who are suffering the most.  The pandemic
is hitting them hard, and just like Nero, who fiddled while Rome burned, he is
throwing them to the lions.  He is telling them to get outside, go to church, go to
work, save his economy!  Meanwhile they are spreading the virus to friends and
family, while he is safely ensconced in his bubble of protection.

Some people are waking up to the fact that they have been taken for a buggy ride.
Even some Republicans who are running for office now seek to distance themselves
from his erratic behavior.  There is a murmuring in the underbelly of this country,
that with time, hopefully will grow louder.  It is not too late; we have another
chance to make things right.  In just five short months we can say goodbye to the
chicanery, and walk with our heads held high and be proud to be an American again.
We can show the world that we have learned, because all those brave men and women
who died and those who worked so hard, in the past, to make America great, they
taught us better.  They taught us to be kind, generous, giving and loyal to our
friends.  They taught us; we are better than this.  And I have faith that we will do
just that.

                               I'm just sayin'