We've all done it, I know I have and our daughter did it more times than I care to remember; dated a real loser. You know the one; he dropped out of school or was doing so poorly that they were on the verge of expelling him. His hair was greasy and unkept, his clothes were grubby and ill-fitting - before that was fashionable - his manners weren't just bad they were lacking entirely. But none of this was his fault, no one understood him, they picked on him, he was his own man, he marched to his own drummer,
Mama reacted with horror when you brought him home, dad just grunted and buried his head in the newspaper. Your brother laughed and your sister just stared, as your beau looked at his shoes and mumbled something unintelligible. You were undeterred, and with a big smile off you went. When your friends found out they were appalled. Are you kidding they asked; he's nothing but trouble, he picks fights with everyone, he failed at school, and he can't hold a job.
But you were sure he wasn't that bad, he told you it was everyone else's fault. So what if he a string of girlfriends before you, that only proved how popular he was. He told you everyone was jealous of him. He introduced you to his friends, they seemed to be just like him, drop-outs too, a few of them had been in trouble with the law. How exciting!
You were all of sixteen and looking for someone who would take you away from the hum-drum existence of small-town life. Get up, go to school, babysit on weekends, hang with your girlfriends gossip; nothing ever changed. Here was someone who showed you the other side of life, who told you that the two of you were all that was needed to take on the world.
Then one day you looked around and you saw what everyone else had seen all along, Your hero was just a lying bum, and you dumped him. Easier said than done, he hung around outside your house, until one day your dad went out and had a little talk with him. Then he wasn't so big and bad and he just went away. But he didn't go far, he still hung around the schoolyard surrounded by the fawning crowd who basked in his reflected reputation. Sad!
Sound familiar? Yup, the world is full of lying bums. Most don't go very far, but a few, those whose fathers substituted money for loving guidance, had a boost up the ladder. They were no better than the ne'er-do-wells who never had a dime, in fact, some don't even dress better. The one thing they do have is daddy's name to trade on until they can go it alone. There is a name for them in Arkansas; All hat, no cattle.
I, like so many others, had an excuse. I was young and dumb and devoid of worldly acumen, even though everyone told me, I had to find out for myself. I grew up, and got smarter, I found those who cared about me were right all along. But that fellow, he never changed, his lies got bigger, I hear he is facing jail time, but the hangers-on; they are still there, hoping to profit from the crumbs he tosses them, still believing his lies because they are afraid not to believe.
America succumbed to a fast-talking grifter, who promised he would make her great again. What he meant was that he would make her white again. He would take America back to when white men ruled the world, and women and minorities knew their place. Some people laughed at the thought of a snake-oil salesman pulling the wool over enough people's eyes to make a difference. My family and friends cared enough to set me straight, but who fought for America? Not the media, or the party, and America came close to losing her most precious possession - democracy.
We are slowly stepping back from the precipice of destruction, but the followers who pushed us to that brink are still fighting, as incredible as it may seem. Yes, some have seen the danger and have stood up to say that they were wrong. And now they are being punished and shunned by the cowards who were afraid to face the evil before them. Some still think they can control the monster; they think they have defanged him and he will play nice. Wasn't it less than a year ago when they thought the same thing?
The menace was a long time in coming and it will not disappear in a few short months, not when the followers are so devoted. Speaker, Nancy Pelosi said it right, "the enemy is within". Cults, like Q-Anon, have representatives in Congress now, and they are spreading their venomous lies unhindered. They believe that America's 'values are being destroyed by socialism, multiculturalism, and pedophiles' and these things are destroying American society. More than half of the GOP agree "traditional American way of life is disappearing so fast that they may have to use force to save it". More than 40% say "a time will come when American Patriots will have to take the law into their own hands". 57% of Republicans think of Democrats as enemies. More than 75% of the GOP rate the past four years as favorable and 60% want the ex-president to have a major role in the party. And 91% of the people who voted for the ex-president would vote for him again, even after the insurrection of January 6th.
What can be said in the face of such convoluted logic? What terrible wrong can be done before more minds will change? The death of six people, one was a police officer who died defending the lives of the people who later voted to set his murderer free, didn't do it. The attempted violent overthrow of the government had no effect. There is only one thing more powerful than all of this - the vote! We must keep up the fight, be ever vigilant, never again let complacency keep us from the polling place. The other side will try, they will change the rules, make it even more difficult to cast our ballot. But if they win; we will lose more than an election, we will lose America.
I'm just sayin'
