Dan’s Latest Fantasy

Having now watched the “debate” and read various pundit analyses, I have a fantasy scenario that I wish became reality:

  • Biden and Harris win the election on November 3
  • The Senate moves to Democratic control
  • Trump’s behavior alienates practically every section of American society
  • The House votes new articles of impeachment in early December
  • The new Senate is seated in early January and affirms impeachment before January 20
  • So Pence becomes President for a few days before watching Biden and Harris being inaugurated

Then there would be ticker-tape parades in practically every town and city across the country.

Like I said, a fantasy scenario but it makes me smile to think about it.

We need a “Have you no sense of decency, sir?” moment

America sorely needs a moment like the one that ultimately quieted the rants and bullying of Sen. Joe McCarthy. Maybe a debate moderator or a network interviewer or a whole cadre of pool reporters will step up and begin peppering every interaction with Trump, McConnell, and the thousands of their supporters with a simple new slogan built upon Mr. Welch’s question in 1954– “Have you no shame?”

New Hope

Yes, I had been becoming increasingly cynical about the state of our world. From the quagmire we created in the Middle East to Brexit to Donald Trump to the disaster of global warming, it seems that our world is in a terrible state and doesn’t have much hope for improvement. Those and many other factors have challenged my hope for the possibility of leaving a better world for the generations that follow, for feeling that my generation (largely Baby Boomers) have made a lasting positive impact on our planet.

I don’t like despair. I don’t like feeling that we’ve fucked up. But that was where I’ve been headed, especially since the 2016 twin blows of Brexit and Trump.

But now there’s the blossom of a new hope. A sense that maybe, just maybe, the world will be OK and that it is actually moving toward greater justice, greater equality, greater liberty, greater progress. And what better a promoter of that hope than a younger generation? After all, it was the young Baby Boomer generation– to which I belong– that last sparked an inspired hope across the world.

Whether it’s the students of Parkland High in Florida, AOC, or the inimitable Greta Thunberg, we suddenly have a cohort of activists that are getting it right. That are challenging the status quo and are loudly showing that we can do better.

God love them and may we all applaud and stand ready to help them!

America is Already Great

    I’ve been wondering recently what exactly motivates thousands of Central American refugees to head for the U.S. southern border.  Surely they know Trump is vehemently opposed to their coming and is doing everything he can to stop them. Why are they trying so hard to get someplace where they aren’t welcome?

    My initial thinking was that the conditions in their own country are so terrible and frightening, that they’d rather face the wrath of Trump & Co.   And while that may be true, I’m thinking there may be another reason: they sincerely know and believe that America is the land of freedom and opportunity, no matter what sort of mad men are running its government.

    In other words, we don’t need to “make America great again”– it’s already great and the world knows it.  The President has propped up a straw man to use for promoting himself.  And the straw man simply does not exist. MAGA suggests that as a country we were once great but aren’t now and we need to fix that.  But the reality in the eyes of millions around the world is that we are great and are still living our greatness.

    But somewhat ironically, it seems that after the past two years of lies, incompetence, and corruption we do now need to make America great again, correct some of the harm and hurt that has been imposed on our people and the foundations of our society by Trump and his followers.  We overcame the harm done by Nixon, Reagan, and Bushes. Let’s hope we can overcome the harm being done by Trump and the GOP.