Skip to main content

 It's been a long couple of months, this week so far.

Know what I mean?

Election day in the time of pandemic. Election day in the time of a fractured country. Election day in the time of a president who openly courts only half of the country and claims "you're either with me or against me." According to Walter Issacson, the historian, “What we have lost is the sense that we are one nation, all in this together. Donald Trump is the first president in our history who has sought to divide us rather than unite us. We will heal once he leaves, but the scar will endure.” Election day when the arbiter of this election may once again be the Supreme Court if the Electoral College doesn't give the result the president wants.



I was struck this weekend by the essays in the New York Time, under the umbrella of "What We've Lost", in particular the one by Maureen Dowd, 'Sharknado Goes to Washington". She wrote "The most bizarre fact that sticks in my head is this: In 2015, Donald Trump was agonizing over whether to go for the role as the president in “Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!” or to run for the actual presidency," she said. "How did we go from Abraham Lincoln to a “Sharknado” reject?"

I was so struck about much in this column and was inspired to write a response. I really didn't imagine it would be published, but it was and was then selected as one of the NYT Times Picks. I can tell you that this once aspiring journalist had a moment of awe that my byline, so to speak, was in the NYT!! If you're reading this, or have ever read my blog, my writing style isn't really NYT worthy. And it's just online, and it's just a response to an editorial. But still, it's my glass is half full take away from this week so far.

Here's what I wrote:


"Four years ago seems a lifetime. I had such hope and was filled with joy at the possibilities of the first female president. ‘At last, at last we’re equal at last’, I mused. 

Your reminiscences Ms. Dowd of mothers gathering their daughters, reminded me of that hope and promise. That morning after, one of shock, led to the realization that we had been complacent because the choice was so obvious (the most qualified candidate versus a reality tv star). That morning after also reminded us that a little thing like the Electoral College is the ultimate arbiter.

 So we marched in our pink hats and felt empowered and in my mind he wasn’t going to last. Certainly his nefarious dealings would lead to his ouster. I would wake up daily, saying ‘is he out yet?’. Like you, I have friends and family that are Trumpers largely because of their support for anti-choice and/or relaxation of tax codes and regulations on businesses. I have grown used to being the lone liberal in the room but prior to Trump we could still talk politics.

 It was never this divisive. I have been a positive thinker most of my life, even occasionally blogged as theglassishalf-full, but that sunny disposition has been mostly clouded over.

 And as I sit here this morning, my mindset is anxious and weary. I know I’m not alone. The dichotomy in mindsets, from four years ago, is truly a devastating picture of how much we have lost under Trump."

#nyt #maureendowd



Comments

Post a Comment

It's not a popularity contest, but ...

Going off the Rails on a Crazy Train

While getting an MRI recently, I selected to listen to a classic rock station. Actually I requested a station that played 70s or 80s music and the tech asked if I wanted pop or rock. "Well, classic rock would probably be better since I have to hold still," I responded. "If I listened to pop, I'd want to be dancing." And so I laid perfectly still while listening (or kind of listening since really in an MRI you never really drown out the loud bangs, whirs and booms). And it came to pass that the song "Crazy Train" started playing and I started to silently and stillfully laugh to myself. What a strangely perfect song for this moment in my life. Ozzy Osbourne was singing my song (has anyone ever really said that ever before???)! "I'm going off the rails on a crazy train," he sings/screams. (and a bunch of other lyrics I didn't understand because well, I was in an MRI and he was kind of screaming) You see the reason was that the MR...
Post a Comment
Read more

I had to use a calculator

I have been living with MS since 1992 - I used the calculator on my phone to determine that it's 29 years (because unlike the man pictured above my math skills are lacking). That's a long time and you don't need to be mathematically inclined to come to that conclusion. And when first diagnosed, my neurologist declared that with all the research he believed a cure was imminent likely 'within five years'. that would mean that we would have had the cure 24 years ago. We don't. So I am grateful I didn't wager any money on Dr. Wiley's prediction.  But what we do have, instead of a cure, is a plethora of pharmaceuticals to help stem this disease's progression and help us live fuller lives, longer. I am happy for that but am also curious and a tad skeptical because these drugs cost a person living with MS a lot of money and pharma has no financial incentive to search for the cure when they can keep us living less gimpy lives for many years reliant on their ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Now it looks like Christmas!

It's a snow globe out there! Only, with a real snow globe the snow eventually settles and the globe becomes clear. Not here though - the snow keeps falling and falling and falling. I'm sure that my Mom in Arizona is watching the weather channel and seeing this as a Ziggy-cloud of snow over the Piggins' house. A repeat of last winter and the one before that! Right now, I don't mind the snow so much. It's beautiful to look at from the warmth of my home. And it muffles sound, creating a greater sense of peace like we're wrapped in a blanket of snow. And here's a real bonus, it's looking like Christmas and since I still haven't taken down my tree or decorations I can almost fool myself that it's okay that I procrastinated! Today, I will look at my lighted Christmas tree, put a fire in the fireplace, sit on the couch with my 80-pound lap dog and read a book. My snow story will take on a much different tone in a few weeks when it still hasn't...
Post a Comment
Read more