April 23, 2020

T-Boned by Politics


*buries face in hands*


All right, let’s hit it again, I guess.

I've been losing a lot of sleep lately.  For three nights in a row, there was a point where I’d wake up at three, three thirty in the morning -- and because I had to twist and turn to check the time, that pretty much guaranteed I’d stay wide awake for an extra two hours.  That’s on top of instances where (potentially) I’d wake up even earlier than that, and subtract ever more from my pool of forty winks.  Not the best way to start a morning, whether you’ve got work to commute to or simply want to laze the day away.

I’m no stranger to less-than-restful nights, but I am surprised that I hit the hat trick with insomnia on that very specific time.  Maybe it’s purely coincidental.  Or maybe it has something to do with my neighbors; I’ve been hearing a lot more baby-wailing than I have in weeks and months prior.  Maybe I’m just not adjusting to seasonal temperature changes, because every time I think winter’s over, I’m backhanded by 40-degree chills to preemptively ruin my day…either that, or I have to peel off my sweat-soaked clothes in the dead of night.  Maybe it’s all just stress.

Like I have any right to complain.  I’m still alive, while as of writing, more than 40,000 Americans aren’t.

I have a hard time grasping that.  At best, I can only wrestle with it -- with the fact that so many people have suffered in such a short amount of time, and still more are currently suffering.  It’s not just those that are infected with COVID-19; it’s the essential workers who have had to put themselves on the line to keep some semblance of society running.  It’s the innocents caught in the crossfire who have had to put their lives on hold.  It’s the people in power -- the good people, up and down the ladder -- who have had to make tough decisions and deal with the death tolls personally.  Each new victim is another ball and chain on their heart.  There aren’t enough ways to thank those who are doing their best to help others in trying times, and no way to do it without coming off as insincere or self-serving.  But I’ll give it a shot and say the only thing I can to those who deserve praise most: thanks.

You know what isn’t quite so hard, though?  Saying unkind words to those who have landed us in this mess -- and/or seem to gleefully make things worse at every turn.  The fact that we’re all facing a global pandemic is bad enough.  Worse that so many have lost their lives to something that, in various ways, was entirely preventable.  But you know what?  Maybe it wouldn’t sting as much, or at all, if we just had someone we could count on.  Someone or something who, if not capable of building up safeguards to save us in the first place, could at least do everything to save those who remain.

Instead we’ve got a sandy tangerine calling the shots.  Shit.

I mean…shit.  There’s been more than enough proof over the last 3.5 years (give or take) that Donald Trump isn’t fit to run a lemonade stand, much less a country.  But he’s still the president because reasons.  Just think about how many times and how many ways he’s proven that he’s not worthy of the office.  I say that specifically, because prior to writing this post, I thought about making a mock-up of “The Top 10 Worst Things Trump Has Ever Done”, but I couldn’t.  There are too many worst things that he’s ever done. 

Remember that time he thought it’d be cool to buy Greenland?  Or that time when he said we can’t use wind turbines more because they cause cancer?  Or when he tried to pass off his inauguration as the biggest ever and had his toadies lie about it on his behalf?  Or when he sympathized with Nazis?  Or when he put children in cages?  Or when he backed the whole country out of a landmark pact for climate change?  Or when he threw together a slipshod travel ban to stick it to those of the Muslim faith?  Or when he ensured the longest government shutdown ever just because he wanted money for his big dumb wall of racism that won’t work while using lawful immigrants as a bargaining chip? 

Or when he threw his own intelligence committee under the bus so he could side with his pal Putin?  Or when he sold out our longtime allies in the Middle East and left them to die?  Or when he told four congresswomen to go back to their own countries, even though three of them were U.S. natives?  Or when he almost started World War III?  Or when he got played by North Korea and furthered their quest for legitimacy and nuclear arms?  Or when he started a trade war with anyone he could, including our allies, mostly because he didn’t understand how tariffs work?  Or when he let his friends and family get positions and wealth in a sterling display of nepotism?  Or when he helped guarantee a needless tack cut for the super-wealthy?  Or when he tried to gut healthcare for a society packed with an aging populace?

That’s not a complete list.  I know it’s not.  It’s just the stuff that comes to mind the fastest.  But the worst part about it is that, not too long ago, we could have been done with this.  We could have dumped the rotting apricot and moved on with our lives -- with our country.  Trump got impeached for abusing his power (extorting Ukraine for political gain), and the cover-up slapped him with obstruction of justice charges.  That should’ve been it.  Granted there were a thousand other credible reasons why he should have been shown the door -- the crimes, the profiteering, the constitutional crises he sparked at least once a month, the obvious mental issues and unfitness for office because holy shit -- but fine.  The Democrats wanted to get him on something that couldn’t be disputed.  Hard evidence of crimes.  A smoking gun.  Mueller did what he could, but Trump slithered his way out of Russian meddling.  With the Ukraine incident?  They had him.

Except the GOP decided to run interference.  Every Republican senator -- save for one, and even then, he just voted on one impeachment charge -- decided not to convict the obvious criminal of his obvious crimes.  They decided to shrug.  Let it rock.  Argue that there was no evidence to convict, even though they refused to listen to or even allow the evidence to be presented.  Accuse the Democrats of being partisan (which is true, but only because every fucking Republican decided to stonewall the process).  Say that Trump “learned his lesson”.  And now the human mango thinks he wears a crown.

It’s been a rough four years for democracy, guys.

Well, GOP?  This is what you wanted, right?  You wanted Trump to keep being the president?  To steer this country?  To keep it running, and by extension filling your pockets with bribes from lobbyists, CEOs, and billionaire donors?  Well, here you go.  Wish granted.  40,000 dead Americans.  People afraid to leave their houses, and those that do have to slap on masks like there’s a poison miasma all around.  The economy you’ve been so proud of and touted whenever it was time to praise Trump?  Yeah, kiss that shit goodbye.  Hiring has stalled, jobs have been lost, bills have hit hard, money’s dried up, the flow of goods has sagged, businesses have collapsed, and there’s a non-zero chance that we’re en route to another Great Depression. 

You guys know that if you want to keep looting the country, there actually has to be a country to loot, right?  Though that does beg the question: why?  A quick Google search says that the average age of the current set of senators is almost 62.  What do you even need all that money for?  What do any of you uber-rich guys need it for?  Can’t take it with you to the afterlife.  What, are you planning to be buried with it like a pharaoh?  Want to earn enough to have pyramids built in your honor?  Need to earn the big bucks to put your brains into undying robot god-kings?  Or are you all big fans of Neill Blomkamp and want to make that movie Elysium a reality?  If that’s the case, who’s going to build your space haven when the people who could are too broke, sick, stupid, or dead?

Maybe I just don’t get it.  Maybe I just can’t get it.  I’m not a rich, old, straight, white, Christian male.  I am two of those things, but monetarily speaking?  I had a mini-crisis when I realized I’d been stress-eating muffins so much that they basically counted as another bill.  Still, I guess the tradeoff is that I’m not as severely divorced from reality as those in power.  That’s a benefit, I’d say.  A blessing. Their power is fragile, if not a façade.  They’ve gamed the system so much that holding onto power by any means necessary is the only thing keeping them alive.  Take that away, and what’s left?  They’re so isolated from the real world that I have a hard time imagining any of these guys enjoying their dinner at a local restaurant.  Not without getting heckled into oblivion.  (Just ask Mitch McConnell.)

This crisis is on you, GOP.  You, and all your partners in crime.  The deep-pocketed businessmen pulling the strings from their ivory towers.  The propagandists on Fox News and more, singing songs about the glory of the economy and Dear Leader while actively worsening the pandemic with misinformation.  The conspirators abroad whose campaigns and trolling have shattered discourse in the country…which means that if it falls, every other country is in trouble too by virtue of our inexorably-connected, globalized society…but whatever. 

At the end of the day, this is about Trump.  This is his crisis -- something he owns, no matter how much he refuses to take responsibility.  It’s ours by proxy, because even though we just want to live our lives, we’re the ones who have even more suffering forced upon us.  We’re the ones who’ve been hassled by the country’s broken systems, with the pandemic both shining a light on those problems and turning the remains into dust.  Donald Trump will never understand the pain and plights of the American people, with or without a deadly virus on the loose.  He doesn’t have to.  He’s insulated himself from the consequences of his actions -- and no matter how much we shout at him, or point out basic tenets of reality, or cry our last desperate pleas before our eternal slumbers, he won’t feel a thing.  Except anger, because someone dared to say something about him that wasn’t blind praise.

Trump’s handling of the outbreak has been poor at best.  This is fact; otherwise, we wouldn’t have states locked down, masks abound, and a death toll worse than entire wars.  It didn’t have to be like this.  It wouldn’t have been in the first place if we had a competent leader (or an administration/government branches interested in doing their jobs and not being sycophantic grifters).  We could have had watchdogs and health experts in place to completely shut down the COVID-19 spread, or at least cooperate with those in power to contain it before it ran wild.  But because Trump is Trump -- and by extension, someone hell-bent on undoing everything his far superior predecessor did -- he thought it would be a good idea to gut and cut our safeguards ages ago.  And in his infinite wisdom, Captain Kumquat decided to cut funding for the WHO…in the middle of the pandemic.

Even if it had a one-in-a-million shot of actually working out, people were counting on Trump to see them through the crisis.  They still are.  What I don’t get, of course, is why it’s so hard for Trump to do anything about it.  I mean, he’s the president.  He doesn’t have to personally build or deliver any of the supplies needed.  He doesn’t have to treat the sick, or work feverishly to find a cure.  He has to delegate.  He needs to provide some semblance of direction -- of stability, and peace of mind in times as rough as these.  But nope.  Hospitals are stuffed, and its workers are struggling, especially because they don’t have the supplies they need.  States are being forced to compete with each other for a respite, and have turned to getting materials from abroad, for all the help the federal government is giving. 

Meanwhile, Trump and crew are turning this crisis into a chance to profit.  His son-in-law is a part of the task force.  They’re hoarding supplies and selling them off, likely to those who bend at the knee to Big Papa Papaya.  We’ve had weeks of daily briefings, and they’ve been universally embarrassing at best.  Those that press Trump for details get slammed.  And peace of mind?  Fat chance.  He gets lobbed a softball question, the perfect PR op, and he completely misreads it as an attack on him (for whatever reason) and says “you’re a terrible reporter.”

Shit.

Okay.  You know what?  Forget it.  Let’s play a game.  Let’s say that, in spite of all the news, the end results, and reality itself, Trump’s response prior to the outbreak -- or lack thereof -- isn’t his fault.  I’ll play devil’s advocate for a minute and say, for argument’s sake, that he isn’t responsible for everything that’s happened.  Let’s pretend that Trump isn’t the one that helped cause all this.  Okay?  Okay.  Clean slate for the president.  So, with that mindset in place, here’s the question that still remains.  Here’s the proof that this man isn’t the right one for the job.

Even if we work under the context of Trump not being the problem, what’s stopping him from being the solution?  What’s stopping him from being the hero he sees himself as?

We need action.  We need a plan.  We need a steady hand.  Intelligence.  Leadership.  Vision.  Reassurance.  Reliability.  Answers.  Effort.  Materials, personnel, supply chains, negotiations.  Initiative.  As one of the most powerful people in the world, Trump is in a position that few others could even dream of.  If he’s so keen to flout constitutional standards and practices, then he could do so for a good cause.  Have him sign executive orders to get the ball rolling -- supplies produced and sent out en masse to everyone that needs them.  Bring together the sharpest minds in the medical field and beyond for consultation, and relay information to the people -- with Trump himself acting as an unrivaled signal booster.  Cooperate with Congress to provide financial relief to the battered American populace, even if it means (gasp!) pulling money from the bloated military budget.

Trump screwed up.  But in both the hypothetical situation and in reality, he can take steps to set things right.  To be the hero America, and the world, needs right now.  Except…he won’t.  He isn’t going to.  He can’t.  He’s proven during his presidency -- and his whole life, arguably -- that he doesn’t have what it takes to be a hero.  In order to do that, you have to have a genuine sense of virtue.  You have to be able to feel for people, before or after they’ve been hurt -- and because of it, you need the drive to support them no matter what.  Asking Trump to do that is like asking a peach to do the Charleston. 

He’s tried to get people to take drugs that either won’t help or will come close to killing them.  He’s spreading misinformation, either through his trusted Fox News or by way of suppressing the truth from those in the know.  He’s pushing to reopen the states and get businesses running again, all to prop up the economy and thus put wind in his reelection sails -- even if it’ll cause another viral outbreak.  He’s actively cheering on those who would break stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines.  Why?  I dunno.  I guess they said nice things about him once, so they’ve got his full support even if it means guaranteeing that the virus ventures on and more people die.

*sigh*

You know…this isn’t a political blog.  It’s about video games, and writing, and movies, and anime, and storytelling, and whatever else crosses my mind.  Among those, Persona 5 Royal has my attention right now.  Or half of it, what with Final Fantasy 7 Remake strangling the zeitgeist.  Pound for pound, though, P5R is the more socially relevant of the two; the whole crux of its story is about wronged, marginalized and innocent youths using metaphysical powers to take on the criminal adults plaguing society.  I won’t deny that there’s something inherently juvenile about the game; setting aside the main cast being a bunch of teens, even at its best it’s still a wish fulfillment/power fantasy about taking down the man.

Damned if that’s not what we’re all craving deep down, though.  Without going into spoilers, P5’s original version in 2017 had shades of the Trump era baked into its messaging.  Now that that era’s fully taken root, the early stages of the updated Royal rerelease has got me sweating over how our darling clementine has upended society.  The main cast becomes “Phantom Thieves” to force the corrupted to confess their crimes and reform.  I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wish we had something of the sort in the real world to save us from seemingly-untouchable villains.  (Ask me about my self-insert OC.  I dare you.)

Back when I first played the game in 2017, I named my group of Thieves the “Crusaders”, along with stars on each side because haha funny Jojo reference.  This time around?  I went with “Noblesse”, AKA one half of noblesse oblige -- the duty of those with privilege to help and show grace to those who haven’t been so lucky.  Power should belong to the just, and be used justly.  That’s kind of what I believe in deep down.  But the Trump Era has put a bullet in that philosophy; its rotund ringleader has no interest in fulfilling his obligations.  And because of that, he’s the locomotive for a whole train of criminals -- businessmen, congressmen, propagandists, evangelists, and a healthy smattering of racists.  Virus or otherwise, we need reform.  Desperately.  Otherwise, the mad king will keep treating the country as his palace.  To hell with anyone else.

We can’t count on him.  But in exchange?  We can count on each other.  We, without power or prestige, without titles or territories, can still do what we can to keep our society intact.  By no means am I saying “let’s all gather around and sing songs”, unless you want to become a viral cesspool.  I’m saying that we need to uphold our virtues -- our aesthetic, our vision of what America should be -- if those in power keep abdicating both their duties and basic civility. 

So let’s do it.  Flatten the curve.  Show thanks to those who are still striking out, and be thankful for those who are in this alongside you.  Stay safe as best you can, and trust people who actually have your health in mind.  Things are rough right now, no doubt, but we’ll get through this together.  And when we do?  We all know there’s only one way to fully solve this problem. 

We’re a long way from November.  But when it gets here?  It’s gonna be a show to remember.


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