November 6, 2020 – Growing up, and for most of my adult life, America was the gold standard and the barometer of success. It has been anything but that for the last four years.
It was sad to watch the train wreck that has been their leader. He’s no longer “the leader of the most powerful country in the free world”. He has become a laughing stock to those outside of his sphere of influence. People used to mock him privately. Now it’s open season to the point where he was called “an obese turtle flailing on his back in the hot sun”.
I don’t feel sorry for him. He spent the last four years name calling and bullying and, possibly/probably, worse. It only got worse as election time approached. It’s karma, in a way. However, the sad part is that he’s dragged good people down with him into the mud. Would a respected journalist have used that metaphor four years ago? I don’t know. But I think it just shows how far down the path of ugliness things have descended.
Most people are tired of the crap. Most have had enough. A lot of people have been shining a light on his lies for a very long time. Politicians have tried various things to rein him in but to no avail. I, for one, thought he’d be thoroughly trounced in this election because, to quote Howard Beal from Network, people are “mad as hell and…not going to take it anymore.” Yet he still appealed to over 70 million people. Is the old saying “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me” true? There’s a cross section of people who believed the lies, the taunts, and the hatred that poured out of his mouth.
I watched Stephen Colbert’s monologue from last night. You could see the anguish on his face and hear it in his voice. He called out the president for his lies and then called out his enablers for condoning it with their silence. Then he did the bravest thing – he said he would not be airing one minute of the press conference. Sometimes I wish that everyone had done that. Giving focus and air time to lies only perpetuates them.
I’m sure there will be a lot of people cheering when the results are finally announced. There will probably also be a lot of people enjoying his defeat. They will squeal with glee as they watch him leave with his tail between his legs. I won’t say that I hope that things go back to the way they were in 2016 because that’ is wrong. I hope things get better. I hope the American people get through this and become a nation of people who care about things that are important. I truly hope they become great again.
Diary of a DOW 