PLOP PLOP FIZZ FIZZ

     While much of the country is suffering from Antarctica temperatures, you can breathe a sigh of relief. The Demented One will be nice and warm as he flies down to Mar a Lago to watch the game in the sunshine of Florida. Wonder if the plane will make a pickup stop at O'Hare to collect some poor freezing souls, like perhaps some of the homeless, or some of the federal workers who cannot afford to turn up the heat due to the shutdown and missed paychecks! Now that would be a heartwarming gesture. Or perhaps he can stop in some other city up there in the freezing zone and watch the game with them in a warming shelter. But, not to worry, for this will never happen.
     Another big load off one's shoulders. Eric Trump, whose main accomplishment in life seems to have been being born the son of the Demented One, has reassured us that he wants his father to declare a national emergency and use the military to build that damned wall and he knows, he really knows, that this is what the people of the country want! He knows. Wow.
     Top that heartwarming bit of news with the understanding that he is not alone there with Daddy. Sister Ivanka is doing her best, especially as she has more time now to meddle in national affairs since her business is tanking. And for extra help, or the cherry On top, do not forget Jared, the son in law, who at such a young age has almost overnight developed a sense of history, a talent for political maneuvering and a potpourri of knowledge so wide and deep that he can cover at least six or seven major roles and responsibilities! And all of these plus not to forget, Junior, all of them, so blessed to be Daddy's children and we are so lucky that they deign to help us, the people of this country. Are you puking your guts out yet?
     Meanwhile, those of us who are Jewish now have to worry that we are living in a retro time wherein the prejudice, the hatred, the bias, are there, as usual, more outspoken again than for many years, but now we have also returned to the time when Jews are freely hunted and shot down. Plans to kill as many worshippers as he could on a Shabbat, especially aiming for the Rabbi, and at least the dude is arrested. But how many more of these are out there? How many more are out there on the other end of the spectrum with plans to bomb Muslim towns or places of worship? Where has all this hatred, this vicious hatred, come from and why is it seemingly ever more increasing in acceptance and defended with excuses? Me? It all comes from the top, from a Demented One who has made it okay to spew hatred, to speak nasty stuff, to boast about wrongdoing, to brag about misdeeds and how one has gotten away with it all.
     And while much of the population of this country does not trust the Republicans or Trump any more - and about time - there are many of those, particularly among the millennials and younger, who turn away from the news, trying to keep the nastiness out of their lives. They do not understand that if one is silent, well, the flood will reach  them too. Indifference, willful blindness, is not the answer and indeed, is part of the problem.
     And what do we say to those of the older generation who also turn their heads and noses away from some unpleasant situations. Here in CV we have an increasingly dead from the neck up population who manage to live in a dream world where the Village will function without any input from them, without their fulfilling their parts in the script. It must be added, though, that they are also weary of the Sisyphean task of trying to get some input into the administration here. What we have is an increasingly tighter and tighter circle of those who control the spending of our funds, what does and does not happen within the Village, and are now heavily into changing by laws so that their power play will be enforced and the law of the land.
    People have tired of banging their heads against that locked door. They have been insulted, called names, accused of being like 'the German people' or the population of enemy countries. They have been shut out of offices and volunteer positions. One has to suck up to the 'leader' if one is to get anywhere. Sound familiar. So people have just about created a shutdown of their own not coming to the delegate assembly, to such a degree that the quorum needed to proceed was lowered! Cannot even get 144 or so people once a month to show up for an hour or an hour and  a half and behave like humans, talk and debate. Nope, perhaps they are out on the pickle ball court, or whining about the tennis courts, or trying to take over pools, but they are certainly not at the meetings!
     There is a forum to get to know the officers running this year. It used to be held in the theater in order to accommodate those who came to hear them speak. but this year? Nope. It is being held in a small room, with not many chairs, and the candidates themselves will take up much of the space inside so why the hell would anyone think they were welcomed to this. In any case, for the most part, it is the same old, same old, recycled names and people, so what is the use!!! But the use is simple. Use it or lose it! Use the power of one's vote in order to return the situation to its proper place. Instead of lowering the bar, ask why is there so little interest, growing in direct proportion to the number of years that someone has hijacked the seat as president, cancelling the term limits, and bringing his best buddies along with him for the ride. This is a ride which is hurting us, badly. Hmmm, wonder if Mueller will open an investigation here once he is finally finished exposing the muck of the Trump administration? Would certainly be interesting.
     In any case, the situation all over seems to be crappy. Is there, can there be, a solution to it?Certainly, it would require at the very least level, for people to wake up what is between their ears, open their willfully blind eyes, and do something. Speak up. Stop being nasty to an opponent at the assembly. Open one's ears to truly hear what is being said and wow, magic! There is wisdom is much of what is being said. There is much to be gained by debate and compromise.
     So while our country is freezing, another direct consequence of the global warming, let us unfreeze our brains, our minds, and try to return all of us to a democracy, not wishful dictatorships, not the nastiness of politics as they are today. Let us all be Americans. Period. And would it not be great if there was such  simple answer - just plop in the political version of Alka Seltzer and there ya' go. "Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is." But it is not so simple. We must, MUST, act to save our democracies, wherever they are under attack and trust me, they are under attack.