IS IT REALLY A GAME?

        The clock was ticking. The hour grew close and we could not get the blasted thing to work. But it had to, for if not, we would have to wait a week and then find the time before the next one, and time was short, with the holiday and the travel. But finally, we succeeded and we watched, glued to the screen, wondering aloud at the nuances and the relationships, the questions raised and left unanswered and warmed to the courage of the people on the eve of their most likely destruction as death literally was just over the horizon.
     So is this just a game, an absorbing and suspenseful series with no connection to reality? Seriously, anyone notice three dragons flying through the skies above? Nope, those are drones, sorry. But actually, think about it.
     Who will live? Who will die? Who will remain with any wish or power or desire to rebuild the world? What will the cost be to the winners and losers and will that cost be too high to allow for a future that is brighter than the recent past. And in fact, how the hell did this mess develop into such monstrous proportions?
     It grew like our own game of thrones. No, we have no anointed king, but we sure as hell have someone who wishes to be one, or at least if not formally so named, then in all but name, bloated with the powers of an absolute monarch a la the 15th century! Yes, the man is a joke, provides laughter and shaking of the heads almost hourly, and yet people accept it with a shrug of the shoulders and an excuse, all the while maintaining that he has done so much for us! Wait just a minute while I recover from my choking fit.
     Never before have I seen a President act this way and get away with it, at least in my lifetime. Nixon resigned when his misdeeds were revealed, with all exposed to the public, and even the members of his party, the Republicans, stood behind the need for that. Clinton survived impeachment for his sexual adventures and lying, but the taint and the stain remained, flowing into and damaging the campaign of his wife who sure as shootin' would have made a better President than the fool we now have, the dangerous fool at that.
      We apparently have our own game of thrones and this time the villain has gathered unto his side the changelings of that same Republican party, the unmanned ones, the morally vacant ones, the cowards there only for the greed of their souls and certainly not for the people. Here, our 'council' of Republicans had only three! people speak out on the evil of the findings of the Report. Three!!! Where were the rest? Where the hell were they? Where the hell are they?
     And how could this still all be hanging over our heads, putting our future into deeply shadowed paths, the darkness encroaching upon us at ever increasing speed. Just as last night's Game was filmed in dark scenes, so too is our present situation for the light of the sun, of transparency, grows dimmer every day, every single day that Trump gets away with his sins, with his crimes, as he thinks the world is his for the taking - and we need to ask - is he right!!!
     No, we have not, as yet, raised our armies and have not yet raised the barricades, but how far are we from that? The militia took upon itself to serve as border patrol, that took migrants into custody, who put forth a vile video asking false questions, accusing the immigrants of kidnapping children, all the while it was our government that was and is committing the kidnapping and the mistreatment. Where do we end? Will we have or own standing armies, pulling down their helmets, readying the catapults, hoping to save the women and the children, as they oppose the army of Death marching down on them?
     While I had two days of peace, no mention of our own political evils, no paper received, no radio or TV, no computer and no phone alerts, the world evidently continued and it was all there waiting for me, for us. And make no mistake about it, for it has seeped into our literature as well and I wonder what future readers will think of this era when they read the sentences about "the idiot in the office" or the "fool" in the White House. I wonder how any thinking mind can not see the truth in the matter, cannot see the danger this man and his, portend for us.
     Yes, folks, even as we count down to the last episode of the marvelous series Game of Thrones, even as we bite our nails or cry as we see our heroes go down, we also need to remember that the Game is not only a Game for HBO, but an allegory for life, our life, and we need to choose and prepare. It is not really a game, is it?