THE DECAY INSIDE

     Many had friends and acquaintances who were suffering from a debilitating disease or syndrome, yet looked wonderful on the outside. Or, have seen the sudden burst of energy and lucidity from one perched on  the very edge of death. I believe it is the physical body being overcome by the mind and inner strength of the person, the need to communicate, to appear as part and parcel of society. Their outside hides the inner decomposition that is taking place until suddenly, it is right there.
     This is comparable to the state of our country today. However, our outer beauty, our appearance of or as a country with an inner peace and mission, as a country blessed with both quality and quantity, and as a country who knows that it is judged by how it treats its weakest and neediest citizens, well, that country is long gone. Eaten away inside by worms of insecurity, distrust of the very government which is supposed to oversee it all, the stench of ever increasing violence amid the swamp of hatred and bias, a president who encourages that violence - well, the country has had no chance these past four years to keep us whole, inside and out.
     The rot spreads, evidently catching, contagious to a high level. Shivers should have run down the spine of society as Germans, waving red and black flags, stormed the Reichstag, attempting to get in, shouting all the while Nazi slogans, faces distorted with hate and yes, insanity, an inner madness and rot that has grown so deep and so malignant that that it now comes right through to the open view of all. One cannot remain sane in the midst of all that is going on, certainly not if one yields to the temptation to become one of them, to take on his/her own wisp of power, puffing them up with self importance and murderous ability to inflict harm and even death to others, to perceived enemies. Unfortunately for mankind, this thematic behavior and beliefs have grown around the world including right here in the very country meant to challenge despotism, to stand as the bulwark of democracy. We have failed.
     Worse than failure are the consequences and the causes. The main cause here is a president surrounded by those who cater to his every insane whim, who enable him to spread his poisonous verbal trash even as he cheers on violence, blames it on others and speaks approvingly and sympathetically of a murderer, never mentioning the truth, the victim shot dead. The damage to society has now grown exponentially, almost to the point of no return.
     The worst of it all is actually multifold. The rust of lies eating away at the trust for government. The worms of doubt casting great suspicion on the outcome of the election. Who will meddle? Will anyone meddle successfully? What about ballots in various forms? Most horrifying - the vision of the implosion of our nation as the current illegitimate President refuses to concede, remains in the WH, instigating yet another constitutional crisis, one to an existential threat level. The blood on the streets as the military is called in to evict him, the militias of all sides joining in with assault rifles, tear gas, grenades, treating each other, neighbors, friends and family, as enemies to be hunted down, shot and or imprisoned.
     Nor is the other version any better, perhaps even worse. Should that man and his ugly cohorts win, well, there goes the nation. Shut the windows and lock the doors, for here come the thugs, glorified in uniforms of death, hunting down the "terrorists" of Trump's mind. Here come the enemies of mankind, the Trump children, perhaps even worse than their father. Here comes the "patriotic education" that Trump touts, a metaphor for enforced political education of the most awful kind, forced, false, destructive of any good and hope and progress for America and indeed, for mankind.
     Then, of course, we have the great fear that such a win could only arise through vast and nefarious machinations and interference in the vote and its count. What then?
     There is no scenario that appears to leave us with hope, with trust, with a leader to actually lead, to help us solve the huge issues facing us today. The COVID crisis exacerbated by the criminal neglect and mishandling by Trump. The economic crises set in motion as a result. The growing plague of hunger and homelessness, with so many families affected. The growing hatred between citizens, the nastiness with which we treat immigrants and migrants, indeed, all we do not like.
     Today there is a rumor going around that Trump's mysterious visit to Walter Reed last year was a result of a series of mini strokes and Pence, the Devil's Spawn, was on stand by. Oy vey!! Is that story hard to believe? Not at all, for the man has obviously been going from bad to worse, his dementia overtaking his limited thinking power, such as it ever was. Money and bluster cover up many sins. Consequently, we are now living under a demented person of meanness, of pettiness, a most dangerously incapable man who refuses to cede power, to admit his lack of qualifications and indeed, any redeeming quality to him at all!!
     The decay inside our nation is deep, corrosive and growing. Every day we grow closer and closer to a despotic, tyrannical state of America. Every day we grow closer and closer to full blown Civil War, and if you believe that it never will happen, well, it has already begun. Just pick up any paper, magazine, newscast and read the truth. Feel the danger deep within your soul, for no person will be immune to this awful state of being.
     Folks, be watchful, very much so. Be strong in your determination to keep America as it should be. Elect a person willing to fix our problems, at least make a start to necessary processes rather than making it worse. Vote for one who knows history, who respects history, who learns from history, who truly loves our country. Certainly not a Captain Bonespurs whose country is the bottom line of the Trump Organization and he has run his presidency with that bottom line in mind, gulping huge helpings of funds from the public trough.
      VOTE! Mail in. Bring in. Bring those of others. Drive people to voting sites. Help the elderly and those who need aid. Bottles of water in the heat, an umbrella in the rain. A chair to rest upon. Encouragement to do their civil right and duty and VOTE!! Save our nation. Save ourselves.
    Now the figures of death grow apace with over 183,000 dead and over 6 million infected. Those numbers chill me to the very bone marrow. VOTE for an administration and leaders who value life, not flick it away as of little or no importance. VOTE.