SAY WHAT?

  At times these days we have to wonder, "did I really hear that? or "did he/she really say that?" We check the screen, we check our eyes and ears, and wonder what the heck is going on today, in this apparently warped world -and, excuse the pun - doing so at Star Trek warp speed. We are taking a wormhole of our own production, based on tales woven out of nothing but vile, putrid hatred, and absolute madness. 

"Enough is enough with the "stolen election" mantra. It clearly can lead to a dark, dangerous place and must be shut down. Only one person has the power to stop this in its tracks: Donald Trump. For the good of our republic, he should quickly condemn all talk of a "coup" and encourage his followers to peacefully and legally work within our political system to make their voices heard. That is what patriotic Americans do."

Those are words of reality and truth, an ugly truth, but say what reaction or not, this is the current state of affairs in these here United States of America. Damningly so. What are we going to do about this? When do we go into survival mode and is it too late? Why have we procrastinated, refused to believe what was taking place right before our eyes? Why were we deaf and blind to the troubled future? Why did we sit and bemoan rather than take action? Why?

Why? Because though far seeing pundits and think tanks and plain old people like me spoke of the dangers of Trump and Trumpism, warned of his dictatorial aims and goals, his insanity that threatened, more and more, the actual continued existence of this country as we know it - or rather as we knew it, we spoke into a too slowly evaporating vacuum of reality. We are almost at the point when American democracy will be referred to in the past tense, with all current and future thoughts being Big Brother controlled. The extreme religious right. The fake and dangerous 'patriots'. The crazed but believed Rep. who advocates elimination of education because it teaches the wrong things! What? Like thinking for oneself? Like adhering to the Constitution? Like guarding our country against dangerous people who aim to overthrow the legitimate government?

What exactly are we saying here and why, oh why, are too many people refusing to hear it, to follow the trail back and forth to the true goal - a coup one way or another. Michael Flynn, the pardoned by Trump felon, asks, openly, questioning, proposing, why can we not have a Myanmar style coup here? "It should happen here," That is what he says. That is what was cheered. That is what we are ignoring or just beginning to hear. Too late? Too slow? Too little?

For months I have been writing of this man and his followers, shouting out to all and sundry about the definite and obvious plans of this demented but dangerous man, running right along the path of Hitler and other dictators throughout history, with the deluded plebes following in his wake. Like lemmings, we, too, are following Trump et al, right over the cliff, falling to the existential death of this country, of democracy, of hope, of a future. 

"That there exists even the smallest undercurrent of such a completely un-American coup fantasy in the minds of some citizens is the stuff of nightmares. It's a fuse that must never be lit."  This is the only way to approach this whole mess. But then ask the question of yourself - can that horse be restabled? Questionable. At best.

Say what about the increasingly spouted and spewed statement, a strong and growing belief that Trump will be "reinstated" in August - now with an addition to that belief, that the GOP majority in the Senate will be reinstated at the same time. Folks, this is not democracy. This is danger. Pure and simple. The fact that finally, those who have been shouting, spitting into the wind, lo these many a month, are now being heard, well, it does not obviate the fact that we have wasted too much time, allowed too strong a growth of the roots of evil.

Read the following statements and think, wonder, say what, ask it of yourself. Then ask yourself what is upon you to do? We laughed Trump off. We tried to continue to do so, ignored his obvious derangement and dementia, his IQ, apparently lower than his age, and for that inaction and blindness, we reaped what we wrought. Environmental danger. Loss of public lands. Loss of humanity as we shredded the social safety net, abandoned our humanity in the face of differing ethnicities, religions and races. We boasted along the line of Noem, who said "My people are happy" even as she ignores they had the highest death rate due to COVID, ignoring the facts and reality that Trump and crew, their incompetence, their criminal incompetence, led to this situation. But - truth is not a factor in their world. Newspeak in real life.

We demoralized the world, turned our backs on our allies and embraced the authoritarian philosophy of our enemies. We engendered hatred, the growth of prejudice, the mounting deaths of Blacks, deciding that capital punishment was fair for traffic offenses or even for a felony. We trashed the Brown, attacked the Asian, and, as always, decided that once more, the Jews are at fault, so let's kill them, destroy them, once and for all.

This is the Trump statement released Saturday. Yes, yesterday. We are not done with this fight yet. Or are we? Say what? Jan. 6 again. For always? 

"I want to thank everybody for the tremendous support you've shown. We're gonna take back the Senate, take back the House, we're gonna take back the White House and sooner than you think," Trump said'

Now the other side of the coin.

"warned that he presents a "clear and PRESENT danger to our democratic society and national stability."

"Trump has the ability to kill and destroy with the spoken word. His words; his lies, delusions and conspiracy theories have caused bloodshed. That is what happened on January 6th. His words will surely kill again," 

 Folks, clear as the nose on your face. Clear as once was within this country. Now, we have a choice. Say what?? SAY WHAT?  SAY WHAT!!!!!