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MAGA hat upgrade; Make America Livable Again

I no longer recognize my country. I used to feel I could take pride in the knowledge I lived in a country that was the envy of the world, a place with an equal enough playing field that those bold enough to dream big stood a better than even chance, with hard work, that their dreams could be realized. In that world, no one ever heard tales of people having to hold down two, or even three jobs in order to pay their rent. Homelessness, on the scale experienced today, was nonexistent.

Back then, people might not have always agreed with whoever the president was at the moment, but they nonetheless viewed him with the admiration and respect befitting the office. Oh, how far we have descended in such a short time! Our forefathers would bow their heads in shame were they here today to witness the spectacle our infantile “commander in chief” has made of the office. They would also have little good to say about his defenders who pervert the meaning of the constitution on an hourly basis in defense of the indefensible.

Not only do the trumpublicans seem to have lost all touch with any remaining vestiges of the values they once professed to possess; they have also parted ways with reason as evidenced by their hollow and insubstantial protestations and pleadings in the face of mounting evidence of their “leader’s” wrongdoing.

It would be nice if, instead of ignoring the obvious—that their boss is a crook– they were to behave responsibly and acknowledge the level of corruption staring them in the face, so that we could all have a real discussion about how to get things back on course: It would be equally nice if we could have universal healthcare and world peace. But what would be really nice is if we could all agree that none of this other stuff is going to matter a whit if we don’t address the real wolf at our door—climate change.

I don’t profess to understand what passions animate these people on the climate denial bus to throng like lemmings toward the cliffs of environmental apocalypse, yet there’s no denying the zeal with which they are pressing forward with the dismantling of all the hard-won regulations designed to protect the air we all breathe and the water we all drink. Perhaps they believe their money will save them, but even that belies a shocking degree of narcissism.

History will not look kindly upon the role played by mr trump and his supporters in the demolishment of life as we know it that is currently underway. In that context, the decline of American influence in the world will be seen as a factor contributing to the environmental catastrophe that will surely follow if we don’t come to our collective senses very soon.

Tim Konrad

November 16, 2019