Oh, what I really want to do is to just wake up to a non-eventful morning, enjoy a cup of coffee and maybe a piece of toast while reading a mostly non-eventful newspaper before my non-eventful bike ride down to Starbucks to have non-eventful conversations about essentially nothing.
But oh boy, are those days gone.
Once upon a time there was a guy with a nickname, “No-drama Obama.” Remember him? It’s almost hard to now, because well, there wasn’t much drama. Not too much out of the ordinary to grab your attention and memory by the huevos and really shake you up.
Eight mostly boring years. Once the greatest economic calamity since the Great Depression got successfully tamped down, every day was generally just a little bit better than the day before. Stocks generally a little bit higher. Employment a hundred or two hundred thousand higher each month, at a rather steady pace. Not too much international drama. No bimbos, whores, porn stars, or neo-Nazis traipsing around the White House.
English language used to be used the way it was supposed to be used. Grace and protocol used to be exemplified, dignifying the Office of the Presidency. Folks were appointed to the agencies they believed in, and the folks appointed knew what the hell they were supposed to be doing.
Ah, oh so boring, bland. And to top it off, we were respected internationally so much we could hardly stand it all. It’s gone. All gone.
Just today I woke up to learn that the FBI had raided the multiple offices of our President’s personal lawyer. Boy, that’s not been done before, not at least in my memory. Consider that fully. The FBI raided Trump’s lawyer’s office. It’s staggering in implications.
Seems there’s real problems with the payments to the whores and the porn stars that litter our President’s life. Too bad for America these cover-up payments happened just days before the presidential election. Knowing the President paid out $250,000 to shut up just two of his whores, can you imagine what he’s paid out to shut up others – perhaps with far more damning secrets?
Yet, there’s more. Trump’s threatening to fire the Special Counsel, Mueller. Something like that did happen once before and it ended up with Nixon walking out onto a helicopter on the White House lawn. I don’t think the folks calling themselves “Republicans” (whatever that means anymore) would have the moral integrity to actually impeach a traitorous president, however.
There’s still more. The folks over in accounting just ran the numbers again and it seems the Trump deficit is going to top one trillion dollars per year much sooner than thought. “The budget has run amok,” and around 2020 or 2022 things will really hit the fan for the next guy and for us. With persistent deficits like that, interest rates will be jacking up fast and you already know what happens when house loans hit 9 percent and car loans are 12 percent. Think it can’t happen? It’s happened twice in my life already.
And we’ve got a trade war on and solar panels and washing machines just took it hard. Already, America has lost tens of thousands of solar jobs – and in my own company we’ve seen millions in projects postponed. Thank you, Mr. President.
Each day the stock market gyrates 300, 400, 500 points up and down, twisting with the latest windbag tweets. “Presidential tweets.” Yes, they are as stupid as that sounds. And try investing in this market. Might as well spin the spinner on Jeopardy.
And still, there’s more. Robert Mueller has already charged 19 perps in Russia-gate – with apparently much more to come. Trump feels the heat getting far too close and each day there’s greater attacks from the President of the United States on our own justice system as “Witch Hunts,” “Fake News.” Never mind, we’re all learning just how badly this last election was hacked or influenced. It’s a witch hunt and we’re told not to give credence to the very heads of our nation’s law enforcement.
So, if Trump needn’t cooperate, should I bother paying my traffic ticket? Why stop for the cop? Seems what’s good for the geese should be good for the gander. Yet, every day there’s more insults to our top law enforcement leaders by the President himself. This is outrageous.
As when we just can’t take any more of this never-ending drama, we’re just starting with the super serious stuff, like a hot war in Syria – and just one little mistake of hitting the wrong Russians or shooting down the wrong fighter and watch out! Folks in the know are already sitting on the edge of their chairs and we’ve got a porn-star addict and Fox and Friends disciple pressing the levers of our military might.
A prayer for our souls: Dear God, if you’re out there, please save us from the chaos, the fear and hate mongering, the lies, the deceit, the economic mayhem, the loss of decency, the very real risk of very large wars. Please, oh please, help us return to days of normalcy, days of decency.”
Here’s a question to consider: When you go to bed each night can you reasonably accurately guess the headlines for the next morning. Yeah, I know. It’s terrifying. And all we want is a quiet cup of coffee and a boring visit with old pals and family.
Gary Horton is a Santa Clarita resident. His column, “Full Speed to Port!” appears Wednesdays.
in The Signal.
