TrumpLand v. America

As you may know, I am approaching my 90^th Birthday this year. And I don’t know if it is related, but I seem more preoccupied of late with what seems to be the rapid deterioration of the Republican Party.  I think I have been paying attention to Presidential politics since I was in my early teens, maybe even before, since there was that WW II thing, with FDR leading our Nation.  I voted in 1952. With Ike running away with the National vote. Ike was our President til 1960, and he was a good one, despite being Republican.  Republicans, it seems to me, have been going downhill ever since. I mean, we have elected Nixon, Reagan, Shrub and then, ugh, Trump.  Think on that. Regardless of whether you loved or hated Ronald Reagan, how does Donald Trump make you feel? I mean, it’s like the entire Republican Party just jumped off the Empire State Building.

But then, we seemed to have regained our mental acuity and threw out Trump and brought in Joe Biden. And yeah, I know, Joe is old.  He’s coming up on 82 this November. On the other hand, Trump is coming up on 78, and he seems already in some early dementiaLand. I think, had I my own way, America would be voting for someone in, maybe his fifties or sixties for President. On the other hand, if we elect Joe and, God forbid, something happens to disable him, we have Kamala to step in. And she seems to me a fine replacement. But there’s another bothersome issue. People seem appalled at the idea that Kamala might become President. But why? Kamala Harris seems bright, thoughtful, ethical and kind.  She might well make a great President. Yet Americans seem to hate her. And I cannot figure out why.

But as we drift jerkily towards November, America seem increasingly adrift in some rapids, in which if we shift in one direction, towards the right, we begin to head over Niagara Falls.  And then it’s all over, and our Republic is ended. Because, we need to be clear, Donald Trump does not really want, or even understand, to become a normal American President. Donald Trump wants and expects to become an Absolute Monarch.  Yeah, he wants to become King Donald I.  And, although I imagine Republicans would deny it, they seem actually OK with that idea. They seem to want the end of American Democracy.  Maybe they are seeking an Absolute Theocratic Monarchy.  Yeah, they are ok with King Donald, and expect that he will be seeking assistance of their Christian God. Those who disagree, they will send off to Hell, literally.

And then I think, really folks? What would your old god, Ronald Reagan think about that?  He might just shake his head, “No, America, come back to reality. We really are and must remain a democratic republic.”

But the Party of Reagan keeps slipping away. There used to be thoughtful Republicans in the Land. But now we are left with Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Green, and Lauren Boebert, and Mike Johnson, and that Abbott dude in Texas. Not a rational soul in sight.  And that is what is beginning to drive me to distraction. I really see us headed over the Falls at Niagara, soon to crash on the rocks down below. Were I 30, or maybe even 40, I would actually be planning to migrate somewhere else, abandoning the country to which my Grandfolks came in the 1890s.  Yeah, I don’t know, Canada?? New Zealand maybe???

But at my advanced age, such thoughts simply depress me, because there is nothing I can really do, short of voting. Oh I will vote, never fear. But I don’t really have any serious money, so I can’t use money to sway the election. I can only yak away, and then VOTE.  But I have to tell you, this period is really, really depressing. I have lived in and loved America going onto, 90 years. And now you’re telling me it is over??  Now, that is depressing. Please do not do this America. The world needs a rational, thoughtful America, not an irrational, soul-destroying TrumpLand. Pay attention America.  PLEASE.

Aging is Not for Sissies

I sat once, across from my aging mum in a restaurant in Florida. As we were getting ready to order, my mum kept confusing me with someone else—her brother, my brother. I had flown down to Florida to see my mum, because her neighbor had called us to say that my mum’s latest hubby had been taken into the hospital with a serious condition, and my mom was now wandering the streets around her trailer park. My mom was now 80ish. We had been getting more concerned about her, since, when we spoke with her by phone, she often told us things like, she hadn’t spoken to my brother in a long time. Yet, when we asked my brother, it turns out he had spoken with her the day before.  It seemed that her age had caught up with her, and she was now in the midst of something like senile dementia.  She was often somewhere other than her present.  In discussing her condition with my brother, we decided that I needed to fly her north. He agree to take care of her, either in his home, or in a nursing care facility.  It turned out that she needed constant care, because she was in an advanced stage of dementia.

I had also two grannies who, as they approached that magic age of 85, suddenly headed South physically, and both died soon thereafter.  To my knowledge, no one in my family lived beyond the age of 85. Since I am now 89, I am . . . hmmm . . . cautious about this issue of aging.

Curiously, my wife (age 88) and I are still fully functional, living by ourselves, driving our car to shop, or visit family, or work out several times per week. We experience no serious age issues associated with our brain. We do have some physical issues, as can be seen by the large number of prescription drugs we each take.  But I still write, create some artsy stuff and engage with other humans. My wife, teaches literacy, creates quilts for donation to a children’s hospital, and she cooks like a restaurant gourmet chef.

I raise these issues because we have two aging contenders for our 2024 Presidential campaign. President Biden is 81. Candidate Trump is 77. Joe will turn 82 this coming November. Trump will turn 78 this June.  Now much of the aging fuss seems directed at Biden, as well it might be. But to be fair, Trump at 77-78 is arguably way less capable mentally than Joe.  But the same might have been said when Trump was only 37. But Trump’s mental acuity is less associated strictly with advanced age than more simply a diminished brain capacity from birth.  Also, his daddy was a literal Nazi, and we do not know how much of Trump’s limited brain capacity stems from too heavy a dose of Nazi rhetoric when he was very young.

Lately Joe has mixed up some names of foreign leaders, suggesting some “forgetting”, a not uncommon trait in all humans. But Trump reveals more strictly a lack of intelligence in any and all encounters with other humans. And some of his declarations go way beyond simply forgetting, and wander into terminal ignorance, or perhaps actual stupidity.  Recently he revealed a profound lack of understanding of how NATO functions when he declared at a rally:

“ . . .in South Carolina that not only would he not defend European countries he deemed to be in arrears from an attack by Russia, but that he would go so far as to “encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” against them. Never before has a president of the United States — even a former one aspiring to reclaim the office — suggested that he would incite an enemy to attack American allies.” (from the New York Times).

See those are vastly different mental issues, especially from the perspective of an American President. We really do want/need our presidents to understand basic issues like the basics of our alliances with friendly powers (NATO). Should they make decisions that run counter to our best interests regarding our allies, then America may be at risk of wars with other powers.

This is where the journalistic encounters of a President must be treated with the relative seriousness they deserve. Trump’s comments vis-à-vis NATO do not fall into the “forgetful” category and should be treated differently than Biden’s mixing up of foreign leaders’ names.

So, how do I view Biden and Trump regarding their relative ages?

Well, I regard Trump as mentally deficient, and mentally warped, but I think those are not age-related.  Perhaps like my Mother, Trump’s mind may well begin to falter as he ages, making his current mental deficiencies even more concerning.  Trump’s mind is, in my view, seriously deficient given the needs of our Nation, and the seriousness of the policy issues that are always facing the Nation.  Trump may be an adequate TV –Apprentice performer, but in my view, he is not even close to that mind we need to oversee and manage our National affairs. And his mind will become worse over time, should he serve as President, both as a result of increased aging issues, and the enormous stresses placed on all humans in that job.  Trump is not even close to the kind of mental acuity we need in a President. Not even close.

Now Joe Biden. President Biden has, I think, demonstrated his ability to function effectively as President.  Indeed, the Nation has done remarkably well. Our economy is in good shape, unemployment is reasonable, interest rates are stable, even falling a bit. I know people are complaining about the cost of living, but I surmise that Biden is not the main cause.

Now, Biden is heading on toward 82. At the end of his full term, he will be 86. Will he have more serious mental issues associated with aging?? Well, he may well, but that is not necessarily true. Again, I am 89, headed on towards that 90 thing in December. We have a good friend, a woman who lives by herself in her own home in Rhode Island who is pushing onto 102. She lives alone. She writes a monthly column for a local newspaper. When we engage her mentally, she seems remarkably well, and her mind continues to function as though she were much younger.  And yet, there was my mum, just past 80 and totally out of it mentally.  I am not a neuroscientist so I have no idea about the odds of Biden heading in one direction or another.  Is his age concerning?? Well sure it is. Were he 45, we would not be having this discussion, unless of course, “he” was Donald Trump, because Trump’s mind is always concerning.

Now with Joe, right now, to me, he seems perfectly ok. But we do not know how long that may last. I would prefer it were Joe 60 or even 70. But he isn’t. I take some relief in knowing that, should his mind begin to diminish, we have Kamala waiting in the wings. I treat her as a serious replacement for Joe, although I understand not everyone feels the same way.  But it is Joe running for President, not Kamala. Now, to be fair it is Joe AND Kamala running as a pair. Should he falter, she steps in. To me, that is ok.

So, is Joe’s brain an issue in this election? Well, yes, it surely is. But I take some offense at the notion that it is only Joe’s brain that is at issue. Surely folks, you are or should be even more concerned with Trump’s brain. Cuz we are certain that his brain is seriously deficient in every way that it counts for the Presidency. So, Folks, just be very careful what you wish for here.

Smiling

 OK, so I recently finished a piece on Life’s ending—how when Life is over, it simply stops, with nothing following. That of course eliminated any floating around on clouds, or chatting it up with the Dude upstairs—you know the God Dude. Yeah, I concluded there likely is no God Dude, so really nothing follows life’s termination.

But then, it made me wonder. OK, so if nothing follows something, then why are we here? I mean, do we arrive here with some mission? But it seems obvious that if there is no God, who directed us to be here, then it is likely that we have no serious purpose.  Now, to be fair, even if you assume there is a God, then what are we to make of the fact that none of us has a clue to why God placed us here on Earth.  Now again, to be fair, even if there is a God Dude, it could well be that she did not “Place” us here on Earth. Maybe the Goddess simply set up the conditions for Life and then let it all happen naturally, without any serious purpose.

So then, the butterflies, the cockroaches, the tigers, the bumblebees, and we humans are just here cuz the conditions are right for us all to emerge and then survive. That some critters survive and prosper better than others (multiply in greater numbers) could just be an accident of random creation forces.

OK, so suppose that’s true—that no one placed us here “on purpose”. So what? Especially “so what” if we now assume that nothing follows something, which was the central point in my previous article on Life and Death. So what then?

Well maybe, even if there is no “then what”, we human dudes could interject something, whether God so intended or not. See, just because we exist at all, that simple fact causes me to ask whether it matters how we perform during this pointless stage we call life.  And I would say, Yes, it does matter how we carry out this thing we call Life.  I think it matters, because we can make life on Earth more pleasant, or less pleasant for both ourselves, and for the other critters who occupy this thing we call Life.

I think, for example, of Hitler. During his approximately 56 years on this planet, he managed to make life quite miserable for several million people.  Some he killed outright, but many others he managed to change their lives such that they suffered greatly. And then we might look at a doctor, or a nurse and see that, through their actions, many people’s lives are rendered happier. Or think of a teacher in a public school. Hundreds, thousands even, of children pass by those souls and are made somehow smarter, or at least more informed, better able to get through their own lives more successfully. Or think of a farmer who works daily so that we other humans can obtain life-sustaining substances (food) that allows us to lead happier lives.

And then think of the thousands of humans who live their lives by decrying others, or by making others feel less valued.  They exist by making believe they are more valuable than others. And we have whole human professions that seem to exist such that one group of humans can feel superior to another group of humans.

And yet, so far as we know, bumblebees, or butterflies do not exist so as to make other similar critters feel less valuable.

So, maybe our life lesson is that, while we are here, we should try to live our lives in such a way that we either enhance others’ lives in some way, or at the least act so as not to diminish others’ lives. Try to make others smile rather than cry.  Perhaps that should be our life purpose.  And act every day so as to increase the smiles of other humans. Our Daily Mission – Make Someone Smile Today.  Try it folks. You might even like it.

Oh, and then go out to vote when it’s your turn. And try to vote for humans likely to make the world a happier place in which to live.  Yeah, try for smiles folks.