Failing in America

 With all the talk about assassination attempts, I remain drawn to a different reality—Trump’s seeming passion for failure. I am thinking of his six bankruptcies.  And how, as I watch him and, more importantly, watch his supporters spewing Hate at all things Democratic, I now find myself imagining Trump actually killing America. How could he do that? Well, my memory goes back to those days of FDR, and WW II, when Americans were drawn together in the battles against Germany and Japan. Then the picture shifts as those wars end and we move into our standoff with Russia.  Yes, we had other wars, Korea, Vietnam, Middle East, and yes there were conflicting views among Americans about all those conflicts. But, in the final analysis, we just disagreed. We did not HATE one another or wish to kill one another.

Enter Donald Trump. Perhaps his main thought train is HATE towards anyone who disagrees with him. And as those disagreements grow in number and ferocity, his hatred grows, and that hatred spreads to his supporters. MAGA is not merely a political movement. It is the beginning of an army of hate-filled, heavily armed supporters. The folks who voted for him and now support him seem oblivious to his faults, many though they are. The fact of an illegal WAR, Iran, and even Venezuela, seems not to matter. It seems no longer possible to hold civil conversations with MAGA.

Having lived through many presidents and even working for two – Carter and Reagan—Trump seems anomalous.  I now would place him at the very bottom of our list of Presidents, with no one else even being close.   He would even, in my opinion, be near the bottom of any list of foreign leaders. Now does he equate with Hitler? Well, no, not yet. He has a ways to go on that killing of Americans thing.  But he seems moving in that direction.

AND, one of the forces pushing him in that direction is his MAGA supporters. They seem to be growing more hate-filled by the day. AND, they now seem to hate other Americans –Democrats, and really anyone not supporting Trump.

Now, are we headed to a new Civil War? Maybe, although I am not sure what that would look like. There are MAGA strongholds, to be sure, but there do not seem clean lines of division. A war of MAGA-Hatred would be a messy war indeed.  And its resolution seems uncertain, although, to be fair, I see our Military largely on the side of reason, not supporting Trump. Still, great risks remain with Trump in charge, and MAGA running free. I find myself hoping for some medical miracle—a fatal heart attack maybe.  See, Trump has moved my head into uncharted waters. Never before, even under some of our less wonderful presidents, has my brain gone to such a spot.

But it is important to note that I am now profoundly depressed about my/our America, and I have lived through presidents from FDR on. As I approach my own ending – I am, after all, 91 and counting—I am daily saddened by how Americans seem to grow in their hatred to one another.  That truly is sad.  Remember folks, there likely is NO HEAVEN and NO HELL. This is it. When you die, you simply cease to exist. Now think on that, hard. Whatever happens here is all there is. So, try to make what happens here as pleasant as possible, not merely for you, but for everyone. It’s all there is, folks.