It's a weekend morning, I've a full cup of coffee, and I'ma just gonna let it rip, until my daughter wakes up.
In the last 16 months, I've started dozens of pieces this exact same way. With the occasional curse word thrown in for tone and voice.
When one writes, even if you're not sure there will ever be an audience, you should still write with one in mind.
None of that "Dance like nobody's watching" stuff, here, my friends.
Laptop's dying, so every time I complete something, is a victory. You're 6 paragraphs in, and all the sudden your cursor.... moves. several lines / paragraphs up, and you're typing away and eventually realize something's gone wrong.
again.
Something went wrong again this week. Our democracy crumbled a bit more.
You knew, going in, that the game was rigged. You KNEW there would not be due process, a fair trial, etc. You fucking KNEW it.
And you realize that once again, your two choices are to not pay attention, not care, not...hope.
Or.....
You decide to let Lucy hold the goddamn football for you again, because maybe, just maybe, this time.... she won't pull it away.
"Sure I knew the game was fixed. But it was the only game in town." - Canada Bill Jones
The above is not a direct quote. The larger historical context has someone asking him why he played the game, if he knew it was fixed.
"It's the only game in town."
I've only been paying attention to politics for 30-35 years.
All I remember, for instance, about the Nixon impeachment trial, is that it pre-empted Bugs Bunny, the single best part about getting home after a rough day of afternoon kindergarten.
I vaguely remember feeling like it went on for a long time.
Maybe they allowed for witnesses and evidence.
To see the big" fuck you, america", time after time after time, from Mitchie, while being told my so many (mostly uninformed and generally angry) that this is awesome and great because.... winning!... I'm simply at a loss, at this point.
So, here we are. Planning to show our outrage, maybe. Planning to work hard to get someone else elected / get people to the polls / etc.
or not.
Maybe you're just drinking coffee and staring at the gorgeous sunrise, and feeling like all it's kinda pointless and... broken. Hopefully you'll pull up your big boy pants in a few days, and... once more into the fray.
it's the only game in town.
There are clear signs of children stirring in the room down the hall. So my time here is limited.
Unless, by some miracle, my daughter and her friend come out of the room in a few minutes, and ask "What can we make YOU for breakfast? No, no. Don't get up. We got this..."
That would be... quite something.
