An Open Letter to the World

Marching on the tower, Michelle Wey quotes Charlie Chaplin
 

Hey there, world!

My goodness! What can I say? A long time ago someone remarked that when the United States sneezes, the rest of the planet catches a cold. Expect yourselves to be bedridden with pneumonia in a matter of months. To say that we inmates of Idiot Nation fucked up in 2016 is the understatement of the millennia. Electing Donald Trump was an electoral error of catastrophic proportions. I should say for the record, however, that (with the exception of the stupid haircut) comparisons to the rise of Hitler eighty-four years ago are way over the top. At least Adolf had good manners.

 

I'm nostalgic for George W. Bush. Somebody shoot me please.

Think about this for a minute, will you? Nearly three months ago, a significant minority of the American people foolishly elected as president a man whose reputation for corruption - not to mention sexual perversion - had preceded him by damned-near four decades. And today we find ourselves forced to contend with the nasty fact that, for the next four years at least, this unhinged sociopath will have his gnarled little fingers on the nuclear codes. What does it tell you about the intelligence of the American people when, in spite of the utter chaos of his first eleven days as chief-executive, a full forty percent of us feel that the hideous bastard is doing a competent job?

Please bear in mind that there are 1449 very long days to muddle through until January 20, 2121.

The latest blow to come crashing down from the trillion dollar shit-hammer occurred late last night when the Donald fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates for refusing to execute the orders that would have banned all those of the Islamic faith from dipping so much as a toe upon our shores. Some of the people seeking asylum acted as translators during the Iraq war - at great risk to their own lives and that of their families. The Trumpsters accused Ms. Yates of "betraying" the Department of Justice. This Monday Night Massacre is only a twisted overture for what promises to be a very bizarre and disjointed opera.
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Steve Bannon:
White "Supremacist"
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Trump's choice for chief advisor and strategist is a Hermann Goering wannabe named Steve Bannon. Not only that, Trump wants this bloated buffoon to sit in on meetings of the National Security Council. Bannon is an on-the-record anti-Semite and an avowed believer in white supremacy. His only previous claim to fame was as a contributor the an openly racist website called "Breitbart". On an early-morning news program a couple of hours ago, someone likened this scenario to Barack Obama allowing an editor of BuzzFeed to sit in on National Security meetings. One can only imagine the shit-storm of righteous indignation from the far right that would have predictably ensued had he allowed something that completely weird to occur. Call it a hunch on my part, but I'm relatively certain that it never entered the former president's mind. That was the nice thing about Obama: His judgment was usually fairly sound.

QUESTION: Do you miss him yet? 

What can I tell you, World? This is the way it's gonna be for the next four years - or, at least until he's impeached. There are two problems with that possibility: Trump has left himself virtually immune from impeachment by selecting as his vice-president Mike Pence: a man so completely divorced from reality and common sense that one is seriously tempted to check his pulse for any signs of life. I'm reminded of forty-four years ago. In October of 1973, at the same time that the infamous Saturday Night Massacre was playing out, Dick Nixon's vice-president, Spiro Agnew, was being forced from office because of revelations that had been uncovered exposing his corruption while he had served as governor of Maryland during the sixties. Spiro was such a reactionary old imbecile that no one in his-or-her right mind would have even dreamed of removing Nixon from office. Once Agnew was gone, Nixon's presidency was toast and jelly. Within ten months Nixon was sent packing in disgrace, and Gerald Ford was the president of the United States. It's not too much of a leap to assume that there are similar skeletons dancing in Pence's closet. He is, after all, part of the vast criminal conspiracy known as the Grand Old Party.

The second problem with the impeachment scenario is the hardcore elements of the Tea Party base. These knuckleheads are going to stand by Trump no matter what. It's hard to envision a situation where many GOP politicians would risk their wrath - and the distinct possibility of their starting a third party out of sheer spite. Whatever the case, the next four years promise to be quite interesting indeed.

So there you have it, World. I hope you've been paying attention to the mass outrage that has been exhibited in the last eleven days - particularly by the women of America. This is all the evidence you need that the United States is not without hope (I think). I'm optimistic enough to believe that this tired old planet will eventually be saved, but it's only going to be saved by the women. We men have fucked things up so utterly and completely, that we have no right to ever expect to be taken seriously again. The twenty-first will be remembered as the century of the woman. This is as it should be. Get the heck out of the way, fellas!

....Oh, and carry on, World.

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY

HANDY DANDY QUOTE OF THE DAY:

 

"The airplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in man - cries out for universal brotherhood - for the unity of us all. Even now, my voice is reaching millions throughout the world - millions of despairing men, women and little children - victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me, I say: "Do not despair". The misery that has come upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish."

 

Charles Chaplin

from The Great Dictator (1940)