I haven’t been sleeping well, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.
I’m tempted to go off on a lengthy angry rant about the US election results. But I’d be screaming into a hurricane, and I don’t think anybody wants to hear it from me, anyway. Better thinkers, writers, and speakers have tried and failed to find the reason and sense for what has become of democracy in the Western world.
I’ve been trying to figure out how to cope with what I’m feeling, this overwhelming sense of despair.
The United States has elected a President who represents all the worst character flaws in a human being, and I don’t get it. He campaigned on a platform of tyranny. He promised to be a dictator, to take rights away from his citizens, and to grant power and position to people who will do the same and worse.
It has now become a tired cliché to compare him with the worst fascist dictators in history. It doesn’t shock anybody. They’re OK with it.
As we approach Remembrance Day, we’ll hear and read the usual rhetoric that we need to remember the lessons of two world wars so that it can never happen again.
It’s all bullshit.
We not only don’t care, we’re hungry for a reboot.
And I say we because Canada is heading down the same road as our neighbours to the south. We define ourselves by who we hate. Trump’s victory will only further embolden those in our own country to ramp up the vitriol and rage.
Because clearly, it works.
The land of the free just voted to take freedom away from millions of its citizens.
This was America’s opportunity to say, “OK, we’ve had our fun, hope you enjoyed the circus, but let’s be serious for a moment,” and tell the world who they are as a country.
I guess they did.
In World War II, the Allies saved Europe from itself.
Nobody’s coming to save us.
This is the part where I’m supposed to talk about resilience and continuing to fight the good fight. But the horses are long gone, the barn’s an inferno, and millions of people are laughing, taking selfies and roasting marshmallows.
I don’t imagine I’ll be sleeping well anytime soon.
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©Patrick LaMontagne 2024
It’s a time of despair for many of us in the U.S. also. Thank you for your words. I did want to hear them.
Thanks, Sue. I’ve received a lot of emails the past 24 hours expressing similar responses.
Joe Biden is demonstrating to his nation today how a true president behaves, a contrast to his predecessor. Maybe these Trumpers will start paying attention to politics and its effect on their own well being for the next few years.