A Suggestion about the Next Four Years
Late in the evening of the presidential election in 2016, Moh Moh emailed me about what was happening in America. I couldn’t explain how Trump could win the election.
After putting up with Trump for four years, Joe Biden beat Trump in 2020. America finally saw the light, and Biden replaced Trump. That election was between two men in their early to mid-70s.
After four years, Biden’s aging had become noticeable. His debate with Trump for the 2024 election created chaos for everyone in America. His confidants told Biden that he needed to bow out. Everything was chaotic for a couple of weeks until Kamala Harris declared that she was running. America was saved for a second by Harris’ replacing Biden. It was like a deus ex machina event had delivered America from doom and gloom.
I thought that things were coming together perfectly. Harris joyfully took control in the last couple of months. Many Americans merely had to vote, and Trump would be an afterthought. Now, I have made my share of mistakes during my journey down the yellow brick road of life. Nonetheless, I try never to make a glaring mistake.
On election night, I was convinced Vice-President Harris would win the popular vote and probably amass 310 electoral votes. All I had to do was sit patiently as the ballots were counted across the country. I sat there for a few hours as my patience waned. When would the States in Blue Wall get above 50%? I had to face reality; my best-laid plans weren’t going to materialize.
Harris wasn’t claiming that it was a rigid election. I’m not worried about her speaking on the Ellipse during the Electoral votes in January. Nor will she call her followers to attack the Capitol. Trump will be in the White House whether we like it or not. He has a simple mantra. “Promises made, promises kept. We're going to keep our promises.”
I’d like to see Trump keep his promise on day one. He promised to end the war in Ukraine within his first 24 hours in the White House.
After 24 hours, having ended the war, Trump has an abundance of other ideas like deporting 11-15 million undocumented migrants, raising import tariffs from China and other countries, gutting climate regulations, getting rid of unwanted Federal workers, controlling the Justice Department, ad infinitum.
I honestly didn’t think that Trump would be reelected. However, I was wrong. There are tons of issues or topics that I would discuss in my essays. However, America is facing a narcissistic president who cares only about himself. As I attempt to express my concerns, I recall what William Faulkner said when he accepted the Nobel Prize in Literature three-quarters of a century ago.
I decline to accept the end of man. It is easy enough to say that man is immortal simply because he will endure: that when the last dingdong of doom has clanged and faded from the last worthless rock hanging tideless in the last red and dying evening, that even then there will still be one more sound: that of his puny inexhaustible voice, still talking.
I refuse to accept this. I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The poet’s, the writer’s, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past. The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.
America is divided. Those who voted for Trump must watch what their vote will mean in the next four years. The Democrats need to complain and bitch about the results...for 24 hours. Then all America needs to listen to the Hollies’ song, He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.
The road is long
With many a winding turn
That leads us to who knows where, who knows where
But I'm strong
Strong enough to carry him
He ain't heavy, he's my brother
So on we go
His welfare is of my concern
No burden is he to bear
We'll get there
For I know
He would not encumber me
He ain't heavy, he's my brother
If I'm laden at all
I'm laden with sadness
That everyone's heart
Isn't filled with the gladness
Of love for one another
It's a long, long road
From which there is no return
While we're on the way to there
Why not share?
And the load
Doesn't weigh me down at all
He ain't heavy, he's my brother
He's my brother
He ain't heavy, he's my brother
He ain't heavy, he's my brother
If you aren’t concerned for your brothers or sisters, some time, when you need help, no one will be around to help you. Remember my mantra: “It is in giving that we get.”
Visit the On Seeing the Light page to read more about this topic.
Visit the Connecting the Dots page to read more about this topic.
Visit the Darkest Before Dawn page to read more about this topic.
Visit the Best and Worst of Times page to read more about this topic.
Visit the My Hauntings page to read more about this topic.
Visit the Living a Life Well Lived page to read more about this topic.
Visit the Gilgamesh page to read more about this topic.
Visit the Music I Love and Why page to read more about this topic.
Visit the Donald the Dumb page to read more about this topic.
Visit the Stupid is as Stupid Does page to read more about this topic.
11/08/24