by Robert Fischer
This morning the news was not heartening. I really thought that overnight there would be a change in the vote with another state or two tallied up. Instead, the votes had narrowed, and there was stalemate. More disheartening was the undeniable fact that the state of politics in this country has not been helped by the election but made worse. The foreseeable future holds more of the same for us regardless of who secures the White House.
After checking my mail and reading the news, I thought of George Hayduke, Edward Abbey’s larger than life character who as an eco-terrorist committed outrageous acts of defiance and sabotage. A modern Luddite Hayduke raged against just about everything, including developers and the government in defense of his beloved environment. His actions embraced violence and sought revenge.
Tom Friedman wrote about America being the loser in this morning’s New York Times and quoted Rich Lowry of the National Review as saying that Trump “is the only middle finger available” for many people who feel aggrieved and sold out by the cultural leadership. Like Hayduke, Trump and his supporters have been outrageous, sometimes given to violence, in their efforts to tear things up whether it be the so-called “deep state,” the “fake news,” or, more seriously, our democracy and the Republic itself.
Whatever happens the next few days, this will take some sorting out to right our ship of state!
*Edward Abbey, HAYDUKE LIVES!, 1990