For the last weeks and months, I\u2019ve lost my way. Much of this time I have simply tried to hide from a news cycle that each day brings more news of atrocities here and abroad. My morning coffee routine has become a time for despair and disbelief; our government has become increasingly authoritarian, challenging the time-tested constitutional and democratic values that have served us so well for the past 250 years.<\/p>\n
Mostly I\u2019ve spent my time reading the sports pages and watching tennis and football. Fortunately the US Open kept me glued to the TV for two long weeks, and now I have football, both college and pro. Cheering for Georgia and Green Bay helps to mask the reality of our current politics.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the assassination of Charlie Kirk and his strident beatification by Trump and right wing Republicans has made me abandon my self-imposed exile and speak out. The Kirk tragedy shows that there is nothing that can\u2019t and won\u2019t be politicized for political gain, no matter how sad, personal or uncharitable given the situation. There are, apparently, no limits or parameters that Trump and the MAGA crowd won\u2019t cross in their haste to earn political points. How many times do we need to say that the killing of Charlie Kirk was despicable, tragic and indefensible. It was as terrible as the killing of the Minnesota legislator and the past killings of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Kennedys. There is simply no excuse for taking lives for political differences, period.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s times like this that I see the faces of some of my close friends who celebrated with abandon upon the election of Donald Trump in 2016. I can\u2019t help but wonder if this is what they wanted. Did they want to see virulent political hatred take center stage? Did they want to risk destroying our constitutional republic? Did they really relish the leadership of a deeply flawed president devoid of any positive personal or political ideology? Are they feeling buyer\u2019s remorse about electing Donald Trump at this point? Was their hatred of Hillary Clinton and Obama and the Democrats really worth throwing caution to the wind?<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s presidency is a kaleidoscope of crises, many imagined or made up to secure headlines, feed the MAGA base much like the frenzy stirred up by the Jacobins during the French Revolution. Real concerns like crime, immigration, and foreign policy are exploited for political gain; critical race theory, immigrants eating dogs and cats, and the Great Replacement Theory are made up while women\u2019s rights, health care, and environmental concerns are subjected to lies and distortion. It becomes increasingly scary that the United States risks destroying itself on the blade of its own guillotine.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Ukraine burns, Gaza is being destroyed, Russia becomes more aggressive, China conspires to hegemony, and North Korea trains its missiles on the U.S.<\/p>\n
Here at home, the Trump administration is preoccupied with attacking the media and universities, restricting free speech, indicting political adversaries, and rigging state voting districts in hopes of gaining votes for the upcoming midterm elections.<\/p>\n
In the wake of a senseless killing and countless other serious issues, our president exclaims that he hates his political opponents and does not wish the best for them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For the last weeks and months, I\u2019ve lost my way. Much of this time I have simply tried to hide from a news cycle that each day brings more news of atrocities here and abroad. My morning coffee routine has become a time for despair and disbelief; our government has become increasingly authoritarian, challenging the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-robert-fischer"],"yoast_head":"\n