Saturday, December 14th, 2024
My Dear America:
Carly Simon said it back in the day in her song, "Anticipation".
"These Are The Good Old Days" she sang, or something close to it.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. We didn't know how good we had it during the Biden years.
Joe Biden saved us in 2020 from dealing with what we are now going to have to deal with in just a few weeks. And we are finding out right now that the Gutless Republicans in Congress seem to be ready to rubber stamp Donald Trump's Awful Cabinet picks. Donald Trump is pushing hard for Kash Patel to take over the FBI where he has promised to hunt down such hardened criminals as Journalists who have written that Trump did not win the 2020 Election (Never mind the fact that the Journalists are telling the truth). Patel also has on his wish list of criminals to track down the Congressional members of the January Sixth Congressional Investigative Committee as well as those mainly Republicans who testified to the January Sixth committee. (Never Mind the fact that the January Sixth Committee and their brave Republican Witnesses were telling the truth about Donald Trump's Organized Insurrection and uncalled for invasion of the Capitol).
Although initially it looked as though Senator Joni Ernst might have some problems with Trump's pick of Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense because, among other things, he had stated that he did not want Women in Combat. But somehow now the Republican pressure program seems to have Turned Senator Ernst around to a more acceptable MAGA Perspective.
Tulsi Gabbard's Questionable loyalty to Syria's Assad and to Vladimir Putin should by all rights prevent her from being considered for appointment to Director of National Intelligence. Time will tell, however how that all turns out.
In the meantime as we continue to reel from the inappropriateness of Trump's Cabinet and Leadership picks we just found out that FBI Director Christopher Wray resigned. Although Trump appointed him FBI Director for a 10 year term apparently Wray got a little tired of hearing about his impending doom as Kash Patel was obviously going to be Trump's choice for FBI Director. I am disappointed that Wray didn't force Trump to fire him but I can't blame him for wanting to leave his FBI Post with more dignity than James Comey got when Trump gave him the Ax.
I am personally finding it harder and harder to watch TV and read newspapers lately. The news which was uncertain for awhile ever since the election has been very hard to take.
I continue to appreciate the fact that we still have a few more weeks of governmental sanity prior to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris going off into that Land of peace and quiet for them but insanity and horror for the rest of us.
I am trying to keep my spirits up by writing and playing music. I have a few more writing projects in mind for right now and I am sincerely looking forward to the new movie about Bob Dylan called "A Complete Unknown". It has been a long time since I was willing to shell out money to go to a movie theater but I am very excited about the Dylan movie. The reviews seem to be very positive and I am desirous of anything positive right now.
I just finished reading "The Passage of Power" the last volume of Robert Caro's 4 Volume Series "The Years Of Lyndon Johnson". (I read the last 3 volumes during the past year) These books have helped me to focus on politics but not necessarily on Donald Trump. But that buffer zone is gone now although I have several other good books to read in the coming difficult years including Hillary Clinton's latest book, "Something Lost, Something Gained", which my wife just read and recommends highly.
I have heard it said recently that apparently Bill Maher may be considering giving up his HBO Show, "Real Time With Bill Maher". I became a fan of that show some time ago and I probably would miss it if it goes off the air. He always seemed to have interesting guests and commentators. Apparently Bill Maher has stated that he is tired of talking about Donald Trump. I completely understand his frustration. Clearly Maher never appeared to be a fan of Trump but on the other hand he was brutally cruel in his criticism of Joe Biden often and Kamala Harris sometimes. Perhaps Mr. Maher is beginning to recognize that perhaps his constant criticism of Democrats might have had something to do with the fact that Donald Trump is on his way back to Washington shortly.
To be sure I feel sick about the fact that Donald Trump is going to be back in power. I would love to say that I am also sick of writing about Donald Trump because I am but everything I see tells me that whether I like it or not I need to continue to write about the bastard. I can see by his Cabinet picks and his imminent plans to start picking up immigrants from even churches, schools and Hospitals (which had been off limits to Ice) that it will be hard to avoid writing about him.
I have been giving a lot of thought lately about how I and my Democratic Friends are going to be able to survive the upcoming four years.
I am dusting off a lot of books that I have bought over the years and I have more than a few writing projects that I am going to try and finish, as well as some that I plan to begin.
I've got a number of streaming services to provide TV and movies to keep my mind occupied.
My wife and I are going to try and get serious about getting and staying in shape in the coming years.
But all in all it is going to be very hard to get through the next four years. I found that out the hard way just a few days ago.
I hadn't been to see my Podiatrist since 2019 and since my feet were getting increasingly numb I thought that it might be a good Idea to get them checked out so I set up an appointment. Since I have had some good conversations with my Family Doctor about politics and Donald Trump in particular I just assumed that talking to my Foot Doctor about my political concerns would be very similar.
As we discussed the holidays and the upcoming new year I told my Foot Doctor that I was "Not Happy" to see Donald Trump returning to the White House.
As he stood by the door ready to leave the Exam Room the Foot Doc looked at me with a wide smile on his face and told me that he was "Very Happy" to see Donald Trump returning to the White House, just prior to practically slamming the Exam Room Door in my face.
This was an experience that probably shouldn't have been unexpected but it was.
Ever since this happened I have had this movie scene in my head from a Fifties Movie called "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". In this movie Kevin McCarthy (The Actor, not the Politician) plays a doctor who returns to his Hometown only to find that residents of the town are being replaced by Pod People (New bodies that rob the old bodies of their minds and emotions)
At the end of the movie The doctor is trying to escape from the town and jumps onto a truck only to find that the truck is carrying hundreds of the Pods that came from space that have been sucking the lives and emotions out of the Doctors Friends and Relatives and he realizes that the truck is carrying the overwhelming number of pods to the rest of the world and there is probably nothing he can do about it.
I feel kind of like that Fictional Doctor right now. I can see that although there are some of us left who are not Pod People That "The Invasion of the Mind Snatchers" is not only underway but it looks like it has been completed to the point where there are enough of the Pod People to have voted in Donald Trump, a man whose faults are too numerous to mention over Kamala Harris, An intelligent and talented politician whose excellent characteristics and accomplishments are also too numerous to mention.
Like Kevin McCarthy, overwhelmed in the back of the Pod Truck I am also finding it harder and harder to find people today who have not been taken over by the MAGA Crowd. I continue to value my friends and neighbors who still value Democrats over Republicans, Truth over Lies and Kindness over Cruelty.
I'm not sure how we are going to be able to suffer through the upcoming four years but for right now before the MAGA Fat Lady sings on January 20th I am going to continue to try and have a good time and be grateful to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for the fact that they have made our lives a lot better than they will be coming next year.
I know that I am going to have a hell of a hard time this New Years Day saying "Happy New Year" but I continue to hope for many good things happening in the coming years. I still live with hope that America and the world have many fine years ahead of us.
Sincerely Yours
Jerry Gallagher
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