Not the first time I've been this wrong

In January 2020, I was sure that Harry and Meghan stepping away from Royal duties would be the biggest news story of the year. Then everything shut down for Covid. 

I had another Great Moment in Wrongness on January 24. Elaine had invited Will and me to meet her at the deli next to the Music Box Theater. The plan was bagels at 10:45 and Barbara Stanwyck on the big screen at 11:30. I'd have to leave my home around 10:00 AM. No biggie, right?

I was surprised when I woke up later than I'd intended. Usually the cats don't let me sleep in because they want breakfast. But on Saturday, January 24, nobody was walking on me, purring and willing me awake. I padded into the kitchen and found out why.

Roy Hobbs has somehow managed to get past the childproof lock and climbed into the kitchen cabinet.  He ate through the bag and gorged himself on Connie's prescription cat food. There was kibble everywhere. For good measure, he vomited. 

So I had to wrap what was left of the cat food bag in Saran Wrap and encase it in a paper bag. And vacuum out the cabinet. And clean up the puke, all before my shower. I was running short on time. I was stressed.

Elaine was in a weird mood. I thought the movie was rather trippy. On the way home, I stopped for a burger and reflected on what a crappy Saturday it had been. I got home about 3:30, sure the worst was behind me. I'd curl up on the sofa, watch Columbo reruns, and shop Amazon for containers that lock to keep Roy Hobbs out of the kibble.

Then I turned on the TV. Alex Pretti had been shot in the back by ICE agents. While he was on the ground. Just weeks after Renee Good had been shot after telling an ICE agent, "I'm not mad at you, dude."

I remember Kent State. This image is seared on my soul. Here we are again. This anguished girl is all of us right now.

 

What the ever loving fuck. Our government is shooting our citizens in the street. Their crime? Disagreeing with the policies of Dear Leader, Donald J. Trump.

Do not tell me that Alex Pretti spat at an ICE agent and kicked out a tail light. That happened more than a week before the shooting so it's not relevant. And even if it was, those are not death penalty offenses. The officers should have arrested Pretti, not executed him in the street.

Don't you dare mention that Pretti was carrying a gun to a protest. The GOP has been arguing for decades that we all have a Second Amendment right to bear arms. And Donald J. Trump pardoned rioters who brought bear spray, zip ties and, yes, firearms to the Capitol on January 6.

I have not been the same since January 24, and no, it wasn't the kibble incident in the kitchen. Alex Pretti happened. After ICE agents here in Chicagoland haunted school parking lots and loitered outside The Home Depot and (wait for it) the children's museum in search of "the worst of the worst." After Renee Good. After five-year-old Liam Ramos was shipped away to a detention center in another state.

OK, so what am I going to do about this?

I'm sending incremental money to the ACLU. I'm working on Democratic voter registration in red states. I'm concentrating my efforts lower ballot initiatives and special elections. 

I still believe in America. I still believe in the system. 

But we are broken. Approximately 35%-40% of Americans still approve of Donald Trump. They are so afraid of the LGBTQ community and people of color that they excuse his cruelty and disregard for the rule of law. And they so often do it while wrapping themselves in my Christian faith!

Whatever happened to, "whatever you did for the least of my brothers and sisters, you did for me?" I guess they found the loophole, which is, of course, that you don't have to love brothers or sisters who are trans or brown. After all, Donald Trump has made terror and cruelty OK. Patriotic, even.

So prayer is important here, too. But I won't pray to change the hearts of  35%-40% of Americans. I have to concentrate on my own heart and not let myself get too exhausted by this blanket of remitting ugliness.

 

PS I truly believe that ICE began entering Blue State cities as a political calculation, to change the headlines away from Epstein. Just like Greenland and Venezuela and the Kennedy Center and the East Wing were designed to distract us from Epstein. The shenanigans in Georgia are meant to rig the mid-terms and protect Trump from Epstein. I have no idea what's in those files, but he must believe it would shake the faith of his loyal 35%-40%. I want those files released, if only to put an end to the desperate self-preservation measures of Donald J. Trump.