Perfect Political Storm

We’ve got God on our side
We’re just trying to survive
What if what you do to survive
Kills the things you love
Fear’s a powerful thing, baby
It’ll turn your heart black you can trust
It’ll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust
          (Bruce Springsteen, “Devils & Dust”)

Update 1/6/21: the storm has broken. Early this afternoon, the House and the Senate were carrying out their 12th Amendment duty of counting the certified electoral votes. Thousands of protestors had gathered outside the Capitol to protest what President Trump frequently described as a fraudulent election, where he lost both the popular and the electoral vote. Around 2:20 p.m., protestors broke through metal barriers at the foot of the stairs to the Capitol. Police sprayed tear gas. Around 2:30 PM, a large number of protestors, some violent, some carrying weapons, forced their way into the Capitol. “Protesters could be seen marching through the Capitol’s stately Statuary Hall shouting and waving Trump banners and American flags” (Associated Press Timeline of events at the Capitol). The building was locked down, but not before one woman was fatally shot by the police. Three other people died from currently unspecified medical emergencies.[§] Congresspeople were eventually escorted out of the building. Around 8:30 p.m. the Senate resumed the electoral vote. Several Republicans withdrew their objections in light of the siege.

Update 7/26/22: the storm predicted below and outlined above was, indeed, worse than everything I imagined or documented thus far. The chant, “Kill Mike Pence,” which was tolerated by the Commander in Chief from the safety of the White House, epitomizes the gravity of the situation. Now that the Jan. 6 Hearings are underway, it is inconceivable that Donald Trump could be re-elected in 2024, but then this entire post is inconceivable before 2016.
My original post below overestimated the similarities between the parties and, to that extent, underestimated the anti-democratic actions of the President, as well as the anti-democratic and irrational response of the majority of Republicans among the United States Congress. Liz Cheney, Republican US Representative, Wyoming, has established non-partisan higher ground in the hearings, her role being as unimaginable to me as the violence that ensued on January 6.

(The following was published October 6, 2020)
For the first time, I’m doubting the general welfare of the US after an upcoming presidential election. In the past, the new or renewed president would be uncannily like his or her predecessor or opponent, and I knew there would be segments of our society, usually marked by their low incomes or stature, who would continue to suffer discrimination in various forms.[1] The losers might be bitter and the winners might gloat, but the fabric of society would remain the same for better and worse. Continue reading “Perfect Political Storm”