I Wish I Still Lived In America

Coming soon to a former America near you....

I'm almost 65.  When I was born, Ike was President and it was "Happy Days" America.  I was seven when we elected JFK, and in the 4th grade when he was assassinated.  I was too young for the protests of the 1960's, but I got my licks in at University in the early 1970's.  Like I once said, I came of age in the magical time between the birth control pill and AIDS.  We protested Nixon and what we thought was an unjust war in Vietnam.  We protested Apartheid in South Africa and got our University to divest itself of investments there until Apartheid ended.  We lived in the richest nation on Earth and felt both proud and a little guilty about that.  I saw the creation of the Peace Corps, the creation of Doctors Without Borders, and other innumerable organizations based on kindness to others and on sharing what we had with those less fortunate than ourselves.  I wasn't always proud of my country, but I was always proud to be American.  I would travel to other parts of the world, and be glad at the end that I was coming home to the USA.

This isn't true any more.  And it truly breaks my heart.

I have mostly absented myself from social media this year.  I can't stand the hate and divisiveness; it's making me physically ill, a thing which I cannot afford to have happen, since I am already chronically ill.  I am sickened by the resurgence of bullying, of white supremacy by my neighbors, by politicians who are supposed to represent and protect my interests but look the other way at profligate criminal behavior.  We have the first President ever who did not make public his tax returns.  Who, more importantly, did not divest himself of his financial interests and holdings prior to taking office.  Who regularly profits off of those holdings and interests as a direct result of his presidency.  (When foreign diplomats and representatives stay at his hotels to curry favor, this is a direct violation of our constitution.  But the representatives in our government do nothing, and show no political will to demonstrate any kind of oversight with regard to these undeniably dubious dealings.)

I've been living with this depressing state of affairs along with the rest of us for months now.  I have seen America's standing on the world stage diminish as we become a mockery of what we used to be.  I've been to Italy and France since the election and total strangers ask me what in heaven's name is going on with America?  And I have given up on thinking that things can't possibly get any worse, because they always do.

First it was "very fine people on both sides" of the white supremacy issue.  Then "shithole" countries. And now the Commander-in-Cheeto wants a parade.

A Soviet-style, North Korea-crazy, we-are-the-champions military parade, down the streets of Washington, DC, complete with missiles and tanks and everything else except (possibly) goose-stepping elite soldiers.

This is not America.  This is not how America does things.  We should only use our military prowess as a final resort, after all else has failed.  We should never flaunt it just because the other guys do.  These kinds of parades are what you see in Moscow on May Day, to remind the former Czechoslovakia what could happen if they don't toe the line.

  How much do you wanna bet that he insists on this too?

America should never have to remind the world to toe the line.  We should lead by example, not follow the questionable examples of others.

To the rest of the world, I say that I, for one, am sorry that through a fluke of our electoral process, probably helped by interference from a hostile nation, we elected an insecure racist sociopath who has such doubts about his own masculinity and leadership that he has to stroke his ego with ... a parade. Why are we wasting all this money on massaging his ego (not to mention what it's going to cost to fix the streets, because he wants TANKS) when that money could be going to caring for our veterans, or better equipment for the troops?  It's being spun as a "thank-you" to our military, but our military doesn't want our thanks.  They want our support, which is an entirely different matter. What freaking country is this, anyway?

It isn't America, that's for sure.  Not the one I grew up in.  I wish I still lived there.  I hope maybe someday I will get to go back there again, but the prospect gets dimmer with each passing day.