Some Less-Profane Thoughts About The Current Situation

So things have calmed down a little bit on the whole 'stealing babies' front. A little bit.

Maybe.

Trump hadn't signed his Executive Order when I was thinking about what I wanted to say in this post. I recognize the situation is still dire and reprehensible but, hell, it seemed like we were on the brink of something even worse.

And I suspect we still are.

The spark that ignited #ProjectNomad was my breakup last summer. (Indulge me on this.)

It came out of nowhere. In the span of a text message, the woman I believed I would marry and grow old with evacuated herself from my life.

This had a cataclysmic effect on my mental health. My book sales were flagging, too, my career clearly trending in the wrong direction, and suddenly it seemed like every rock upon which I'd built the foundation of my life was crumbling at the same time.

And for a while, I tried to fight it, or at the very least, ignore it. I tried to carry the cost of our swanky downtown apartment by myself, believing that I could fake it until another book deal got me flush.

I tried to date again as though my heart wasn't broken and repairing it wouldn't take serious time.

And I tried to keep writing and approaching my career the same way I always had, hoping that if I just stayed the course, things would revert back to the way they'd once been.

But if there's one thing I've learned in my reading about resilience and moving past trauma, it's that returning to the way things were is by and large impossible, and that when your world is undergoing fundamental, cataclysmic change, it's pointless and even harmful to bury your head in the sand and wish for a time machine.

You need to accept that things have changed, irreparably, and set about adapting yourself to the new order.

I was thinking about this in the context of America.

I was thinking about this because I believe that Donald Trump and his army of sycophants, yes-men and enablers have set the United States on a course that simply *cannot* be reversed, and because I still see people holding out hope that this year's midterm elections, and the presidential elections that follow in 2020, will be enough to arrest the pace of the country's precipitous decline.

I have my doubts.

This is a man who conspired with Russia to seize control of the most powerful office in the land.

This is a man who has made a mockery of any so-called checks and balances that stand in his path, assisted by a craven and gutless ruling party who at this point, it's clear, are very willing to mortgage the soul of the country in order to appease lobbyists, corporate donors, and billionaires.

This is a man who uses the government to funnel money by the millions to himself and his family, while the rest of us crow on Twitter about the Emoluments Clause and how he's not supposed to do that.

This is a man who lies. About everything. He lies and he contorts the truth and he hires people to lie for him and they don't even lie very well, in fact they're terrible at it, but it doesn't matter because anyone who's willing to fact-check is missing the goddamn point.

It doesn't matter anymore.

This man has caged babies and orphaned children.

This man has enriched himself while simultaneously using his office to carve away at what little remains of your societal safety nets.

This man has corrupted the very fundamentals of your vaunted electoral system.

Do you really believe that a midterm election is going to stop him?

Do you think he'll allow it?

Do you think his legions of followers, finally emboldened to wear proudly their visceral, hateful prejudices, will allow it?

It's patently clear that the GOP will not lift a finger to stop Trump. There is no point in badgering John McCain for the impotence of his rhetoric. There's no point in looking to Jeff Flake, or Lindsey Graham, for salvation.

Frankly, Adam Schiff isn't going to save us, either. Nor is Chuck Schumer.

And I'm as rah-rah about the Mueller investigation as anyone else, but how in the hell can anyone feel hopeful, knowing that Trump can fire the man who's supposed to be our saviour, and believes he can pardon anyone, even himself?

Who's going to tell him he's wrong?

Adam Schiff?

The rules of the game have changed. In my view, it is impossible to return the United States to the country it was before November 8, 2016.

And it's foolish to even try.

One side is still playing chess. The other side is knocking the pieces to the floor and pocketing your money and putting babies in cages while we badger the New York Times to call him a liar, already.

We are beyond the point where checks and balances are going to reign this person in.

The checks and balances have failed. It's time to wake up and get real.

This is America now.

There's no point in wishing for a time machine.