My hands are like blocks of ice. Resisting putting the heating on but it’s always one’s extremities which suffer – my nose being another. My perfectly normal-sized nose, I might add! Funny, but it has always been a dilemma for me: would I prefer to be too hot or too cold? More often than not, I think too cold is preferable. I love wrapping up in big jumpers, jackets and scarves but … welcome to November 2024 and I take it all back. This is debilitating. Tempted to put my blanket on and get back into bed, shutting the world out. Shall I?
I’d have to take my boots off and all my layers. I’d have to move, for goodness sake! Not happening. So … Yes, I have notes and, this week, I planned to refer to them but what use are plans if not to be broken? Instead, I am all too aware that I have never addressed Trump’s landslide win and, moreover, the reaction in its wake. Delight from me. Relief! Light at the end of the tunnel. Karma. Overcoming every obstacle the Democrats put in his way – remind me, was he charged for breathing? – the people, finally, had their say. Meanwhile, all the celebrity endorsements for Kamala and her autocue? Embarrassing. That of Bruce Springsteen, he who is in bed with Obama? Waste of time and his millions. Oprah, Beyoncé, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, I mean, the list goes on and on (all very similar, too). Good job my laptop is plugged in. Kamala must have been so grateful for the support of Megan Thee Stallion, though … Each to his own. In the end, millions spoke and the map of the United States is red. Donald Trump is only the second US president in history to be re-elected for a non-consecutive term. (Grover Cleveland, the first, being elected in 1884 and, again, in 1892.) What’s more, the Republicans now have control of the Senate.
As 20th January, 2025, Inauguration Day, rapidly advances, Trump is aligning his cabinet – and delighting in stirring the pot! Robert F Kennedy Jr for Health Secretary? Enlightened. This guy is committed to fighting the mighty Big Pharma, for goodness sake. The all-powerful, money-making ‘monster’ for whom, all too often, people are little more than lab rats! Among other things, RFK Jr wants an end to immunity for vaccine manufacturers – and who can argue with that? Then, there is his stance on chemicals in food – against. Who can argue with that either?! These are positives. Moving on to Trump’s nomination of Pete Hegseth, military veteran and former Fox News anchor, for Defense Secretary … I saw his declaration to fight woke – yes! – but now, of course, the historic allegations of sexual assault, of which he was exonerated. (I see, too, that Matt Gaetz has just withdrawn from the nomination of Attorney General.) Talk about digging a hole for myself! Perhaps, but it is all part of the same – politics and the inevitable sexual allegations. Of course, there is dirt to be dug – whether substantiated or not – and reputations are there to be tarnished. These are ambitious, powerful men possessing of huge egos. I doubt any of them are nice! Nobody can condone – or absolve – the violation of women, and yet, if an American citizen, I would have voted for Trump?? As President of The United States! Let me quote a recent comment on Instagram which resonated:
‘Most “ordinary” Americans believe and support President Trump. We chose a “path” more than a “person”.’
A path rather than a person. My sentiments exactly. An individual who is nobody’s puppet, strong, he loves his country. Brave! He knows – as has been proven – that he is a target; his life is at risk. He has no need to do this … Thank God for him, though. Someone to challenge the rot; the status quo and to dispel the weakness that has been America for the last four years. Like it or not, the world needs this Presidency.
My intention was to address the hysteria which followed Trump’s win – and much of it was hysteria! The tears. The rhetoric claiming this is a war on women! Donald Trump did not secure the votes of millions because he is a nice guy, or a good guy; nor because he has upstanding morals or is a poster boy for marriage. He won because he is not part of the gang! He is his own man, striving to do what he believes is best for his country. Nobody’s fool. This is democracy.
‘If you voted for Trump, I hope that peace never finds you.” Ethel Cain, and
‘My child is sobbing because her rights as a woman may be taken away.’ Christina Applegate.
Seriously? Just two examples of the exaggerated backlash, much of it disproportionate and nasty. This is politics, not a personal attack! Throughout, I had one person in mind – President Bill Clinton. Any thoughts on him and his treatment of women?? So much more than Monica Lewinsky. A proven liar and so much worse … Nobody who supported/supports Clinton has any right to damn Donald Trump. However, somehow today, he is lauded; treated as though a demi-god. How can that be so? Why? He’s a Democrat. The hand behind Obama and, together, the hands, plural, behind Biden, who – before it descended into the ridiculous – was a mere puppet for them both. They had the power; Clinton had the power … until Trump!
Trump, forever now referred to as a convicted felon: he was convicted in May of 34 felony counts (all of which, he denies) when a jury – in New York (note the italics) – found him guilty of fraudulently manipulating business records to cover up an alleged sexual encounter. Strange, Clinton lied under oath about his affair with Monica Lewinsky but managed to slither his way out of it on a literal ambiguity! In a similar example of glaring bias and inconsistency, Trump faced a 37-count indictment accusing him of keeping classified documents at his Florida estate and lying about them. Biden, meanwhile, and his little stash of classified documents stored at his Delaware home following his stint as Obama’s Vice-President? Nothing! In February, Special Counsel, Robert Hur’s 300-page report declared that Biden would not face criminal charges. Repeatedly mentioning his apparent memory decline, the report cites interviews in which Biden ‘did not remember when he was Vice-President’ and could not recall ‘within several years, when his son Beau died’. Excellent. Seems fair. I did not have sexual relations with that woman and I can’t remember … Democrat? You’re free to go!
Big finish. My point? When did politics, and one’s chosen allegiance, become so personal, so divisive; nay, so vicious? Answer? One could cite Covid – and, of course, that period was enlightening and the damage ongoing – but, in truth, it can be attributed to what many regard as the race to the bottom; the determined downgrading of everything in the non-sensical bid for equality. Gone are respect and consideration for others. Gone are manners. Gone are morals … In their place? Ego and self-interest. Sever connection, however, and all perspective is lost. People are unhappy and, in turn, that unhappiness manifests in bitterness and anger. Once upon a time, most adhered to a moral compass. There was such a thing as pride. The politician was also the person. No more. Corruption pervades and there are few deserving of respect. That being said, one’s political affinity and choices remain one’s own and should be free from repercussion. Why is it, then, that leading up to the US election – outwith America, at least – one was dared to voice one’s support for Trump, never mind the vitriol which followed his win, particularly behind the anonymity of social media? Tantamount to bullying, it’s the crowd versus the individual; the weak versus the strong … the Left versus the Right.
In an egocentric world, increasingly devoid of perspective, there are no boundaries. To put it another way, once upon a time, there was the selfless Captain Tom Moore, a WWII veteran who fought for his country and became a beacon of hope during the pandemic. Fast forward to today and there is his daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, who, in her father’s light, saw only an opportunity to benefit herself. Seems in that race to the bottom, sadly the finish line is ever nearer.
‘It is a strange fact that freedom and equality, the two basic ideas of democracy, are to some extent contradictory. Logically considered, freedom and equality are mutually exclusive, just as society and the individual are mutually exclusive.’
Thomas Mann
This is Trish, signing off.
