Train Wreck

**I'm having some difficulty with Blogger and layout for some reason. There will likely be odd gaps between paragraphs that I cannot see to fix**

I've been watching with fascination this slow motion train wreck for the better part of year now. Friends disregarded my insistence that, one way or another, DJT would be in the White House. Those same friends were a bit shocked at my relative accuracy. I wish I had as much luck with lottery tickets.

That said, we are so close to being beyond the edge of the cliff, that I'm not sure there will be any recovering from it. I was having a discussion recently about the next election (not the mid-terms, the next presidential election) and remarked that I didn't believe there will be another president OR an election unless something drastic changes. We're either going to have a dictatorship, or be a smoking heap of debris after the nukes fly. Or both. If by chance we DO have another election, the system will be so far gone that any hope of change in the voting booth will be washed away by redistricting, voter ID laws, voter suppression, etc..... I've said many times to people in posts, text messages & conversation(remember those??) that I'm glad I never had kids that would have to see such times. Sad, but true.

I grew up in a conservative household. I remember my parents' excitement at the election of Reagan. I was 10. I could sense their feeling of hope and I felt a little safer. Things would be better. Maybe we would not be 'just squeaking by'. Maybe we could turn up the heat. Lower taxes, job opportunities, etc. None of that really materialized. Still, they held true to their beliefs. Their hope. But they NEVER lost their compassion for fellow humans. Within the next 10 years both of them would be gone, and I was left to make my own way. I could not have done it without several key people in my life. My other Moms, as I like to call them. And I had a bunch. I was able to finish college because of them. I came home to employment because of them. I re-learned compassion and love because of them. The only thing to this day that I don't trust is the medical community, but that's another story.
My dad fought long and hard in WWII. He never spoke of the horrors. A couple Purple Hearts, Bronze Star, scars from bullet holes and a forever changed mind were all he brought home. Our current occupier of the White House even espouses war crimes ('we should take the oil') while our men and women in uniform are still there and now in much more danger because of his words. Many of the principles, ideals and downright craziness my father and countless others fought against have come home too roost in our own country by his own party. He is turning over in his grave.

I'm not sure where we are headed, though I have a pretty good idea. I hope I am wrong this time, but with every day there is more psychosis and paranoia coming down the pike dressed up as policy. DJT can make all the promises he wants, but he's in an alternative reality that does not make sense or bode well for us. The Women's March was a start, but should have occurred on a much broader scale BEFORE the election. More attention should have been paid to rust belt states by the other candidates. None of that can be changed, but we can look forward with hope. Hope that someday there will be equality. Compassion for citizens and refugees. Taking care of one another. Taking care of our planet and not the pocketbooks and bank accounts of a few. They do not and will not ever care about you. For now, I'll continue to stay close to home as long as I can. Waiting, watching, hoping for the best for me, Mrs and our 4-legged babies.

Peace.

I invite you to and ask that you listen to the words that Mr Olbermann is uttering here. They are important. And urgent.