Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Prepare For Blastoff

I remember waking up on 9/11 and turning on CNN. A plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center and nobody had a clue. Close-ups showed fire coming from the floors hit by the plane.


I stayed rooted to the TV for hours. When the second plane hit, I saw it live and I, along with everyone else, knew this was no accident.


When the first of the towers fell, I was horrified. Time seemed to slow down. There was pandemonium in the streets. When the second tower fell it was like a slow motion replay.


People were covered in pulverized concrete. The human misery was palpable.


Reports continued to come in as 2 other planes went down. One hit the Pentagon and the other crashed into a field. There were also erroneous reports of shootings in Washington.


By the end of the day, I was emotionally depleted. I thought this is what it must have felt like when people heard about Pearl Harbor. I wanted to help, but I had no idea how.


In the months that followed, things changed. By the time we invaded Iraq, I believed we had completely lost our way and our leaders were not being honest with us. That proved to be true.


We became mired in a senseless war and our economy was on the verge of total collapse. Thousands more Americans were dying. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis were dying. The Middle East was exploding while Iraq imploded.


When Barack Obama was elected, it was like oxygen was pumped back into the air. Things slowly started to turn around. The war ended. The economy rebounded. The troops came home, but the Middle East continued to crumble.


On the home front, the Republicans brought Washington to a halt. The political corruption and war profiteering that took place during the Bush administration was put on hold. It was in suspended animation. People worked hard, out of sight, in the background waiting for Obama's final term to end.


I could not believe Donald Trump was actually on the ballot in 2016. The thought of him was both ridiculous and terrifying. I didn't stay up to see the final results on election day. When I woke up the next morning, I turned on the news and went on the internet and found out Trump had won.


Since the election, I again feel like things are unfolding in slow motion. It all seems surreal. It's like the shock of 9/11 all over again with one notable distinction, Donald Trump will be our next President.


The confirmation hearings on Trump's appointees started today. We are in the final countdown. 10, 9, 8 - you know the drill. On January 20th we blast off.


We are a divided people. We are witnessing a modern day version of Sherman's march to the sea. The Trump juggernaut is unfolding before us and I don't think we will recover from this one.


This last election cycle is unprecedented. No one had a clue. We are scurrying to come up with a rationalization for what happened so we can pretend that the Earth is still maintaining its orbit, when, in fact, we are hurtling to an increasingly unknown and alien future.


The orbit we are now in is just as apt to crash us into the Sun or take us into a black hole.


Holy Moly!

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