It's Come Undone

Life in the time of Trump

recent posts

  • Today, It’s Union Station

    Today, It’s Union Station

    The transportation Secretary announced that his deparment will now be managing Union Station. For those of you who are unfamliar with the DC Metro area – and especially for those of you who are convinced all crime figures were faked and that gangs of thugs – not the ones wearing balaclavas and National Guard uniforms but rather the ones who don’t exist in reality – are roaming unchecked – Union Station is the grand old station that is home to Amtrak. If you’re from NY, you can liken it in grandeur to Grand Central Station.

    The Justification

    It seems that Trump “[He] wants Union Station to be beautiful again. He wants transit to be safe again. And he wants our nation’s capital to be great again. And today is part of that.” Further justification is that the federal government can do it for a fraction of the cost. So, because one individual has decided that a major part of the rail lines along the East Coast is not as nice as he’d like it to be, it will now be under the control of the federal government.

    Who’s Messing With the Crime Stats?

    When any of my family travels by rail on the East Coast, we travel on Amtrak – through Union Station. There are shops, restaurants, a very large waiting room, and gorgeous architecture. It’s an open and inviting public space with people coming and going about their personal business at all hours of the day and into the evening. To suggest that Amtrak is crime-ridden, or that Union Station is a malignant pit akin to the Mos Eisley Cantina is unspeakably vile.

    It’s Come Undone …

    So, not only has Trump gilded everything he can lay his hands on at the White House, poured concrete in the Rose Garden, brought in umbrellas from Mar-a-Lago, and announced that the very thing the White House needs is a Ballroom – all while finding time to alienate our allies and turn back the clock on renewable energy inatiatives – he is now going to impose his singular vision on this bustling example of Mission Moderne style. And, he’s going to do it based upon a personal whim, with all of his supporters falling right into line. Amazing.

  • Question From a Cold War Kid

    Question From a Cold War Kid

    Growing up in the midst of international tensions and the constant threat of nuclear annihilation was no fun – for either side. Here we are today, with that in the past – or not-so-much. Let’s leave that, and pretty much everything else, aside for a moment and let me ask the question that I’m struggling to answer:

    Why can’t these specialist enforcerment officers go about their business without balaclava masks?

    I can see that there are people who back what Trump is doing. I can sort of follow some of their logic, although not all the way to their conclusion. But, even if I could, what I cannot see is when it became the norm for those enfocing our laws and keeping the peace on the streets of America to 1. grab people off the street while 2. wearing balaclava to cover their faces.

    Necessity?

    Police officers have traditionally gone about their business with their faces visible to the public. They wear badges with their ID number on them. They’re forced to provide proof of their identity if asked. And this has worked since the start of the first police departments – founded in part by a REPUBLICAN who was an actual Republican (aka Theodore Roosevelt). If the police can come in and get the job done without so much as a surgical mask, why do these other people, with arguably bigger weapons and more resources, require full-on balaclavas?

    Intimidation?

    So, when ICE corners someone walking down the street – forget anything else about the encouter – do those in authority need balaclavas? For what? To protect their identity? From whom? Or to intimidate that person even more? Or to suggest they are a special group that has it’s own rules?

    A New American Ideal?

    I have seen men masked with balaclava with weapons. I have seen them during government overthrows and other forms of insurrection. In OTHER countries. Since when has this become an American thing?

    It’s Come Undone …

    I’m not going to argue the point of immigration policy or even the use of troops in cities. What I am going to ASK is: Why can’t these enforcerment officers go about their business without balaclavas? How is law enforcement with covered faces any part of American values?

  • Hello From A Cold War Kid

    Hello From A Cold War Kid

    So here we are. National Guard troops with guns with live ammo patrol the Smithsonian Mall. No felony charges will be brought for those carrying rifles or handguns in the Nation’s Capital. The Supreme Court is acting so irresponsibly that it keeps me up at night.

    Everything I’ve believed in since I was a kid watching the original-original Superman has proven to be a lie. The days of clapping to save Tinkerbell are long gone.

    Republicans?

    And this has come about due to the actions of a gang of despicable people who are masquerading as Republicans. I can assure you that Teddy Roosevelt is spinning in his grave. Why? Because Trump is a Republican like TR was a Martian. And Trump’s party is not the party of the Constitution. It is the party of mean-spirited, un-American, greedy, selfish, self-centered, and utterly-without-shame-or-moral-values thugs.

    Throughout American history, to live in the White House has been a privilege. Not so with Trump, who finds it old. Throughout American history, the Presidency has not been the place to make money. Not so with Trump, who has charged the government for rooms at his hotel while lining his pockets with proceeds from memes and cryptocurrency.

    Trump’s Endgame?

    I had assumed Trump would reach his lowest level and stop – but no. Because he has no lowest level. Instead, Trump has brought the expression, like a bull in a china shop to living, breathing life. And we are all the worse for it.

    Trump has no interest in unifying the nation. I don’t even think he is driven by the need to balance the scales toward a more conservative take. Instead, he is actively working to make our formerly grudging melting pot of ethnicities and nationalities into a festering swamp of bitterly wounded feelings where individuals seek payback for every slight or wrong – real or imagined – they can dream up.

    How About No Despots

    I realize people are protesting with “No Kings,” but honestly, I don’t know of a single king who acts this way. Not Charles. Not any of the sitting monarchs across Europe. “No despots” would be more appropriate, actually, because Trump brings to mind those who have long been considered contemptible and not gone soon enough.

    So here we are. The Constitution – worth less than the paper it’s written on. Congress – unable to get out of its own way. Voting Rights – good luck with that. Personal Integrity – don’t make me laugh.

    It’s Come Undone …

    A capricious, impulsive, reckless, and self-aggrandizing individual is driving the bus. We’d be better off with the pigeon.