I am likely among the vast majority of Americans who would like to have just a day or so without the latest Trump or McCarthy or Boebert or Greene or Jordan or, or, or, "breaking news." In fact, I would guess that many of my fellow citizens have found ways to look right past most news alerts and return to worrying about the Broncos or whether Coach Prime will run up the score on Jay Norvell Saturday as CU hosts CSU.
Norvell did a little teasing about Deion Sanders and his choice to wear a hat and shades even indoors and at night. Even local sports writers have chimed in, saying Norvell should have stayed silent and been a "good fella" and just let Sanders hog the spotlight. Wow. Everyone needs to get a grip. If the Buffalos need that sort of motivation to get up for an in-state rivalry, maybe they are a bit overrated (and overpaid through their giant NIL contracts).
I thought games should be fun, at least once in a while.
But the future of American democracy is not a game, though the media tends to treat it as one. For a reporter to cover a game, you need to have two teams playing according to accepted rules, with the final score signifying a result.
The Republican team may not even be a political party as we know it, dissolving into shouting and pontificating about the wrong guy buying a gun or making money through shady means. Have they taken a good luck at their own lives?
The Angry White People Party is also not so keen on the rules, as defined in the Constitution and court cases, unless they get to win. And they don't like winning to be defined by who gets the most votes.
Isn't it time for all professional media that has even a tentative connection to reality to repeat every day that Trump is a slimy politician who no business would hire, much less a nation elect as president (I know, we did that once... do it once, shame on you... do it twice, shame on me...). The media, and I speak of the New York Times and Washington Post and CBS News, etc., prefer to pretend that our politics are just normal, though a bit dramatic, and that the nation is not threatened by what Senator Romney says is a party that doesn't support the Constitution.
Constitution Day is Sunday, Sept. 17, BTW, and American school children are supposed to learn about some aspect of the founding document close to this mandated celebration. I assume many will not get such a lesson and that no school district is making it a priority. Maybe that's because our schools are doing such a great job with civics education EVERY day, so this is unneeded.
Hah.
I have long tried to separate Republican politicians from Republican voters, reasoning that skilled and well-funded politicians can often craft ways to fool and otherwise abuse the masses. Democrats are pretty good at that game, as well, but they just can't match the brazenness of the Angry Whites.
But I am coming around to the belief that the voters have to share some guilt, whether they are fools or bigots or just obstinate. Any thinking person who is fine voting for a thug is not defensible. Sure, they love their dogs and their kids. Yes, they like reality shows and the Rockies. No, they are NOT "just like us."
There is a war between reality and mythology, between decency and lack of any decency. It's too bad that this war is here, but we are silly to keep trying to ignore it. And that goes for the papers and TV and local media.
Pretending things are normal gets us nowhere.
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