An Illusion.

  

Who needs Trump?

 

         The media has us all in a frenzy about the US election, will Trump win again or will he be history. Of course the truth is, that Trump was never the real problem. Approximately 50% of the American population voted for him, he increased his share of the vote compared to 2016. All those people were not born or manufactured, the day that Trump got elected, they were there living in America with the same value structures that they hold today, just waiting for their mouthpiece, their cheerleader. Should Trump leave the White House, all those people will not disappear or suddenly abandon that value structure that they've held most of their lives. They will still be racist, misogynist gun-tottin' believers in American exceptionalism, and a very large slice of them will be steeped deep in their fundamental religious beliefs.

 

 Pre-Trump and post-Trump

 

        The deep rooted belief in American exceptionalism is the real problem. The belief that the "Founding Fathers" were moralistic, fair and just people, a group that gave birth to a land of African slavery, genocide of the indigenous people, and lynching as an acceptable act of justice and the highest number per head of population incarcerated. What is more they exported their belief in this exceptionalism in the form of Agent Orange, napalm, carpet bombing, then there was Abu Ghraib, and let's not forget, the only nation on earth to drop nuclear bombs on the citizens of to cities.
     We might be able to wave farewell to Trump, but the brutal American imperialist military machine, built on that belief of American exceptionalism, and lives in the sewers of a corrupt society, will continue its blood and thunder where it feels the need, no matter who wears the crown in the White House. While we can expect that 50% or so of the American population to cheer and applaud at ever brutal "victory" and honour that brute force. 

       If we accept that Trump was the real problem and his views and actions unacceptable in this "land of the free", he should have disappeared without trace at this election, but the truth is there for all to see, approximately 50% of the American people want him back in the Oval Office, what does that tell you? This election like every one before it, will mean let's embrace change, but make sure we stay the same. 

 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk 

Wee Poem.

And now for something completely different.

Mirror Mirror On The Wall.

I can’t help but watch him
that old man
as he staggers across the room
with that unusual gait
punctuated by the odd stumble
I hear his groans and feel his pain
sometimes with a few profane words
he drags himself from the couch or chair
pauses for a moment to regain his balance
I sense his reluctance to bend down
and pick things off the floor
I’m fascinated by those hands
light brown withered looking bony structures
with their pronounced veins
running along the back of them
and up his slim arms
I sense his annoyance
that they’re not as strong as they used to be
I feel his regret
that he can’t do the things he once did with ease
I often think
that to have lived that long
he must have a chest full
of memories and experiences
that should be worth something
but what puzzles me most
is when
I look in the mirror
I see him and not me.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk