Here's what I know to be true

 * for more than 3 years, I woke from sleep every morning

without fear in the pit of my stomach:

waiting to discover that some tweet or post

had sent our nation 

or a group of vulnerable people in it

into the chaos 

that both existed in

 and were created in,

 a demented mind.

 

*I was able to believe that decent, honorable men and women

were working in all 3 branches of government,

implementing policies that would contribute to the general good of all.

 *I believed what I had been taught in Citizenship class in high school:

that no one was above the law

and that while an infraction of any law might take awhile-

for gathering evidence and prosecution-

I believed that justice would, at least, 

be attempted and meted out.

*I acknowledge that my perception of 'the system'

was based on my privilege and whiteness

and that not everyone had experiences that reinforced those beliefs

or allowed them to believe in the impartiality of those systems.

But, after a turbulent 6 years, it felt that the ship had, at last, been righted.

I believe I let myself be duped -

and I know that I am not some Pollyanna who is easily scammed

or someone who closes her eyes to the reality in front of her.

 Yet, here we are.

 

Project 2025, 

all 900 pages of it, 

waiting in the wings to be implemented 

the minute another conservative Republican president gets elected - 

or put into office by a corrupt Supreme Court. 

 

Jesus H Christ...

and ghost of Richard Nixon -

"If the President does it, it's not illegal."

A President has now been replaced by a King;

the pivotal book from my adolescence/early adulthood 

"Our Bodies, Ourselves", 

would now be entitled 

"The Government owns your ass, 

as well as your uterus, Fallopian tubes and va jay jay" -

ok, so the title would have to be punched up...

*I also know to be true that I'm scared -

as is every other woman I know 

and more than half the sentient, well-intentioned men I know, 

despite all my rhetoric, also true, about the patriarchy and all the ways

it needs to be eliminated.

 

I also know I'm pissed -

because anger is more energizing and empowering than fear or despair,

although no more real.

 

Maybe Michelle Obama can afford to take the high road when they go low;

she does, after all, have enough money

to hide out with an ocean view in Hawaii;

I want to burn it all down, get into street fights

(a highly questionable choice given my mobility issues and cane)

and be so much of a pain in the ass to those 

supercilious pompous bastards in charge 

that my name makes the list of folks headed to Qitmo.

Other than that, my week was great!

How was yours?