Facing a day in the swamp
Every day I feel like a contestant on the show “Survivor.” Most days I don’t survive. The overload of constant political crisis, fake news, Sacha Baron Cohen fooling stupid politicians, the you-versus-me political tribalism and the Florida heat, each present unique challenges.
Each morning I wake up and turn on the TV. I am confronted by dozens of drug commercials each with side effects far worse than the affliction. That’s OK, as a baby boomer I worry about any symptom. But now the screen is filled with political commercials. Some are almost believable. When this occurs, I often stop watching and revert to the only thing that makes sense to me — reruns of “Law & Order.”
The day always ends with TV as well. My wife and I have become cable news junkies. She, like many, screams at the screen, responding to any comment that’s perceived as a false statement. So it is nonstop. Eventually she turns to me and asks, “What did they say?” I respond with a shrug as I never heard a response from the panelist through all the shouting.
Every citizen is now expected to navigate toward an opinion but with their own set of facts, because we live in an era where fake news is deemed by some as real news and real news is considered by many as fake news. I am exhausted at the end of the evening by the flashing “CNN Special Alert” banner appearing every eight minutes. We are living in a 24/7 horrifying news cycle. Maybe we can go back to the good old days of 2015? I am disenchanted because there are no rational boundaries anymore. That is by design.
We have all become accustomed to hypocrisy, but now some are normalizing it just to get through the day. This is a deliberate strategy forced upon us. Our new existence. We are living in a reality show with no end. There are no winners, only losing citizens.
Honestly, the White House strategy is to maintain constant confusion. There is nothing worse than creating a crisis, then the creator ends the confusion and then demands to be hailed as a great leader. I find myself waiting for Bush 43 to appear with a sign saying, “Miss me yet?”
Global warming deniers, Dennis Rodman as the emissary to North Korea, Stormy Daniels, trade wars, Mexico paying for everything, Michael Cohen, Rudy Giuliani, and retiring Republican senators finally becoming truth-tellers. Are these really to be the guideposts of our lives?
Please, somebody help me survive my daily excursion into the swamp. Help me find a better place. Maybe the elections of 2018 will indicate a giant “blue wave” across the sky, electing Democrats in Washington and Florida, guiding me out of this Twilight Zone. All I ask is to make America normal again!