Fooled Me Once…
If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s underestimating the stupidity of the American public. Rewind to June 16, 2015. A reality show host descends a gold-trimmed escalator to make a bigoted, xenophobic announcement that he is running for the Republican nomination for president. Oh, how I laughed at the absurdity of it – the over-the-top pageantry, the horribly racist speech, the very idea that anyone could take this clown seriously. I continued to be smugly certain that he would crash and burn in the Republican debates. When he actually won the nomination, I thought, “Well, there’s a head-slapper, I guess this is where the Republicans have been headed for years – they’ve nominated a monster of their own creation and will pay royally.”
The election dragged on. Trump ridiculed a disabled reporter, and I said, “That will do it. Surely no one will support this idiot after that little performance.” Well, don’t call me Shirley, the polls continued to be tight as a Texas tick right up to the fated night of the election. I sat down with my lovely wife that night, champagne at hand, ready to toast the first female president of the good ol’ U.S. of A.
Then the nightmare began. Once again, I had underestimated the gob-smacking stupidity of a significant portion of the American public. The absurdity carried on unabated, even to the point of watching the president of the world’s more powerful nation suggest bleach injections as the obvious cure for Covid, or maybe stick a horse tranquilizer up your bum. That was it, I sat down and did what I do when things are too overwhelming, I wrote a dark story about the danger of a second term, one that would turn into a third. A bit out of date, but the conclusion is still valid. Let’s not be fooled again…
I called it The Third Term – A Cautionary Tale. On Amazon. On Barnes & Noble.
