Liberty Crumbling...

Before he died, Tom said he was in his prime and ‘this is a good time to go”.  It surprised me, because I couldn’t imagine anyone choosing to leave a minute before they had to.  

But now, eleven years later, ...Trump and Coronavirus and the near-complete destruction of everything later... I think he might have been right.

Whether he was prescient, or just ready to move on, he got the hell out of here just in time.

Who could have imagined the incomprehensible rise of Donald, and the Pandora's Box of vile, destructive, hateful chaos that he has unleashed on all of us? Tom missed the collapse of two branches of Government, the easy capitulation of the Republicans, the willful destruction of international alliances and treaties, and the empowerment of masses of people, who are now able to publicly embrace, flaunt, and operationalize their blatant racism and right-wing extremism.

This gut-wrenching swirl of disturbing words didn't exist then:  Sandy Hook, Gabrielle Giffords, Boston Marathon Bombing, President Donald Trump, Mueller Investigation, Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School, Kim Jon-un, Standing Rock Protest, Church-Synagogue-Walmart-Vegas Mass Murder, Charlottesville, Pulse Nightclub, Me Too, Children in Cages, the Wall, Failed Impeachment, the World-wide Pandemic, Coronavirus, Shut Down, George Floyd…or BLACK LIVES MATTER painted in gigantic yellow letters in front of the White House and Trump Tower New York  (Fuck you Donald Trump).

It is clear that this poor little world has not fared well since he has been gone. 

We are not doing well either, here without him.  I know I’m not. I miss his sarcasm, his wit, his political cartoons, his predictable outrage, and the comfort of knowing that this brother of mine…my dependable, safe, witty brother…would always be here.

So what is he doing right now as we try to figure out if it’s safe to leave our houses – ever?  Does he know?  Is he sitting like the Lincoln sand sculpture with his hand on his face, stunned that everything could have gone to ruin so quickly?  Or is he in some incomprehensibly beautiful other reality where none of this matters at all anymore?

I wish he was watching us all and conspiring with old friends to send down some miraculous intervention on our behalf.  Maybe all of our dead relatives are working whatever magic they have to bring us a sense of calm.  Hope?  Peace?

Or maybe they’re just like Tom……

happy they got out of here when they did.