After 20 months or so of the pandemic, I am saddened to state the following:

As a nation, approximately half of us have just said "fuck it." They opposed virtually every approach to the pandemic that would have us in a very different place today. No masks, no contact tracing, no vaccinations, no nothin'. Democratic hoax.

A similar group was fine with everything TFG did because he was "fighting for us", which is just laughable but they believed it and still believe it. This includes 4 years of intentionally destructive and divisive actions by Executive Orders, appointments of supporters who were the antithesis of the agencies they ran (by design), Supreme Court appointments and as many right-wing judges as possible in an effort to make sure that equality and basic human rights causes are cudgeled back to the 1960's, preferably much further. 35 years of Limbaugh and countless others who followed the model made this divisive brainwashing happen.

They bought into climate change as a hoax, alternative facts (WTF?) and turned their heads while watching police violence inflicted on POC. Many of them are total racists. I knew a bunch growing up. I ended some friendships.

What brought me to the point where I seriously doubt we will ever turn this around is the total, constant attack mode by what's left of the GOP. A viscous cesspool of rabid deniers and destroyers, mostly the ones in suits but also the increasingly dangerous AR crowd. This has been evident once again with the rapid pullout of Afghanistan, a war we should never have embarked on, like Iraq. 100,000 successfully removed, but yesterday's tragedy (and I'm not minimizing the loss of life for our soldiers or the Afghani civilians) will be the Benghazi they will hang their hat on for the next 3 years. And now comes the hatred for the refugees by TFG's "base" stoked by Fox and the right-wing radio "hosts" that haven't died yet. Lady Liberty is beyond tears.

If anything, I hope the regular folks; the enlightened that just want to work toward a moral and just society, raise families safely, promote education, equality and "Make Lying Bad Again" see how grave this really is, speak up, call it out and vote. It is anti-democratic and very dangerous. We have lost the ability (as a nation, not "us&quot to share sacrifice (of any kind) for the common good, and the 24/7/365 propaganda rhetoric is a constant poison to our society. My depression-era parents and WWII vet father would be appalled.

Thanks for listening and sorry to be a Gloomy Gus. I have teenagers who just want the same things I've articulated, so I have that, which is a lot. I just wish their future looked a little (OK a lot) brighter. No offense to anyone named Gus.