By Carol Lucas
Let’s take a look at what our country is facing today. Sorry to be redundant, but once again a song comes to mind. This is one I heard sung in person by the Kingston Trio when I was in college. That was 1961.
I may have referenced it in another column, but it seems appropriate once again, simply because the passage of time doesn’t seem to diminish that which happens repeatedly on the world stage.
At the risk of exceeding my word limit, I am going to include the lyrics of “The Merry Minuet” as evidence that 60 plus years hasn’t changed the dynamic much. Now I agree that they may not be starving in Spain. As for rain in Texas, lately you can substitute just about any state in the union. But I digress.
They’re rioting in Africa. They’re starving in Spain.
There’s hurricanes in Florida, and Texas needs rain.
The whole world is festering with unhappy souls.
The French hate the Germans. The Germans hate the Poles.
Italians hate Yugoslavs. South Africans hate the Dutch.
And I don’t like anybody very much!
But we can be tranquil and thankful and proud
For man’s been endowed with a mushroom shaped cloud.
And we know for certain that some lovely day
Someone will set the spark off and we will all be blown away.
They’re rioting in Africa. There’s strife in Iran.
What nature doesn’t do to us will be done by our fellow man.
There is the war in Ukraine for starters. I assume you do remember that, dear reader, despite all that has happened in the interim. You know, the one where Putin decided for no apparent reason other than greed and power to march west and try to annex Ukraine.
That he has found success to be much more difficult than anticipated is a topic for another time. What needs to be noted here is 47’s promise that once elected, he could bring this fighting to a halt in a day’s time. We are still waiting.
Then there is the Middle East situation and all that entails, namely Israel and Iran lobbing missiles at the other. (And now us dropping bombs … but more on that later.)
And let us not forget what confronts us right here in our own country. Millions of people are taking to the streets to be part of the peaceful demonstrations regarding their disapproval of 47’s policies, especially the illegal deportation of those who are here legally.
Los Angeles in particular is targeted with the deployment of U.S. Marines after the President deployed the National Guard, something that usually happens upon the request of a governor. One has to wonder if in two weeks those same Marines will suddenly disappear from L.A. streets to be sent abroad.
It’s hard to keep track of all the fires 47 has managed to ignite. I haven’t included the on-again off-again tariffs that rock the Dow Jones on a daily basis.
So let’s get to the point, although this backdrop isn’t digression.
On Friday, June 20, Trump called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the 2020 election, saying it was marred by widespread fraud.
Yes, you read correctly. With the world, including the United States, going to hell in a handbasket, the so-called leader of the free world brought into play his petty thought process and focused on retribution by deciding to revisit his baseless claim.
“Biden was grossly incompetent, and the 2020 election was a total FRAUD!” Trump said in a social media post in which he also sought to favorably contrast his immigration enforcement approach with that of the former president. “The evidence is MASSIVE and OVERWHELMING. A Special Prosecutor must be appointed. This cannot be allowed to happen again in the United States of America! Let the work begin!”
Unbelievable, given all that is happening across the globe. Let’s remember that it was a Trump attorney general from the first administration who found no fraud that could have affected the election.
Earlier this month, he directed his administration to investigate Biden’s actions as president, alleging aides masked his predecessor’s “cognitive decline.”
You must forgive me if I allude to the old saying regarding the pot and the kettle. One only has to listen to the rambling incoherence that is put forth on a daily basis. Now THAT, dear reader, is digression, albeit necessary.
Of course, Attorney General Pam Bondi must decide whether or not to heed her master’s call. Given her history, I find it difficult to think she will let common sense rule the day.
When does it end and even more troubling, “how” does it end? From Day 1 of the second administration, we have seen nothing but chaos. Sadly, what we are seeing was promised and yet there were enough of those who chose to buy into that promise, and here we are.
While Mr. Slash and Burn himself seems to have been escorted off the White House stage, there are others waiting hungrily in the wings for their chance to “shine.” We need only look at the cabinet members, RFK, Jr, Noem, Patel, Hegseth, Gabbard, each a greater buffoon than the last, to see that our chances for redemption don’t lie there.
To paraphrase Robert Frost, we have “miles to go before we sleep.” I would add “soundly” to that quote.
Carol Lucas is a retired high school teacher and a Lady’s Island resident. She is the author of the recently published “A Breath Away: One Woman’s Journey Through Widowhood.”
