This Tuesday is election day, and folks, I’m scared.
As some of you know, I grew up in an unstable political climates just before, during, and after the Islamic revolution in Iran, so I am familiar with revolt and the insanity and chaos it brings and foments. on January 6th, ‘21, I was sitting with dad in northwestern Virginia as the events at the capitol unfolded, and I told him I was more than a little scared. He chuckled, ridiculing me as he did, may he rest in peace, but even he had to relent when I explained why I was scared; I was taken back to the last days of the revolution, a month or so before the Shah left Iran and theocracy took over. I flashed back on crowds of all ages in the streets, protesting the Shah and his dictatorial attempts at quashing their voices of dissent; at being oppressed and discarded by the monarchy who lived in opulence and wasted the country’s wealth, just as many all around Iran went hungry and died in poverty.
I was reminded of the curfews and army soldiers standing next to their tanks at road closures, signified by fires burning in old oil barrels, enforcing those curfews and turning the lone occasional car around to wherever they had come from. Interestingly, they never arrested anyone for breaking curfew, they just wanted people off the streets, which i suppose was the main point of the curfews. That was where my mind went as the MAGA mob attacked the capitol trying to overturn the results of a fair and democratic elections at the behest of the clown prince of bullshit and bad fake tans. Thankfully, and thanks to a few heroes who sacrificed themselves to preserve our republic and the literal lives of the congresspeople inside the capitol doing their jobs, MAGA did not succeed.
But things have changed, folks. For some baffling reason, Trump is still not only a viable political entity, but the Republican presidential candidate and more popular than ever, mostly because his followers just swallow the bilge he consistently spews and cannot be swayed by logic or reason, or god forbid, proven facts. Trump has of course been decrying election interference since 2020, and continues to do so, without any proof what so ever. MAGA governors reinforce these claims, of course, because if they didn’t kiss Trump’s ass, they would have no reason to live, apparently. Additionally, the constant spew of hateful, racists, and xenophobic comments and unfounded claims from the MAGA camp have continued, and so on and so forth… That’s nothing new, I hear you say. But what is new is how much stronger and more convinced the MAGA mob has become. All those who supported Trump just seeking a change, something new, something fresh that would move our country forward, have dropped off and come to their senses, thank goodness. However, all that remains are diehards, those who see Trump as the messiah, and will have no compunction about taking up arms and kill their fellow Americans to put him in power.
And that is why I am absolutely frightened, folks.
One of two things will happen next week: Either Harris will win and some measure of sanity will be restored to our lives for a while, until MAGA masses start rioting in the streets and attacking everyone and everything, heavily armed as they are on a good day, and the chaos will be untenable, the madness eventually evolving into civil war.
Or… Trump will win and for the first time in our country’s storied history, we will have a dictator in power. I can’t even imagine what madness he will unleash on us Americans and on the world, most of which, especially in the current political climate, looks to the US for guidance and assistance. A second Trump presidency (he said, spitting on the back of his hand tfft tfft!) will lead to WWIII, of that I am certain.
And I just can’t decide which is worse… even though the choice should be clear. That’s the new normal, folks.
Welcome to the new world order.