Old farts like me are products of the Sixties, an historic period of unparalleled drama.
We witnessed the Bay of Pigs catastrophe, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of President Kennedy, the Beatles, Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement, Woodstock, Super Bowl I, the birth of the Internet, Native Americans occupying Alcatraz, and Neil Armstrong setting foot on the Moon.
My generation also learned about an American U2 spy plane being shot down in the Soviet Union, welcomed Rolling Stone Magazine (and the Rolling Stones themselves!), observed a massive peace rally in Washington D.C., read with horror about the My Lai Massacre, were shocked by the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, and celebrated the creation of Medicare.
We also were there for the invention of the first lasers and birth control pills, the first public appearance of Bob Dylan, and the determination that cigarette smoking is “hazardous to your health”.
And, alas, we elected Richard Nixon. (Yeah, I voted for the creep.)
Let’s face it, we Baby Boomers have definitely experienced our share of highs and lows, probably more than any other generation. All that shit that I mentioned occurred in the Sixties: we also lived through another half-century of drama!
Unfortunately, for those of us who are still breathing, we must now endure more torment, almost more than we can bear. Our children and grandchildren are losing their jobs, our friends and neighbors are succumbing to Covid-19, and over-aggressive law enforcement against minorities has our country in turmoil.
Alas, we elected Donald Trump.
In my lifetime, I can’t remember a public figure as ill-suited for the job he sought. The guy doesn’t have a clue about the character of America, cannot effectively lead in a crisis, and seeks to divide citizens at the very time when they need to join together to solve problems. He is so busy talking that he cannot listen, and is too busy thinking about himself that he cannot absorb useful advice. He is shallow when the Nation needs constructive thinking, and he is combative and vindictive when things don’t go his way.
Other than that, he’s a fine fellow (if you believe Fox News).
Some people who know him pretty well think he’s out of his depth. John Bolton, the President’s ex-National Security Advisor, knee-capped his one-time boss in a recent book. Bolton agreed with a raft of ex-Administration/ex-Generals who said President Trump puts his personal agenda ahead of that of the Nation. They also infer that he really isn’t the “stable genius” that he purports to be. (“Dumb” might be a better word.)
Today, the President’s niece, a psychologist named Mary Trump, was quoted in book excerpts that her uncle Donald: paid some friend to take his college SAT’s for him; kindness and forgiveness “never had any meaning for him”; only goes to a church “when the cameras are on”; and that his sister, Judge Maryanne Trump Barry, called him a “clown” when he was a candidate for President.
Mrs. Trump goes on to add that “His ability to control unfavorable situations by lying, spinning, and obfuscating has diminished to the point of impotence in the midst of the tragedies we are currently facing,”
Gee, and that’s only a few observations that the psychologist has about her unhinged uncle Donald. That guy needs to get into therapy!
Maybe he’ll have more time to do that in a few months…
Yes, we’re going through some very dramatic times right now, and who knows if we’ll weather them.
Right now, the Covid-19 pandemic is back to full-throttle, hospital ICU’s are crammed, and there’s no vaccine on the horizon. We’ve been worrying about a “second wave” of infection in the Fall, but what is just as likely is a second wave of business closures and social distance quarantines. Forty states are now suffering from “premature re-opening”.
I’m not sure what the American economy will look like if Covid-19 gets a stranglehold on us. I think it would deflate all of us and drive the country deep into an economic and emotional depression. Let’s hope that doesn’t occur. Wash your hands, keep your distance and wear a mask!
Social unrest, right now focusing on racial issues, could erupt into larger incidents of violence as the pandemic digs in, more people lose jobs and hope, and angry people with guns look for people to blame for the loss of the American Dream. A lot of rednecks have been itching to do some shootin’…
Me and my fellow Baby Boomers have lived through a lot of drama, and somehow we survived it.
But I dread the next few months.
It could be historic, and not in a great way.