After the well-wishing and celebratory activity has receded into the memory of another year's passing, there is a particularly harsh reality coming into sharper focus with each passing day.
Just yesterday, over lunch with two colleagues at the University where I volunteer, we three each admitted to an edginess, a cranky dark cloud that has threaded its slimy tentacles south from the States into our Edenic environs in Nicaragua. Earlier, as I helped two students prepare for a test on 19th-c. American history, the horrific working conditions, the monopolies run by a ridiculously wealthy 1% of a largely poor population began to sound horribly familiar. These ideas sound not only true for contemporary Central America, but also for the United States.
Are we pushing closer to the brink of deregulation of OSHA standards that save lives, but slightly lower profits? Are we ever going to call out this lying, self-absorbed, snake-oil salesman on his nepotistic, lawless behavior? Will anyone suggest that we closely examine the actual legitimacy of the recent election? Does this feckless monster actually belong in the Oval Office? If the Russians or anyone deliberately (and provably) affected the outcome of the election, does it not mean the election is fraudulent and must be nullified?
We see hints that some GOP legislators are reluctantly signaling modest opposition to the more ridiculous claims of this buffoon. Will they grow a few pair and insist on a more gradual replacement of the ACA with...What? Don't the American people deserve to know SOMETHING about what is to replace universal healthcare?
I feel a stifling miasma of doubt and doom settling over nearly every aspect of my life. I just received the happy news that my Social Security is going to go up a whole $7 per month! Why, that's enough to buy a bottle of rum, a big one. It's not a great substitute for hope, but it may have to suffice when the sky falls.
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