Political Ramblings

    Rarely do I talk politics. It is rarer still for me to write anything remotely political. But this morning I lay in bed for nearly an hour pondering the upcoming inauguration that is now looming like a shadow over my country. I could go on and on about all the things in his past that make him unfit to hold any political office, lack of experience being the least of them. But if the American people were willing to overlook allegations of child rape, sexual abuse and harassment, misogyny, prejudice, and Russian hacking, then why would they care that he is in the hip pocket of powerful people and groups that are eying the United States like a ripe peach waiting to be plucked and squashed into jam for their own table?
    Pondering this, while I lay in my cave-like room, wrapped in a cocoon of blankets, my mind went down a path to the Big Picture.  A man has been elected to our most powerful office, without the popular vote, who will very likely implode in a most spectacular manner, sooner than later, I think. There is no way he will manage to stay in office for a full term without something from his past (or many things), or some series of bizarre actions on his part (actions that are already lifting their heads), that will have him deemed "Unfit for Office."  By then his cabinet will be firmly in place, and he will be swept under the rug as an embarrassing moment in history.
    Does this make me feel any better. Not by a long shot. He is a puppet. Plain and simple. How else could he have made it as far as he has without the machinations of some very powerful people and groups pulling strings, covering scandals, and manipulating the truth? He is not intelligent enough to have led such a behind the scenes campaign. He may be wealthy, but not compared to the real power brokers of the world, and despite his own feelings of self-worth I don't believe he has that kind of clout.
    Wandering further along the path of the Big Picture takes me to his choices for his Cabinet. It reads like a list of the top of the financial food chain. He is selecting, with suggestions from the behind the scenes puppeteers, no doubt, a conglomeration of people known for their lack of ethics when it comes to filling their own pockets. Our country will be at the mercy of Big Pharma, Wall Street, and Big Oil. These are people with long histories of trying to game the system, get past regulations, and with no concern for us peons. They will rape, plunder, gut, and salt the earth. We are on the cusp of falling under the reign of people so wealthy that all they care about is more wealth, no matter the cost to us, our children and our grandchildren, and I am truly frightened. And so many people are falling right in line, with the all consuming thought that it may (or may not) create more jobs. They will be content with the crumbs falling to the floor, with no thought of what those crumbs are actually costing us.
     Already the president-elect is showing his propensity for spoiled, child-like behavior. Temper tantrums and rants put out publicly for the entire world to see. He has discovered his power over the stock market, with a few offhand remarks he can cause a company's stocks to plummet. He has threatened to take us deeper into a cold war, wanting More Nukes, and yet seems to be a crony of the  biggest threat to our safety.
     As I see the tableau unfolding, with his childish, boorish behavior, I can only think that his masters are hoping he will manage to keep his mouth shut just long enough to get sworn in, and have his Cabinet choices firmly locked in, before he erupts into full meltdown.
    My prediction is that well before his term is ended he will be taken down in a spectacular manner, deemed Unfit, and removed from office. Then his VP will take over, knowing full well how to work the system, milk the country for all it is worth, destroy our rights from the inside, and leave our country destitute emotionally and physically. All the pieces are being put into play, and I feel helpless.
     The Optimist in me thinks that maybe we are just in another cycle of the pendulum swing. All through history we see this happen. Most recently, with us, it was the McCarthy Era. We had to swing so far to one extreme in order to come back and find balance. Maybe that is all this is, the extreme before we can return to balance. I had thought the Great Recession had done that, but instead we managed to become even more divided, the Us Versus Them that has brought our country to the brink. The pendulum swings. The Pit and the Pendulum? Gods, I hope not.
    Now that I have spilled my guts out, airing my own personal Conspiracy Theory, I need to purge myself of the shadows. I need the warmth of my family. Feel the love of those I hold most dear.