How things have changed

 

Last year, I wouldn't think twice about going on a cruise dressed like this.  Today, given what we're seeing on TV (mostly YouTube video blogs), I'm not so sure about how I'd be treated by federal authorities.  The DOJ is going after medical records of Transgender Youth, and we've seen erasures from the Federal record of all things that celebrate or recognize the contributions of people in American society other than Straight, Cisgender, White Christian males.  The rest of us don't count for anything these days.

Why is this important?

We are seeing the malicious destruction of the American way of life by a malignant few.  Even the people who once supported the Orange Snowflake are turning away from him, as he is keeping what would normally only be campaign promises - things that are said to make people happy before an election, and not to be delivered on when in power. 

Instead of stable trading relationships with our allies, we are using tariffs to kill these relationships.  Instead of looking the other way when illegal immigrants do the work that Americans don't want to do, we are seeing tens of thousands of jobs go unfilled affecting both rural and urban economies.  Instead of having a federal government who'd step in and help when natural disasters occur, we now have a central government that tells us that disaster recovery is only a state responsibility.  Instead of having a government which protects individual rights, we now have a central government overseeing the stripping away of these rights.  In short, instead of having relative peace, order, and a well-functioning government, we have a belligerent, capricious, poorly-functioning kleptocracy.

For the first time in my life, I wish I were born in a stable European country.  Yes, each major country in Europe has big problems.  But they remember what happens when a bombastic, hate-mongering, kleptocratic leader took control of Central Europe. And they fear what is happening with America, as they have long depended on a stable , democratic American superpower for their own prosperity and freedom.

Next week, I will file the paperwork to get my second passport.  I'm hoping that I won't need it for an escape from America.  But if that time comes, I want to be ready.