Will we ever return to what might be called "Normal?"

 

Will we ever return to "Normal?"  That is a question that keeps coming to mind.  I used to be able to listen to the news and opinion channels without getting sick.  Now, I can only listen in small increments, as the news is so depressing.  The Orange Monster was tricked into making the one mistake which could (and probably will) destroy the American empire and its Pax Americana.  And I fear what will happen next.

America is no longer a beacon of freedom to the rest of the world.  The xenophobic policies of the orange monster have scared away the very immigrants we need to keep our country as prosperous as it has been.  What will that mean to pensioners such as me?  How could this affect my bank account and investments?  Although I have a potential exit route out of the USA if we become an authoritarian republic, most Americans to not have a "Get out of Jail Free" card in their pockets.  What will happen to them?

Our currency is losing its value, and our national debt is going up.  The "Leadership" in Washington is claiming that the increase of credit card usage is a good thing.  Yet, this is a lie.  People are going into debt in order to buy food - that's never a healthy thing for a society to experience.  America is heading for a financial collapse triggered by the orange monster, and I wonder what will be left afterwards.

What is happening to our justice system?  In the past, the Department of Justice (DOJ) used to be an independent part of the executive branch of government.  Now, it is a tool for the monster to extract revenge against his political enemies.  He does not distinguish between the people who were really out to attack him vs. the people whose jobs were to impartially enforce the laws he broke.  Couple this with the ICE "Gestapo" and America's system of legal "due process" becomes meaningless.  How many people will be destroyed in his pogroms?

Normally, our elections would be a safeguard against government overreach.  But now, with Gerrymandering wars going on, I'm not sure if the will of the people will have any power anymore.  Can we check and balance the power of an abusive government.  I'm not sure anymore.  Yes, there will be a few areas of the country that will be able to resist - at least, for a while.  But I am concerned about what America will look like when this ability to resist is worn away.  Will we look like a Christian Nationalist version of Iran?  Who knows?  But this would not be the kind of America I'd want to live in.

Yet, I still have hope for this country.  Soon, I plan to travel to a place where I've avoided travel for a while.  Although I expect no problems, who knows what will happen.  I'm hoping to see the seeds of normalcy being sown this autumn.  But if not, I have an exit plan, and hope to have my "letters of transit" for two by then....