Another country

A week hence, the United States of America will see the inauguration of the Kleptocrat (no, I don’t believe you’re going to see his name on my site; I’m doing my part to not contribute to his web analytics) as President. So I think this story from yesterday’s New York Times is timely. The headline is certainly instructive: “In Iowa, Trump Voters Are Unfazed by Controversies.”

Because remember what I said about magical thinking? When you’ve made up your mind as to the preferred outcome, the facts—not even blizzards of them—do indeed not faze you. This is crystalized in a quote from one of the people the Times reporter interviewed to ask if he had any second thoughts, given the disclosures of questionable dealings with Russia [and a shedload of other high crimes and misdemeanors I’m just too discouraged to enumerate, but which include refusal to divest his business holdings, nominating an entire skulk of corporate foxes to guard the working guy’s henhouse and allegedly engaging Russian prostitutes to pee on a hotel bed once occupied by Michelle and Barack Obama, because he’s that kind of vindictive frat boy].

No, Al Ameling does not. “The way it is nowadays, unless I see positive proof, it’s all a lie.”

(He didn’t specify what constitutes positive proof, but I’m guessing that he would have to see and hear the Kleptocrat in flagrante delicto, in person—because those libtards could fake all kinds of photographs and videos you know—shooting heroin with 12-year-old naked Russian hookers covered in canola oil and glitter in order to even ask himself the question if there might be something—just the very faintest whiff of something—that might be in any way unsavory associated with this guy. But he’d accept any explanation up to and including flat out denial of the whole thing that he was seeing and hearing in person.)

But I didn’t need to read the entire article (although I did) to know what was going on. The photo directly under the headline basically told the story:

And it depresses me no end. I wonder how many of these men are going to like having their Medicare replaced with vouchers? And how they’re going to like the new co-pays on their cholesterol and erectile dysfunction meds?

To counter this oppressively ghastly reality (because—while I do clap for Tinkerbell—I’m not delusional, and this is the world today), I’ll leave you with another photo. It was shot within spitting distance of where the inauguration ceremony will take place (any bets on whether the Kleptocrat whips out a crown—for which he will bill the US taxpayers—and place it on his own head?), but a long, long time ago.

I gotta hold on to something.