Today, after going to the gym, where a bunch of old ladies were being taught by another old lady to have better posture, then going and doing the elliptical until I got tired or my right leg fell asleep, whichever came first, I came back home, ate lunch outside, then read a book for awhile. Bruce Springsteen's biography. I never realized he used to be a surfer. I never knew they had surfers in New Jersey.
But as predictably as day follows night, when I come back inside, I not only look on Facebook but check the news headlines. This Trump nightmare is still here. Every day he does something that makes me feel less safe, and every day I have to battle falling into despair. Since the election it hasn't been easy. I no longer wake up wondering what the day is going to bring. I wake up wondering how many days we have left if this lunacy continues. The latest lunacy is offering Carly Fiorina the job of Intelligence Director. Carly Fiorina is an incompetent dumbass who bankrupted Hewlitt-Packard, but that's not the real problem. They problem is she and Trump agreed that "China is our adversary." Last time I checked, China wasn't our adversary. I hasn't been since Tricky Dick went over there and made nice nice in 1972. Part of that making nice nice was agreeing that China is the boss, we go through them, and don't have diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Donald Trump wants to build hotels in Taiwan, has been in negotiations for months, maybe years. Part of that process is schmoozing Taiwanese politicians. However, as president he's not allowed to do that. He has to go through Beijing.
China is not happy with Donald Trump and by extension, Americans. There's some proverb about not awakening sleeping dragons. Not that China has been sleeping, but the message is the same. Don't fuck with China. Today, American newspapers are reporting that a week before Trump's call with the president of Taiwan, China flew a nuclear-bomber outside its borders. According to the pentagon, this act was designed specifically to warn Trump off. He didn't notice it, but then it was probably in one of 5 out of 6 weekly intelligence briefings he missed.
Now I know, I know, all my laid back hippie friends chastise me for my information intake; and I too, understand that if I just unplugged and went about my business in the real world, feet on the earth, face in the sunshine, that I'd probably be happier. But as I get older, I find this more difficult to do. When I was in my twenties, full of plans, not to mention piss and vinegar, Washington D.C., the federal government, world relations, they all seemed very far away and quite frankly, nothing to do with me. But with observations over time I've come to understand exactly how profoundly and severly decisions made by ideological, or just plain stupid old white men, affect me, the people I love, and even the dopes walking around that I don't.
So with China raising the hair on its back, saying in its official paper just this morning that Trump is as ignorant as a child (he is.), I just don't feel as care free with my feet on the earth or my face in the sun, as I did just a month or two ago.
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