I suspect that many of you are experiencing the same inner tension that I have of late. I feel as though I am in a constant state of readiness for the other shoe to drop!

The phrase “What fresh hell is this?” was originally coined by the American writer and wit Dorothy Parker, who would say it when answering the telephone or doorbell. The quote expresses a blend of exasperation, annoyance, and surprise at a new, unexpected difficulty or inconvenience, often implying the speaker is already in a bad situation and is now facing another one.

Humans are remarkably adept at tolerating new circumstances that require adaptation. Most of us, when confronted with a particularly troubling situation, are likely to seek ways to reconcile ourselves to an unpleasant reality so that there is minimal stress on our psyches. Our survival instinct is what keeps us going.

But Felon 47 is getting on my last nerve!

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Each day, there is another crisis—another clear and present danger to our democracy —to our very way of life. I am not so sure that Der Fuhrer is entirely responsible for the strategy—that seems to come from the Stephen Millers of his orbit. I am not certain that he is that all that smart—but clearly, he is that cruel!

He does not love America, and he has no use for any human who cannot advance his own position. It has been observed that Trump is very transactional. I find it hard to believe he is even capable of what most us refer to as love.

Those who know something of Trump’s family of origin report that the man was raised in a loveless household. How sad, for as we know “hurt people hurt people.” He is like the troubled juvenile who is cruel to animals. Add to that pathology his emotional insecurity and his constant displays of narcissistic behavior, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Most of us have our own “issues,” and we don’t need to carry Trump’s baggage around with us, but that is precisely what we do. We can’t help it.

I awaken each morning with a dull—not quite painful, but very noticeable—sense of dread that becomes a constant psychic sensation. One might compare it to the grief we sometimes carry when we have lost a loved one. My friends, who have experienced that, tell me they live with the emotional throb every day. We each do what we must in order to keep on keeping on.

I suppose that my grief is more anticipatory than actual—the fear of what I see happening in the future if the present direction does not change. Trump has now announced that he has authorized our U.S. military to utilize “full force” against the citizens “war ravaged” of Portland, Oregon, USA. I hope that our military commanders will remember their oaths and will posses the courage to refuse to follow unlawful orders.

It is that sort of rhetoric that keeps me up at night, and I am frankly annoyed that some folks just don’t seem to get it!

Through all of this, the Congress of the United States has completely abrogated their responsibility as a co-equal branch of government.

I do not know exactly where all of this is going, but I suspect that our democracy has been severely and permanently damaged. The most recent insult came in the issuance of a “presidential national security memo”—gleefully touted by Stephen Miller—which encourages and empowers investigation into all manner of leftist rhetoric of the sort we preachers and perhaps academics might employ—and categorizes such as inclining toward terrorism. That’s frightening!

It is the sort of thing that turns my stomach in the morning!

Maybe we are already in hell. God help us…