How do we feel now after a week like no other? | Life in Ludlow

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It was quite a week, wasn’t it? There were all those birthdays from Stephen Hawking, Elvis Presley, David Bowie, Don Whipple, Peggy Kulm and yours truly. The stock market continued strong. Oh, and there was this matter of a riot at the U.S. Capitol! 

That smoke you see and smell all over the U.S. is from the faithful burning their MAGA hats. 

There are journalists and pundits who are filling their lives with opinions, facts and feelings about the events of last week and they relate their erudite discussions in a more professional way than I can. I can only tell you that I am angry with all of us that we let this happen. We knew this was coming our way and we either supported it or didn’t know how to stop it. 

I am angry and I am not really sure how to deal with it, particularly as a lifelong Republican who joined folks like George Will, George Bush and many others not ever voting for Trump. 

My inclination is to try to get on down the road and leave the detritus of this failed presidency behind like I have with Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter. (Hey, just one man’s opinion.) Nevertheless, I have at least one family member who would prefer to see Trump disappear from the face of the earth by any means known to man. 

Bill Cosgrove is an old friend of mine from the Navy and has shared some thoughts with me and other former shipmates. I am intellectually inclined to agree with what he says here and emotionally struggling to get there. In any case he has captured much of my thinking.

“Many of us were bothered by events in Washington, D.C. last week. We see it as irresponsible and destructive to our democracy. 

However, a legitimate question does arise as to how the Democrats might have behaved had Trump actually won the election. Many of us have been ranting wildly for the past four years and, had the win gone the other way, might the outrage by Democrats been incited to a fever pitch as well?

Of course, we will all say that “our side” would not do such things. Well, the fact is we’re past that by virtue of age and physical strength/energy. I for one, am incapable of participating in even docile physical protest. I can’t march or stand around on picket lines. I will not be climbing any walls again in this life time and smashing doors or windows would more likely cripple me more than I care to think about. 

These are interesting times and feelings of outrage run amok. We are all fed up with the stalemates that have been happening in government at all levels. The fact that we have become such lemmings that we can only think in terms of the maneuverings of our two-party system and vote accordingly. Principles are defined without any nebulous gray areas that might be the basis for compromise. It is no wonder that we all hate each other when our leaders are only team players. All it takes is the intelligence of a high school cheerleader to get us riled up and ready to fight.” (My sister was a high school cheerleader so I quarrel with that statement. NL). 

“We don’t stop to consider the workings of those cheerleader’s loyalties, just how appealing they might be superficially. And, once you choose sides, there is no turning back. Once a Dodgers fan, always a Dodger fan regardless of the fact that the Dodgers abandoned their fan base and moved to someplace as immoral and beneath us as California (surely you are old enough to understand this as a metaphor).

History has informed us of human behavior during wartime. Mobs have provided the energy to make revolution. Don’t forget the damage those vandals did in Boston Harbor. Dumping all those tea bags cost someone a bunch of money.

Stop calling the “other side” names and start thinking about what our attitudes might be, and how we might reconsider our own behavior. That’s the basis for democracy and we ain’t gonna make America great again until we get the grassroots out of the trees and back down to the ground. 

This is my humble opinion and, if you disagree, just smile and remember that I don’t own a gun.”

I am making progress in controlling my anger however I join the Duke University basketball coach, Mike Krzyzewski, who is reported to be an occasional supporter of the Republican Party, when he says he is “saddened, perplexed and outraged.” The good news is that I don’t own a gun either! 

Love a curmudgeon and let us prepare to celebrate next Wednesday. 

(Ned Luce is a retired IBM executive and Port Ludlow resident; email him at ned@ptleader.com.)