August on the California central coast comes with surprises; the Surprise Lily and a rare August rain leaving .2 of an inch.
From the amaryllis family, the Surprise Lily's are also known as naked ladies. Why, I haven't a clue. And any measurable moisture this time of year is welcomed.
The naked ladies are considered a pest by some, but not around our place on the ridge.
coming at us on the horizon
As the US Presidential election draws near it is though our culture has been tossed onto a hot griddle, we are dividing and spreading further apart. It is barely hyperbole to say the vote in 2020 is a kind of civil war.
We've been divided since the majority of US voters rejected the unfit, unqualified Trump. From the carnage of his inaugural to the very real carnage of economic collapse and his failure to lead during the pandemic it has been first mystifying, and then disheartening to find that his craven, boorish, inept, dishonest and unhinged behavior attracts a cult of supporters.
Those with any sense of history, knowledge of government, appreciation of the United State's historic role in the world, sense of compassion, decency, concern for the future, worried about climate change, belief in equality, respect for science, truth, the role of a free media, and general civility are appalled not only at Trump but by those who support him. The divide could not be more clear.
If it were merely political and philosophic differences there would be no movement by traditional Republicans, including every leading strategist, conservative intellectuals, former high level government servants and rank and file to defeat Trump. This is more than politics, this is a thorn in the soul of the republic, this is a rip in the fabric of our constitutional aspirations. Trump is a cancer on American history and his supporters are part of the pathology.
Historians, social scientists and other scholars will provide the searing analysis of how and why this nation became so unhealthy as to enable the Trump disease. He is by no means the cause, but he is the enabler, the hater, the poster boy for all that is wrong with America. But he is real and so are those so addled as to go to an arena, become part of a super spreader event and then die.
Donald Trump is a broken man, suffering mental illness, being irrational, and stupid. Attempts to remove him failed because racist opportunists, and masters of manipulation like Mitch McConnell and Lindsay Graham and their pack of poltroons have taken advantage. And so those once Republicans who sold their soul to become Trumpists have further coddled the very worst of us.
It is not a coincidence that Trumpists sound and behave like the old confederacy, slave owners, entitled and privileged white men. Sexists, chauvinists, oppressors, and not well educated.
We owe the future another repudiation of the confederacy and it's kookie new spawn of those who give allegiance to fabricated and bizarre conspiracy theories, and white supremacy.
for the future
There will be much to do, to repair, amend, recalibrate, heal and prepare a United States for our heirs. It starts with a vote. We know the aspiring dictator is doing all that he can to destabilize the process and to cast doubts. McConnell has again been an accomplice.
Vigilance, diligence, commitment will be required to oversee and protect what must be an overwhelming rejection and repudiation. Done properly it could be the last battle of the Civil War. But understand there will need to be a kind of new Reconstruction, beyond what we can imagine now, to finally address what ever it is that is the beast in the hearts of those you see at a Trump rally. They can and should be vanquished, but they too are human and they will need attending to.
As for Trump, we can just hope he is litigated to the end.
Stay safe, stay well. Take care of each other.
See you down the trail.
