My 65 year old brother yesterday; "This country is coming apart at the seams"

[A HERETIC I AM]

We are sons of a career government employee who got us overseas several times in our youth. Our brother born between us came into this world in the Mariannas in 1957, when Eisenhower was ramping up IndoChina

We were in Athens in 1967 during a Military coup d'é·tat.

Lived 20 miles from the National Mall during the Riots of 1968

Australia during the close of Viet Nam.

We talked about what is happening today.

Never seen anything like it.

This country is coming apart at the seams.

On edit to say this.....


1968 was pretty fucking bad. No doubt. And black people weren't just being killed by cops back then as well, but they were being drafted and sent overseas to get killed by the VC.

It was coming apart back then, too.

But this? With the Coronavirus, and Trumpy in charge?

Fuck me sideways

[7wo7rees]

1. Unfortunately, born in 1957 as well. I am forced to agree.

I don't see how we are coming out of what is happening now in my lifetime. Hurting badly for all of us. That includes our natural world too.

[A HERETIC I AM]

2. I've said this before, but it will take decades to undo what Trumpy has done to us.

One blurb I heard last night said this entire episode will set police departments back 20 years, at least.

Ya think?!?

Shit fire, we will be lucky to get back to the international reputation we had during the fucking McCarthy era in twenty years, for fucks sake!

And yes, I blame Donald Trump for the entire current state of affairs.

[7wo7rees]

5. Come on. Trump is nothing but a useful puppet to the GOP. That is all.

We are being played. Trump is just useful to the Republicons. It us their wet dream. They finally get to drown the government in the bathtub..
It's been a long time coming......

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. I'm sorry, but what part of what I typed indicated I wasn't aware of that?

[7wo7rees]

11. When you said you blamed Trump for entire state of affairs.....

But Heretic, I know you well. We've been here long time. So no quarrel. K? We are on same page, lots gets lost in translation. Much love to you, truly.

[A HERETIC I AM]

14. Cheers. Sorry for the tone.

Second time I've said that in the last hour!

It's been a long week, a long, difficult month and I am sure I am like most, a bit stressed.

My apologies for the crabby asshole I have become at this hour.

[7wo7rees]

15. I think we are all losing it to some small degree, or large.

We live in trying times. More than any of us have ever known and we have very effectively been cut off from our elders that could maybe help us navigate these troubled waters.
I worry most of all for our kids. What are we leaving to them?


Would like to send you emojis, I've forgotten how...
:smile:

[A HERETIC I AM]

16. Click on the "Smilies" tab at the top of the reply space!

(Just the top row~!)

[7wo7rees]

18. Oh thank you, let's see if I can work iit.....

Oh, like this......
Thanks. Like I said, forgot how. Fun times.......
Well, missed on group hug, but thank you for helping me to remember.
Ms. 7wo7rees

[SkyDaddy7]

27. Hope I'm not...

What do they call it on forums...“Hijacking a conversation”??? Something like that...

...But just wanted to say I was doing my DU Thing just scrolling reading the thread & ran up on y’all’s “non-argument” & the way both of you handled it actually made me feel good!
...IDK, just nice to see two people deescalate a misunderstanding rather turn it into a comment slug fest.

...Especially, in these dark times & here on DU!

Thanks!👍

🖕🦠
& most def...
🖕🍊💩

[Kaiserguy]

21. Like you its not just Trump

its todays GOP, Fox, RW Talk Radio ,RW Internet Sites and the base of the GOP all combined to get us to this point. Trump is the end result of the propaganda being fed ever day to people who found hate as an easy answer to their problems and as a way for the 1% to put the blame on something other than their greed. Undoing the damaged done by Trump will not be easy unless we manage to take away and keep the GOP from power. The 1% has gotten what they want the worse government that money can buy!

[Auggie]

25. THIS

[7wo7rees]

12. Also. I hope this does set back police departments 20 years at least!

Their "mission" was/is to "Protect and to Serve". They've been militarized. They are not here now to protect and to serve the community in which they "serve". I do hope to see major reform. Sadly, I believe it is too late.

[PJMcK]

26. 1958 for me

The Republicans with Trump at the wheel have done things I never expected to see. A tee shirt from one of their conventions illustrates how far they've gone: Better Russian than Democrat.

What the fuck? And they claim they're American patriots?!

Even if VP Biden wins in November, the damage they've done isn't even known yet.

Fun fact to cheer you up: When we were born, there were only 48 stars on the U.S. flag.

[Canoe52]

3. Add to the mix a forecast for a rough hurricane season and I just read an article that

California is expecting a bad fire season. Hell, we are also overdue for a major earthquake on the west coast...what else could go wrong, locusts?

[A HERETIC I AM]

8. Yup. Locusts. And frogs.

Why not add blood to the Mississippi while we're at it?!?


LOL...

[rusty quoin]

4. Yeah that's true. You can not doubt that.

[roamer65]

6. Secession is looking better every day.

Just like it eventually did for our founding fathers.

It’s all riding in the November election.

[Arkansas Granny]

9. Trump is already trying to set the scenario of voter fraud for his loss.

Biden has to win by an indisputable landslide and even then I doubt that Trump and his supporters will accept the results.

[Skittles]

10. Putin could not have wished for a better outcome in his wildest dreams

fuck Russia and STUPID FUCKING IDIOTS who actually thought Trump would make a swell PRESIDENT....THEY HAVE BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS

[vlyons]

13. It was corporate industrialists, who brought Hitler to power

Corporate industrialists, who thought they could control Hitler. Krupps, Bayer, Daimler, Messerscmidt, just off the top of my head. I would guess that just about every aristocratically owned industry was involved, as Hitler, through Goehring's aristocratic friends network, made deals with aristocratic owned companies--which would include almost all companies, due to the nature of the German industrial ownership pattern at the that time.

Is that so different from today's Republican party that is owned and operated by Big Oil, Wall St, MSMedia, and the War Machine industry? The GOP is nothing but a neo-Fascist party, currently engaged in planting their own Federal judges.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

19. Yes, I agree.

[Vinca]

17. I used to be a fairly young 71, but I've aged 20 years in the last 3 months.

This is like the riots of the 60's only everyone gets sick afterward, I knew things wouldn't go well under Trump, but he's exceeded my expectations by leaps and bounds. At this point I figure we'll be lucky if China doesn't say "enough already" and nuke us. On top of that, I have a real fear that once Trump loses the election his cult will become violent and we'll have a mini Civil War. So much for the "golden years."

[Hortensis]

20. Reactionary bigoted conservatives' delusional image of America has failed.

That's what's coming apart. Their fearful "culture war" reactions to losing battle after battle haplessly fighting the march of progress have failed. Currently they're being answered by riots sparked by their angry reactionary murders.

The big battles this is part of, though, are between those who believe in equality and the right to life, liberty and happiness versus those who do not. And as always -- over time -- equality is winning, with notably a bunch of big victories recently.

So, no, this isn't America coming apart, it's America advancing on the battlefield. And we should always try to keep perspective. Tonight, every one of these cities with a few burning buildings is home to millions who watched on TV and then went to bed. And in November, millions among those who failed their duty in 2016 will be going to the polls.

[usaf-vet]

22. I ask myself how did the hate in Minneapolis so quickly spread to other location, W, E, S on the....

.... the compass. Right or wrong the answer I get back is it is being taken from city to city by provocateurs with an agenda to incite others. An agenda to change the national headlines.

I personally know a property owner in the affective area in Minneapolis. His property was set ablaze two nights ago. Having known him for years I can say without any reservation that he was/is outraged with the cop killing of George Floyd. I have no doubt he would have been a peaceful protester and would not have joined into the burning, looting, and destroying property.

In the very small community (3-4 block) business industrial area where he lives and works everyone knows everyone else. His comment was that this was all being driven by OUTSIDERS to quote him "right-wing provocateurs" who had an agenda that reached beyond the killing of George Floyd.

Trump's words did not help: "When the looting starts....the shooting starts"

I would suggest this "when the looting starts... the national political headlines are no longer 100,000 Covid-19 deaths and Trump's failure to act early to prevent deaths"

[mnhtnbb]

23. The day after Trump won

I liquidated my entire portfolio and sent my passport in to renew it, even though it was good for another 10 months. Told my adult sons to immediately renew their passports, too.

My husband had agreed we'd investigate moving to Hawaii--specifically Kauai-- if Trump won. My plan was to get as far away from the mainland gun toting crazy Trumpists as possible without actually having to leave the country. Had the go look see in December trip planned when I asked my husband if I should book it and he said no, he wasn't moving.

That's another story and by November 2017 we were separated. In December 2018 he killed himself while we were still separated, but not divorced.

The last few years have been both a political and personal nightmare for me. November 2019, I thought I'd finally turned the corner. Had decided I wasn't going to move abroad by myself pushing 70, was going to move upstairs to the 17th floor of my downtown high rise apartment from which I could walk to the ballet, the symphony, terrific restaurants, and travel at least 2 or 3 times a year going to my favorite Caribbean island for my birthday, New York for the theatre, and my favorite performing arts festival in Charleston every year.

Then the coronavirus hit. Game changer. Big time. No more sitting in a theater for a couple of hours with a crowd. No more travel. No point to living downtown. So I am buying a small house in one of the bluest counties in NC, built around a courtyard of plants, flowers, and a fountain where I can hang my hummingbird feeder and enjoy a bit of nature in my own courtyard. My oldest son lives 10 minutes away. The house is being built in a new development and won't be ready until December at the earliest.

That is how and where I intend to live out my life. The country is coming apart and November is our last chance to stop the damage.

Vote like your life depends on it, because it does.

[LittleGirl]

24. I'm so sorry you've had a rough

couple of years. I think you made a good decision to build your own home.
I hope you experience some peace and joy going forward.
Hugs xx

[Canoe52]

29. Your new home sounds lovely, enjoy it to the fullest!

[Maxheader]

28. Not reading too many comments..

Coming from this area..sc ks..offering any kind of praise for stumpy..

Quiet..weird...