Never a better time

It's disappointing when people spout off ignorant opinions but unfortunately nothing can be done about it. I have found in my life that a large percentage of people are both insufficiently curious and lacking in critical thinking skills. If you have the brain retention of a mosquito no wonder you are going to be susceptible to misinformation. 

People learn often through error. We burn ourselves by touching the hot stove rather than reflect it might be a good idea not to do so. 

It's never been a better time to be an ignoramus because having access to information gives some people the idea that what they espouse is correct. It doesn't matter that they got the information from their cousin's posting on Facebook. Rather than question the veracity they will simply spread the news.

A rogue's gallery

This second Trump term will begin to unravel almost from the outset. Now devoid of child handlers for the increasingly brain-fogged Trump you will see his cabal, whose instincts are not much better, fall into traps that horrify even the GOP members of the house and senate who held their nose and supported MAGA for fear of losing their jobs or receiving death threats from committed cultists.

The rogue's gallery is formidable: Stephen Miller, RFK, Musk, Carlson, Rogan, Bannon etc; all eccentric, hawkish, demented and damaged beyond repair. Those who thought an intelligent and well-seasoned prosecutor wasn't up to the task of running the country are about to get an eyeful of what right-wing dogmatic arch villains can do to it.

I won't enjoy watching it but I won't hesitate to say you had fair warning as my own country awaits its own imbecile leader likely next year. 

History has shown us repeatedly that authoritarian-leaning governments do not have good outcomes particularly for the common folk in the population and once again we are going to see it happen in real time.

Please let's all buckle in because as they say "beauty is skin deep but stupid is to the bone".

Une belle vie

"J'ai eu une belle vie" he says to me in French. He has been retired for 20 years now and looks to be in his well-preserved 80's. I see him every time I go to a particular cafe in the St Laurent neighborhood; the older part where the mature trees and brick houses give the area its charm. 

He has a kind and patient face and a sense of calm I admire; like a college professor who would take the time to explain things to you. By now I can almost read people like a book and I wasn't wrong from the moment I spotted him. We began to nod to each other from a distance and yesterday was the first time we spoke. 

People with life philosophy and social intelligence draw me in. I want to grab any nuggets of wisdom because I am following not that far behind.

It does not surprise

It disappoints but does not surprise that there are some gender variant people who support Trump. These are the types of people who likely wouldn't be too happy living full time in his version of America especially if you don't happen to blend in. 

Some people love to use the term "our community" when it suits them and here is an instance where it is particularly highly objectionable.

Random YouTube comments

These comments from random Americans on the Bullwark post'election podcast help save my sanity

"If it's about eggs, what do these morons think Trump is going to do about it?? He thinks you need ID to buy groceries"

"Here come the January 6th pardons. America is officially a banana republic"

"I know fascism is bad, but eggs!" There's a T-shirt"

"Most Americans have become the person they voted for"

"I really hate how speaking English correctly and "using big words' is frowned upon in this country. We shouldn't have to dumb ourselves down"

"I don't want a president to be just like me. I want a president to be just like Pete Buttigieg"

"It's NOT about the Dems. It's about the haters lying their asses off"

"The Trump electorate still hasn't figured out that they were always the mark"

"Blaming trans people for losing is completely insane. That was just an acceptable excuse not to vote for Harris. I am also done with fighting for a little. People spoke, let them enjoy what they sought"

"People keep searching for answers and pointing fingers but the reality is that  despite vice president Harris running a nearly flawless campaign, there are two factors she couldn't change; she is black and a woman. To ignore the impact of that on this election would be to deny the reality of America today"

What happens now

Mary Trump's very lucid take...

A message for church leaders

Father David is spot on only the Christian nationalist Pharisees won't be interested.

Good grief we are surrounded by idiots...

You cannot make this up

With unparalleled brilliance, the Supreme Court has given a man with the instincts and restraint of a toddler, perfect immunity from prosecution for whatever he decides to do while in office. 

You can't make this stuff up.

No going back

For me there is no going back even if I lived in the US. I have simply come too far to go back to a schizophrenic existence plus my confidence is at an all time high. This is not because I am cavalier but because I would rather die as myself than let society or anyone else define me. 

I have a steel spine which was finally set into place with the inspiration of the youth I see out there living their lives every day. 

For the most part, my reservations about coming out proved to be completely incorrect. I had nothing to fear and people can smell it when I am living my daily life. I use the same common sense that any woman in public would use.whether tall, short or any other shape you find among humanity. My age and life experience also has strengthened my resolve because I can see society as one imagines an audience in their underwear while giving a speech. I also have a salty mouth should I ever need it. 

Not too long ago a very nice man from Pittsburgh chatted with me as he was waiting for a seat I was relinquishing to him in a cafe. He told me how polite we were in Montréal and was embarrassed about Trumpism. I told him not to worry as I would not hold it against him and he laughed heartily.

Phone call

This deep calm that I have feels very reassuring and as I spoke to Caryn yesterday I think she could detect it in my voice. She worries about the recent Trump victory even as she lives in a heavily blue state and falls completely under the radar given her early transition. Still, she is an advocate and wants to help transgender people trying to live their daily lives openly and in peace. Many of them don't have the advantage of stealth that she does; something she does not ever take for granted.

Like Connie, when she read my old blog she tells me she knew where I was headed before I did.

She is extremely politically savvy and it helps to talk to someone like her about the contrast between my own happiness and the distress I feel for our world in its current state.

Infrastructure

I was thinking about how countries get to the brink of accepting authoritarianism and things usually need to get fairly desperate. Sometimes it is thrust upon them through a coup but other times it is through despair that their current system does not work and never will. 

In the early 1970's after Watergate, the American right wanted to avenge what happened to Nixon and over a number of years an infrastructure was built. They had their own radio programs where they could rail against the left with impunity and people like Rush Limbaugh could spout screeds about the evils of the democratic party.  They also built think tanks like the Heritage Foundation which helped cook up Project 2025 which is ready to be force fed to a largely unsuspecting public.

Enter Rupert Murdoch with his own right-wing leanings as he expanded his empire from his native Australia to add to that foundation of resentment against a society increasingly hostile to the old ways which perfectly suited the white man. 

If Trump won the election it was certainly aided by this echo chamber which fed the same diet of hate pablum to audiences who weren't necessarily politically savvy but loved to have their fears stoked into anger from the safety of their living rooms. 

Last night, Jimmy Kimmel delivered a monologue to America asking they make the best of it and at times fought back tears. Later in a segment he showed people in the street being asked if they were going to vote when the election had in fact already happened. All of them, save for one who said he never voted, were obtuse and said that they intended to. That is of course also part of the problem and I laughed but wasn't surprised in the least.

Many who voted for Trump, have no clue what is going to hit them and there will be buyers remorse like there always is. Except that this remorse will be a little worse than usual.