If your response to another civilian murdered on the public street by a federally sanctioned and federally funded group is any sort of victory cry, then you’re horrifically un-American. At best. There’s no other way about it.

At the end of 2024 I was afraid for the calendar to flip. Knowing that Chump was going to re-enter the nation’s leadership was unsettling. I knew it could get ugly, and if that was the goal, then Chump did not disappoint. We’re back in the chaos and division. We’re back in the business of hate mongering and bullying. We’re back to unsettling the settled. And for what gain? It’s not for me, your average white mid-lifer, that’s for sure.

I am certain the super fans have blisters from chronically masturbating to the hate and disarray spewed by their dear leader. Their online vitriol at people who seek liberty and justice for all- and their insatiable appetite for destruction remarkable and disgusting.

Narcissists, like fairies, need applause to live. So, why does anyone continue to give this destructive dictator air time? Why does anyone continue to invite him or praise him? Is it because people in positions of power are cowards? And thus, Renee Good and Alex Pretti and so many unnamed victims are the martyrs that we need to remind us to stand up for the gravely disintegrating constitution.

This leadership is weak. And embarrassing. I hope I live to celebrate the end of this madness. Barely recovered from the hangover of the first term of this lunatic, I feel like we’re back in the early pandemic days. Remember that feeling? The uncertainty, and the fear of whether or not the virus would find you or your family members. And we were powerless to stop it. And we’d just have to sit and wait and hope that we’d make it out alive, all while doing what we could to preserve our mental well-being.

And then, online, some dipshit would post about crossing state lines because they needed a haircut. Neighbors became enraged by the concept of watching out for each other while scientists and medical providers worked tirelessly to figure out what to do next.

Only this time, there is no pretense of a virus. It’s just open and extreme hatred. For what? I don’t even think they know anymore. Just anything different, unlike themselves. Because different is scary. Because the orange wizard has convinced them to unbridle that little speck of fear they felt when they were rejected, close-minded, and otherwise ignored for being so basic and so ignorant. And now it’s a fiery rage: burning and hostile. They don’t need pitch forks and torches anymore, because they themselves are ignited. Too idiotic to recognize their own foolishness and the way they’ve sacrificed their liberties to fan the flames of their unresolved childhood traumas.

Ironically, what these blistered balls of intolerance actually need is the healing and compassion of the other side. They need to reconcile that little spark of self loathing that has turned into this raging hostility and support for murder in our streets. They can’t see it. They don’t believe it. They think they are right. I can’t wait for history to show them otherwise. Like after World War II, when the nazis had to face their crimes against humanity.

There were nazis who took their ideology to their graves. I imagine we can’t save all the determined fireballs. Though we can bear witness, and hold them accountable. Meanwhile, holding the blue wave of solidarity as a shield from the flames, to try and protect those who cannot protect themselves, and hope to see each other at the end of this new pandemic.