Seemingly overnight the United States went from respectable country to Rube Goldberg contraption. We’re the ball bearings. We careen, we hurtle, we veer from pillar to post and back again. We’re an accident waiting to happen and, urk, I’m carsick. So I retreat into my head where it’s safe and things make sense.
It’s a survival technique.
My brain is a cross between an attic and a padded room — a perfect hiding place and I can’t hurt myself there. I rummage in the mess and cobwebs, the Christmas ornaments and doll clothes. It’s a treasure chest of weird stuff, most of it’s fun, but some shouldn’t be examined too closely. It’s all entertaining, though.
Just recently, I was poking around and came across an old Will Rogers quote. Remember him? He was popular in the 1920s and 30s as a social commentator and wit. But his wisecracks on politics and politicians seem curiously prophetic. Especially with a reckless geezer at the wheel, bent on driving us to ruin. A hand-picked selection:
And yet America is still here, albeit zigging and zagging and lurching. Just remember to buckle up.
copyright © 2017 the whirly girl
*Courtesy of Will Rogers
the whirly girl 
18 responses to “: 10 thoughts, none of them mine :”
Apt aphorisms are always acceptable … that’s A mastered, B next! I think we’re all retreating and regrouping at the moment. We need to come up with an alternative …
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No question. But I was tickled to see officials in Parliament have disallowed Trump’s speech. Or am I hallucinating again? Still, good show! I love England — the Queen’s my role model, although she’d be horrified to see how disastrously I apply her impeccable manners. Next time you see her, extend my apologies?
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Alas, it’s only the Speaker (Chairman) of the Commons (our House of Reps) who has come out against him addressing them – sexism and racism the sticking points. The government under Theresa May and many in the ruling party have criticised this, wanting to cosy up to the US in our desperate search for allies post-Brexit. Funny how these things come together, isn’t it? Not laughing, though, and next time I’m tramping the fields of Norfolk near her holiday home I’ll keep an eye out for Her Madge so I can give her a piece of my mind …
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I loathe politics and politicians. It’s a sleazy, underhanded business filled with sleazy, underhanded people. But Trump is determined to operate at new, unexplored depths.
I no longer believe anything from DC. Not a word; I wouldn’t trust those boobs any farther than I could throw them.
Don’t tell me the Queen fits in that crowd.
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She doesn’t, being a constitutional monarch with influence but no power. But I’d still rather be a citizen than a subject.
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And I’d rather be a subject than a victim. Oy.
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Know what you mean!
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:o/
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I read a quote by Harry Truman that #7 reminded me of: “It’s a recession when your neighbor loses his job. It’s a depression when you lose your own.” We’ve got a big empathy problem in our country lately. I’m scared that recession (literal or metaphorical) is going to make its way to depression (same) before we snap out of our self-centeredness. It’s tempting to stockpile food and crudely-made weapons and hole up in the woods, but I am thinking I’d rather try to help fix this mess than hide until the mess is over.
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Me, too. But I don’t see how gluing my eyes to the Internet and television news will help anything. Right now, the only options we have are speaking up and / or joining marches, which I’m happy to do. Although, if what I heard is true, the White House has shut down the public comment line, so …
If you have an idea how to fix things, let me know. I’d be more than happy to pitch in and help.
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I work in DC – had a front row seat to the Women’s March (marching right by my restaurant). There was palpable energy in the air. I think joining in and not letting this fade into the background like other things is key…this is not just a regime with which I disagree, this is an assault on what we stand for as a country. Personally, I think writing, creating, speaking, standing in the face of people who really just want you to shut up is in and of itself a quasi-revolutionary act. Keep doing what you’re doing! I plan on doing the same.
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Will do!
This may be wishful thinking, but the greater the backlash the less fun it will be for a man seeking public adoration. I honestly believe he’ll quit when the resistance and negativity can no longer be ignored. So I’m thrilled and determined to do my little part. I just can’t keep watching the news — I’ll have a stroke.
We will march on. Um, picture my raised fist here :o)
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Love that last one – the visual makes me giggle every time I hit repeat in my head 😀
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That’s the one I started with; it put Will Rogers in my head. Isn’t it weird how humor hasn’t changed? Or politics, for that matter.
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Whenever I think of Will Rogers, I remember a friend in our neighborhood who’s dad was writing a biography of him. Her name was Allison, and when Rache & I went to her house to play we were strictly told not to touch the stacks of papers piled on long tables in a basement room. But the playroom was next to it so she let peek in the forbidden room. I guess it impressed me cuz I still remember seeing all that research & writing.
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Okay, I have to ask: do you know if it was ever published? Or finished?
All I know about Will Rogers is he was funny and he died in a plane crash in Alaska. Oh, and he looked a little like Pa Walton.
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Don’t know. They didn’t stay in our neighborhood very long. Her dad might have been a professor, can’t remember. But Rache might (her memory is legend compared to the rest our family). She might even remember Alison’s last name!!! Let’s ask her…
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All right, let’s :o)
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