So a lot has happened in the weeks between my last post and today, and now that the busy summer schedule is finally winding down I’ll be back to writing more frequently – and I’m pumped about it.
So, what all happened during this eventful break? Well, the conventions for both parties took place, and the narratives were surprising; the Left embracing a progressive quasi-patriotism it has been lacking, and the Right a stench of authoritarianism like we’ve never witnessed from a candidate – with any chance of ever winning – in American politics. The former lacking a candidate of character and as misguided in policy as they’ve been for many years, the latter utterly devoid of any principled foundation befitting a party prepared to lead the free world. Yet the people – adorned in their red, white, and blue apparel, some bathed in the artificial patriotism sold to them by an angry snake oil salesman – celebrate.
“The war for our soul has just begun,” we preach. A sobering set of words repeated ad nauseam from those – like myself – in the political trenches, found somewhere between the radical camps of big government, messianic certainty, socialism, nationalism, tyranny, and bitter ignorance. Many repeat the wishes of a redo as we as a country tear through the warning tape, and speed past the vast number of cautionary tales being replayed in our minds while a small portion of the nation celebrates in their reckless abandon, shaking the severed brake lines in their children’s faces. Continue reading