Tonight's wondering begins one year ago today, when I published some Random Thoughts on gardening, and politics. The post popped up in my social media 'memories', and honestly, I had forgotten all about this post, which came after a three-week-long spate of writer's block. When I finally got to putting thoughts into words, what flowed was a look at the difference between my garden and the garden that many Republicans are tending.
Look at all the time they've spent - years, when you think about it - sowing seeds. Seeds of doubt. Seeds of hate. Seeds of fear. Seeds of anger. Seeds of rage. Seeds of control. Seeds of division. Seeds of conspiracy.They're gardeners, carefully tending their crops, nurturing their harvest, and reaping the rewards.
They are passionate about ripping out plants that are the wrong color, the wrong zone, the wrong fill-in-the-blank. They are passionate about making sure they only nurture the right plants, the ones that will thrive under their particular care. Poor performers? Tossed. They cover their crops with manure, layers deep, and feed them a regular, stringent diet designed to achieve uniformity, nature be damned. And invasive species that dare set foot in the garden? The only method they know is a path of scorched-earth eradication. They've no patience with trying to understand, nurture or rehabilitate; no understanding that one man's weed is another man's flower.They're gardeners. Just like me.
Well, not just like me; I tend different crops, as I describe in the post.
What I wonder about, with this, is why things have changed so little in the last year. I feel like I'm in the same place I was then, in my garden, frustrated with the state of things, frustrated with being frustrated, and yet, not willing to turn away from the things that frustrate me. And they certainly seem even more entrenched in their garden than they were, and more gleefully entrenched, if that's possible. And I wonder, is there a master gardener with the skills to guide us out of this mess, and help us achieve a more suitable design? Or, worse - are we stuck here?
What else is on the wondering list?
- When will the last shoe drop in Uvalde? Every day, it seems, another bit of tragedy gets added on - or erased, as was the case with the latest about the teacher who "propped the door open," which it now seems didn't happen. My heart breaks each time the story changes, for the families, and for the entire Uvalde community, struggling with so much. There's a point at which everyone should just stop talking until they know - really know - the details. I'd say we've passed that point already, but I don't think anyone will stop.
- What are the chances we'll have a bipartisan agreement on any kind of legislation to help reduce the chances of another mass shooting like the one in Uvalde, or Buffalo? There's a framework, we're told, which is good, and they're still talking, which is good - but I wonder, in the end, if folks on the right have the stomach for change, and if folks on the left have the stomach for restraint and compromise.
- Where do the Rs go next, now that the trial of Michael Sussman for allegedly lying to the FBI about working for Hillary Clinton's campaign in the 2016 presidential campaign has ended in an acquittal, where does the Durham investigation go next? There's one more trial set for this fall, but is that it? And will the Former Guy attack him, the way he has attacked everyone else who fails him?
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts!