You gotta start somewhere.
12/31/2024
OMG. That’s all I can come up with most days. I read a news headline and I’m left staring into space wondering how we got here. I probably look like Homer Simpson gazing upon the magnificent visage of a donut. Or a Duff’s.
I kinda thought everyone felt this way after the election results were tallied. No, earlier. It goes back years. In retrospect, I think it goes back to the escalator ride. Trump’s escalator ride down to the bowels of Neverland to announce his candidacy for president of the… That was a joke, right? No way he lasts 5 minutes. Wow. That really happened. Dave Chappell and Chris Rock are setting us straight on SNL. Whew. Thank goodness he only lasted one term. Can you imagine the damage he would cause… What? The Capital? Oh. man. No way he gets re-elected though. Huh?!
Americans are celebrity-driven these days. Not just these days. It goes back before and sets the stage for the escalator ride. I’m not saying there’s no universe where Trump is elected without the Apprentice-vote, but in this one, it made it all possible. Without the recognition, without the image of an actual businessman it created, or the notion it peddled that he was a business success, he would have gone nowhere. Who is he? You remember he had a cameo in Home Alone. No? He was part of a rastlin’ storyline? Yeah, him. But here we are and he’s a celebrity. Not the biggest mind you.
There are actor celebrities and musician celebrities and sports celebrities and musician/actors and actor/models and all the slashies. Some we would like to forget why they’re celebrities (Hawk Tua much?). Some we are left scratching our heads as to why they are celebrities (the originals, Paris & Nicole). No, no. I take that back. We knew they came from money and celebrity. But they opened the door to people just being wealthy celebrities. I mean, before one usually did something, was recognized for it, and then rode that fame. At the time, they created a whole new group, celebrities for what? Enter the Kardashians and every reality tv celebrity. There may have been a little (several seasons, actually) Real World before that.
Timeline not withstanding, the Apprentice quickly followed. Trump is a big fan of passive income streams and he’s been cashing in on that show for all it’s worth. (True. Being on a tv show is not “passive” per se, but neither is doing the AI-driven freelance communications work that every passive income article recommends.) Case in point: he has sold more combat knives, autographed bibles, and cigarette lighters (who still needs a reusable lighter in 2024?!?) than any other president in our country’s history. You can add any number of other items to that list, but frankly, it’s embarrassing.
And that’s part of the confusion – part of my “What just happened?” – the U.S. is not the country I thought it was. I had far more respect for it than it had for itself. I’m no snowflake, but I know how to recognize one now. Think they’re special? One of a kind? Can’t handle having someone disagree with them? What’s nice now is that they wear red hats to self-identify. Years of being told they’re less educated, poorer, etc., left a chip on their shoulder. Go figure. Every part of their identity is bad. Confederate flag? Check. Pickup trucks and fossil fuels? Check. Huntin’? Check. OK, so I’m not really sharing my feelings on these or what is good/bad, but when you tell someone forever that they aren’t good enough, well… Don’t be surprised if they break up with you eventually.
I’m zigging and zagging and not really going anywhere. And that may be ok for now. I need to recover from being broken up with. Maybe I’ll take an escalator ride of my own.