America got what it deserved this election cycle. We’re all a little flabbergasted at this point, but before everyone starts pointing fingers we should all take a moment to reflect. Americans sent a clear message this election cycle, everyone was screaming, and the only real casualty will be the rights of the people. The citizens of our great country truly showed what they were willing to give up, to keep what little they have. It will surely go down in history as a tragedy, but it didn’t happen overnight. The tragedy is a heart problem, only exercise and diet can fix it, but what’s the opportunity cost of good health?

The extremist wing of the climate deniers are surrounding us with every Cabinet appointment. An opportunist had no trouble noticing the crumbling foundations of the GOP and the one that’s President seized the opportunity of a lifetime, to usher in a new era of rampant paranoia that will leak into every fiber of our culture as we await his arrival into office. After decades of lazy voting and stagnant political discourse, a shady business shark named Donald has rustled up Nixon’s “silent majority,” a chance for America’s rapey right-wing rhetoric to belt out one last hoorah. Except this time they aren’t so silent. You’re only as loud as your tax bracket’s GDP, and in lieu of the wealth gap the new obnoxious majority has been compensating by yelling louder in every direction. While yelling burns calories, anger raises stress levels, leading to weight gain and other adverse health effects.

Voters turned protestors on both sides of the picket line are viciously angry and they have every right to be. But here’s a bigger picture and in a modern Republic – especially one as far-gone as ours – every citizen must be informed before they become angry, otherwise the only vengeance will be against thy neighbor, who deserves none of it. In order to make a better world for someone other than ourselves we’ll have to dust off those sneakers and exercise rights, for all people, which was the vision from the start.

Donald Duck isn’t a particularly frightening character, it’s the people around him that shouldn’t be underestimated, and the people in his pockets who should be feared. Our Commander-in-Chief with a red power tie has an unwavering faith in himself despite visibly low self-esteem; making him inherently American. Mr. President has kidnapped – and may have raped – lady liberty, but he is suing all the witnesses so it probably won’t ever go to trial. He didn’t do it alone and herein lies the cynicism, he has thrived under a system Americans have voted into existence, trying to protect the children from the invisible enemy who made a name at the corner of Haight-Ashbury. The same enemy got sick at Altamont, then died in Vietnam. Like the people in Trump’s pockets, we’re all criminals at this point, and jail doesn’t rehabilitate, I doubt it ever did; today it molds drug users into hardened criminals. The baffled rabble and offended feminists are dealing with a mockery in the form of a bald man who will always be the king of his own playground, no matter how many “facts” are paraded against him and his supporters. Facts don’t matter when the truth in America has always been in dirty money, the proof will always be in the pudding.

There’s hope that this will all just be a bad joke that took us too long to get. Sadly, however, that describes most of American history; but we’ll never know the punchline if we keep screaming across the political spectrum at each other. Our makeshift democracy has been hobbling along since before I care to write about and morality only briefly gains enough momentum to catch a few headlines before sinking back into the rabble from whence it came. Sectionalism rules the West because it’s easier to patch a problem than fundamentally fix it. A comfortable citizen could care less as long as the gas gauge and the drive-thru window are full. Criticism or even slight awareness of the government seems to fade behind the sound of passing cars . It all feels so normal when indifference is so deeply embedded in culture. Everything is immediate, en masse, and Americans engross themselves in every issue except the ones that matter. Mass America can’t explain the rise of Trump because they created the environment where a demagogue can thrive, even one without political experience. The next distraction may be the one that costs us, but just like this election and most of our history, Americans will never know until it’s too late.

There’s plenty to be afraid of now, though no reason to live life in fear. The poor fear losing Medicare and Medicaid, the rich fear losing the pedestal they stand on and the black community fear another decade of oppression under a vocal “law-and-order” president. All Lives Matter, sure, who could disagree, except all lives haven’t been under the constant onslaught of police forces and government agencies since Reconstruction.

The whispers of the Sanders campaign will resonate in history as yet another great missed opportunity for posterity and equality. There are many similar instances, some that come to mind off-hand are the defeats of William Jennings Bryan in 1896, Henry Wallace in 1948, the assassinations of Kennedy & MLK in the ‘60s, and the embarrassing defeat of George McGovern in 1972. Recently, democratic values managed to catch a look out of the jail cell window, only to be pitched a Trump dumpster fire by the GOP to distract everybody from the real issues. Meanwhile the DNC screwed America out of the rarest form of politics; an honest campaign. Hillary Clinton became the Woman who almost saved us from the dumpster fire, but she will likely now become yet another cog in an era of Congressional gridlock and shrinking liberty. I believe Hillary could fight for her own campaign’s rhetoric, but her career is probably more important to her and the concessions she’ll give to retain it will likely drive the life from her like it did her husband. Hillary probably won't be remembered for what she actually is: a fighter standing in the middle of the political spectrum trying to fight hawks like herself from every direction.

The brilliant display of American Democracy in front of our eyes just might be the terrible event that finally awakens the American people and enlightens the long dormant American Dream, but America’s complacency has almost single-handedly made the disturbing situation we live in a reality. When Mike Pence tells voters, “Who cares?” he’s only representing the constituents that voted for his ticket. Don’t worry, we’ll all talk ourselves into American Apologists before the next summer Blockbuster. Russia and Muslims will be the enemies again, as it should be, it will all be normal again soon. Go back to Starbucks, work starts soon; it will all just be another day in White America.

The temper tantrum the GOP threw in the form of a burlesque brute with a hair piece is roughly as catastrophic as the one Mother Nature has been brewing up, but the solutions to such complicated problems are about as easy as hosting a luncheon for the Crips and Bloods. Perfect timing. Our economic crusade for “jobs” remains dependent on an economy that is continually automating, hoping desperately that Elon Musk either figures out a way to employ the world or send us to a new one – or both – before the Greenhouse gas hourglass runs out.

Technology drives innovation, soon it will be driving our cars, and it also seems to have driven Americans mad. Technology won’t save us. Not when Nixon was pardoned and Edward Snowden has to hide from his own government in Russia, the same country that allegedly hacked the election; if only Julian Assange were around to explain it to all to us. The battle for rights in the 21^stCentury will take place online, and net neutrality doesn’t seem like a real possibility in Snowden’s wake. In democracy, you have to be a player, but that would take some effort and exercise as well. Corruption is foundational, just like justice, and whichever you think more accurately describes our government just remember the people voted for all of it. Don’t be afraid as long as you get to keep the kingship of your own ant hill.

Limp on America, home of the free, where the drive thru window will always be open no matter the cost. The natural resources of the world are commercialized and disposable for the free peoples of the West through the efforts and sacrifice of the Veterans, either standing in line at the VA Office or sleeping under the freeway. Digesting a Big Mac this size presents a unique problem, and it’s delicate, America’s heart problems can’t simply be bypassed. There’s no quick fix, it will take a concentrated and organized effort. We’re going to have to suck it up, face those demons, and be fit to represent what our flag stands for.

Naïve young idealists on both sides parade their ideals as if they are different, young voter bases of both parties are full of dweebs with college degrees who continually fail to explain their position in any other context than a marketed campaign slogan, meme, or overused political epigrams. It seems to be all we understand, so let me give it a try. Our problems can’t be crammed into 160 characters. We’re losing our ability to think in an era of Artificial Intelligence. The American public can't seem to realize everyone has the same economic interests because we’re all in the same wealth bracket. The same wealth bracket subject to the criminalization of poverty. Informed politics make people uncomfortable. It’s difficult to act on something nobody ever talks about. Nobody is right if you aren’t and now nobody can have any economic freedom for the same reason.

A rabid individualism among the general population have entitled beliefs to a status of scripture based on the same fake Facebook News articles, as if the only merit required for a belief is an agreeable click-bait blog post. There’s money in misinformation, a conservative corp of talk radio hosts play the same game as the fake news authors and stupid Facebook users haven’t learned to tell the difference. Now we rely on SNL and South Park for meaningful news. What should we expect when we turn national politics into a long-running joke? Proof is arbitrary, people lie and so do numbers, that doesn’t mean truth and rationale have no place. Science and statistics aren't proof and citing a list of no-name opinions in long-hand form isn’t news. In order to be “honest journalism” there has to be honesty, and the truth isn’t neutral. Learn to detect a lie and you’ll learn to identify honesty.

The people have been continuously wronged in this country, so the search for an enemy never ceases. But if Americans keep fighting themselves and other innocent civilians around the World the American flag will continue to be flown high, ironically, while more people kneel before it rather than stand; either in obedience or shame. As long as we’re “progressing” the direction doesn’t seem to matter. The American people like to blame issues on abstracts or parts of society that are either uncontrollable or self-inflicted, so the defenders of democracy repeatedly take up arms against each other to try and fix the problem created by our own civil complacency. Slow down, learn to notice what happens around you and know it fits into a larger picture. If every citizen doesn’t act to protect their own freedoms nobody else will, a house divided cannot stand; and we stand in a dirty puddle with millions of other people who don’t remember what clean water feels like. Screw the Right, to hell with the Left. Our only hope lies in something outside the spectrum, so put down the pitchforks and hold the town hall accountable, justice is foundational. With all this pessimism floating around it’s worth it to note I stand unconditionally behind an optimistic belief in a sustainable future, hopefully one that starts soon. But in order to be optimistic and positive there has to be faith in a solution, which can’t happen until we address the problems.

The root cause of our current dilemma (a foreign concept in our reactionary, pantophobic society) for decades has been America’s perennial failure to adequately educate the citizenry. The education system’s failures copped a front row seat to the show while the red and blue factions quietly gerrymandered the States into a wonderfully crafted political paradox that has brought Republican ideals to bended knee and the Republican Party to the cusp of ultimate authority. The remnants of the battleground red and blue states have shifted, likely a reaction to a collapsing political paradigm. A map of the election shows the cities vs. rural states, with political values about as different as the naïve young idealists. Republics have to be defended from those who don’t know any better, as well as from those that know all too well. Power goes to the one who takes it, only greedy people keep it. The panic of Mass America has definitely set in, but the ticket is non-refundable and if any hope exists Americans will need some solidarity and some understanding of the problems laid before us, two requirements almost completely void in our recent history.

I’ll do my best to find some optimism in the era of the kleptocracy, but I find it much easier on my overall well-being at this point to find some humor in the face of the decadent. In fact, the political structure in America began the gridlocked, downward mudslide – presumably due to global warming’s effect on melting permafrost – long before I was born. Different industries have shared in the glory of bankrolling the government. Different crooks and buffoons have played their parts, so no need to point fingers, except at the citizens who allowed such empty rhetoric to slip by unnoticed on so many occasions.

Soon, America will go all in on a business deal with a bad businessman. The death of the meritocracy happened long ago. We’re all just good people with bad habits who only notice other people’s vices. When only other people do wrong then all the sudden you're surrounded by the enemy. Somebody somewhere else will pay the price for our decisions because we couldn’t stop screaming at each other long enough to recognize the manifestation of hate we have elected to our highest office. Action always feels like progress to those most invested, yet nobody seems to have much to throw into an investment portfolio in this economy.

If it all burns down I’ll still be here, typing away the nonsense on my desktop computer from 2007, to document the great ghost of the American Dream as it continues to limp in circles, with PTSD and a long list of addictions. I can be found watching from a nearby alley smoking a cigarette, and if it all burns down I’ll chuckle to myself and enjoy the show, but I suppose that’s the whole problem isn’t it? There was hope once, but like us, it got lost in the disinformation.