Ellipsis: The Car With Three Messages

Thursday, November 09, 2017

The Car With Three Messages

"Crying is all right in it's own way while it lasts.
But you have to stop sooner or later,
and then you still have to decide what to do."

~C.S. Lewis

The Silver Chair

While on our way to Lake Tahoe, last Monday, I spotted two very distinct vehicles, that caught my photographers eye. Both of which contained very different messages. This was the first one, so in that we had an election day on Tuesday, I thought I would share it first, and give give my regular blog visitors, a much needed break from the autumn overdose I tend to engage in this time of year.

Of course, now that I think about it, it does have a connection to autumn, just not this one. It was all about the election of autumn 2016, and the sentiments are still baring witness to the insanity of nearly one year ago to the day exactly. Decisions, decisions.Would it be Hillary or Bernie in the primaries? We already knew that Trump had locked it all up for the GOP as he set about destroying the field of establishment Republican candidates will bombastic rhetoric and frankly, character assassination.

Alan and I debated, for about 25 miles, about what this person was actually trying to say. He and I never came to an agreement about what it was, the combination of possibilities was too great, and we began to dwell on the depression of the reality that the far right candidate actually won, but that depressive/oppressive thought gave me what seems like the most likely possibility about the message.

Hillary. Bernie. Trump.

Was it as simple as Hillary Clinton was the actual Democrat, Bernie was an Independent, and Donald Trump was a Far Right candidate? Could it have been NO deeper than that?

Now lately, and by lately, I mean in the past couple weeks, I have gone through a bit of a political awaking of sorts. A while back, I told a pal of mine in the Twitterverse, that I believed we needed to pay attention to the Democratic side of the mess we find ourselves in, because this doesn't belong mainly to the Republicans.

If Putin was planning on doing a thorough job of invading and disrupting out democracy, like the brilliant ex-KGB agent he was, we need to pay close attention to both sides, no matter how painful it might be. If we find ourselves as a divided nation, it's because there is one more mole burrowing in the garden of good and evil. I paraphrase myself there, but you get the idea!

I never thought I would lose so much respect, for so many of my Democratic party heroes, as I have in the last week.

Donna Brazile. Elizabeth Warren. Bernie Sanders.

Now, I gave up on Bernie Sanders a long time ago. At times, his "Bernie Bros" have seemed as bad as the far-right Trump supporters that attack anyone who doesn't walk in lockstep with the Nazi or Nationalist beliefs and propaganda nonsense that was well on it's way to destroying what America was built on. We weren't perfect in the beginning of our democracy, and we still aren't, but we have evolved in logical ways that furthered out reputation on the world stage, and in society, so selfish agendas for personal ambition, are not something I take kindly to.

Where was Bernie Sanders, when his "bros" were trying to degrade the Democratic party after his loss to Hillary Clinton? Nowhere! Accept maybe off pouting somewhere about his loss in the 2016 primary, and plotting his next move in his attempt at relevance, as a viable presidential candidate in 2020, or perhaps preparing Elizabeth Warren for her rise to the presidency. Don't know. Don't care. What we needed last year was less... ME... and more...WE. Or is that asking too much in the fast food information age?

I have NO idea what the person who owns that car is really trying to say, but I know it provoke a reasonably passionate discussion between Alan and myself, and I did a lot of thinking about my expectations politically and socially. Are there heroes anymore? Did I fail to grow up about that? When "Deflategate" happened a few years ago, it was easy to think of it as a one off. A stupid situation of blatant cheating, that Tom Brady got away with. It was sports. Who cares... right? Stupid shit happens in sports. Who could imagine that it would flow over to the most important thing in our American existence... our democracy?

And if all this going on this week hasn't shaken me enough, Anthony Weiner is officially off to prison this week for engaging in an illicit communication with an underage Trump supporter! The idiot had a brilliant future in the Democratic party. He passionately worked for his constituents, and stood up for health funding for 9/11 first responders! Then he took a road he should have been smarter to not take. He will have 21 months to think about how HE was his own worst enemy, and how he gave Breitbart news not just relevancy, but, indeed, in his case, credibility. Hey, at least he pled guilty, and owned it! Thanks hero, I'm older and wiser now! I hope you are too!

So, if you care to speculate on what the person with, the car of three messages means, feel free to leave me a respectful response. I would love to hear some ideas! As for me, I think I have finally grown up about heroes, and villains, maybe they are simply the shortest route, to the easy way out of thinking it all through, when deciding what the hell to do!