Devastating

Sometimes those public figures we love cause us as much pain as those we loathe. Let’s take RBG. Ruth Bader Ginsberg. In her life she was lionized and idolized, especially among liberals and Jews. She was adored, respected, and widely considered to be a champion of all that was good and wise.

And then she died. That should have not come as a surprise. Everyone does it, especially the aged and ill, both of which Justice Ginsberg had become. Nonetheless, it seems to have been unexpected, especially, apparently, to the justice herself.

It wasn’t her fault that death claimed her. But her brilliant mind didn’t allow her ego to suggest that she retire, say, before Trump was inaugurated. It should have. How different our nation would potentially have been today if she had only resigned when she received her death sentence. She had to know she was very near to her appointment in Samarra. Not every person whose death is imminent gets as much advance knowledge as RBG. She had plenty of time to retire and be replaced by someone with a greater life expectancy, someone who shared her values and legal brilliance.

But that was not to be. At death, she would be replaced by an appointment of the new president, that eager instrument of our destruction, the aged individual known as Donald Trump, hopelessly skewing the numbers of court justices, always favoring the right-wing, the Trumpets.

She knew. She ignored what she knew. She changed history with her ignominious decision to carry on. That is simply unforgivable. The nation would have survived without her, but it may not survive her legacy.

Trump himself, known as Sir to all who listen to and believe his mendacious and demented anecdotes, has no redeeming features at all. It is striking that so many millions of Americans support this evil, unlearned, foolish, and ignorant man, who threatens this country and all our progeny. It is particularly troubling to consider that there might be Jews included in those ranks. If those Jews are seeking the antithesis of Jewish teachings they should stick with Trump, a man of no principles, no sense of righteousness, no religious beliefs, and a life lacking any kind of integrity or values, a demonstrable antisemite. Remember “Jews will not replace us,” and his remarkable conclusion that there were good people on both sides. Remember his meetings with Kanye West. And he said he never heard of David Duke!

If he should evade justice in all 91 of his criminal charges and be elected president, our nation will be set for a rollercoaster of unrelenting criminality. This is not hysteria. This is reality. It’s impossible to minimize the evil intentions, and their consequences, of this man.

And have you heard? He’s now peddling golden tinged sneakers at $400 a pair. Lest we forget, all that glitters is certainly not gold!

Thus we’re dealing with a Supreme Court that includes Clarence Thomas, whose best friend, his wife, Ginni, a perpetrator and supporter of Sir’s outrageous election lies, and a gang of enough reactionary justices to easily eradicate each and every Trumpian crime.

What will Sir, an admirer of Putin and all the many right wing dictators throughout the world, do? It is mind-boggling.

Is there anyone among us who thinks Sir’s ramblings are products of his own dementia? Of course. No speechwriter would write what Sir says. The remarks are simply terrifying and inane. They are undemocratic, small d, and symbolic of the death of the American dream. And the American language!

All helped along by RBG’s ego, and unwillingness to put country before self.

We see some of the same egoism today with a nicer, more modulated man, Joseph Biden, our president. His ego prevents him from admitting his concessions to aging, a consequence of his advanced years. I believe he is a man of decent character, but those of us who are of his generation understand that he cannot function as leader of the nation the way America requires presidents to serve.

He’s an old man, certainly as feeble as I, an old woman. No one understands the ravages of old age as well as someone who is old! When I see him walking, I know just how he feels. I see that his legs are stiff and painful and that walking down a flight of stairs when the cameras are poised to catch every misstep is impossibly difficult. Pain accompanies each halting step. Yet Joe, and I, try to look competent and confident, not grimacing while we focus on merely getting up or down the staircase or walking across a room.

It’s embarrassing when you are purporting to be fit, strong, and healthy, and appropriate in your job. When he aches all over and would love nothing better than a catnap on a recliner in front of the television, in a nice cozy house, instead he must appear on millions of TV screens worldwide, and try to look robust, confident, self-assured and competent. It’s just a complete misery! I am fortunately not subjected to the incessant glare of the cameras and the knowledge that every error in gait, every misstep, every stumble, every gaffe, will be broadcast over and over and over on many millions of televisions throughout the world. But that is Joe’s life.

The ego is more powerful than the body or the brain, it seems. He plunges on, denying to the world what the world sees for itself. He’s not fooling any of us, especially those of us who are old. And the masquerade has now run out of time. There is no longer a path for him to retire easily. He is in a position of his own making.

The electorate is not eagerly rushing to elect Kamala Harris as president. Yet there’s no way to extract her from the race. Popular or not, she’s in it for the duration. It looks very unlikely that Biden will sustain his presidency for another five years. Five years is forever! What was he thinking? And what were his advisers thinking? Clearly, they weren’t thinking clearly. If they didn’t want a Harris presidency, the time to have decided that was years ago, when Biden was nominated and had to select a vice president. But obviously, then the focus was on his electability, not looking down the road.

You have to wonder about these folks who run for president, particularly as they think about choosing a running mate, a candidate for vice president. Who will sell, they wonder. John McCain thought a pretty young Alaskan would be his key to the presidency. I remember being excited when I heard that Sarah Palin was his choice. Well, at least for the first 10 minutes or so. Then I heard her speak and immediately realized that this ignorant woman was never going to earn my vote.

I potentially could have voted for McCain. But Sarah quickly dissuaded me — and most of you. McCain lost.

So now where are we? We’ve got Harris nearing the presidency. We’ve got a Supreme Court that is striving to destroy our country. And we’ve got Donald Trump, dishonest, old, forgetful, and more, seditious, inhumane, criminal — and yet leading in polls. And we’ve got a Congress of Republican sycophants. These are people like Stefanik and Goetz and Vance and Jordan and Boebert and Greene and a vast network of others, haters, incompetents, and deplorables. Let me include in that list the most despicable Jew, Stephen Miller.

And we’ve all witnessed an insurrection, which is now being transformed into a rally for freedom. Watch the videos. This was no peace lovers’ rally. This was an overt act of attempting to overthrow an election and our government. And remember, people were killed trying to protect our nation. No insurrection indeed! Repeat: this was an attempt by Trump et al to overthrow our government and seize power. We cannot allow that to happen.

And what do we do for the next act? Woe is me that Mike Pence is starting to look like one of the good guys.

It’s clear that no one at all knows how to fix this mess. Listen to the pundits who are paid for their useless opinions. Listen to the speechwriters who put words into the mouths of these candidates. If their candidate fails, they’re on to another job, but we pay the consequences.

And is there any among us who thinks Biden is going to be competent enough to run this country for five more years? That’s just plain silly. He’s a nice enough man, but he clearly does not have the mettle to be the most powerful person in the world.

Where do we go from here? It’s clear that we have no choice but to vote for Biden. Voting for Sir would be inconceivable and unforgivable. Not voting at all would be a de facto vote for Trump. Voting for the outliers, the third-party candidates, would be insane and benefit Trump alone. Biden it will be, with misgivings and many prayers that he will prove me wrong!

Rosanne Skopp of West Orange is a wife, mother of four, grandmother of 14, and great-grandmother of five. She is a graduate of Rutgers University and a dual citizen of the United States and Israel. She is a lifelong blogger, writing blogs before anyone knew what a blog was! She welcomes email at rosanne.skopp@gmail.com

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