Author: lauralburkett

I once witnessed a young boy get hit by a car. I was traveling up the main road through my town following a steady stream of cars moving slowly up a hill. Three boys on bikes were coming down the hill. A girl in a car was looking to make a left turn out of a local shop. From my vantage point, I could see what was about to happen and was powerless to help. She struck one of the boys and he flew off his bike into the street. I screamed in horror. At that moment, people revealed a part of their human nature that many don’t know they have until in a situation like this.

The Fighters – I quickly pulled my car over and went running full speed to the boy to care for him in any way I could.

The Flaggers – Another guy used his car to block traffic coming his way. An elderly woman did the same with her car to block those coming from the opposite direction.

The Freezers – The girl driving the car that hit him just sat frozen in her car, gripping the wheel, trying to process what had just happened.

The Lovers – One friend of the boy immediately began to sob uncontrollably at seeing his friend hurt.

The Runners – The other friend started pacing back and forth grabbing his head and when I asked him to go run to get this boy’s family, he took off willingly to accept the directions on how to help.

The Passersby – A stream of people drove by, some looking concerned, but many just too absorbed in their daily life to get involved.

The Heroes – A trained off duty paramedic saw the forming crowd and ran in to relieve me from holding the boy still and began to give him the medical attention he needed.

People are different. They react different in times of tragedy, stress and mourning. I have never seen that fact so widely ignored and such an intolerant blind eye turned towards this than I have in 2020. In a time where “follow the science” has become a mind-numbing, slow drip of water to the brain, annoyance of a saying — we seem to ignore the science of psychology and the differences in humans conditioned responses.

People are DIFFERENT.

It explains the wide-range of responses to the Coronavirus, the subsequent lockdowns, the masks. People react differently. PERIOD. We are raised different, wired different, conditioned different. It isn’t about political party … ding dongs. I am so tired of hearing that when the proof is right within the history books. During the Spanish Flu epidemic people revolted at the end of it. I know he is old, but Trump wasn’t President then. You ALWAYS had people that resisted these things. ALWAYS. You sound like complete morons, ignorant of history, to attach that stigma to any party. Honestly, if I hear one more, “these dumb Trump supporters won’t listen to guidelines .. I may scream”. You are wrong. So wrong. And, you are blaming death on these people with no comprehension of how deep that divide will go due to these kinds of accusations. It is as ignorant of a statement as it is dangerous.

And, are you ready for the hardest part in this? The part perhaps both “sides” or “parties” better get a real grip on and fast?

YOU NEED PEOPLE TO BE DIFFERENT.

In the situation with the boy that got hit by the car; we ALL needed to be there to make a difference. Even the “Passersby” that didn’t get involved helped in not making the situation more chaotic than it already was by stopping.

Don’t judge me for fighting the overreach of government restrictions or pointing out the biased media! You may not LIKE me on that wall, but you NEED me on that wall. If I allowed the “Lovers” to run the show when that boy got hit, the tears alone weren’t going to save him. “Conspiracies” are only called that until they are proven true.

Don’t judge the Runners, people can’t always decide what to do … they need leadership. So, LEAD!

Don’t judge the Lovers, the Heroes and Fighters can sometimes lose that perspective in their pursuits to save.

Don’t judge the Heroes, these nurses and doctors are seeing people die daily from this, RESPECT that.

Don’t judge the Freezers, sometimes it is better when people don’t act when they don’t know what to do to help.

During 2020, we forgot the most important part of The Breakfast Club – the part of that 80’s Brat Pack film that touched all of us and made it a classic. It was the letter at the end that they wrote together explaining why although they were all different, they were one.

Here’s the new letter from the 2020 Breakfast Club:

Dear Politicians and Media,

We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice an entire year of freedom for whatever we did wrong. But, you are crazy to try to divide us along party and color lines any longer. You want to see us all in simplest terms. Terms that are convenient for you. Terms that are profitable to you. But, in reality we are all ..

… a fighter … a flagger … a freezer … a lover … a runner … a passerby … and … a hero.

Does that answer your questions?

Sincerely yours,

America

(*The boy that was struck by the car survived the accident with a terribly broken leg)

Sometimes the “end” is just the beginning … play this video and if you hate Trump … brace yourself.

I recently engaged in an argument on-line about Trump … it’s a hobby. Don’t judge me. It’s a pandemic and I have watched everything on television from The Tiger King to Kobra Kai. I’m bored.

One of the other bored souls from the left typed in a way that I could feel the relief oozing from their fingers, “I just can’t wait for Trump to be gone and to fade into obscurity.”

The following is a close simulation of my reaction … that I wish the guy typing it could have seen:

“Oh, honey … he’s not going anywhere.” was all I could respond.

People seem to forget where Trump was truly successful, what catapulted his fame and gave him the platform. One word: branding. A quick summation of branding is people take their name and give it a value, they make it synonymous with something. Then they capitalize on it. Take Kim Kardashian — you can call her an idiot, but she is an “idiot” with billions and you aren’t. She took one (perhaps leaked) sex tape. Boom! Everyone knew her. Mama Kardashian sold a show, the name became even better known. Then, they slapped that name on everything from lipstick to socks and raked in the cash over it. Every last one of them. You can call them dumb, pointless, vapid, no talent, etc. But, they probably can’t hear you over the sound of the coins racking up in their bank accounts.

Trump was one of the masters of branding, long before his Presidency. He made his name synonymous with wealth and excess — didn’t matter if it was partly smoke and mirrors. That name was then slapped on everything from Towers to Ties. He sold a show that launched it to a new level and then used that fame to get used as a commentator on politics, a constant passion for him if you watch his past interviews over the past decades. Those interviews on Fox News and other stations built his visibility in the political realm enough to make a bid for President plausible. Many thought it wasn’t … until they were completely blindside by just how plausible it actually was. And, voila!!!! Here we are today. And, all the people that called him an idiot before, during and after the Presidency better start scheduling their therapy sessions now because, it is only time for the next act.

At this point, I can only speculate. But, I am going to do so out loud to claim bragging rights when this becomes a reality and a worst nightmare for some that I would very much love to watch their faces unfold.

Trump concedes. But, shortly thereafter or perhaps, in my dreams does so in this way:

For the good of the country, I am going to concede this election. I know when I am beat by the Deep State. You tortured me with fake investigations, twisted every word I said, called me every name in the book, dragged me through an impeachment you knew you could never win, disrespected me and my family, ripped up State of the Union speech behind me and the press and Hollywood spent every minute of every day trashing me. I don’t have to prove fraud in the election because the whole four years was fraud. You never gave me a chance. And, now it is MY turn.

I am walking away today. Tomorrow, I will start my own television news station. I am naming it, “Real News”. (pointing to the press covering the concession). Any of you wanting to start doing actual investigative reporting again, feel free to slip me an application. Because I am coming for you. Everything you have been doing in the dark, I will shine a light on. 73 million people are also 73 million viewers. And, let’s face it … an additional 30 million will be too curious to not tune in. Prepare to lose 100 million viewers. I will use the money from that to launch a social media site (pointing at camera). Zuckerberg and Twitter, prepare your investors for the loss of half your audience.

(Pointing to the hyenas with pens masquerading as press). And, to most of you … I have been holding this back for 4 years … fuck you. Did you catch that in the back? Do you need me to repeat it? Fuuuuuck you. Have fun trying to get ratings running stories on how Biden didn’t fall off his bike today! (Drops the mic and walks out with double middle fingers up)

Although, he won’t do it as dramatic as I am hoping … you better believe it is coming. It’s what he DOES. It’s branding. Get ready for Trump TV and The Trump Social Network. And, all the people that called him an idiot, he now has the biggest brand with the greatest value … President. You can’t take it away. You can’t vote it away no matter how many ballots you fill out with Sharpies and dead people you line up to vote.

He has made his name synonymous with going against the grain, against corruption, against the status quo. He shined a spotlight on the imbalanced way the media treats Republicans versus Democrats. He made over half the country hate the social media platforms they couldn’t live without prior because the leadership of those platforms went censor-shit crazy. You stupidly, through your own biases, created the market for him to insert his brand! Tell me who the idiot is?

He made his name equal to that of any American against the rising tide of socialism in our country. You can’t STEAL that from him. And, after January he will ride that brand straight to the bank because guess what? Capitalism wins.

Play that song at the top and dance with me … money, money, money … MONEY!

Imagine going to your refrigerator and pulling out a gallon of milk from the back, tucked behind some old Chinese food and butter (yes, that is what is currently in my fridge). You want to drink it, but the expiration date is worn off. There is only one way to determine what happened, unscrew the red lid and take a whiff.

Ew … disgusting. This is clearly bad.

Now, what if someone wanted you to write a dissertation with proof on what date, what time and in which way that milk soured. How long had it been in there? What was the last moment it was good?

Listen, buddy … I don’t KNOW, I just know it smells bad!

This is pretty much my reaction to the election of 2020. Just like every other event in 2020, I look at it with a mix of skepticism, fear and annoyance. But, God-forbid you say to the wrong person that it smells bad. You get the conspiracy theorist label smacked straight across your chest faster than you can say, “Every legal vote counts”. It’s getting tiring to argue with people on what I saw with my own two eyes. It’s exhausting sparring with people that I know are smarter than they are playing. So, I have tried to stop because it is pointless.

There is one truth and one alone for me: this smells bad and has for months!

A lot of people thought from the first moments the mail-in vote was pushed to be done for safety reasons due to COVID-19, that something was off. ONLY the Democrats were pushing it. The Republicans were fighting it. You don’t have to be a member of MENSA to recognize that the side wanting it was the one that felt had the most to gain! Why? Because you thought your voters were too lazy or too scared to stand in line to vote??? You realize the scared excuse makes zero sense as we all watched the mailed in votes get counted in closed rooms by the EXACT people that are the most susceptible to the coronavirus?

It seemed off, it seemed odd … that is, of course, because it was.

Everyone went to bed on election night with Trump in the lead. Some states didn’t have the count done. But, only the important battleground states weren’t completed … um, get that whiff of something stinky. If you were paying attention, which of course many weren’t because they were distracted daily with the non-stop corona tally, they would have known that was always going to happen because states like PA made complete changes to their voting rules just prior to the election — some are being investigated currently as completely unconstitutional. Nothing to smell here, folks!

The overnight vote dumps created the lead for Biden and that was explained by the fact that all the mail-in votes were primarily from Dems .. why? Explain to me in any logical way while almost 80% of Dems who GO TO WORK EVERY DAY or buy groceries, get gas, or shop were incapable of standing in line on election day? Gee … it almost seems like that flooding of the system may work in your advantage or you would have never pushed for it???

Is something reeking to you, yet?

If it isn’t, I bet you hated Trump. Bet you. So, is it me going down the wormhole based on the results I want? Or, is it you with your face in a rotten milk jug refusing to say you smell anything because doing so would go against what you want?

So, don’t ask me to “prove” what is going on! What am I supposed to do? Google “Global Elites Plot for World Domination” and dig up the scoop? You think I have George Soros on speed dial? You think I am sitting on who actually killed JFK … you know … because I have that kind of intel and choose to live in the ‘burbs to avoid the CIA hit that would transpire should I admit I actually know anything of true global consequence?

What I would ask is that people just admit … something smells bad. I would feel better if that consensus could be agreed upon because us “little people” can speculate all we want, but we don’t really know. And, we are ALL the little people here, folks. Rep or Dem. Unless you have whatever secret handshake or password these multibillionaire power brokers gave out at their last … Let’s Run the World party … you aren’t anything to them but a pawn.

You want answers to how an election gets rigged, don’t ask ME! I am not Soros. I am not now, nor will we in the same bowling league, so he isn’t whispering the real endgame to me. I know I seem pretty high maintenance, but my crowd is more the suburban middle class crowd than the billionaire megalomaniac crowd. I buy shoes and purses as a hobby, not politicians and countries, so I am probably not your inside source to proving a stolen election.

By the way, stop asking for unity after four years of calling every Republican a racist, xenophobic, trailer park, knuckle-dragging, moron, cult member, chump. You didn’t just attack the President, you insulted every person that had the audacity to like their current President. You attacked them on a personal, not political level and you did it openly and often. To expect unity after that is a pretty tall request. In addition, don’t ask me for unity. It’s annoying. I am not Jesus. I don’t see the past, present and future all at once and I suck at turning the other cheek. He’s way better at forgiveness than I am, take the unity thing up with Him.

Something smells bad and take your unity and shove it. If you want more than that ask Jesus or Soros.

P.S. Jeffrey Epstein didn’t kill himself … but, Carol Baskin did kill her husband … and whoever is in charge of investigating this shit should probably get to work!

• You called Trump supporters deplorable, stupid, “Trumpsters”, chumps, uneducated, close-minded, hicks, Bootlickers and much more and much worse … but, Trump was the bully.

• You said “not my President” from day one … but, Trump was disrespectful.

• You launched an investigation into Russian collusion while having your own party have links to foreign entities … but, Trump was corrupt.

• You spent money on an impeachment that you never had the votes for … but, Trump was wasteful.

• You ripped up a State of the Union Speech for the world to see … but, Trump was immature.

• You knelt during the National Anthem as vets wept at the disrespect … but, Trump was self-centered.

• You said Antifa was just a thought as they actively burned cities … but, Trump was careless with his words.

• You bailed out violent protesters encouraging and emboldening them … but, Trump was dangerous.

• You called every Trump supporter a racist with no concern if it was the truth or of the pain that caused … but, Trump was the liar.

• You reported polls that were not even close to true … but, Trump was the exaggerator.

• You allowed our police to be your scapegoats and get harassed, injured and murdered … but, Trump was divisive.

• You blamed every death in the U.S. from COVID-19 on one man when it was a global pandemic and hit every other country in the world because doing so helped your chance to win power … but, Trump spread crippling rhetoric.

• You permitted statues to be torn down for reasons that made no sense and weren’t based in true history … but, Trump was ignorant.

• You ran biased stories from anonymous sources and ignored the Bobulinsky story … but, Trump was the jerk who cried “fake news”.

And, now … after 4 years of this … you want to “put the divisiveness behind and move forward as a United States”? That’s adorable.

These were never, ever, ever policy issues. You waged a personal attack on what the vote now shows as nearly 70 million AMERICANS for four years. We were nothing to you but dumb, chump, deplorable, scum. It didn’t matter if it wasn’t true. It was what we needed to be for you to try to win. But, Trump is … disgusting.

NOW you want us to unite.

Please excuse us if we aren’t buying that. I don’t know what comes next, but I do know this … you are all what you tried to say Trump was. And, that will be a hard thing to forget.

Quarantine is a word we are all too familiar with in the COVID-19 world. Isolate, distance, stay away, cover your mouth are all concepts the pandemic has drilled down into us.

Yet, for many, we were already there and didn’t know it.

I knew from the moment a former friend living in Portland lost her mind on me over my political view that it seemed disingenous to believe Justice Kavanaugh’s accuser and not Biden’s accuser that something was very, very wrong.

What was going on? How could that wrath go so deep?

I answered my own question with the conclusion that living in a very Liberal city, surrounded by only Liberal friends and listening to only Liberal news had skewed her reality. But, it has altered many of us, on both sides. Never was that more clear than in the weeks and months leading up to the election and most especially the day before.

The polls were wrong. I always knew they were wrong. A lot of people kept saying they were wrong. But, people were taunting, “oh, Trump is toast. It’s over.” My opinion that it was going to be close didn’t come from my wishful thinking or biases — it came from being actually out in the world and living.

You didn’t hear the Millennials (a group both sides COMPLETELY ignored) whispering that they were voting Trump because they wanted some hope and the “Dark Winter” comment and threat of another lockdown scared them to death. They are the generation that are wanting big weddings and to have babies in a hospital and have their family actually be there. They are finally established in their careers and the idea that a shutdown may destroy their progress was terrifying. But, no one KNEW that because they lived in a bubble.

You didn’t listen to the “elderly”. You fell back on scaring them that Republicans were going to steal their Medicare and push them off a cliff because that tactic usually works. But, you didn’t realize that in that group were war veterans and wives of war veterans that remember their friends dying in wars that YOU SENT THEM TO FIGHT “Communism and Socialism” and then you told them you wanted to bring those policies here. When they all buried friends and suffered untreated PTSD to “protect a Constitution” for you politicians? You didn’t hear them crying about that because you live in a bubble of only people that agree with you.

You refused to believe that suburban women like me might vote for Trump because how could I possibly? He’s so abrasive? Yet, you refused to listen that I don’t care. That I was raised by one of those elderly veterans, that I work with and want a bright future for those Millennials and my children and that I am offended, to the core of my being, that Conservative fiscal ideals get me labeled instantaneously as a “Trumpster” or so far worse … a racist. You didn’t get how many of us that are out here who have friends and loved ones that are police officers and watched as you ignored them being scapegoated because you thought it would help you win. You didn’t know … because you live in a bubble.

So, regardless of the outcome that we will have to sit here and wait for days to see … your polls were wrong, your opinions were wrong and half this country does not agree with you. If you don’t want “divisiveness” then step out of your bubbles and realized that.

We exist. And, we matter.

The worst quarantines we will ever face is the quarantine of the mind.

I was 29 when my sister died. And, because she couldn’t do anything normal, even her death took us all on an unexpected journey. I speak about it often because the death of your only sibling is pivotal for anyone, but the circumstances surrounding her death stripped me of the axis I had always spun around and set me adrift.

Condensing a story so long I needed to write a book to encapsulate — her sudden death at 33 was deemed suspicious. Her autopsy was refused at time of death and my family was dragged through the first exhumation case in Westmoreland County in 25 years and a police investigation. To add to that, my young marriage couldn’t handle the weight of the tragedy, leaving me a single mom in the middle of it all. At the exact same time, my career took an unexpected turn and I was asked to be a co-host on QVC. All I knew was gone and I was left to inch forward … the only direction left to go.

We got the call after many agonizing months of investigation to come to District Attorney Peck’s office to review the case and Dr. Cyril Wecht’s findings. It was of course scheduled on the exact day that I had to make the 4 1/2 hour drive to West Chester, PA to do my very, first show on QVC. I remember walking into the courthouse trying to steady my shaking knees. The Detective we had gotten to know well during the process greeted us at the DA’s door and took us on a winding walk down hallways stacked with banker’s boxes of files to seat us in a conference room encircled by law books. DA Peck and the group of detectives wasted little time speaking. Lots of words followed, but the most important ones were this: “We don’t know what happened and there is not enough evidence to prove in court. We cannot proceed.”

“That’s it“, I asked needing more. “But, I need to know what happened. You are telling us we will never know?”

They all just shrugged. They couldn’t tell me. I kind of knew that they couldn’t in my breaking heart. But, I needed something. Justice. Something. Answers. Something. More. I felt like I was falling, even while seated in the uncomfortable wooden chair. I got nothing but shown the door with my parents quietly trailing behind.

And, then … I got into my car, waved goodbye to my equally stunned parents and hit the road to cross the state into a different unknown — QVC. This was the song that came on, and I drove as the tears streamed down my face cooled by the wind blowing through my open window. I blasted it as loud as my radio would allow … and drove forward, the only direction I had left to go.

I arrived at QVC, walked through the intimidating glass-fronted building, check-in and got wound down a long hallway to the Green Room. I think I should have been nervous, but I was so filled with the knowledge of how short life was and so automatically hardened by how quickly it could all change, that I simply didn’t care. I had a job to do. And, that job was forward … the only place left I had to go.

They handed me a beeper to clip to my hip that would go off when I was due on set. I sat and stared in the side lit mirrors as my hair and make-up was done quietly, hoping they didn’t notice that my eyes were swollen from the hours of tears that shook off somewhere in the Blue Mountains. I listened to the banter in the Green Room and watched handlers excited or disappointed over the line graphs on computers set up showing them their sales per minute. The world … counted in minutes for them, just like I was now counting all of them in my head. My buzzer went off, I walked to set. A rushed host looked at me and smiled, “you ready?” I nodded as the robotic camera turned to us and the lights brightened before me.

Show time. The show must go on. And, it did. Forward … the only way to go.

How is this political? It doesn’t seem to correlate except to give you the fist-pounding, gut-wrenching, heartfelt reasoning why I have zero tolerance for the victim mentality. I have no patience for the destructive protests. I have no patience for people believing the President or any can hurt or destroy them. You think I don’t know injustice? Say HER name. My sister was Danielle. Say it.

Danielle.

And, guess what … she still will never come back. I will never know how she died. Justice will never come. But, I move forward … because that is the ONLY place to go.

You can burn, you can loot, you can blame, you can scream and it will never change a thing. You will waste (if you are so, so lucky) 100 years you have to live. And, I will ruin the surprise for you — life isn’t always just, it isn’t always fair and sometimes … it’s not even kind. But, it is the only one you get.

Change, life, beauty, forgiveness, redemption, passion, growth — they only happen when you move one way … forward … because it’s the only direction that will ever get you anywhere good.

• 

• 

I hate adulting. Adulting is hard. It is full of work, stress, hard decisions, bills, being tired before 9 PM, being disappointed, not always getting what I want, prioritizing what is important over what is fun, saying no when it is hard, saying yes when you want to scream no. My oh my, adulting is hard.

I wonder how I can get out of it? I know, I know! I can become a liberal, a socialist or an Antifa member!!! FREEDOM!!! FREEDOM from adulthood!

Any parent can attest that one of the hardest things in the world about parenting are those moments you have to be “the bad guy”. Your child wants the candy, they can’t eat it or they will never sleep. You tell them they cannot and the child completely flips out. Nooooooow … some parents cave. I sure know I did at times. But, we all know what happens the next time they want something that is a bad idea. Straight to the hissy fit!

It’s exhausting to be the “mean, mom” surrounded by children with horrible ideas and forks inches away from a light socket screaming, “please don’t do that” as they throw a tantrum and inch closer to destruction. “But, I WANNA destroy everything! It will be fun! You are a meanie!” That is truly what it feels like to be a moderate or Conservative in this new world of raging Liberals, wannabe Socialists and escalating anarchists. It’s hard being the adults around screaming children and it is made more difficult when the babies are also carrying bricks, guns and Molotov cocktails.

I remember when my boys were little, they thought that ignoring my advice and playing with their Airsoft guns in the basement with their cousin was a great idea. Of course, until they shot off their cousin’s nipple. (Which is a hilarious story now … and it oddly grew back … but, you get the point) I look at every issue and debate, every thing they say they want and am annoyed that half the country has to feel like the parent to stop their often fun-sounding or noble ideas on paper that are disasters in reality.

Let me name a few:

1. Anarchy – “No rules, no government, no police!” Adorable, sweetie! What a wonderful idea. Except a state of anarchy does not exist without being a precursor to a large-scale war. Most World Wars have begun with certain states of anarchy. And, as adorable as you think the “A” symbol is and cool as you think marching around with skateboards and helmets is, anarchy only it leads to two things: lots and lots of death and the rebuilding of some societal governance because a state of anarchy never survives. So, cutie pie … you are basically asking for a whole lot of people to die and then the exact thing you claim to hate to rebuild. Fun. Sounds like a great plan. Geniuses.
2. Socialism – “We need to adopt Democratic Socialism, Bernie said so.” Aw, that’s adorable, little ones. Do you mean like Sweden, his grand example? Except for the fact that Sweden, Norway, and Denmark are not socialist or even democratic socialist. They NEED capitalism to survive. They REALLY depend on America’s capitalism (as do most other countries). Swedish economist, Johan Norberg attests that before Sweden built a bigger government they got rich first with free trade and an open economy. When they started dabbling in socialism, they feel from the fourth-richest economy to the 14th within 25 years. Braintrusts!
3. I repeat, Socialism/extreme Liberalism – “We want and need the government to take care of everything because capitalism is evil!” Aw, babydoll … you are too cute. Do you want Venezuela? I mean 7% of their entire population has FLED from there because ONLY the government lives well under socialism. No? You like your IPhones and being able to buy your black clothes to look all edgy and tough? Ok. Do you want Greece? The overwhelming government debt has swallowed the country whole and led to three international bailouts. Half the young are unemployed and people are hoarding food, money and medicine. No? You need your Prozac for your “anxiety” over living in this awful country too much? How about Spain, peanut? Do you want to go there? The Socialist there launched the largest stimulus package in the EU and doubled their national debt nearly overnight. Banks failed, taxes were raised and unemployment reached Depression-era levels. Weeeeee!! Sounds fun, right???

Morons. I hate to be condescending … actually on this, not really … morons.

Go home, get a cookie and a warm glass of milk and descend into your mom’s basement. Get to work on your on-line classes at the college that your parents pay through the nose for, try to enroll in an actual Economics class. Sit there and stare at the trophy that your parents insisted you get that you never deserved and let running this country to the adults.

As cute and morally superior as you think you are for wanting to either give everything away for free or burn everything down, the reality is … you are either physical or mental children — stunted at growth and caught in the mentality where stomping your feet and holding your breathe got you what you wanted. Grow up, get a job, pay taxes and put down the bricks. The adults are getting bored of the tantrums.

I have always had two personality quirks. I am a regimented planner — I like to know what is going to happen, exactly what time, who is going to be there, what is the attire, etc. It’s just who I am. It makes me very reliable and also a pain in the ass. I accept that about myself.

My second quirk is a very keen sixth sense. I can read a room — the energy, the glances people give, the tone in an email, the body languages of those that are lying in almost Sherlock Holmes-style deduction. It has also made me a pain in the ass to cheating spouses or two-faced friends. There was a time that I would question this instinct, my gut or inner voice. I would always live to regret it. My mother would tell me, “your gut is God, listen to Him.”

My gut right now is in a knot.

From the first day of the lockdown I felt like Sarah Connor looking into a future no one else saw with dread. I watched as people went along as normally as they could with what was happening. Putting little “Stay Inside, Stay Safe” banners around their profile pictures, ending every email with the same “Stay Safe” sign off.

I, on-the-other-hand, broke my Keto diet to eat Lemonheads and wash them down with wine then buy a bullhorn to scream at people through my living room window sarcastically that had the “audacity” to be outside. I wasn’t “ok”. That was pretty clear. And, the amount of people that were mindlessly ok with it all freaked me out more. Every time they would tell me to “stay safe”, I would force a fake smile and in my head think, “thanks. I was planning on going to lick doorknobs in the hospital. You just saved me.”

My instincts told me a truth that I kept trying to share, “once they lock us up, we aren’t going to get out — not truly and not for a long time.” I was told I was nuts for thinking that. I mean, it could have been because I was screaming it half kicked in the ass from wine through a bullhorn off my back porch while blasting American Girl by Tom Petty … but, they still were saying I was wrong and quite apparently now … I was not.

My gut is now on fire.

I need a plan. I want a plan. In life and in work … everyone keeps trying to plan for some unknown future that doesn’t seem to even have a start date that doesn’t include the words, “well, let’s wait to see what happens after the election.” Do we get how messed up that is?

My mind keeps trying to process ways this election can go without the inevitable darkness that is going to follow. I can’t come up with a solution and I am so frustrated daily by that. It strains my mind. I keep playing out the different scenarios and the maze keeps dumping me at the same ending. Chaos.

People are pushed to the max, I mean to the MAX. We have been locked up, polarized, attacked, verbally abused and maligned. These mayors and governors have allowed these kids with no clue what they are asking for to roam the streets protesting, plotting and planning while the real adults are struggling to figure out how to keep their businesses and lives afloat. It is building a resentment that I don’t think people are truly understanding the magnitude of the anger they are creating. It’s a powder keg.

The media, that is the constant spoon stirring for ratings, is painfully oblivious or doesn’t care as to how close to the edge they are pushing this with people. I am seriously concerned we are one, tiny step away from the word these kids keep chanting, but have no idea what that will mean, the word I won’t say because I don’t want to write it into existence … I fear we are one misstep away from … “it”.

A storm is coming.

And, I am certain that again I will get called an alarmist for believing so. I sure hope I am wrong. For all of our sakes, I hope I am wrong. I want to be wrong. And, if I am … at least I will have extra toilet paper this time!

Until then, I will stare off into the not-so-distant future for America and pray the storm is gentle on us all.

As an observer to politics and an active participant in debates over the years, I can remember the pre-2016 election talks amongst those who followed current events with the same passion that I did.

Of course people would argue over the same fringe issues of abortion, justified or unjustified wars, and gay marriage. Each of us postured in our own separate opinions formed by life experiences or biases. But, when you would dig deep with anyone with an opposing view, get passed the initial grandstanding and chest pounding — a deeper conversation would often occur. I liked those moments. They were moments of the truest connection, where you could feel yourself growing by opening up a little to someone with a different view.

Both sides would often be hit with the realization that “maybe these issues are just bait? Maybe there is a puppeteer in all of this, throwing fringe issues at us like chum, keeping us busy eating each other alive while they rob us blind. They seem to only come up every four years, each side driven to believe they will lose all their rights. Hmmm? Are we being used?

There would always be a temporary détente in the political spats with friends, family and strangers in the gaps between the elections. It was nice … peaceful. The puppet masters hands perhaps grew tired? Maybe they knew the boundaries and what would be pushing people too far? “Let’s get them to only mildly rip each other to shreds. The puppets don’t serve us as well completely tattered.”

2016 was the last time the strings were left to dangle.

The moment Donald Trump walked out on to a victory stage, Melania trailing behind looking as dazed and stoic as many were at the moment his win was sealed, I felt the strings begin to tighten. It was palpable. It was like my friends to the left, the media, and something deep, dark and hidden within the halls of the legislator and Congress wailed. And, the puppet strings wrapped daily tighter and tighter around the necks of our citizens. Washington D.C., the hidden one, the ghosts, the one I don’t believe any of us can see spun out of control with someone outside their world grabbing the strings.

And, the grand tug of war with all of us haplessly in the middle began.

Crook! Liar! Racist! Collusion! Bully! Racist, again! Orange! Dumb hair! Conman! Hateful! Stupid! Quid Pro Quo! Impeach! Remove! Destroy! Evil! Murderer! Incompetent!

It was a 4-year long temper tantrum of epic proportions. They made no serious attempt to seek a better candidate, no attempts give the American people any lulls or reprieve. There was no time for that! They needed the strings back in their grasps. “We must, MUST get him out! Not four years from now. NOW!”

But, why? It didn’t matter how I felt about him — his personality, the off the cuff style. It didn’t matter. The constant and daily rebuke freaked me out. The intensity of it started the hairs on the back of my neck to raise. My innate instincts kicking in. This is bigger than just him. Something is going on. Many felt it and some started to ask .. Why? Why is the reaction this extreme? I would ask myself this repeatedly and could only come up with one answer.

Power.

There are a million theories and obviously fringe “conspiracy” theories. I don’t think any of us can claim to really know exactly what is going on. We don’t exist in the Skull and Bones world the true power brokers swim in. But, any of us with our unsaturated by social media brains can sense that whatever power the puppeteers had owned prior to his win, it was worth everything and anything to get back.

What is the price of power? Us.

Ask yourself why Nancy Pelosi would still being doing this at 80-years-old and unlimited wealth. Does no one in Washington retire??? and, if not … WHY? Why would Biden even want to run and take office at 79? Does this make sense? It isn’t to serve the people. I cannot imagine anyone with any intellectual honesty believing that. So, then do you ask, “what comes with that power that is so worth all of this destruction to recapture?”

And, if you aren’t asking yourself that … then when people say “wake up” … they are talking to you.

Protests and unrest over lockdown restrictions around the world. London, Tokyo, Germany and Chile weary citizens rise up against lockdowns.

Wait … but, it is Trump’s fault, right? Certainly, the mask versus anti-mask issues only belong between the “dumb Trumpsters and radical left”, right?

In a world where so many people have access to computers, I am continually impressed by people’s lack of an ability to look outside our myopic opinions to not seek out the truth. It isn’t hard to find, if you look. “Look at what America has come to? Look what Trump has done? Look at all this unrest he caused!” I see people type statements like that on social media and think, “Um, you have access to the internet because you are on Facebook saying dumb stuff … could you use that information box to possibly look for the real answers?”

We have had the extremely bad luck of being hit with a pandemic during an election year. The handling of COVID-19 and the chaos ensuing after seems awfully easy to put on President Trump. It is an election year after all. It is a convenient untruth that many are fine following and posting about from the same computer that could give them the truth. The problem is, you are completely and utterly wrong.

Warning — truth alert: THIS ISN’T JUST AN AMERICAN PROBLEM!

Not only has every other country in the world (except for the oh-so-honest North Koreans) have faced every single issue we have. The deaths and overrunning of hospitals in the first wave. The lack of preparedness for it because it was a NOVEL virus … which means … NEW … you can’t be prepared for something that didn’t exist in this form before! The struggling to understand a new virus and treatment and prevention of it. The whole world faced this, not just the US. But, it is Trump’s fault, right?

Beyond the medical ramifications of the virus, the whole world has also had those rising up against masks and lockdowns. Other countries have also faced social unrest from anarchist-types. But, it is Trump’s fault, right?

It is disturbing to me that these truths seem to be buried because it is simply more beneficial to blame a President you are trying to win against. I am going to give you an additional inconvenient truth — the reactions to COVID-19, masks, lockdowns versus freedom, the choices between financial collapse and life exists EVERYWHERE. It is a HUMAN problem that we are facing globally. Those that are laser-focused on only blaming Trump for this — you lose all credibility. If you don’t like him or won’t vote for him, just say that. It would earn more respect from people. But, to take an issue that is happening globally and make it only about the US and in particular, the sitting President .. you are allowing your own biases to blind you to reality.

And, the reality is: THIS IS NOT JUST AN AMERICAN PROBLEM