Depending upon when you’re reading this, we are either a scant few hours away from or a scant few hours into the second coming of President Donald J. Trump. No, I’m not thrilled about it either.
When he defiantly removed his mask after battling COVID in the fall of 2020 at a time when more than a few of us were secretly hoping he’d be its latest victim, I actually had nightmares over it. It wasn’t long after Ruth Bader Ginsburg had passed, and I was in an especially emotional state where I seemed to think that was an omen. I literally prayed for some divine intervention to remove what at the time I believed was a cancer upon America. So trust me, I’ve been where many of you have been, and apparently still are.
But ya know–a funny thing happened on the way to utopia and salvation. The “summer of love” that was promised when we finally got that desperately sought-after jab never did quite happen for many of us. My industry didn’t miraculously heal itself from the fallout that lockdowns accelerated and even those seeking people weren’t seeking out people with my demographics. They all seemed to be taking a page from the government itself, where it appeared almost every single appointment of the Biden administration was some reflection of a promise or concession made to the likes of Jim Clyburn. And continually these appointees championed policies and personnel that were prioritizing their own personal bubbles and ignoring a plurality of the country that somehow they felt should pay a price for decades of oppression. Making an awful lot of decisions based on antiquated survey methodologies and partisan spin. None of which resulted in my being hired for a position that reflected my experience–as so many of the HR experts that actually communicated with me insisted was my entitlement–or even being considered for consultants’ roles–since I lacked both the tickmarks of diversity and the pedigree of a former employer with street cred.
The price of gas didn’t drop materially despite the efforts to shame those of us who could afford options into investing in far higher priced vehicles that didn’t require it. Apartment complexes like mine that eagerly added charging stations to their overloaded grids to take advantage of the rewards of federal incentives to do so succceeded only in having all but two of them going unused and challenging our infrastructure enough so that I no longer can run a television and a space heater at the same time.
If I sound selfish and self-centered, guilty as charged. But I gotta tell ya–it’s no worse than some of y’all who have been whining for the past 72 days and have built to a crescendo this weekend on the social media sites that have remained operational for its duration are sounding. And, frankly, it’s gotten even more shrill and uninformed than ever.
I’ve seen petitions that have been signed by–gasp–hundreds of people vowing that they will not sign on to the policies that are supposedly being invoked. I’ve seen a movement for people to not watch the inauguration because of the misinformed belief that if enough of us doth protest it will impact ratings significantly enough to make it the least-viewed event of its kind since such tabulations were kept. Assuming any one of these people actually knew someone in a Nielsen panel to make even the most minimal statistical impact, it might have been at least an idea worth considering. No such luck in this case, apparently.
They seem to be in lockstep with at least one elected official who seized upon the temporary gap in social media platforms yesterday to sound her own alarms, as THE DAILY MAIL’s Kelly Garino reported last night:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned her followers that ‘this is 21st century fascism’ through a series of posts on the eve of Donald Trump‘s inauguration.
The leftist Congresswoman took to her Instagram story on Sunday afternoon to discuss the nationwide TikTok ban – and restoration – with her followers less than a day before the former president is sworn into the White House yet again. But she also went on to explain what she believes the ban – and the Republican party – really means for the nation.
After its dramatic shut down, AOC took to Instagram to break down the TikTok ban that she voted against in Congress and publicly opposed in March of 2024. She emphasized the lack of evidence presented to Congress last year in regards to the app being a national security risk – overall questioning the rationale behind the ban.
Look, if I relied upon my brand and popularity as much as someone like her did, I’d care a lot about TikTok too. But do remember she’s not alone with that concern, and I dare say her nemesis did a lot more to advance his own brand and popularity on that platform in the last 24 hours than did she.
As for how far she needs to move the needle to become truly relevant, the same publication’s Stephen M. Lepore put forth some actual tracking data in late November:
A new story from The Hill suggests that AOC would be among the potential 2028 Democrat contenders, who include Harris, Pete Buttigieg, Gretchen Whitmer, JB Pritzker, Josh Shapiro and Gavin Newsom.
But as one astute observer noted:’AOC polls around 4% rn against other potentially Democratic primary candidates which isn’t great bc she has huge name recognition”.
And this is my biggest gripe with those who choose to continue to cry into their respirator masks and somehow think their personal boycott or desire to play ostrich until 2029 will matter one iota. Rather than revisit over and over again why you lost, maybe it’s time to look ahead and look at more viable alternatives than the ones who ultimately got us the result you loathe. Frankly, that’s the exact same playbook that your opponents took their lead from four years ago, save for the cosplay and defecating that a few of them felt was necessary. 
Lepore did note one intriguing alternative in Shapiro, who has actually won a statewide election with voters in the western portion who have far more in common with the Hillbilly Elegists that backed JD Vance, who successfully brought enough of them to the Trump camp to make a material difference toward the 51.4% of those who actually chose to cast a vote to choose (R). But the braintrust that advised the last-minute Hail Mary candidate that the Democratic party rolled out this summer somehow thought that a surname of that sort would somehow be off-putting beyond the Allegheny County border.
His fellow Commonwealth legislator John Fetterman is another name I’ve thought about. Health permitting, he’s at least shown a willingness to at least intelligently address the “other side” and I know darn well he can tower over Fat Orange Jesus in any cage match. Texas’ Jazmin Crockett is another who’s been on my radar. Her near-catfight with Marjorie Taylor Greene was wonderful, and I kinda think she could more than her own with AOC in any babes of Congress showdown.
But I know there are others out there I don’t yet know about, and I also know the whiners and doomscrollers I can’t seem to avoid might know them as well. Get their stories out there. You’ve got the time today, since it’s a national holiday and you’re not watching the inaguration anyhow. Throw out a little actual hope rather than mere frustration.
I’ll yet again remind any doubting Thomas who thinks I’m purely red-pilled that I didn’t vote for Trump, and I’m appalled by what is already being leaked at this writing as to the first waves of “his” shock and awe. I know way too many people who personally know him who will swear on a stack of Bibles that he is not personally smart or interested enough to be this involved or concerned. But he’s transactional and malleable enough to do the biddings of those who do have brains, wealth and self-interest to draconially unleash their wish list on all of us with what he thinks can be done by merely scrawling his name on an executive order.
I really wish someone had come along to provide a truly viable alternative who was capable of stopping all of this from happening. I’m not liking what I’m seeing so far. But y’all should have thought of this while you were making your own transactional choices and ill-fated decisions along the way. This are self-inflicted wounds that will only become mortal if you choose to let them.
And yet, despite all of this–the sun did rise this morning, contrary to what some of you feared. Yes, we’re gonna have to deal with that smug cantankerous smirk whether we want to or not, not to mention the repercussions that will go along with it. But until an armed official breaks down my door and tries to drag me away to a detention camp, I’m going to do my best to try and cope with whatever happens and not waste my time trying to somehow think that what I might personally decide is an indication of self-care will make a scintilla of difference.
Fair warning–I’ll continue to muse on what does unfold and the thoughts of those of you who matter enough to make it into a news cycle. I’d much rather learn about possible solutions along the way. And I think at least some part of you might like that as well.
So ready or not, here we go. To where? That’s up to us.
Until next time…