Well I read, just look at my response later in this thread. That is the problem with all of us, we do not give the proper respect. When the View ladies call women "uneducated women" who vote for Trump. No wonder this country is in a mess. Show some respect.
Thank you Garrison. I feel similarly in Seattle. No one in my neighborhood or life voted for the rude, crude, and deceitful one. The sun is shining and the truth is still the truth. I loved your Cheerfulness by the way. I’m trying to live cheerfully despite the madness. I’m currently reading The Light Eaters by Zoe Schlanger. It’s about plant intelligence and today I am absolutely convinced the green and photosynthesizing ones are the higher life form.
I will turn 83 in a few weeks, and I take comfort, just a little, in the fact that I won’t be around to endure this much longer. But I will vote to set things right as long as I can.
Thanks, Martin, for a good way to think about my being 82 this morning!! In addition to voting to set things right as long as I can, I will surround myself with friends who share my interests as well as my concerns regarding misogyny, racism, homophobia, fascism, and disrespect for our leaders and each other. I never thought I’d see the day when a man like Trump was allowed to enter the WH a second time.
At 77.5 come Thursday this week (I like half birthdays even if I’m the only one that remembers) I will vote til I can’t and plan to be active for the 2026 Midterms. I worry about the new, good folks going to run the country like Eugene Vindman or those trading houses like Elissa Slotkin and who, with Sherrod and Jon leaving, will be their mentors and sounding boards. Garrison’s writing, your post anc my own reflections are finally causing tears about the horror of so many Americans. Like Garrison, my life is filled with Harris voters. The others are too hateful to know.
Good chuckle this morning. Thanks! Are you familiar with Irving R. Feldman? In the film, “A Thousand Clowns”, his birthday can be celebrated at will. We all need a few of those now.
Tired of worrying about democracy? Yes, we can see what a flawed system it is. The trouble with it is that people whose views are different from our own might win. What can you say? Them's the breaks.
When those “differences of opinion” include racism, sexism, bullying, denial of rights, threats of violence, danger for your neighbor, white supremacy, etc. that’s not just “the breaks”. That’s immoral and should not be supported in this country.
thank you Garrison. I have listened to your radio broadcast for years. I love your wit, poetry, music and love of people. Your words really soothed my tired brain and broken heart. I am a 75 yr. old Grandmother and I never every thought this could happen in our country. Hears my rant...Goodbye for awhile…… you have my email if you want to message me. I am just too upset and sad to be social on fb right now. It’s over. It’s beyond comprehension how the majority of this country could still vote for Trump.the second time. KNOWING that he is a Felon, a rapist, a liar, a racist, a bully and cheap con-man who hides behind the Bible but does not live by it, a woman hater, an immigrant hater…. The list is so long. Knowing all of this, still the great majority of good decent Americans voted for him, some for the second time. I think this fact bothers me even more than the fact that the Democrats lost their chance to bring the country back together again. We are in a dystopian society now. Anything could happen. There are no checks and balances anymore. There is no adult to supervise this monstrous child-man. I truly fear for our country and for the world. Women will be subjugated. There will be no free press. Ukraine will be abandoned. Russia will have their way. Israel will continue the slaughter that has been going on much much too long. Maybe this is our punishment for allowing the horror in Gaza to continue? I don’t know anymore. I am not overly religious but I do believe in God. I am wondering if this really is God’s testing America? Could God be saying, “I gave you a second chance, you saw who he was, he told you what he was going to do. You can abandon this dark evil man. This is your chance for redemption” And we failed. At least I can tell my grandchildren that our family did not vote for this monster. I don’t know how I can explain the fact that now we will lose opportunities to fix climate change because this idiot does not support or believe in it. He only believes in supporting big companies. How can I tell them that we are not a nation who helps those in need anymore? What can I say when, they see mean spirited white supremacist thugs marching through the streets again chanting “America first, “You Will Not Replace Us”. What do I say to my granddaughter who can not get the proper care for a medical emergency, due to complications from a pregnancy? How do I shield their young ears from vile racist comments and filthy sexual innuendo toward women? How do I defend our system of justice when a convicted rapist is now the President of the United States? I am leaving social media for awhile because I am truly afraid of what I will say about how I really feel and Trump will send his brownshirts to my home and arrest me. God help us now.
Well.... most of the Supreme Court Justices are "practicing Catholic's" and the paved the way for Trump 2.0. Religion is WHY we are here in a new white-nationalist, Christian Fascism. And some medieval mental case, who's followers are proud to beat themselves with scourges will not, and indeed can not save us from ourselves. It's just fantasy thinking based on ancient fictions. Hold on to your MITRE hat, it's going get bumpy very quickly in the new American Dark. But go ahead and say a rosary or two -- that will fix things.
I'm with you on everything your wrote except there is no one up there in space coming to save us from ourselves. We only have us -- and half of us are, as you wrote, sadly, "mean spirited white supremacist thugs" who vote.
With you every word. Giving myself permission to be sad for a little while. To think what “could have been” is a form of self torture. Eventually I will arrive at “make the best of a bad situation.” Thank you for your post, I am with you through and through.
You are correct; this is not our fault. We must stop blaming ourselves and move forward to the best of our ability.
In November 2016, Garrison wrote a number of opinion columns in national newspapers, before the newspapers’ editorial arms were castrated. We must move ahead doing what we would have done anyway. Continue being yourself and do not compromise your values. Resist being dragged into the mud wrestling lit with all your might. Resistance is definitely NOT futile. (“Do good work”)
You should be sad, because something you (we) value has been taken away. However, situations like these tend to reinforce your bonds with family and friends. “Cheerfulness” pulled off my stubborn blinders and pointed out that there are some truly awesome people who care about you and want to see you do well. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise! You help them and they help you. You are thankful for them, as they are for you. And together, we WILL get through this. Afterward, just like the first time, we will hold our heads up and say “we survived that.” (“Be well”)
I have been pointing out quite a bit lately that William Henry Harrison only lasted 30 days. Here’s hoping for coronary artery disease to hurry up and do its thing already.
We are with you, through and through. (“And keep in touch.”)
Every word. My head and heart don’t understand and I’m afraid of them that put him back in charge. Or maybe like the premise of the film, “Dave”, he will be out away and JD (shudder) will be it. With Mike Johnson and other MAGAts. Hate is now encouraged by all. My non-Caucasian friends are terrified as are my LGB and esp T family and friends.
I take my responsibilities as a human and US resident seriously. I’ll push on. Please you too.
I don’t write for a living, you do. Your contention all along was that Trump is a fringe lunatic that the American people would resoundingly reject. Do you have a Spin 2.0?
I realize you are asking Garrison Keillor your question, but I am going to intrude for a moment and offer an answer to your question, "Do you have a Spin 2.0?"
My answer is that this is not the country we thought it was, or maybe simply hoped it was. If it were, Donald Trump would not have won in a landslide, both the Electoral College and the popular vote, nor would the Congress also now be majority "Republican," i.e. MAGA. The Supreme Court, the Presidency, Congress, all now MAGA, which is essentially a criminal organization. Their slow coup has been plotted and schemed for decades, maybe since Eisenhower used the description "military-industrial complex" as something to beware. What now exists is only different from that in that it's much worse, but with the same totalitarian foundations.
"We" are not the country we thought we were. It's not a "lunatic fringe." It's mainstream, it's majority, it's the lunatics/the inmates running the asylum. It's a shock to the senses, to the spirit, to all that we might have thought was reality. We, those of us who would never knowingly invite a monster to run the country, are struggling with the unavoidable reality today, that it is a huge majority of those who are so full of hate and cruelty that they are celebrating the triumph of the monster because he and his crowd of barbarians celebrate their own monstrosity. “Make the libs cry” was one of the slogans. Put that on the list of things that MAGA accomplished because “libs” are crying today, that’s for sure. But why would anyone who is not a sadist want to make anyone else cry? Why is a sadistic, cruel desire equated with sociopolitical policy and a "movement" that Trump praised in his very strange post-election speech?
Make peace with the millions who have done this? Pretend that we "have more in common than differences?" Analyze their grievances? I don’t think so. There are good, decent Americans today who are genuinely afraid about their and their families' safety now. When did anyone come to accept that a U.S President can stand at a podium and single out individuals by name, businesses by name, news organizations by name, reporters by name.....and put them in serious danger of all kinds, ruin their lives, end their careers, damage their businesses? This is not American, not as we thought we knew "American", but it is cheered and applauded and laughed at now. It is not American, but it is America - now.
Post-election cheerleaders are trying to urge those who are despondent today not to despair, to fight, to "get to work," etc. To the ramparts! Maybe.....
Maybe later that will work. Maybe when we think about what courage really is, what it means to be brave and stand for something more than our own comfort and ease....Maybe we will discover some real connection between the myths we've all been taught and some reality we can nurture. But in the meantime, we will have to process the fact that all three branches of government - Judicial, Executive, Legislative - are in the control of tyrants, despots, and yes, lunatics. We will have to process the fact that a nation that once joined the fight against fascists and Nazis and organized crime and corruption and institutionalized cruelty is now a nation that embraces all of that. The American people did not "resoundingly reject" that. They have embraced it and all that a vile monster has enabled them to embrace publicly, without shame or trepidation.
Books and book titles come to mind by way of offering alternative “jingoism” to “Make America Great Again”:
Stranger in a Strange Land. Fahrenheit 451. Cry, the Beloved Country. It Can’t Happen Here. Confederacy of Dunces.
And (Republican) Rick Wilson’s book title Everything Trump Touches Dies.
I loved Stephen Colbert's closing words to his opening monologue, the fist one after this election, and I am paraphrasing his words: Please tell Jimmy Carter that Harris won. Then please have Jimmy Carter tell me that she won.....because I know he won't lie to me.
Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel both got to the heart tonight and made me cry, just when I thought I was numb to all that had happened.
Trump has aimed his stupid vitriol at both of them. I resoundingly reject his sulfurous miasma that now covers our country! There: that's one vote!
Wow Annie, not sure how you are going to cope with all the prosperity and success that is coming our way. Will take a little time to undo the mess, but it is coming. Just remember you can always credit Biden and be in good company among your fellow liberals.
He's an obsessive liar, corrupt, an insult comic, who's never shown signs of feeling for the weak or suffering, and he's a convicted criminal, and the fact that you admire him says a great deal about you. n
Love your words, Mr. Keillor. While I’m sitting here this morning dealing with people on media, my husband jumped on his bike and went to buy groceries.
We live in the greatest country in the world. Every four years the great people of that country get to make personal decisions and vote for who they want to (you can write in anyone you want) for President. President Trump just won by a landslide and the American people have clearly spoken. That is democracy, but I am certain that will not be in your book. Nevertheless, since I own every book you have ever written, I look forward to the new one. Keep it civil...you owe it to the 58% of Wobegonians who voted for President Trump...they know what the real America is supposed to look like and they are fixing to get to see it again. I cannot wait.
They're eating the dogs! They're eating the cats! Grab any woman between her legs if you're a star! (I guess that's what it looks like.) Bless your heart.
No it is not ok…it is terribly stupid and ignorant…but so is saying you place no restrictions on abortion or paying for criminals to have sex change operations…
I have…I see the policies I like and ignore the blabber…I do not like him personally any more than you do…but his policies kept the world free of war, energy affordable, groceries affordable, the border secured, and assured a safer life. Apparently a whole bunch of people agree with me. Keep up your good work.
In all seriousness: there are multiple wars now and he has told Putin & Netanyahu to finish them - that is continue genocide. Are those the policies you support? Do you read George Will’s columns? The one the other day about why we need immigrants? Just curious.
his policies kept the world free of war, (except Afghanistan was happening during Trump, so you're wrong.), energy affordable (because noone was driving anywhere), groceries affordable (groceries were unattainable, there were empty grocery shelves everywhere, cut hours, no toilet paper, no medical masks, no disinfectant wipes, etc etc), the border secured (border crossings reduced because we had one of the highest Covid death rates under his mismanagement. After Covid ended, the pent up demand released, and the wave was inevitable. It eventually reduced) and assured a safer life (safer? For the first time in 100 years, the American Life expectancy went down, under his watch. Antisemitic and racial threats increased triple digits.) Apparently a whole bunch of people agree with me (a bunch of people in this country agreed with Slavery, anti- Suffrage, McCarthyism. Outlawing same- sex marriage. That is a very weak argument. Its amazing how often when Oppression is put on the ballot, it wins.)"
Well, just start with your statement that "his policies kept the world free of war," i know Trump keeps saying this, too, but he is a habitual liar. There was not a single second during Trump's presidency that the world was free of war. The primary one was the War in
Afghanistan that lastest every day of his 4 years.
Bless your heart…everyone knows that statement relates to new wars, Ukraine and Gaza/Lebanon specifically. He was winding down Afghanistan and would never have had the embarrassing, deadly withdrawal and left a state-of-the-art airport and billions of dollars of high tech military equipment. You are going to have to come up with something better…the old talking points just got landslide voted out of office.
That “blabber” is Trump’s call for racism, sexism, white supremacy, hatred towards non whites & immigrants….You are no poppi claus if you support the meanness and vileness expressed by Trump towards your neighbors. We need to take better care of others. I hope you teach that in your Sunday school classes!
Sticks and stones will break my bones, words will never hurt me…killing babies with late term abortions, trafficking children through open borders that is what I am against.
I'm embarrassed that you own my books, dear. I hope you haven't read them. If you have, I must've done something terribly wrong. If your hero is the "real America," then I have no idea who I am.
Nor do I know who you are. For one who was victimized by the “me too, woke movement” you appear to have become woke your self in a weird, reluctant sort of way. For one who is clearly a Christian who in your own words has repented and been forgiven you have become someone far from “Cheerful”. For you to say you are ashamed that I own your books is extremely hurtful but indicative of the Democrat mindset. I still love you, I love your work, and I will still buy anything new that you publish. I know I am just a freckle on your butt in the grand scheme of things but we are both children of a great, sovereign, cheerful God…he expects better.
By the way, I have read or listened to every book multiple times and I can assure you you have done nothing wrong. You have brought unmeasurable laughter and happiness to my life and scores of others that I have shared your words with. You have made me think and access my opinions in many areas and for as much of an asshole as you think I am I am actually a very happy, cheerful guy. My GRANDkids call me Poppi Claus. My Sunday School class that I teach loves me. We garbage Republicans are just simple people who love this country and want things to be run in a common sense manner:
It was also democracy that he was impeached, and it was cowardice on the part of Mitch McConnell and the spineless republicans that he was not convicted. If only. Then he would not have been able to rise again to haunt us, insult us, and bilk us. Maybe we have another insurrection in our future? Is that the "real America"? Oh, right, we want an alpha male strongman, minor celebrity who talks dirty.
America lost, because people like you chose to hate the other side rather than protect our democracy. You are likely to regret it, but maybe you'll cheer on the fascism as Germans cheered Hitler as he spoke of killing every Jew in Europe. Bless his heart, I suppose you'd say. Bless your heart.
A sad day it is when our best fiction writers can't make up the alternative facts that get our hard-earned democracy in the trash heap of history. Fantasy sports betting may now be the preoccupation of complacent yet resentful "citizens" today. I fear a hardened scramble fed by the urgency of a mushroom cloud on our horizon may be a wake-up reality check in a near future. God help us.
I already have that book, Garrison. But I hope we’ll both get to see your next one. It sounds like a doozy.
Thank you, Garrison, it’s been a tough morning. Looking at the fog over a tranquil Lake Nokomis while reading this…
Thank god for fiction, and humor, and love, and kindness. I am going to pick up a good book today and go for a walk in the woods.
That's really all that's left at this point.
Even though I feel I want
To crawl under a rock
Thank you for the reminder that life will go on and we need to start caring about our neighbors more.
Keep the optimism coming. We will survive!!
Bless you!
Very good.
"If the Times and the Post would just quote the guy word for word, he’d be down around 15% but no, they try to explain him."
....Garrison Keillor...from a few days ago. Prescient.
Same-washing will be word of the year!
Sadly so.
It's doubtful his supporters read.
Well I read, just look at my response later in this thread. That is the problem with all of us, we do not give the proper respect. When the View ladies call women "uneducated women" who vote for Trump. No wonder this country is in a mess. Show some respect.
Readers are thinkers. His supporters operate mostly out of fear.
Thank you Garrison. I feel similarly in Seattle. No one in my neighborhood or life voted for the rude, crude, and deceitful one. The sun is shining and the truth is still the truth. I loved your Cheerfulness by the way. I’m trying to live cheerfully despite the madness. I’m currently reading The Light Eaters by Zoe Schlanger. It’s about plant intelligence and today I am absolutely convinced the green and photosynthesizing ones are the higher life form.
Don’t know you but I admire you so much. Thanks for everything you tried.
I will turn 83 in a few weeks, and I take comfort, just a little, in the fact that I won’t be around to endure this much longer. But I will vote to set things right as long as I can.
Thanks, Martin, for a good way to think about my being 82 this morning!! In addition to voting to set things right as long as I can, I will surround myself with friends who share my interests as well as my concerns regarding misogyny, racism, homophobia, fascism, and disrespect for our leaders and each other. I never thought I’d see the day when a man like Trump was allowed to enter the WH a second time.
Maybe that glass ceiling is indeed unbreakable. Just wondering. First Hillary and now Kamala, but Joe was OK.
Frankly, I doubt that the ceiling is glass. Maybe steel?
He can only win against women.
Well get somebody that is good, like Nikki Haley!
She tried to beat Trump. Failed.
I take comfort in that as well. What a wasted life.
At 77.5 come Thursday this week (I like half birthdays even if I’m the only one that remembers) I will vote til I can’t and plan to be active for the 2026 Midterms. I worry about the new, good folks going to run the country like Eugene Vindman or those trading houses like Elissa Slotkin and who, with Sherrod and Jon leaving, will be their mentors and sounding boards. Garrison’s writing, your post anc my own reflections are finally causing tears about the horror of so many Americans. Like Garrison, my life is filled with Harris voters. The others are too hateful to know.
....well, every six months you get to have a big cake!
Good chuckle this morning. Thanks! Are you familiar with Irving R. Feldman? In the film, “A Thousand Clowns”, his birthday can be celebrated at will. We all need a few of those now.
Indeed, humor that helps and uplifts is the best...ald like a 'big' cake, there's
plenty for everyone.
Tired of worrying about democracy? Yes, we can see what a flawed system it is. The trouble with it is that people whose views are different from our own might win. What can you say? Them's the breaks.
This is way, way worse than "people with different views." Surely you see that.
i doubt it.
money talks rose.....money talks......and wins....eventually.....how do you like dem apples?
When those “differences of opinion” include racism, sexism, bullying, denial of rights, threats of violence, danger for your neighbor, white supremacy, etc. that’s not just “the breaks”. That’s immoral and should not be supported in this country.
Thanks, your comments came at a very distressing time, you lifted me up💕
thank you Garrison. I have listened to your radio broadcast for years. I love your wit, poetry, music and love of people. Your words really soothed my tired brain and broken heart. I am a 75 yr. old Grandmother and I never every thought this could happen in our country. Hears my rant...Goodbye for awhile…… you have my email if you want to message me. I am just too upset and sad to be social on fb right now. It’s over. It’s beyond comprehension how the majority of this country could still vote for Trump.the second time. KNOWING that he is a Felon, a rapist, a liar, a racist, a bully and cheap con-man who hides behind the Bible but does not live by it, a woman hater, an immigrant hater…. The list is so long. Knowing all of this, still the great majority of good decent Americans voted for him, some for the second time. I think this fact bothers me even more than the fact that the Democrats lost their chance to bring the country back together again. We are in a dystopian society now. Anything could happen. There are no checks and balances anymore. There is no adult to supervise this monstrous child-man. I truly fear for our country and for the world. Women will be subjugated. There will be no free press. Ukraine will be abandoned. Russia will have their way. Israel will continue the slaughter that has been going on much much too long. Maybe this is our punishment for allowing the horror in Gaza to continue? I don’t know anymore. I am not overly religious but I do believe in God. I am wondering if this really is God’s testing America? Could God be saying, “I gave you a second chance, you saw who he was, he told you what he was going to do. You can abandon this dark evil man. This is your chance for redemption” And we failed. At least I can tell my grandchildren that our family did not vote for this monster. I don’t know how I can explain the fact that now we will lose opportunities to fix climate change because this idiot does not support or believe in it. He only believes in supporting big companies. How can I tell them that we are not a nation who helps those in need anymore? What can I say when, they see mean spirited white supremacist thugs marching through the streets again chanting “America first, “You Will Not Replace Us”. What do I say to my granddaughter who can not get the proper care for a medical emergency, due to complications from a pregnancy? How do I shield their young ears from vile racist comments and filthy sexual innuendo toward women? How do I defend our system of justice when a convicted rapist is now the President of the United States? I am leaving social media for awhile because I am truly afraid of what I will say about how I really feel and Trump will send his brownshirts to my home and arrest me. God help us now.
Well.... most of the Supreme Court Justices are "practicing Catholic's" and the paved the way for Trump 2.0. Religion is WHY we are here in a new white-nationalist, Christian Fascism. And some medieval mental case, who's followers are proud to beat themselves with scourges will not, and indeed can not save us from ourselves. It's just fantasy thinking based on ancient fictions. Hold on to your MITRE hat, it's going get bumpy very quickly in the new American Dark. But go ahead and say a rosary or two -- that will fix things.
I'm with you on everything your wrote except there is no one up there in space coming to save us from ourselves. We only have us -- and half of us are, as you wrote, sadly, "mean spirited white supremacist thugs" who vote.
I couldn't have said it better.
With you every word. Giving myself permission to be sad for a little while. To think what “could have been” is a form of self torture. Eventually I will arrive at “make the best of a bad situation.” Thank you for your post, I am with you through and through.
You are correct; this is not our fault. We must stop blaming ourselves and move forward to the best of our ability.
In November 2016, Garrison wrote a number of opinion columns in national newspapers, before the newspapers’ editorial arms were castrated. We must move ahead doing what we would have done anyway. Continue being yourself and do not compromise your values. Resist being dragged into the mud wrestling lit with all your might. Resistance is definitely NOT futile. (“Do good work”)
You should be sad, because something you (we) value has been taken away. However, situations like these tend to reinforce your bonds with family and friends. “Cheerfulness” pulled off my stubborn blinders and pointed out that there are some truly awesome people who care about you and want to see you do well. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise! You help them and they help you. You are thankful for them, as they are for you. And together, we WILL get through this. Afterward, just like the first time, we will hold our heads up and say “we survived that.” (“Be well”)
I have been pointing out quite a bit lately that William Henry Harrison only lasted 30 days. Here’s hoping for coronary artery disease to hurry up and do its thing already.
We are with you, through and through. (“And keep in touch.”)
Every word. My head and heart don’t understand and I’m afraid of them that put him back in charge. Or maybe like the premise of the film, “Dave”, he will be out away and JD (shudder) will be it. With Mike Johnson and other MAGAts. Hate is now encouraged by all. My non-Caucasian friends are terrified as are my LGB and esp T family and friends.
I take my responsibilities as a human and US resident seriously. I’ll push on. Please you too.
Drivel on steroids…
“Just keep breathing because tomorrow the sun will rise and you never know what the tide will wash up.”
Dead bodies choked by plastic and aspyxiated by pollution by our "drill baby drill" new president.
Part of what's annoying you may be that a hell of a lot of people don't like it when people storm the U.S. Capitol and shit all over it.
"Drivel on steroids" is one of your weaker insults. Surely you can do better.
I could but I am simply critiquing and that seemed to suffice. Four years of Bad Orange Man is satisfaction enough.
Your writing is rather flat. "Drivel on steroids" more accurately describes your hero. Look up his transcripts and read some aloud to yourself.
I don’t write for a living, you do. Your contention all along was that Trump is a fringe lunatic that the American people would resoundingly reject. Do you have a Spin 2.0?
I realize you are asking Garrison Keillor your question, but I am going to intrude for a moment and offer an answer to your question, "Do you have a Spin 2.0?"
My answer is that this is not the country we thought it was, or maybe simply hoped it was. If it were, Donald Trump would not have won in a landslide, both the Electoral College and the popular vote, nor would the Congress also now be majority "Republican," i.e. MAGA. The Supreme Court, the Presidency, Congress, all now MAGA, which is essentially a criminal organization. Their slow coup has been plotted and schemed for decades, maybe since Eisenhower used the description "military-industrial complex" as something to beware. What now exists is only different from that in that it's much worse, but with the same totalitarian foundations.
"We" are not the country we thought we were. It's not a "lunatic fringe." It's mainstream, it's majority, it's the lunatics/the inmates running the asylum. It's a shock to the senses, to the spirit, to all that we might have thought was reality. We, those of us who would never knowingly invite a monster to run the country, are struggling with the unavoidable reality today, that it is a huge majority of those who are so full of hate and cruelty that they are celebrating the triumph of the monster because he and his crowd of barbarians celebrate their own monstrosity. “Make the libs cry” was one of the slogans. Put that on the list of things that MAGA accomplished because “libs” are crying today, that’s for sure. But why would anyone who is not a sadist want to make anyone else cry? Why is a sadistic, cruel desire equated with sociopolitical policy and a "movement" that Trump praised in his very strange post-election speech?
Make peace with the millions who have done this? Pretend that we "have more in common than differences?" Analyze their grievances? I don’t think so. There are good, decent Americans today who are genuinely afraid about their and their families' safety now. When did anyone come to accept that a U.S President can stand at a podium and single out individuals by name, businesses by name, news organizations by name, reporters by name.....and put them in serious danger of all kinds, ruin their lives, end their careers, damage their businesses? This is not American, not as we thought we knew "American", but it is cheered and applauded and laughed at now. It is not American, but it is America - now.
Post-election cheerleaders are trying to urge those who are despondent today not to despair, to fight, to "get to work," etc. To the ramparts! Maybe.....
Maybe later that will work. Maybe when we think about what courage really is, what it means to be brave and stand for something more than our own comfort and ease....Maybe we will discover some real connection between the myths we've all been taught and some reality we can nurture. But in the meantime, we will have to process the fact that all three branches of government - Judicial, Executive, Legislative - are in the control of tyrants, despots, and yes, lunatics. We will have to process the fact that a nation that once joined the fight against fascists and Nazis and organized crime and corruption and institutionalized cruelty is now a nation that embraces all of that. The American people did not "resoundingly reject" that. They have embraced it and all that a vile monster has enabled them to embrace publicly, without shame or trepidation.
Books and book titles come to mind by way of offering alternative “jingoism” to “Make America Great Again”:
Stranger in a Strange Land. Fahrenheit 451. Cry, the Beloved Country. It Can’t Happen Here. Confederacy of Dunces.
And (Republican) Rick Wilson’s book title Everything Trump Touches Dies.
I loved Stephen Colbert's closing words to his opening monologue, the fist one after this election, and I am paraphrasing his words: Please tell Jimmy Carter that Harris won. Then please have Jimmy Carter tell me that she won.....because I know he won't lie to me.
Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel both got to the heart tonight and made me cry, just when I thought I was numb to all that had happened.
Trump has aimed his stupid vitriol at both of them. I resoundingly reject his sulfurous miasma that now covers our country! There: that's one vote!
Wow Annie, not sure how you are going to cope with all the prosperity and success that is coming our way. Will take a little time to undo the mess, but it is coming. Just remember you can always credit Biden and be in good company among your fellow liberals.
He's an obsessive liar, corrupt, an insult comic, who's never shown signs of feeling for the weak or suffering, and he's a convicted criminal, and the fact that you admire him says a great deal about you. n
Amazing how many there are of “me.” After Tuesday night the better term might be “we.” 😂😂😂😂😂.
Love your words, Mr. Keillor. While I’m sitting here this morning dealing with people on media, my husband jumped on his bike and went to buy groceries.
We live in the greatest country in the world. Every four years the great people of that country get to make personal decisions and vote for who they want to (you can write in anyone you want) for President. President Trump just won by a landslide and the American people have clearly spoken. That is democracy, but I am certain that will not be in your book. Nevertheless, since I own every book you have ever written, I look forward to the new one. Keep it civil...you owe it to the 58% of Wobegonians who voted for President Trump...they know what the real America is supposed to look like and they are fixing to get to see it again. I cannot wait.
They're eating the dogs! They're eating the cats! Grab any woman between her legs if you're a star! (I guess that's what it looks like.) Bless your heart.
And the "adult" bully who mocked the disabled reporter: that's a-ok in your world.
Not in my world!
Sorry Dana, I meant to reply to Poppi.
I was pretty sure of that. 😀
No it is not ok…it is terribly stupid and ignorant…but so is saying you place no restrictions on abortion or paying for criminals to have sex change operations…
"What the real America is supposed to look like"...? What exactly do you mean by that?
White, heterosexual and Christian?
Safe…secured border…energy independent…reasonable regulations…innovative…prosperous…
You dream.
Goodbye, Poppi. Enjoy your world. But if you have a few minutes, do read a transcrript of your hero's speeches.
I have…I see the policies I like and ignore the blabber…I do not like him personally any more than you do…but his policies kept the world free of war, energy affordable, groceries affordable, the border secured, and assured a safer life. Apparently a whole bunch of people agree with me. Keep up your good work.
In all seriousness: there are multiple wars now and he has told Putin & Netanyahu to finish them - that is continue genocide. Are those the policies you support? Do you read George Will’s columns? The one the other day about why we need immigrants? Just curious.
George Will is not worth my time. We need legal immigration.
his policies kept the world free of war, (except Afghanistan was happening during Trump, so you're wrong.), energy affordable (because noone was driving anywhere), groceries affordable (groceries were unattainable, there were empty grocery shelves everywhere, cut hours, no toilet paper, no medical masks, no disinfectant wipes, etc etc), the border secured (border crossings reduced because we had one of the highest Covid death rates under his mismanagement. After Covid ended, the pent up demand released, and the wave was inevitable. It eventually reduced) and assured a safer life (safer? For the first time in 100 years, the American Life expectancy went down, under his watch. Antisemitic and racial threats increased triple digits.) Apparently a whole bunch of people agree with me (a bunch of people in this country agreed with Slavery, anti- Suffrage, McCarthyism. Outlawing same- sex marriage. That is a very weak argument. Its amazing how often when Oppression is put on the ballot, it wins.)"
You are so full of of it it is not worth my time to craft a response…have a great day…and bless your heart…America won.
Well, just start with your statement that "his policies kept the world free of war," i know Trump keeps saying this, too, but he is a habitual liar. There was not a single second during Trump's presidency that the world was free of war. The primary one was the War in
Afghanistan that lastest every day of his 4 years.
Bless your heart…everyone knows that statement relates to new wars, Ukraine and Gaza/Lebanon specifically. He was winding down Afghanistan and would never have had the embarrassing, deadly withdrawal and left a state-of-the-art airport and billions of dollars of high tech military equipment. You are going to have to come up with something better…the old talking points just got landslide voted out of office.
That “blabber” is Trump’s call for racism, sexism, white supremacy, hatred towards non whites & immigrants….You are no poppi claus if you support the meanness and vileness expressed by Trump towards your neighbors. We need to take better care of others. I hope you teach that in your Sunday school classes!
Sticks and stones will break my bones, words will never hurt me…killing babies with late term abortions, trafficking children through open borders that is what I am against.
This is where you’re drinking the conspiracy koolaid.
I'm embarrassed that you own my books, dear. I hope you haven't read them. If you have, I must've done something terribly wrong. If your hero is the "real America," then I have no idea who I am.
Nor do I know who you are. For one who was victimized by the “me too, woke movement” you appear to have become woke your self in a weird, reluctant sort of way. For one who is clearly a Christian who in your own words has repented and been forgiven you have become someone far from “Cheerful”. For you to say you are ashamed that I own your books is extremely hurtful but indicative of the Democrat mindset. I still love you, I love your work, and I will still buy anything new that you publish. I know I am just a freckle on your butt in the grand scheme of things but we are both children of a great, sovereign, cheerful God…he expects better.
By the way, I have read or listened to every book multiple times and I can assure you you have done nothing wrong. You have brought unmeasurable laughter and happiness to my life and scores of others that I have shared your words with. You have made me think and access my opinions in many areas and for as much of an asshole as you think I am I am actually a very happy, cheerful guy. My GRANDkids call me Poppi Claus. My Sunday School class that I teach loves me. We garbage Republicans are just simple people who love this country and want things to be run in a common sense manner:
Legal immigration
Religious freedom
Boys vs boys and girls vs girls in sports
All in energy policy
… and the list could go on
Can’t wait for the next book.
A common sense manner, got it. They're eating the dogs and cats! Quick, grab 'em by the genitals! Bless your heart.
When is the new book coming out?
It was also democracy that he was impeached, and it was cowardice on the part of Mitch McConnell and the spineless republicans that he was not convicted. If only. Then he would not have been able to rise again to haunt us, insult us, and bilk us. Maybe we have another insurrection in our future? Is that the "real America"? Oh, right, we want an alpha male strongman, minor celebrity who talks dirty.
Chill, everything is going to be fine…crying over what ifs is a waste of your life.
AMERICA WON!!!CHEER HER ON!!!
America lost, because people like you chose to hate the other side rather than protect our democracy. You are likely to regret it, but maybe you'll cheer on the fascism as Germans cheered Hitler as he spoke of killing every Jew in Europe. Bless his heart, I suppose you'd say. Bless your heart.
Trump won by a landslide. Get over it.
A sad day it is when our best fiction writers can't make up the alternative facts that get our hard-earned democracy in the trash heap of history. Fantasy sports betting may now be the preoccupation of complacent yet resentful "citizens" today. I fear a hardened scramble fed by the urgency of a mushroom cloud on our horizon may be a wake-up reality check in a near future. God help us.