Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Gee, let’s see what has been going on in our little world since I last posted in this space.

Well, the virus, despite the rosy forecasts of the Trump administration, continues to get worse, not better. In the USA, we’ve topped 16 million cases and more than 300,000 deaths. And those numbers climb every day, in fact, every minute. Oh, boy.

Still, there are millions throughout the country who still believe this is a hoax, or an attempt by the government to take away our personal freedoms and constitutional rights. I suspect these are the same people who can’t (or won’t) follow the clearly marked directions in the aisles of my town’s local Safeway. Oh, well.

Fortunately, there does appear to be some light at the end of the tunnel, as the first wave of a vaccine is starting to make its way across the country. Of course, only about half of the people who have been asked have said they will take the vaccine when available. Wonder if someone is working on a vaccine to cure stupidity? I digress.

And while the CDC has established protocols for how the vaccine should be distributed and administered (first up: health care workers, first responders, those in nursery homes and so on) there is some talk that members of the administration and those in Congress should be able to jump the queue and get a dose before us common folks.

Well, I don’t want anyone to get the virus. But from where I sit, White House staffers and their Congressional counterparts should be the last people in line. They at first downplayed the virus and later wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a mask. Folks, without putting too fine a point on this, those people are the ones who need to take responsibility for this deadly fiasco, not get rewarded because of their job status.

And then there is Congress itself. Since before the election, our elected leaders have been stewing over a plan to provide relief — money and essential supplies — to the millions who desperately need it. But as of this morning, they can’t reach a deal. I imagine that before the election, the Democrats didn’t want to pass anything because it might help Trump. And following the election, the Republicans have once again turned into deficit hawks and appear unwilling to fund anything other than an inflated defense budget.

Yet there might be some light at the end of the tunnel here as well.

In a little over a month, President-elect Biden will take the oath of office, and Trump will be back in Florida point what he does best, puttering around the golf course.

Or will he.

Various news outlets, including the Daily Mail in the UK, are pointing to a CNN story that Trump is still considering not leaving the White House in January.

Trump is telling advisers he’ll REFUSE to leave the White House on January 20, is ‘throwing a tantrum’ and is plotting revenge on Republicans who turned on him, report claims
President Donald Trump has told advisers that he will refuse to leave the White House on Inauguration Day, a new CNN report claims
‘He’s throwing a f***ing temper tantrum. He’s going to leave. He’s just lashing out,’ one adviser said
Trump now reportedly spends his days mulling over the lost election, plotting ways to contest it, and devising revenge on Republicans who ‘turned on him’

Remember that this is based on a CNN report. 

But I guess on January 20 we might get to watch the spectacle of Federal marshals dragging Trump’s sorry ass out of the Oval Office. 

Or maybe we can find some other uses for the former POTUS if he wants to stay in Washington.

Oh, well.

The coming weeks and months should be interesting.

And let’s just hope that the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t a freight train heading our way.