No they didn’t die.
We were riding in my car and happened to pass by a F*&K BIDEN sign.
My passenger muttered, “fucking Trumper.”
I chuckled then asked, “What makes you think that household is a Trump household?”
My Passenger replied, “That Fuck Biden sign.”
I pointed out that simply not liking Biden doesn’t mean someone is automatically pro-Trump. It could just as easily be a commentary on the job Biden has done in the past 18 months.
“Nah, Biden is so much better than Trump”, my passenger said.
I posited this, “If you remove emotion about Trump from the equation entirely and evaluate only Biden’s performance. Are you better off now, 18 months after Biden took office than you were prior to Biden taking office?”
That got my passenger thinking, but they didn’t reply.
I continued, “For example, The day Biden took office, one of my small 401Ks was worth 17K, almost double what the original investment was. Today that 401K is worth 12K. So in 18 months The Biden Administration policies have disrupted the economy sufficiently that I’ve lost almost all the gains. Even during COVID at the tail end of 2019 and through 2020 that 401K investment continued to gain in value.”
My passenger retorted, ” Well COVID hurt the entire country.”
I replied, “To be sure, COVID did have an effect. But why has that effect catalyzed in the first 18 months of The Biden Administration? Further why has the economy faltered so dramatically? Why are we looking at a recession? Why has the supply chain not recovered? Why have base fuel prices, not just gasoline, but diesel and other petroleum goods risen so dramatically? The previous Administration had one full year of COVID as has the Current Administration.”
My passenger said, “Well Trump made a mess of the government and Biden is fixing it. That is going to take time.”
I said, “Okay, then by your logic Trump somehow screwed up the government and the economy, effectively creating a house of cards waiting to fall, that Biden needed to fix?”
“Well yeah,” my passenger said.
I offered, “There are two ways to deal with a house of cards. One is to tear it down and start over, the other way is to leave it the hell alone.”
“So you’re a Trumper?” My passenger asked.
“Nope. I’m a fucking realist! If you don’t understand something, don’t fuck with it! That’s one of the more simple rules of life. If the Biden Administration didn’t understand whatever machinations Trump may or may not have put in the government, they shouldn’t have started hacking away at them. Beyond that, I’m very concerned that our country has gotten to the point that simply being critical of Biden elicits the assumption that whoever is speaking critically of The President, must automatically be a Trumper. That kind of polarized thinking is exactly the kind of thinking that leads to civil wars, or violence in the streets.”
My passenger said, “There can’t be a civil war here.”
“Oh? Why not?” I asked making a right turn.
“The military is controlled by The President. He wouldn’t allow a civil war to happen,” came my passenger’s reply.
I replied, “That, by definition, would be a civil war. Just FYI… The US military, and I don’t have exact numbers, is probably outnumbered 30 to 1, or more by able bodied, and armed, people of the United States. Some units may stand down in the face of an illegal order to fire on the very people they exist to protect. The Biden Administration giving such an order would likely cause chaos in the ranks, resulting in more units standing down as they questioned whether they were serving The Constitution, and The Republic, or a dictatorship. The practical upshot would be that their effectiveness would be further reduced. Also consider our military is very effective in a wide variety of engagements. But our military and in fact, most militaries fall short in urban / guerrilla warfare. Vietnam and Afghanistan underscore that point nicely. Generally speaking, the people of the United States would have the home turf advantage, since it is unlikely US Military units would be locals to the areas they’d be called in to quell.”
“They’d have to follow orders,” my passenger said.
“Or what? They’d be shot by their own comrades? Imprisoned? Either way their effectiveness would be reduced, and the rage of cold, hungry, broke, homeless citizens would be further inflamed at the atrocity being committed in their name. It’s a no win scenario for The Biden Administration to call out the military.”
We passed another 4 F*&K BIDEN signs in people’s yards.
“Why are there so many Trumpers in this town,” My passenger asked again.
“Because they’re not Trumpers. They’re exercising their First Amendment Right to express themselves. There are more of those signs everyday because more people disagree with the policies of President Biden. Two of the last four signs weren’t there last Thursday.”
“They should be taken down by the police. They’re disrespectful!” My passenger asserted.
“So you’re a communist?” I asked.
“NO! How could you say that?” My passenger demanded.
“Well, you just said criticisms of The Leader were disrespectful and should be confiscated. Isn’t that one of the hallmarks of Communism or Dictatorships?” I asked.
Continuing, I said, “I’ve been thinking, I may have to get one of those signs. I’m extremely displeased with President Biden’s performance too.”
We rode on in silence.
My passenger did have the courtesy to thank me for the ride as they disembarked. I don’t think they’ll be riding with me, or speaking to me, in the future. Of course, since I’m a decent human being, if they were to ask and offered to pay for gas, I’d get them where they wanted to go.
Possibly with a F*&K Biden bumper sticker affixed to my car…