The Deplorables Are Waiting for a Sign

Today I had a Christmas get together with some good friends that I used to work with.  All of them are on my side of the aisle and in addition to talking about the old company and people we know in common we of course talked about the sorry state of things.  First off, we were in a small bar and grill.  That meant that we couldn’t move a couple of tables to sit together.  When I tried to, the waitress acted like I was trying to light the tablecloth on fire or something.  She worriedly explained that the health department would shut them down if we were caught messing with the floor plan.  But she whisked us away to a larger table that was isolated from the rest of the guests in a corner where we could spread COVID to our hearts’ content.  So much for a casual get together.

After we ordered our drinks, I heard all the complaints about the old firm and its latest idiocies in the face of the “pandemic.”  Then we talked about the COVID madness and the election.  And I was a little surprised.  They were much more fed up with the lockdown than even I am.  One of the guys says he was talking with some friends of his on the local police force and they told him that they’re reaching their limit of tolerance for what’s going on.  Many of the older and even some of the younger cops are disgusted with the damage that has been done to the owners of restaurants and the other small businesses effected by the shutdowns.  A lot of those business owners are friends and relatives of the cops.  Some of the cops are talking about the idea of a strike.  I asked him for details but he didn’t have any.  Maybe it’s just grousing but it’s interesting to know that cracks are beginning to appear in the state and municipal workforce even here in New England.

All of my friends were convinced that the COVID shutdowns weren’t going away anytime soon and that they were basically a way for the state to take control of our lives and make us grovel.  And they all know that vaccinations will be considered a condition for being allowed to keep their jobs at the old firm.

Then we talked about the election.  There was unanimity that the elections were blatantly stolen.  They were all pessimistic about the attempt to reverse the electoral college votes.  Some of the strongest anger was aimed at John Roberts and the part he played in the fraud.  And everyone agreed that William Barr was not trying to help get to the truth on any of the investigations he was supposedly working on.  Most felt he was just another swamp creature.  And everyone agreed that things were going to get much worse if Joe Biden gets into the White House, especially up here in New England.  They were already talking about sending their guns out of state to forestall the confiscations they were expecting.

But the most surprising reaction I heard was from one guy in particular.  He is one of the staunchest conservatives in the group and an avid consumer of the information on line.  He listens to everything that’s out there and he follows back links and does his own research into the facts instead of just reading the pundits and the cable channel stuff.

He said he’s done.  He’s not going to listen to anymore talk.  He’s shutting off the pundits and he’s not going to get involved in the issues and politics and he isn’t going to support anymore politicians.  He says he’s just going to enjoy his life and let the world go straight to hell.

I asked him what had been the last straw.  He said the election fraud was what did it.  From his way of looking at things, if the Left can steal an election blatantly and no one on the Right is doing anything more than running around in circles and wetting their pants then it’s all over.  I asked him if there was anything that could change his mind.  He said yeah, if the Right finally puts some of those hundreds of millions of guns out in the street and used them to make the Left walk back the election fraud.

I had no answer for that.  Because he’s kind of right.  We’ve been outmaneuvered by crooked bureaucrats and third-rate thugs and moronic political hacks.  No one has come forward to lead a popular revolt against this tin-pot junta that has weaponized the intelligence agencies and the social media platforms against us.  They have shown us that this isn’t a democracy.  It’s a banana republic and we’re the peasants who pick the bananas.

But I am hopeful that some brave and powerful individual will decide to make a stand somewhere out there in Red State America and begin pushing this thing back in the right direction.  My friend is waiting for that sign.  And the more I think about it I think we’re all waiting for a sign that there’s still some fight left on our side.