About Me

My photo
Kymberlie Ingalls is native to the Bay Area in California. She is a pioneer in blogging, having self-published online since 1997. Her style is loose, experimental, and a journey in stream of consciousness. Works include personal essay, prose, short fictional stories, and a memoir in progress. Thank you for taking a moment of your time to visit. Beware of the occasional falling opinions. For editing services: http://www.rainfallpress.com/

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

The Wonderful Vortex of Oz


I watched my first full length presidential debate tonight.  My first one.  So it only took me 45 years.  My husband remarked that this is one thing that Trump has done for the country; more people are paying attention than ever before. 
Okay, I’ll give him that one.
Though it wasn’t Trump who first got me to start clicking on the political headlines more than the pop culture ones.  It was Barack Obama.  The first time I ever heard of the guy was when he was giving some sort of speech saying that the people of America needed to do a better job of governing ourselves than we have been.  A bit of irony there, given Michelle’s hell bent need to determine the legality of what we can eat these days.  I feel as though we’re divided by parents – he’s the easy going chill dad and she’s the obsessive meddling mom. 
I wasn’t sure what to expect this evening.  I’m not on the side of either candidate, really.  One thing that Obama instilled in me, and I believe in many, is a hope for the nation that the majority will do the right thing.  Right now we’re caught in some pretty faraway places.  It’s like living in the land of Oz, and we’re having to decide between the blustering, deceptive Wizard and the wickedly misunderstood Witch of the South. 
Some things were a given; the delicious sound bites, the trademarked snarling at each other, the color by numbers body language.  At one point I was almost proud of Hillary when she placed her hand over her heart and brought her late father into play.  Classic emo move to play to those who want any reason to feel superior over The Donald.  The one tactic that I recognized immediately was how easily Hillary was able to bait Trump into his usual playground behavior.  Every time he barked, she just laughed.  It’s a style of goading that my brother used to do for the first two thirds of my life until I learned to beat him by simply ignoring him.  Donald Trump couldn’t ignore anything if he ever even wanted to.  The claim that he is so easily provoked by something as insignificant as a tweet isn’t untrue. 
Someone – I can’t recall the name – put it rather succinctly in saying that in tonight’s debate, one needed to prove she had a heart and the other needed to prove he had a brain. 
We’re having to choose between the lesser of two gigantic evils.  On some level, Hillary wants to do the right thing for America, but it’s similar to receiving useless trinkets and polite but meaningless gifts at Christmas.  They’re giving us what they think we should have, not what we actually want.  The exception in politics has been the last 8 years in which many strides have been made in civil liberties and a war that wasn’t his but an inherited responsibility.  If Obama could be elected for another term or three, I just might be persuaded to vote.  Trump, however, is so blatant in his egotistical power trip that people are dazzled into buying their own gifts, and they come with his name stamped right on them. 
I have no prediction to what’s going to happen this November.  My job isn’t to foretell, but to examine what is happening as it unfolds, and it’s been one hell of an eye opener.  I have talked with people on and offline from both camps and asked them many questions.  It’s fascinating to listen to both when I am on the side of neither.  It’s not quite the unobjective view, as if I were to choose between the two it sure as hell would not be Donald Trump.  I am not the 1 in 5 who may have been persuaded to change my opinion after having watched this 90 minute circus. 
What I can say is that I am not surprised by this uprising of the dark lord known as The Donald.  He speaks to people I grew up with, to the ones who are blinded by anger over everything they feel has failed in the United States.  They want a country that will be great again, and ignore the many of whom it was never great to begin with.  Ignorance – whether by IQ or attitude – is the real problem of America.  To quote a Dixie Chick, “it’s been a long time gone and it ain’t comin’ back again.” 
If we were to examine the difference in these campaigns, Trump has consistently brow-beaten any and all opponents and any who disagree with him, and he has fed on the fears of us all by shoveling it back at us with a shiny golden spoon.  Clinton may not be the likable sort and she’s taken her shots.  She had one thing right on the money tonight though:  “I think Donald just criticized me for preparing for this debate.  And yes, I did.  And you know what else I prepared for?  I’ve prepared to be President.”
Game.  Set.  Match.
She ain’t wrong, folks.  She’s been preparing for this moment from the moment she said “I do” to Billy Boy. 
So, America, how’s it going to be?  This land is your land, but this land is our land too.  Are you going to emanate the Cheeto Demigod and look only as far as your front door or your next paycheck, or are you going to take a look around and start helping each other up the ladder? 
Because the only way out of this mess is the way we got into it.  We need to take a look at how we’ve gotten to this place we are in.  It’s quite likely that we’re all so angry because it’s not an answer we want to examine so closely. 
Believe me.


No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Tags

kymberlie ingalls (7) neuroticy (7) conservative (6) liberal (6) stormy writer (5) BLM (4) democrat (4) politics (4) rainfall press (4) republican (4) Donald trump (3) neurotic (3) protest (3) racism (3) trump (3) 2016 (2) America (2) Charlottesville (2) Hillary Clinton (2) debate (2) election (2) i'm with her (2) make America great again (2) police brutality (2) retail (2) 45 (1) 49ers (1) 4th (1) Berkeley (1) Cinemark (1) Cole White (1) Nazi (1) OJ (1) Rodrick Shonte Dantzler shooting grand rapids michigan natural born killers adam lambert john hinckley jared lee loughlin giffords columbine virginia tech judge judy (1) Top Dog (1) all lives matter (1) bart civic center fatal shooting sf san francisco police officers cops oscar grant mehserle (1) baseball (1) bathroom bill arizona suzanne sharer transgender cross dresser civil rights women war lgbt pedophile pervert (1) bay area (1) beaten (1) black Friday (1) black lives matter (1) boston marathon bomb terrorist mentally ill columbine Virginia tech sandy hook giffords laughner Brenda spencer holmes aurora shooting neuroticy kymberlie ingalls massacre shooting lanza (1) boycott (1) bryan (1) car accident collision insurance scam auto body fraud trauma loss anger neuroticy stormy writer bandita super woman alicia keys rage stress protest charity mike's auto body AAA (1) casey caylee anthony jury verdict trial headline news nancy grace neuroticy kymberlie ingalls justice homicide murder (1) cbs kpix san francisco most valuable blogger blog award 2011 sf bay area local writer win award kymberlie ingalls neuroticy storm award (1) change (1) charles blair hill san francisco sf bart shooting police cops oscar grant kymberlie ingalls neuroticy protest activist mob kenneth harding roger kymberlie ingalls neuroticy storm left coast voices (1) charles blair hill san francisco sf bart shooting police cops oscar grant kymberlie ingalls neuroticy protest activist mob kenneth harding tanaya gilbert seattle (1) civil rights (1) colin kaepernick (1) coma (1) comedy (1) correspondence dinner (1) customer service (1) cyber Monday (1) directv tivo local channels missing network programming satellite cable outrage bully neuroticy ingalls blog contract service american idol finale winner (1) dodgers (1) donald trump orly taitz barack obama president birth certificate birthers republican whoopi o'donnell thurston (1) economy (1) emily good rochester new york arrested video taping police profiling controversy crime activism activist nyc oscar grant bart shooting fruitvale oakland ca crime johannes mehserle bay area california (1) employment (1) faa airline flying cell phone modern technology gadget blog opinion neuroticy kymberlie ingalls survival (1) family (1) feminism (1) football (1) francisco (1) freedom of speech (1) gay rights civil marriage gltg neuroticy kymberlie ingalls stormy writer prop 8 bible god religion prejudice democrat republican conservative liberal social homophobic homophobia homosexual lesbian (1) giants (1) god cancer bible christian tim tebow football nfl brian copeland facebook religion kymberlie ingalls neuroticy friends illness angels miracles (1) gun control nra piers morgan alex jones cnn repblican democrat liberal conservative president obama military war assault weapons sandy hook aurora columbine kymberlie ingalls stormy writer neuroticy (1) heather heyer (1) holiday (1) hospitality (1) ingalls (1) jersey (1) john (1) july independence holiday fireworks flag US America united states neurotic kymberlie ingalls freedom civil rights lgbt crime education speech (1) kenneth harding sfpd san francisco police shooting muni fare murder gun seattle black minority racial racism discrimination crime rage authority investigation protest (1) kkk (1) knee jerk (1) kymberlie (1) lawsuit (1) lgbtq (1) loneliness (1) management (1) marijuana legalize 420 cannibas weed mary jane happy cows california obama republican democrat liberal conservative medical tea baggers politics election neuroticy kymberlie ingalls prescription drugs (1) mark halperin dick obama president msnbc keith olbermann glenn beck tracy morgan scandal apology apologize (1) me too (1) media (1) michele bachmann bill o'reilly cnn fox news dog walk white house obama president politics republican conservative democrat liberal lavish excess 9/11 rocky toby keith neuroticy stormy writer (1) michele bachmann neuroticy kymberlie ingalls marisa samuels republican democrat liberal conservative tea bagger party birthers politics gay rights art hoppe san francisco chronicle god hot for jesus (1) michelle wolf (1) millennials (1) mindy mccready suicide dead death country music angels guys do it celebrity young whitney houston fans sympathy addiction children kids abuse kymberlie ingalls blogger neuroticy stormy writer (1) movie theater (1) nascar danica patrick girls female athletes sexy go daddy daytona racing janet guthrie shirley muldowney jeff gordon feminism empowerment neuroticy kymberlie ingalls opinion blog stormy writer (1) nascar racing car stock sprint legend dwarf midget dirt track crash soares antioch speedway neuroticy kymberlie ingalls video princess 44 (1) nfl (1) nra (1) observer (1) occupy wall street ows protest nyc new york arrests police brutality marine civil war politics big business corporation banks neuroticy ingalls news topless (1) old people (1) opinion (1) outrage (1) patriotism (1) pledge of allegiance under god citizens patriotism 4th of july independence day america history holiday (1) protests (1) reporter (1) restaurant dining out pf changs chain walmart norm cheers demographics marketing menu change mcdonalds taco bell neuroticy blog stormy writer opinion familiar branding (1) reviews (1) rush limbaugh sandra fluke neuroticy kymberlie ingalls stormy writer blog opinion apology slut prostitute women rights boycott sponsors (1) san (1) san francisco (1) september 11 9-11 9/11 world trade center attack middle east muslim obama president bush tenth 10th anniversary springsteen you're missing politics republican democrat military war troops (1) sexual assault (1) shannon tweed gene simmons family jewels kiss playmate joy behar show reality tv cnn walks off set (1) slippery slope (1) snowflake (1) soap operas abc amc oltl prospect park erica kane daytime horton brady newman cancelled toln quartermaine gh general hospital all my children one life to live guiding light hubbard young restless (1) social media (1) steigerwald (1) stormywriter (1) stow (1) teams (1) thanksgiving (1) trayvon martin george zimmerman violence florida sherrif crime arrest neuroticy kymberlie ingalls stormy writer opinion racism color skittles hoodie geraldo rivera (1) turkey (1) twitter (1) united airlines (1) vice news (1) video (1) walmart (1) white house (1) writer (1) writer of the storm (1) yelp (1)