Have you had a Trump backer call you or visit your house? Yes, arrive at the front door sans mask of course. The absence of mask is a signal. I have been the recipient of both a phone call and the personal visit. I was pretty abrupt or curt with the phone call. One's anti-telemarketer instincts can kick in.
I motioned the front door visitor over to the garage because I do not use the front door in cold weather months. I opened the garage door in order to seem more accommodating. At this point I wasn't sure of the purpose. Opening the garage door allowed the visitor to see the back of my vehicle which had a small "Kamala" bumper sticker. It was affixed when the California senator was vying for the presidential nomination.
Way back in September of 2017 I wrote an extensive blog post backing Harris. An email afforded me the chance to request the bumper sticker, no contribution required. I clicked to request but never felt sure an item would be in the mail. But hey! One day it showed up. So I was pleased to make a statement, so to have my vehicle visible in the parking lot of a local restaurant which is known to have pickups parked outside with quite the opposite sentiment expressed. Yes, "Hillary for prison" and other such tripe.
Didn't Trump promise he'd name a prosecutor to go after Hillary? Weren't the books closed on Hillary's emails with no punishment resulting? Was this an orchestrated outrage campaign to trump up (so to speak) a marginal issue to tip the scale in the late stages? Wasn't the Benghazi special committee an identical ploy? And now it's redux with the Hunter Biden laptop. At the same time we're staring in the face all sorts of ethical and legal breaches by the president.
The Trump visitor to my home acknowledged the sticker on my vehicle. So, this was not a place for her to stay long. I wonder how this maskless person was received at other homes.
The whole idea of a stranger at our front door is much more distressing than in past times. Remember the jokes about the "Fuller Brush salesman?" Johnny Cash when young paid some bills with this kind of work, I believe with vacuum cleaners.
I remember a few years ago, some guys were going door to door in Morris claiming to be doing a "survey on taxes." I heard later the police were called and apparently ended it. Even if there's nothing illegal, people nowadays can feel endangered, apparently with justification.
Which brings to mind the Jehovah's Witnesses. My mother was the type to be polite to everyone. So when those people showed up, she was not brusque or dismissive. I think I reflect the more contemporary sensibility re. them. I won't be rude but I won't act like I'm pleased to see the faces either. The last time Jehovah's came, I later regretted that I didn't just say "with all due respect, I'd like to ask that you not come here again."
I assure you, I was totally pleasant with the Trump visitor. It was brief, on the judgment of the visitor who saw my "Kamala" sticker.
Going door-to-door nowadays takes balls if I might use a crude expression. Trump and his sycophants are the masters of crudeness. The people going door-to-door on behalf of Trump are examples of the kind of impulsive zeal that consumes these people. This is the notorious "Trump base." Trump is guaranteed a certain level of support making him competitive, and it does not matter what he says or does. His super-spreader rallies do not dissuade them.
We here in western Minnesota should be scared. The third stage of Covid-19 cases is leading to worsening outbreaks across the nation. North and South Dakota, our stone's-throw neighbors to the west, have virus outbreaks that surpass the rest of the U.S. If a country or state doesn't enact the proper precautions - the Dakotas did not - the virus will spread. It's a lesson in vigilance, not the kind of thing to be promoted by the Michele Bachmann clone governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem. Such is the ilk of politician we elect here in the rural Upper Midwest now.
"Vox" reports that North and South Dakota now have four to five times the weekly average for daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people. The U.S. overall is seeing 22 cases per 100,000 people as of Oct. 26. North Dakota with the likes of Trump worshiper Kevin Cramer has 105 per 100,000, making it the first state to surpass 100 per 100,000 at any time during the pandemic.
Should we be whistling past the graveyard here in Morris MN? We're on the threshold of winter. Are you sensing more and more of a desolate atmosphere here? Morris lacks amenities to begin with. A grim situation with the virus could hang as rather a sledgehammer over this community's vitality.
The Trump supporters feel they have to be so visible with their zeal. They go door to door, they make phone calls, they have flags in addition to signs. I have seen no Biden flags. This isn't to suggest the Democratic nominee deserves such fanatical flag-waving. It's not that kind of proposition: the Democratic nominee would just be a competent executive who would do the job, no need for name-calling "tweets" on any given day, no rudeness, no threats real or implied. Just competence. Just recognizing a pandemic and looking out for the welfare of the American people, which is what we elect people for.
The emotional flag-waving by the Trump crowd has nothing to do with the competence or proper role of government - it is the equivalent of cheering for your favorite professional wrestler. "Get that bum!" There is some sort of internal void in the psyche of these people that makes them want to lash out, to create a scapegoat or convenient boogeyman in their lives, to (in their mind) ameliorate their insecurity or anxiety. Let's bring back a past (that never existed), they seem to want to say.
So Trump implored his "suburban housewives" to root for their "husbands to go back to work."
North and South Dakota have seen their hospitalizations and deaths increase since September. It's life and death and yet so many among us shrug that off. They literally display flags for Trump. It's on the east end of my neighborhood: a big red-colored flag. And on the west end, a pickup is often parked that has not one but two Trump flags affixed.
By comparison, my little "Kamala" sticker seems pretty modest. But it probably offends the Trump people, the kind (all men) who fill the middle section of DeToy's restaurant early weekday mornings. I sit there and just try to be apolitical. And enjoy my eggs/bacon.
North and South Dakota unlike other states never fully closed down. The GOP governors resisted stay-at-home orders. The virus spread through bars, restaurants, parties, celebrations, rodeos, rallies and such. Sturgis had its big event. Neither state adopted a mask mandate. In Morris we reportedly had an issue with the Apostolics exacerbating things. They are among the Christians feeling as though their faith is tied to Trump. Such a strange phenomenon. Such a huge swath of Christianity given over to this.
We do not know how election day is going to turn out. I shudder. If we come out of these current dark times and return to respecting scientists and doctors, respecting the irresistible winds of change toward accommodating previously aggrieved elements of the population, in other words if we follow the inexorable forces of progress and enlightenment, my profound fear is that Christianity will be marginalized.
The alignment of "Christian" with the hard right politically has already alienated so many young Americans. It is cited as the biggest factor in the growth of the "nones," people who simply do not identify with a religious faith.
We're almost into November. Which means Thanksgiving and then Christmas on the horizon. And we have a First Lady who has said "who gives a fuck about Christmas?" Oh, don't hold your breath waiting for Bill O'Reilly to say something. BTW what is he doing now? He got knocked down for paying something like $32 million to avoid a sexual harassment lawsuit. Such are the bedfellows of the local Apostolics. We can throw in Good Shepherd, Evangelical Free and Hosanna too, along with most likely others. Would Jesus Christ be aligned with such folks?
Addendum: Trump hates his own backers because he is now so dependent on them. He literally leaves them behind in the cold. Has there been an apology? Will he end up being a leader like Jim Jones, bringing his followers down with him? Herman Cain was enticed to come to a Trump rally. He's dead now. Trump has always been a destroyer, narcissistic. He used to think he ruled his base, now the opposite is true. He can't stand how much he needs them. A narcissistic person can regress to a dangerous place. Hitler in effect said "if I can't have everything, then I'll burn the whole world down and I'll go with it." It's either rule or fail. "Prove you love me by coming inside - risk yourselves. But I hate to depend on you."
My podcast for Oct. 29
We're inspired today by Sid Hartman, long-time Minneapolis newspaper scribe who I'm sure you know recently passed on. He reached age 100. Please click to listen to my "Morris Mojo" podcast episode:
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
