March Madness

No, I don’t mean basketball…though this year’s tourney has been nuts! Three first time schools in the final four. Madness is all around us and SMH is no longer a simple acronym. I find myself shaking my head multiple times a day especially in light of these circumstances:

1. Ron DeSantis…wtf is wrong with this guy? Is he so afraid of people unlike himself that he’s doing backflips to drive Florida back to Jim Crow days? He’s a diversity wrecking crew and hardly anyone is even trying to stop him. Will Florida’s colleges and universities push back with angry protests? Will the Florida public…at least the sane ones who decry Ron’s malevolent behaviors and legislative atrocities…speak up in objection??

2. Bibi Netanyahu…wtf is wrong with this guy? Israel’s fragile enough without his fealty to the ultra-right political parties there. I’ve just returned from a week there and spoke with many people who lament the ill-advised judicial reforms being forced through the Knesset by these right-wingers. Many agree that reform is necessary but not to the extremes under currency consideration. The protests are growing and democracy in Israel is at risk. Will sanity prevail??

3. Every day, I read another piece lamenting the youth mental health crisis. Suicides among the young seem rampant and apparently everyone else is struggling with some from of anxiety and/or depression. I certainly won’t make light of this genuine crisis, but, folks, the long-term solution won’t be getting everyone to a counselor. This is where I get to sound like an old guy, but when we were kids, we learned independence, innovation and resilience by hanging out with friends in the neighborhoods, roaming the streets and inventing games. Sure, we took risks and suffered the consequences, but decades of over-protective parents, over-programmed kids, and too much screen time have truly wreaked havoc with young people. The path to less vulnerable and fragile youth begins with teaching independence and expecting self-management. Parents: kick your kids outside and tell them if they’re bored to figure it out themselves!?

4. When is someone going to finally take Putin out? There’s got to be someone in the Kremlin who’s so fed up with the loss of so many lives and so much damage to Russia overall that he/she’s willing to do the deed? When will Russian citizens be in the streets protesting the loss of their children, parents and friends? Does Trump still admire that murderer? Let them both live out their lives in prison!?

5. Speaking of our former and disgraced president, when the hell will he finally be indicted for any one of his many crimes? Are prosecutors just afraid to haul his ass in and prosecute him? Hush money? Fomenting insurrection? Fraud? Can’t he be indicted on any of these obvious crimes? This is so frustrating!

6. OMG…social media has become so boring! Lions stalking prey? Barely disguised porn? One athletic clip after another? Ads for every med imaginable? Will ChatGPT and other forms of AI make all posts meaningless (and likely fabricated)??

7. Another school shooting, this time in Nashville (where I have three grandchildren!!). Fucking guns! It is simply ridiculous to have such easy access to assault weapons and other military-grade firepower. It’s absurd not to license and control gun ownership. I’m so tired of second amendment bullshit. No one ever intended that the public walk around with guns so visible and accessible. If you’re inclined to try and convince me otherwise, go away. You’re an idiot.?

8. Taxes for the wealthy are too low; gas prices are too high (especially given corporate profits for that industry); Ignorance is too widespread; Morality is too subjective; Far right Republicans are sooooo wrong.?

9. The US healthcare system is a total mess. I suggested a procedure to my GP who thought it was a great idea. Why didn’t she suggest it? I was told that Medicare wouldn’t cover it (a simple predictive test) and then it did. Now, I’m on a statin and I’m not happy about it!?

10. If I sound angry this time….I am. Fucking guns!