Feelings of Dread...Revisited

So, I've been having a shit month or so and decided to write about it tonight. Then, I happened to read my last blog post from almost one year ago. Crikey...as if I wasn't already feeling crappy enough, my feelings of dread from one year ago have almost 100% materialized. 

In case you didn't read Feelings of Dread (Part 1), humor me while I recant what I was dreading back then: 

What I fear most about a second Trump term: 

• ✔The continued erosion of a woman's right to choose and autonomy over her own body, along with the potential for criminal actions for medical professionals who care for women in what are deeply personal situations. I have nieces and grand nieces, and I fear for the limited choices they may face in the future with their healthcare decisions. 
• ✔The continued erosion of the judicial branch and the seemingly unethical or questionable standards that some of our judges on the Supreme Court are exhibiting. Justices seem all too willing to curry favors for the mega rich benefactors or friends for political gains. This extends far beyond the Supreme Court to judges at every level who favor this ultra conservative and christian dogma that ultimately rules in favor of white people and gives the harshest of penalties to the most vulnerable populations. 
• ✔The removal of all protections for diversity, equity, and inclusion that extend to women, all people of color, LGBTQ+ groups, individuals with disabilities, and individuals who speak English as a second language. I am lucky to call people from all these groups friends. I know they are scared. So scared that some have already left the U.S. permanently. 
• ✔The broad characterization of immigrants as "bad people" and the goal to deport tens of millions of immigrants...even those who are here legally. Again, I know and care very much for many immigrants who are lovely contributing members of our society. I don't think many people in the U.S. understand the economic devastation to the agricultural, construction, and tourism industries if all immigrants are suddenly rounded up and deported. The immigrants are not taking "black jobs" or taking jobs from white Americans. No, the hardworking immigrants are doing the manual, tedious, shitty work that most people in this country are not willing to do. 
• ✔The plans to politicize the federal civil workforce and to eliminate certain federal agencies. This will have devastating effects on many agencies that millions and millions of Americans rely on: Medicare, Social Security, student financial aid, transportation, agriculture. I currently work for a government contractor and my counterparts at the federal agency we serve are extremely nervous for the future and consequences of this action. 
• The potential plan to reinstate the draft, and more importantly, to REQUIRE graduates from public high schools to take a military exam while graduates from private schools are exempt. Who is this going to impact? We all know the answer to this....the most affected students under this requirement will be students of color and students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The preppy white kids from private schools will get a free pass. 
• ✔The removal of environmental protections. We're past the point of denying that climate change is happening, right? The extreme heat, the more severe weather, the melting of the polar ice cap, the plastic garbage islands floating in our oceans. We are straight up killing our beautiful planet and rolling back the meager protections that are in place will further exacerbate the issue. Go to any other developed country -- Australia, Scotland, England, Ireland -- the U.S. lags FAR behind them in sustainability. 

I mean, I guess he told us exactly what he was going to do. Now, adding on to that, we have: 

• The debacle of his on again/off again tariffs and the havoc it is wreaking on the global economy. 
• His continued chumminess with Putin and bloviating about being a "peacemaker" and "greatest negotiator ever" while taking up Israel's war with Iran and dragging the United States into it. 
• His continued inability to show even a SHRED of empathy or decency in the face of tragedies (e.g., refusing to call Governor Tim Walz to express condolences on the murder of a Minnesotan lawmaker and her husband and attempted murder of two others - why? Because, per Trump, Governor Walz is "whacked out." Well, Trump, I guess it takes one to know one.)
• His pardon of EVERY single person sentenced for the January 6, 2021 insurrection while claiming that current peaceful protests against his no holds barred immigration raids are unlawful. 

I could go on, but it's too exhausting. 

I digress, yet again, when the point of making this blog was to talk about my own personal shit, such as: 

• Thanks to Trump and DOGE, I will be jobless in exactly one week, after letting go of ~ 160 members of my teams already.  
• I had a horrible bout of vertigo three weeks ago that I'm still trying to bounce back from. Consider your self lucky if you've never suffered from benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). I can tell you it truly sucks.
• My sweet Cocoa is failing miserably. I'm not ready to lose another dog. (Reference What I Hate About Dogs)
• I feel fat (nothing new here). 
• My mother is a handful to manage, though we successfully stopped her from driving anymore in the past two months. 

Shit, I guess the whole world is falling apart. Maybe I shouldn't be such an awfulizer. Here's to my Cokie girl and my upcoming vacation to Scotland and Ireland in two weeks! Slainte.