rainwater splashing into a fallow flowerpot
stalk looked like cross in the center
four burnt matchsticks
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Merlin
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2020 US Elections:
Joe Biden wasn’t exactly your typical neocon figure, in so far as he represented the establishment, the status-quo or return to “normalcy”, he did it with some exception and flair, but the fight to push him in was a bit of a stretch. It was almost as if the republicans yielded (by refraining from dirty tactics), just to see how badly this would end, but they couldn’t yield enough. Things against Biden were against him from the start, age and mental health being the major ones - the campaign had ended without any big surprises. Trump was tired and wanted to go back to Mar A Lago. The intensity of anti-incumbency which marked the beginning of his term had somewhat faded but reelection was next to impossible and he knew it, perhaps as early as early November. Presidential debates were a train-wreck It was unclear whether the failure to produce a vaccine was a market or government failure, it was probably a mix. The world stood still, as if without intrigue - it had lost the right to surprise us. It was as if an old order had come to retire before a new chaos. But all was not lost, for dodgy things were happening in the more libertarian corners of the internet. Conspiracies and what have you, dipping the planet once again in history. Personally, it felt like witnessing the sunrise after a long night of heavy partying. Even with the virus, it was interesting to watch countries coming to terms with their own limitations. The dread that had accompanied some of the more hard-hitting pandemics and epidemics was conspicuous by absence. The mediums of communication weren’t awash with theories denying the reality of COVID-19, the little reaction that dared raise head was either suppressed or lost to the zeitgeist. It didn’t help the virus’ cause that the mortality rate was negligible, the symptoms markedly subtle. The Virus had become a fashion statement, a prop, an exhibition of masks, a flaunting of disease in the face of death. Racial divides had taken a radical turn, it wasn’t the case that a verdict was needed as to where BLM had ended up (in a ditch), rather, it was as if black America was waiting and the sense of urgency added by the left wasn’t enough for the wait to come to an end. Black people coming out in support of Trump definitely was unflattering to a lot of people, whether they admitted it or not. Seen together, what does that suggest? LOP-W. There was talk of “purity” on grapevines and around water coolers. Inequality was a burning issue, and perhaps the most important at this juncture - and this was something both sides underplayed in their respective campaigns, why? Andrew Yang ran on UBI but he wasn’t a bisexual. Bernie Sanders must’ve felt like LK Advani at some point, Bernie if you get this the beer’s on me man. Elizabeth who? There was still time for the new improved hypocrisy to be born, what seemed like a precipice of revolution was perhaps another threshold disguised as a milestone marking this steady decline into irrelevance.