It’s hard to maintain your balance these days, both literally and figuratively. Literally because one of my knees has decided not to work any more (I’ve registered a complaint with the manufacturer, but so far no response). Figuratively because there are powerful forces buffeting your sanity, your sense of outrage and triggering a lot of fear. For me those forces are:

• A disease burning through America with because of a weak, even destructive, response by the federal government.
• Trump and those around him deciding to create a secret police force to beat up and arrest protesters in cities with Democratic mayors/governors.
• The same gang deciding to start a serious conflict (war?) with China in this same moment.
• Because of the ineffective disease management, a US economy that is being damaged beyond repair. It didn’t have to be this bad, but…we’re in a bad place.

There’s a lot more, but those are the big four for me right now. It’s enough to keep one off balance, completely unsure of what the future might bring. I suppose a lot of the world feels that way all the time, but it’s a new feeling for us sheep here in America. Insecurity.

I use the word sheep because…where’s the outrage? People should be united in their outrage that the federal government has decided to occupy cities and start arresting citizens in the style of a third world dictatorship. Or a drug cartel. But we’re not united against it, and there’s very little outrage.

The pandemic, the economy and Trump’s desperate and despotic responses are combining to make this feel like a history-changing moment. With all this pressure on democracy, something has to give. According to the AreWeThereYet Clock, we have 103 more days until a (hopefully) peaceful election and transition of power. Will the pressure break us in unforeseen ways before that? Or will we be able to run out the clock, limp across the finish line and begin to repair a badly-damaged country? Stay tuned…