On the year gone by

Its been an eventful year in the US, politically speaking.   We have finally realized their is a constituency for fascism in our county, thanks to The Donald.  At least 30% of the electorate is pining for a dictator to make their decisions for them and Trump is down with that.  Making America Great Again, whatever that means, is the platform on which this Rube Goldberg authoritarianism will be built.  It remains to be seen if more than that benighted 30% have an appetite for this type of government.  As Argentina and many other Latin American countries have demonstrated over the years the yen for a strongman or "decider" is an atavistic yearning for many.  Cooler heads are likely to prevail in 2016, but a timely terrorist attack could unhinge enough people to make this dark fantasy come true.  President Obama remains cool in the face of constant sniping by those who question his commitment to the country.  As someone who harbored dark fantasies about the Shrub's supposed plans to declare martial law and become a dictator, I think I understand the critics, but in the main, I believe most opposition to Obama is strictly driven by racism.  Another phenomenon which was finally recognized this year was the wholesale killing of Americans by the police departments which are supposed to "serve and protect" citizens.  Here again, racism is the proximate cause of most of the killings as a mostly white police force in many cases police a brown or black neighborhood where residents are considered the enemy.  I hope we begin to tackle these problems in the new year, but election year politics will probably pollute the process.  On a personal note, the garden was an up and down enterprise and will likely be smaller and more manageable next year.  The grandchildren continue to grow and prosper and the Divine Mrs. M remains very much so.  As the final grains of sand empty from the glass of 2015, I wish everyone who reads this a happy and prosperous and progressive NewYear.