Over and Out

I'm leaving this country tomorrow.  For two weeks I will be on vacation in the United Kingdom, the one time monarchy that we Americans "heroically" fought for our independence.  I am looking forward to the trip on many levels, not least of which is the chance to unplug a little and get away from the constant stream of delusional political monkey-business that has engulfed our nation.  I'm also wondering, a little, what it looks like from across the pond.  What do the Brits think about the Donald? About Hillary?  About the fact that this country of ours is apparently willing to sacrifice our very sanity on the altar of partisan politics?  Actually, the Brexit vote sort of indicated that perhaps they have the same sort of problem.
I'm really interested in a change in perspective, which travel is singularly good at providing.  In the wake of the evangelical endorsements of Trump there is much weeping and gnashing of teeth by many Christians in this country.  Many conservative types are joining this lament, and I don't blame them.  In fact, if it were not for the fact that this is largely a "chickens coming home to roost" situation, I would feel great compassion for the GOP, and particularly those of the red side of the continuum who actually hold genuine faith in Christ.
First of all, I have little confidence that even if the Donald is elected that he would actually be the imperious leader (thank you Battlestar Galactica) he promises to be.  Second of all, I am saddened by the fact that so many in our democratic republic are willing to endorse a man who promises to be so blatantly imperious (arrogantly domineering, overbearing, see also dictatorial).  From what I can tell there are large segments of the population whose only endorsement of the Donald is founded on their hatred for the Hillary and the Clinton machine that she represents.
Maybe we have, for too long, defined ourselves by what we are against, rather than what we are for.  Trump's campaign seems largely based on negative goals: do away with terrorism, illegal immigration, free trade agreements and so on and so forth.  Many have noted that he has shown little evidence that he has any positive plans other than the ridiculous notion of a great wall at the Mexican border (unlikely and mostly pointless) and the usual tax breaks for the fat cats that have become the bread and butter of the Republican machine.
From what I understand, the Declaration of Independence was hammered out pretty quickly and signed mostly enthusiastically in a few weeks time.  The Constitution is still a work in progress after over two centuries and will always remain under construction.  It is easier to declare what you are against and avow your rebellion than it is to actually work positively towards justice.
I think back to my days as an angry young man, before I became a bemused middle aged man.  I had long lists of things that I was against, mostly having to do with certain types of music, movies and other pop culture.  I had some energy, driven by disgust, but I could not really seem to put it to work in a very constructive fashion, so I mostly tried to numb it with chemicals or distractions.  I was perpetually disappointed.  For instance: Star Wars, Episode I, The Phantom Menace, created a slow avalanche of disgust that actually eroded some of my fondest childhood memories; to this day, don't even get me started about Jar Jar Binks.  But what was there to do, what would have been constructive?
For me, having kids, and sharing the world of Star Wars with them, including the prequels and entire astonishing world that has sprung up around the mythos of Jedi Knights and the Old Republic and X-wings.  There's so much more there now than there was when I was a kid.  And it is because kids like me didn't just get angry about what wasn't, they actually did something, they wrote new stories (not always good ones), they made games, they filled in the blanks in a galaxy far, far away.  In short, they applied their creativity to make something that was not, or to fill in and render depth to something that was lacking dimensions.
I feel like all of our political system right now is too stuck on what isn't, and we don't really have a good vision of what could be.  We're so dead set against, that we have a hard time defining what we're for, let alone actually reaching for it.  Even my boy Bernie was more about being against income inequality, the wealth gap and money in politics, but I think the glimmer that some of us saw in him was that his antipathy was focused enough that it might actually become something that could move forward.
At the DNC last week, I heard a few, including Barack and Michelle, trying to get us to look forward together.  I remembered the feeling of his first campaign, which focused on Hope, I remember how much better it felt to look at things from that angle.  I am hoping that Hillary manages to build some sort of momentum during this campaign rather than just relying on the highly probable self-immolation of her opponent (he lost the VFW endorsement yesterday, a Republican lost the VFW, let that sink in). For me though, the enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend, I'm really looking for something a little more positive.
Enough already.  For the next two weeks I'm going to write to you about travelling and rainy islands castles and green hills, whiskey, beer and pubs.