Pontifications on prestidigitatory perorations

I was very “off” today. It might have been a mini-depression (As far as I know, I don’t suffer from depression, thankfully, so I don’t know what people go through – but this seemed to tick boxes: a sense of uselessness, of the walls closing in, of too much to do but no time to do it, of emptiness.)
 
Yesterday’s events in the US might have been a trigger. For me, there were a few feelings, mostly contradictory. I’m basically against the death penalty in all its forms: it is a vindictive and malevolent way of enacting justice, and it serves little purpose other than as a minimal deterrent. A single mistake is, for me, exactly as bad as a murder. (Having said that, in cases of genocide, mass murder, etc., I could be open for discussion – but the arguments would have to be good.) This, hopefully, leads you to the conclusion that I am also against killing in general; I cannot understand murder (other than as a crime de passion) and can never condone it. The same goes for retribution (I find Netanyahu’s response to Palestine as reprehensible as Hamas’s initial barbarous attacks). It rarely solves anything. Violence begets violence. So, my first thoughts on hearing of the assassination attempt, (i.e., “pity they missed”), were almost immediately swamped by my own feelings of disappointment at myself. (“Is that really the statement of a rational human being?” and “Do I really feel that?”) The answers were, of course, “no” and “no”.
 
Let me get this clear before I go on: I dislike Trump and I hate the disingenuous stupidity of his specious arguments, his infantile logic, and his mealy-mouthed supporters. He is a wildly unpredictable and dangerous person, who has exposed similarly dangerous fault lines in the US political system; massive flaws in the entire fabric of American society; and, the overt radicalization of evangelical Christians. He has surrounded himself with vacuous sycophants, aggressive wannabes, and moronic conspiracy theorists. He has sought to divide and conquer within his own country; to sow hatred and entitlement among its citizens; to empower similar right-wing populists/dictators with whom he feels there is a “connection”; to simultaneously convince Republicans that he is (a) an infallible religious crusader, (b) the reincarnation of Moses and Noah, (c) a fallible human being who is seeking redemption by enacting God’s laws. This he has done by (a) literally desecrating the Bible, (b) stacking the Supreme Court to enable him to act without consequences as President, (c) claiming that the impenetrable stack of evidence against him for insurrection, rape, infidelity, fraud, cheating, lying, paying off witnesses, hush money, bribery, threats of violence, and being an agent of an outside state are all inventions. He plays the American public for fools and the American public loves it. He has incited violence against opposition leaders, slandered and demeaned their reputations, humiliated supporters and allies alike. The man should not be in charge of an ice-cream cone.
 
It’s still no reason to kill him.
 
But you have to say that the fact someone might have taken a pop at him is no big surprise. Given the extent to which his supporters have tied themselves in verbal knots trying to justify his behaviour, the fact that they have since been using the incident as an epiphany for him (“he’s a changed man”), as a flash of blinding light on his own personal road to Damascus (which he’d never go to because it is in Eye-rak or Mexico or somewhere furr’n), and as a main thrust towards his re-election as POTUS should come as no surprise. Given the similar verbal prestidigitation of Democrats to excuse their own inactivity and moral cowardice, and their subsequent wringing of hands about the future election and Biden’s potential flaws, it is only natural that nobody has the slightest clue about what happened, why it happened, what this means, and what the best thing to do is. Republicans say Crooks was a Democrat; Democrats say he was a Republican. Some are saying that the whole thing was staged by Trumps Russian paymasters. Evangelical Christians are saying he was “spared by God”. God only knows what God thinks of all this.
 
It's still no reason to kill him.
 
In fact, all of this feels as if it is the opening gambit of something more serious. One of the first things I stumbled on today was on “X” – a clip from an Alex Jones show, promoted by Musk no doubt, as it was in my “Following” feed and I, as you might imagine, do not follow Alex Jones, in which someone called Ivan Raiklin (dressed as an Ingerlund supporter on his way to the pub to watch the game) alluded to a Deep State List of targets who would be eliminated if Trump were assassinated. These included, of course, Biden, Harris, Pence… I mean, how do you run a country if people are allowed to run around saying shit like that? All of this feels hopeless because it is hopeless. And Trump – with his efforts to push back what is legal and illegal, to create a moral grey zone in which anything can theoretically be said and done – is to blame for this. Actually, he isn’t. America is to blame for this. No wonder I felt depressed. I could go on, and on, and on. But it Is all beyond parody. It is a bad HBO drama with an implausible plot, an unlikeable set of characters, and only one possible ending: a bad one.
 
In the afternoon, I sat down to watch the Euro Final. The game, like the post-Trump assassination fall-out, followed a predictable path. England played like England until Spain scored. Then England played like Spain until England scored. Then England played like England again until Spain scored again. Then England were too tired to play like Spain so they continued playing like England and lost. Trent Alexander-Arnold was unused, both Spanish goals came at the side where he would have been playing. Harry Kane managed a canter at one stage, but it was back towards his own team’s goal. Sako used his right foot twice. Jude Bellingham failed to live up to his overhyped status as the greatest footballer who ever lived. There was no Plan B. There might have been no Plan A.
 
I actually felt sorry for some of the players: Bellingham is an excellent talent and may well develop into one of the best footballers to come from England; Mainoo did really well; Pickford was strong all tournament. But many of the reasons I can never cheer for England were as apparent today as they were at the World Cup, and at the last Euros, and at the World Cup before that, etc. etc. etc. … But life is too short for schadenfreude. Besides, the wankers will no doubt be using their crusaders outfits again at the next England match.
 
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down…