It was the question of the era, a time when all things were possible, because we had come through WWII unscathed unlike the rest of the world, our industry expanding, wealth growing, international approval setting records. The world was our oyster.
And then the impossible happened: Kennedy was shot. I was living in an apartment with three other students at the time. One, from Dallas, walked in that morning, tears streaming at what his hometown had done.
Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley and others talked us through it calmly and succinctly. Time seemed to halt as, first the country, then the world absorbed the news. It took quite awhile for routines to re-emerge.
I have no idea where I was or what I was doing last week when that guy stormed the hotel and tried to kill Trump, the tenth attempt since Kennedy and the third just on Trump. Ho-hum.
No irony there.
The Second Amendment has turned assassination – well, killing in general – from novel to ordinary. Nowadays, people take advantage of the right bear to just to defend themselves against other people who bear arms.
No irony there.
The last war this country waged for universally good reasons – a “just” war, as they say – was WWII. We didn’t have to dream up reasons, having watched Hitler for a few years, and Pearl Harbor opened the door. Afterward we basked in the glow of saving both Europe and Asia from some very bad people.
The justification for our next few wars are still being debated, decades later.
The justification for the current one is also being debated – by himself – by the guy who started it.
No irony there.
This is the same guy who decided oil and coal energy are good and wind energy is bad, climate change is “fake” and electric vehicles are stupid. So he started a war that put 20% of oil on hold, thereby raising gas prices in the US so high that EV’s are now selling like hot cakes.
No irony there.
The King of England, the country we revolted from when we invented modern democracy, visits us on our 250th anniversary and subtly and artfully reminds us what democracy is.
No irony there.
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” says Lady Liberty, as we chase down, lock up, and then eject those very masses.
No irony there.
News broadcasters, who once focussed on calm and precise language while presenting alarming news, now speak in frantic half-sentences to alarm people while presenting mundane news.
No irony there.
As a result of all this, I recently started watching TV shows that feature genuinely nice protagonists in plots where good triumphs over evil. I go to streaming channels, then pull up IMDB on my computer so I can check a synopsis of various movies and shows – just to make sure I won’t see a scary moment or two, or a really depressing ending.
When I find a good one with a high rating, I get my popcorn and settle in.
You know why? No irony there. At all.