Who’d have thought, in the 1960s when reading 1984, that we’d come to see it become real?
When fact is fiction and fiction is fact.
When vaccines are dangerous and raw milk is safe.
When good people are imprisoned and bad people set free.
When citizens are snatched up and sent to foreign prisons without warning or recourse.
When facts are hidden and lies are promulgated.
When the needy are shunned and the rich favored.
When powerful friends get every advantage, and the disadvantaged are screwed.
When governmental decisions are based on: “I’ll only do something for you if you do something for me.”
When math and science are denigrated and only words that support the powerful are allowed.
When we see corrupted power in high office and trustworthy people fired.
When the rules of office and the law are manipulated, and all loopholes used.
When we see the highest court allows the undermining of law.
When retirement is denied so people in a job that doesn’t want them won’t get benefits.
When a violent insurrection the Capitol building is called “a friendly tour.”
When perpetrators are called victims and victims are vilified.
When things we see with our own eyes and hear with our own ears are denied.
Next stop: The leader of what was the free world, shooting someone on Fifth Avenue and not being held accountable. It’s coming.
Well, just like the clowns, maybe it’s here.
Phyllis Rubin
River Forest