Happy Friday, News Viewers, the 45th Week of 2022, and I see out of my window that with midterms slowing down to a drip drip drip, the sun still rises, the world still turns, and we are reminded of the words of Omar Khayyám “The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.”
Strange as it may sound, fundamentalism took a beating on Tuesday; the outcome wasn’t this or that, either, or; we aren’t living in a wholly fascist country or a wholly democratic one, there was no complete defeat or total victory, Republicans aren’t all powerful and Democrats aren’t out- messaged — all of the marks of fundamentalism — either/or, right/wrong, good/evil, white/black, no middle ground— all voted into the Land of Middle.
Writers say that writing the beginning and the end of a novel are easy. They call what’s in-between “the hideous middle.” In our nation’s story, still being written, we appear to be navigating the hideous middle. Trump has almost been edited out, Trumpism is still part of the chapter. The Republican Party is being erased, the Democratic Party is being revised. The Midterms proved to be just that — MIDdle Terms, the Hideous Middle.
And in other news. . . .
Welcome to Friday’s Free Chat here at News Views, our chance to move back and forth between topics of choice, from big picture to small, universe to neighborhood. What are your thoughts on this Week 45, and how about we abolish that number altogether? Just a thought— 45 represents dicey mojo— best we do away with it, hopefully for life without the possibility of parole. . .