Late to the party

Somehow I went through the last decade without ever watching a single episode of Stranger Things. That changed recently when I watched the first four episodes of season 5 with my girlfriend. As you can imagine, not seeing the previous four seasons made me more than a little lost as to what the hell was going on. The final four episodes are supposed to release on Christmas.

I have been going back and watching the show from season one to get some context and appreciation for the show that so many people have talked about over the years. Right now I am on episode 3 of season two. I have a ways to go yet.

Even harder than not knowing anything about Stranger Things is not being aware of the awful, awful state of us politics in 2025. Trumps first term set the bar for inflammatory, insane headlines coming from him or something he had done. It seemed like it would be nearly impossible to ever have such a four year term ever again in US politics. Well so far in his first year of term two the bar has definitely been raised. The flow of lunacy has gone from a steady stream to a raging river, ready to crest the shores.

The end result of this has been the numbing of reason, accountability, decency, critical thought and outrage. I mean just how outraged can one actually be when every single day there is a new thing that is beyond belief to digest? Childish, immature, and ignorant behavior has now become ingrained in US politics thanks to the rise of Trump. Hell it has infected society itself.

When you watch the congressional panels that seek to hold some of Trump’s disciples accountable for the circus going on like Pam Bondi, Pete Hegseth, or Kash Patel it is maddening. The default strategy it seems when asked a question is to never attempt to answer it, instead pivoting to a list of attacks they have prepared for the people asking the questions. Nothing gets accomplished or answered, ever, keeping the public in the dark just as intended. This strategy of answering hard questions with attacks was again something popularized by Trump. Let me give you an example.

Imagine I saw you take $50 out of a cash register. I stop you and tell you I saw you take the money and ask you why you did it. After denying what I just saw, your reply to me is that you heard everyone is saying that I can’t get a girlfriend because I am fat and ugly. There then is a group of zombies near by that start clapping enthusiastically for your reply. That is US politics. This occurs within both parties to be clear but is especially core to the MAGA clan.

Sure there are a few people that have snapped out of the trance and stopped taking every word out Trump’s mouth as gospel as if Jesus Christ himself spoke. But there are so many still that just refuse to divert from Trumpism because they are more afraid of being wrong than looking at the big picture. He truly is the Wizard of Oz. Pull back the curtain and all that remains is an old, insecure, immature man-child screaming into a megaphone. He closely follows the Joseph Stalin playbook where “a lie, told often enough, eventually becomes the truth”.

It’s been a long time since I have addressed the madness and I don’t intend to continue doing so as it is a fruitless endeavor. I just hope we make it to 2028 without a complete implosion of anything and everything that we once held as core values. Maybe AI will take over by then.