Just say thank you

The kids look on as the parents' marriage counseling goes very bad.

This is the America I know.
This is the America I left.

Capricious.
Obnoxious.
Self-righteous.
Childish.
Atrocious.

With the divine right not to know.
But still know better.

With the hubris of having
a well-timed history;
a very low bar;
and a nice ocean.

If the America that is
surprises or shocks
you —
welcome.
To the America
that always was.

The new bottoms you now find,
are new only to you.
The violence you now feel,
is only redirected.

He hits us 
because he loves us.
He brought this order into the world,
and he can take it out.

The rules
are meant to be broken.
Especially 
the ones we made.
Are a scam.

How differently
would the bullets in Donbas 
now fly,
if the bullet in Butler
flew differently.

A graze of the ear
tears history asunder.
A predecessor
cast the die, for God's sake —
this man cannot remain in power.

The devolution will be televised.
This is going to be great television.

---

“1939-1945: Kriegszeiten und das Ende der Nazi-Herrschaft.” 1983. In Flüsterwitze aus dem Tausendjährigen Reich, 2nd ed., 57. Droemersche Verlagsanstalt Th. Knaur Nachf., München.

Question: Who is Europe’s most generous statesman?
Answer: Stalin! He's shown us Russia, lent us Ukraine, and is now following us home.

- Unknown author, ca. 1930s-40s, from the collection Whispered jokes from the thousand-year Reich