Do-over

Seems after hearing some feedback on my last entry (I hate “post”) that I’ve some explaining to do. 

“So you think Trump’s like Aurelius?” one sexy-smart Hollywood writer, slash private jet pilot, slash black belt asks.  We only met online so far. I’m trying to get her to tell us how to land an airplane in a pinch. Serious.

“Dude,” another chimes in, “you’re all over the place in that piece.” He knows my situation.  We’re homies. 

“I’m stressed, asshole,” I tell him. “No steady job yet.  Don’t know where my next paycheck is coming from.  Plus I get to reinvent myself? Do you have any idea what goes into that?” I forget momentarily that my one-man audience is fighting the C word himself. He’s not exactly the right person to be lecturing to about reinventing or resetting or reprioritizing or the challenges therein.

I’m blessed for the feedback, however humbling it might be.  So let’s try this again:

There’s an elected Caesar in our midst, a de facto monarch. That’s whether we like it or not.  He rules unimpeded.  Lawsuits slide off him like a silk robe.  His House does not challenge him out of fear but probably more like commonly held conviction, and the parts of the House that do oppose him just really aren’t that persuasive.  Today’s Democratic party, talk about all over the place. 

So yeah, that’s what I was aiming for.  A king of sorts is now our leader.  And his kingdom is unapologetic.  Greatness is back or at least on its way back for those who thought it disappeared in the first place, which was a good many last November.  And yes, I was among that number.  I played a direct role in his coronation.  All I was asking of him in that last entry was that he try and be like Aurelius, whatever the fuck that means in today’s environment. Take a couple of examples.

Is renaming a Gulf something Aurelius, a revered Caesar, would do?  Not really. Sounds more like a Commodus stunt to me.  No one has Commodus or any of his meditations tattooed on their person.

Annexing Greenland?  Hmm, well, shit, we have how many “territories” again? Anyone have a beef with those? Plus I wouldn’t put it past Aurelius to do something like that.  Because, well, shit, Aurelius did do something that. A bunch of times. It was called, more bluntly, expanding his empire.  Or—wait for it– maybe just maybe it was making sure someone else didn’t expand theirs.

And we’re right back to, Hmmm.

Just a quick reminder that last September I had the honor and the privilege of guarding a naval asset during San Francisco’s Fleet Week. I’d spend upwards to three to four hours in a cramped speed boat smelling young sailors’ farts and learning their stories. It was incredible seeing just how young I once was.  How invincible I once felt.  I’m not sure I saw the big picture back then, though.  The threats to our empire.  These sailors told me about them in today’s terms. Who fires rockets at them routinely while on deployment.  Who nation-wise and battleship-wise is everywhere we are.  “I mean everywhere,” one whippersnapper tells me. 

It’s real.  And these sailors carry it every day, or at least the 8-12 months they’re on deployment every year. I don’t think you deploy like that unless you’re trying to expand your empire or just making sure someone else isn’t expanding theirs. Might it be the same damn thing?

Some have a beef with us being an empire.  Decry our might and its attendant hubris. Lament our influence all over the world.  I might be tempted in a future entry to call them out on their hypocrisy, because, well, shit, we all benefit mightily from our might.               

Bitch about it. It’s a freedom fought for and preserved. Just get that damn Aurelius quote off your body, then. That’s all I’m trying to say.

Wait, but did I say that last time?

Glad we cleared that up. Phew!

-tmc