I’d like to say that I have some great reason for stepping away from the Blog-O-Sphere into a self-induced coma. But I really don’t have one…except that in the vernacular of a character that may appear in the book, “Hillbilly Elegy” (which I’ll get back to in a bit), “My Head Done Got Broke.”

It’s been more than three months since the “election that changed the world,” and I still get a “flee or fight” burst of adrenaline that blasts through my body when I hear the term, “President Trump” uttered by anyone.  I admit readily, that the entire concept, and the Bizzaro-World reality that has kept the country and our allies on our collective heals since his inauguration (crowning? anointing?  assumption of power?), has left me reeling in ways that have left my face in a permanent, pained squint…like watching a YouTube video of a kid trying to skateboard on the railings of a staircase, and then falling to crush his testicles as gravity wins the battle. “Pained expression” doesn’t even begin to cover it.

I guess it is the GRAVITY (as in very, very, very grave to use Trump-speak) that has rocked me from my coma, and back into the fray.

So. Much. To. Do.

It’s time to strap on the backpack, with the giant Sisyphusian bolder in it, and head back up the mountain.

But there’s another reason that “Blogging for a cause” has lost its luster...until now.

It is being self-consumed with the overwhelming feeling that it is just a half-step above whining on social media…without offering solutions.  That just isn’t my style.

But before we undertake the NEXT CHAPTER in the world of CrankyOldGuy tilting at windmills, let’s get some housecleaning out of the way. Before we can move forward, we have to agree to resolve some basic issues that have divided even the most ardent readers here.

1. Trump is FAR worse than even the most alarmist “Lefty” could imagine.
2. Hillary lost…because she was without question, the WORST candidate the Democrats could have run against a guy like Trump.
3. The Democratic National Committee (the DNC)  appear to have learned NOTHING from getting their asses handed to them.
4. The VERY WORST of the worst in Congress are in charge…and the rest are cowards.

That’s enough to start with.

Now. Let’s identify the problems…so we can come up with a solution.

Oh. Wait. The main problem is the SAME problem that got us here. A lazy, ill-informed electorate that would prefer to tweet/facebook/instagram and blog about what upsets them…without offering solutions and being part of those solutions.

Since the election and the insanity that has ensued since, I have only seen a couple of REAL suggestions coming out of the mayhem that is the “Reactionary Left” or even the “Stunned Moderate Center,” that have any real merit.

One comes from a guy that it pains me to support…because I really don’t care for him, Michael Moore (imagine my face with the same Skater-Testicle-Bash look). The other, from a grass-roots group who started a movement with a .pdf post.  After reading the two, I suspect that Moore purloined (a nice term for stole), some of his “10 Things” post from the “Indivisible” guys. But, I’ll give him a pass, as he has more followers than they do, and I agree with most of what he said. MOST being the operative word.

Both offer “Ten Step Programs.”  I am going to narrow it down to THREE steps. Nobody can do all ten…and still have a job, a life, and any semblance of normalcy in their lives. But, then again…I guess that Trump has completely eliminated “normal” from the current vernacular.

Because Moore “borrowed” (see? I’m trying to be cool) from the guys at “Indivisible Project,” I’ll start by posting the link to their “A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda.”   Take a second to check it out before reading further.

See what I mean?  It’s VERY detailed…and robust…and exactly what we need to do to efficiently mobilize.  But, it is huge (and not in the way Trump describes his man-parts). The average person (even the not-so average wonk) simply feels overwhelmed at first glace.

So…here comes Moore’s Do These 10 Things, And Trump Will Be Toast
Sorry Micheal…these are equally daunting for the average citizen.  Heck, we couldn’t even get 46% of the people to VOTE. You want them to “Run For Office???”  Get real.

So…I am going to distill both of these into THREE primary things that ANYONE could and should do. That means you.

I’ll break it down in three separate posts…so you can digest, and create an action plan. So…WATCH THIS SPACE.

Now…back to Hillbilly Elegy (Amazon link here) a book that I was forced to read by my book club- and admittedly am glad I did.  I know you are sick of hearing about Deb and my 9,600 mile cross-country trip this summer, but the fact is, we SAW the basics of this book in action BEFORE the election…and were able understand how/why Trump was elected. And yes…Michael Moore was one of the few to agree with me about the “why” before it happened. But, that is in the rear-view mirror now. Spilled milk. Broken Mirrors. All of the things that can’t be repaired. But, I digress…

The book is a true-life story of one man’s escape and understanding of a Hillbilly culture, that migrated into the Rustbelt states in search of jobs in the auto industry and other manufacturing trades, and ended up changing the course of our nation’s future, with a desperate act of trying to be heard by a Government that had seemingly abandoned them. It is a quick read…and one that I very much endorse. I’ll write a full review and recap in another post. But, know that the election was lost, before it started. Because, Hillary and the DNC missed the importance of paying attention, and not taking for granted, the states that coulda/shoulda/woulda won her the Presidency.  Again…spilled borscht (yes…we will get into Trump’s bro-mance with Putin in future posts as well).

I’m back. Sorry for the delay.  I needed to get my “head unbroke.”  And with Trump’s expulsion of selected “adversarial” news outlets this week, I got the “kick in the head” that told me that I need to get back into the fray.

Watch for Part I- The First Step In Dismantling Trump later this week.

I promise.