Time for a New American Tale

When you’re about to drive off a cliff, two things come in awfully handy. One is brakes, the other a map showing a clearly marked alternative route.

The vile, cruel and dangerous are ascendant in America. Two things are desperately needed but sorely lacking. Just one of them won’t do. Both are necessary. Brakes. Map.

It’s early, but so far opponents of the vile, cruel and dangerous who’ve climbed behind the wheel out in Washington seem to be cowering, offering little resistance. They’re proving the point of one of my favorite lines, something I’ve said a hundred times if not a thousand. In America, we’ve got one party that’s scary and another that’s scared.

If the scared one does eventually summon the spunk and common sense to slam on the brakes, that’d be a great service to civil society but only a half-measure. There’s still the urgent matter of a marked path to a clear alternative. And no, I’m not talking about a policy manifesto or party platform. I’m talking about a story.

In America…