Science Fiction

not usually my first choice

I awoke this morning thinking of Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land. Hence my title this morning. I read that book as part of my education in American Literature, and the title has always stayed with me. Unfortunately, the plot of the novel escapes me so I looked it up for a refresher. I leave it to you to do the same.

But the reason this title is relevant in today’s culture is that the neo-fascists are now trying to send Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda. Talk about a strange land! The only thing I know about that country is the name Idi Amin, so again I have to turn to my trusty phone for information. Well, Idi is gone, but I find out that the country is defined as a “unitary presidential republic, under an authoritarian dictatorship” which just about tells you all there is to know. And it is bordered by South Sudan, another recent name in the news as a place receiving America’s cast offs, probably for a handsome price.

What on earth would the founding fathers think of where we are headed? As I have told everyone, I have never been a student of history, but you see that we English Majors sometimes manage to follow the threads backwards as well. And the irony of the current idiot having previously denounced those countries as “shitholes” is lost only on his acolytes who have no shred of decency amongst them. Remember when our leader asked where was his Roy Cohn? It turns out that he was very familiar with the original version, as I am learning by reading Robert Reich’s latest book, Coming Up Short.

By the way, Uganda is also shown as being 87 percent Christian, so go figure. Since this is my Sunday rant, I’ll leave it to those of you with a working faith to decide how to proceed next. If there is indeed a loving and benevolent God watching over this world, let us all hope that this higher power reaches down and straightens out the current mess.

RESIST ALWAYS

TTFN