THE POLITICS OF LONELINESS

Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,

I'm writing to you on Sunday evening. It rained hard Saturday night. A cold front is coming. Lake Junebug is pretty full. I wonder if Princess and Penelope will end up ice skating. We have a winter storm watch Tuesday evening though Wednesday afternoon. We might get some snow and sleet. I know how to drive on snow and ice. The natives do not. I will not leave my house. 

Fritz visited the girls Saturday afternoon. They were thrilled. He stayed with them while Rebekah and I went out gallivanting around. I needed to go to UPS to send a package (the reason for sending the package might be a good story for another day), and we each needed a few groceries. We also went to a diner. Rebekah had an omelet and I had a cheeseburger. I seldom buy red meat, but I'll indulge in a bit when I'm out and about. As you can tell, Rebekah and I have pretty wild times. 

Monday is a day of mourning for me. Even if I didn't have to work, I wouldn't watch the goings on in D.C. I won't use its name anymore. Carol uses only a lower case t. I've been referring to them as President Melon Musk and his wife Dawn. I don't know what other name I'll use, or if I'll use any name at all.

A while back I watched Making Manson (2024, streaming on Peacock, 3 episodes), the latest documentary about Charles Manson. It includes tapes of phone conversations some guy had with Manson for years while he was in prison. I didn't care about that. What interested me was the women in the "Manson Family" talking about how they ended up with Charlie. Over and over, they said, I was lonely.

Look up information about more of the women and you'll see the same thing: They were lonely. They ran away from home, or were kicked out by their families in some cases. They had no place to go until they met Charlie or another member of the family, who welcomed them.

I've also seen numerous newspaper articles about the epidemic of loneliness in the United States. Fewer people live near their families these days. They don't have the traditional church families of the past. Divorce is more common. Influencers tell young adults to cut off their parents because they're toxic. 

This loneliness helps me understand how the political cult developed. People joined because they wanted to be part of something where they felt accepted and understood. They found others who shared their opinions. They could even let loose their basest desires to commit violence and be open about their hatred of the different among us, the people with skin of a different color, the people who follow religions they don't understand. 

They could go to exciting rallies where loud music played and the orange-faced man rattled on and danced and swayed on the stage and told them to beat up protesters. It's okay! He'll pay your legal bills. Throw a punch. Kick. Let it out. You'll feel better. And if you see someone on the street who's different, someone to blame for your troubles, punch and kick again, or at least call names. What a relief to let those bastards know they can't replace you or they brought disease to your country. Send them back to their countries! Kill them if you must!

A lot of us have a cult member or two in our families. I've also seen plenty of articles on how to deal with difficult conversations over the dinner table during the holidays. Sometimes it's an older, conservative family member. It might be extended family living in a different part of the country. Or it's someone who is just plain fucking stupid. 

However you know these people, they've joined a cult because they found someone who welcomed them the same way Charles Manson welcomed teenaged girls into his family. The women in the Manson family said Charlie could figure out their weaknesses and prey on them. He could also make them feel welcome and loved, before he started threatening them and beating them.

The political cult will not treat its members well. That's already been proven. It didn't pay their legal bills. It broke up families. It mishandled the pandemic, leading to unnecessary deaths, business closures, and lost jobs. Remember empty shelves in grocery stores? And oy gewalt, what an embarrassment on the world stage to have a country run by a cult leader who worships dictators. 

The cult leader won't do better this time around. It will reverse much of the good President Biden has done. We know. Some of the members figure it out and leave the cult, but the cult finds new members to replace its defectors.  

The leader is not an intelligent man. In spite of his college degree, he is not an educated man. But he is a very good con artist, a barricuda of a cheater. He was raised on it. Then his talent and his mental illness were brought out and perfected by his mentor, Roy Cohn. Cohn was ruthless. He taught the cult leader to attack, attack, attack, to lie no matter what the facts are, and to never give up, never quit.

That is exactly what the cult leader has done.

So yes, today is a day of mourning for me. I've put away some Christmas decorations, but the tree is still up with the lights on it, little blue lights of hope. It provides me with some comfort. When the insurrection took place, I was in the middle of taking down the tree. I put it back up and put the lights back on. Joe Biden urged Americans Sunday to "keep the faith in a better day to come." 

I'll try, Joe. It's going to be very difficult, but I'll try. 

Infinities of love,

Janie Junebug