Searching For Truth, Part III

You never know. Things are a little bit different this year. They are not so good. Comparing the past hundred years or so with now was necessary. It forced me to look within myself. I realized this used to be a wonderful time of year for sports fans, for it was the time of year when there was a grand intersection of sports. On television one could see several different sports being played every day, all the time, everywhere, by high school, college and professional athletes in baseball, basketball, football and soccer. And by kids in the neighborhood. The ancient sports, those that pitted one player against another—sports like golf, tennis, wrestling and boxing became easier to deal with because they did not rely necessarily on fan support. You could still safely wander around the golf course looking for your ball.

Fans had athletic competition at every level, all the time. If you are like me, you were in sport heaven. This happy confluence of sport brought enormous pleasure to fans everywhere. Life was jolly.

Then along came the coronavirus, Covid-19. Stay at home. Do not become part of large groups. Avoid people. Wash your hands more often.

Is that what has ruined everything? It does have the power and influence to be a Ruinator. Covid-19 is a phenomenon that affects everyone. Worse, it is more fearsome toward people who have already been shafted by those with more money, status, and better living conditions.

It was and is baffling, powerful, insidious, and everywhere. At first we didn’t get it. Who was susceptible? What were the symptoms? How long did it last? All we knew was that Covid-19 just put the kibosh on everything. It spread fast. Players could not get together to practice. Teams could not compete. Fans could not throng to gyms or stadiums to watch and cheer their favorites.

We soon learned a couple of things: 1) there was lots of money, ungodly sums, involved in sports. 2) we realized sports provided a delightful escape from life’s oppressions and 3) some people are really stupid. And that group will always be.

The smart ones, quick thinkers and epidemiologists, figured out to survive we needed to wear masks, wash our hands, and keep our distance. Simple enough. And this was acutely significant because people were dying left and right.

Now comes the nub. We live in an extravagant, wealthy country. Never mind how you measure it; Americans actually think “we are the best country in the world.” We can drive everywhere. We have whiter, straighter teeth than anyone. You can buy anything you want. We have a genuine appreciation for violence and gore. We have proms. We eat more cheese than anyone. We have more cheerleaders. (Some countries don’t have any!) We can take and drink coffee anywhere, anytime. And that’s just a partial list of advantages.

How can we be this wonderful? And still have things so wrong. Logically, reasonably, it must come down to 3) listed above. Some Americans just do not like to be told what to do. They claim they refuse to be sheeple. They are not going to wear that damned mask no matter what. As bizarre as it sounds they are always going to stand up for their right to be stupid.

So I began my search for great words that would characterize this group of stupid people. I found stupid, dense, thick, nincompoop, ignoramus, idiot, buffoon, doophead, birdbrain, dingus, brainfart, ignorant, schmuck, dippy, duffer, goof, mush head, hard headed, dipstick, brick head, savage, dummkopf, stopcous, drippy, foolish, daft, idiotic, ridiculous, imbecilic, ludicrous, jerk, crazy, moronic, inane, senseless, oblivious, stupidiculous, and asshole. (I added that last one.) I went through all of the pages listing synonyms.

And right there, in the good old Urban Thesaurus, among all the synonyms for stupid, just above “diznick” and below “schlub,” and over from “crynock” was this entry: (and this is the truth) donald trump.