There’s An Off-Ramp Up Ahead August 9, 2020August 9, 2020 So here is a site that has it all. A resource for those of us who believe Trump has been a catastrophe. It’s so obvious — yet 40% of the country doesn’t see it. Or are just having too much fun watching it drive us crazy. Either way, quite a few of these folks must recognize, at least deep down, that what they hoped would happen did not. That having a roguish World Wide Wrestling Hall of Famer shake things up sounded like a good idea, certainly like an entertaining idea: yet, in practice, like throwing paper towels out to a desperate crowd or making light of a pandemic, proved to be an idea that did not bear fruit. Last time, there were a lot of people who wouldn’t tell pollsters they were going to vote for Trump — but did. Dare we hope that this time, there will be a lot who, without necessarily admitting it, quietly won’t? I don’t know. Ads are running in swing states to “model” that behavior. Genuine 2016 Trump voters — not actors — telling their stories on camera. In essence: “I voted for Trump. I had high hopes. I was conned. I can’t take four more years.” That’s a sort of off-ramp . . . other good people can see those stories, relate, and decide there’s no shame in leaving the cult. Maybe we should rely on the nation’s intelligence agencies, not Putin, after all. Maybe trade wars aren’t “easy to win.” Maybe the self-styled “king of debt” who bankrupted so many companies and stiffed so many contractors has been wrong in demonizing immigrants — maybe automation is the big challenge to our jobs. Maybe leaning on Ukraine for dirt on Biden or on the U.K. to move its golf tournament to Trump’s resort is not putting the interests of ordinary Americans ahead of his own. Maybe his son-in-law is not up to doing everything. (Since that article appeared, add now also organizing our nation’s response to the pandemic.) Maybe there weren’t “some very fine people” among the torch carriers chanting “Jews will not replace us.” I just want to say to any 2016 Trump voter — hey, I get why you might have done that. There was so much to be frustrated about. Maybe he could cut through it all and find simple solutions to our challenges . . . and be entertaining along the way. A little common sense, a little swagger, some fresh ideas, “the best people” — what have we got to lose? So I get it. But now we know. And may come to know a lot more once he’s no longer in a position to obstruct justice.. So now, if you decide not to renew his contract, I just want to say, thank you. You took a shot in hopes of making a better world. It didn’t work out. In the immortal words of George W. Bush, “Fool me once . . . ” BONUS: Perhaps the clearest thinking yet: Herd immunity is still key in the fight against Covid-19. Well worth the read.