Go With The Floe is not intended to be a political blog. I write it for Family and Friends who follow our sailing adventures. I write it for George and myself, to read down the road and help us relive these adventures. That said, there are times when situations in the World are so impactful, so momentous, so seemingly impossible, that I cannot help but put into words my emotional reaction. The last several years have delivered realities that each, and collectively were not even faintly on my radar. To steal a phrase from the iconic “Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy”, “Who turned on the Improbability Drive?” Whoever it was, Please turn it off.

The 2016 Election

Donald Trump’s election in 2020 rocked my world. I could not imagine a more unlikely choice given the popularity of our prior President, and, in my opinion, how ill-suited the Nation’s choice was, both in experience, and character. But so it was. Even more outside of my expectations was the fact that Donald Trump’s popularity did not dissolve under his presidency, and his policies were not checked by members of the Republican legislative branch. It revealed, and fueled divisions in opinions and beliefs I never could have imagined were so prevalent in our society.

A Worldwide Pandemic

Covid 19 spread rapidly to all corners of the earth. Every aspect of our lives was disrupted and many millions of lives have been lost and continue to be lost. Our Medical and Scientific communities’ were unimaginably swift in discovering the ways this new coronavirus simultaneously attacked multiple vital organ systems. This knowledge rapidly improved approaches to treatment. The development of several of the most specifically-targeted, efficacious, and safe vaccines ever seen before is an accomplishment that cannot be over-rated.

On November 11, 2020 concerns that dominated my thoughts were lifted. My sentiments then were summarized in https://Celebrating Biden’s Victory. Even my unease from seeing the anticipated third wave of Covid 19 take off was assuaged. I felt hope that with medical-science-based direction and vaccines on the horizon Covid would be vanquished.

Hopes for the New Year were sullied early on with the Jan 6th effort to negate the election results. The New Year had delivered a process whereby some of the safest and most effective vaccines ever made could be quickly administered, but the embrace of ludicrous conspiracy theories deprived a great fraction of our citizenry of their protection. The prevalence of misinformation continued with never-ending reasons for sadness and unease – hate crimes, police brutality, vigilanteism, bigotry, each in my mind, evidence of the failure of our educational system. 2021 ended and 2022 started with no discernible abatement from my perspective.

And now, Vladimir Putin’s invasion of the Ukraine. So often we try to see two sides to a situation. No clear right or wrong. Not this time. I see evil self interest with disregard for human suffering. However, our country, our President, and much of the world is faced with concerns that this mad man’s actions could not only lead to a Third World War, but a World War with nuclear weapons. So no White Knight, no happy ending, and no justice. It is hard for me to see the light.