#dotherighthing

“The FBI is warning of protests at 50 state capitals…” says the MSNBC newsfeed in the background. Ordinarily by now I would have switched over to music, or old sitcoms, or Crash Course on YouTube (“Let’s go to the Thought Bubble!”), to accompany me as I go about my daily work. But these past few days have necessitated a little more news time and a little less escapism.

And let me be clear about escapism: I’m personally on my second run through Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and we finished Season 3 of Cobra Kai in record binge-time at our house. It’s a good day to feel like an empowered teenager with mad skills. Mr. HusbandCat shows every sign of digging out his Kung Fu DVDs so we can revisit why Kwai Chang Caine was so effing cool. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068093/

Here’s the thing HusbandCat and I keep coming back to. We were both a bit isolated and lonely as teenagers, a little picked on, a little ignored. We grew up a couple of thousand miles away from each other, but he in his folks’ basement and I in my folks’ kitchen had this much in common: We weren’t dating much. And we were both getting misled by Captain Kirk and Kwai Chang Caine, on the regular.

Honor.

WTAF is that, anyway? You can answer that for yourself in the quiet confines of your own heart. I can give you insight on our shared delusion, though, if you think that would help at all.

See, I was more Star Trek and he was more Kung Fu. We both watched both shows, though. I looked up to Captain Kirk and had a crush on Mr. Spock; he looked up to Caine (and had a fake ID so we know he got more action than I did). What we took away from them both was a sense of honor. I saw Captain Kirk as the honorable man who knew when and how to break the Prime Directive, and why. He may seem all guns-a-blazin’, phasers-a-firin’, in retrospect, but what I experienced (as a teenager devouring re-runs) was a wisdom that allowed the Captain to make the right decisions, even if he was a bit of a rebel. And I think what Mr. HusbandCat saw in Kwai Chang Caine was a man of honor and nonviolence, who would nevertheless kick the bad guys’ asses when it became absolutely unavoidable.

What we missed: Captain Kirk was constantly getting in trouble with Starfleet, and sometimes the Federation itself, because of the strange heroics honor drove him to. He wasn’t necessarily so much popular with the establishment… he was admired and decorated, appreciated even; but maybe not popular. Ultimately, his seemingly unconventional behavior played out for the greater good (especially so in ST: IV, The Voyage Home, IMHO).

Caine? Immigrant. Chinaman. Gook. Slant-eye. Receiver of many racist epithets. He was the lowest of the low, in the eyes of his contemporaries in the Wild West. His inner sense of honor, his Shaolin philosophies, even his mighty martial arts skills, all marked him as surely as did his appearance. Not A White Guy. Not Accepted. And yet, ultimately, his seemingly unconventional behavior played out for the greater good.

These two heroes of ours could not have been more different in appearances, backstories, settings. And yet we both of us as teenagers took away the clear lessons from these fictional men that it’s important to do the right thing. Defend the defenseless. Be true to your school.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the damn election over two months ago. The sitting “President” – even in the wake of this violent insurrection – still has yet to actually concede the election and congratulate the incoming administration. His personality won’t let him do the honorable thing. Instead, he personally stirred up violence via any means available, and has since been banned from numerous social media platforms and providers. https://www.axios.com/platforms-social-media-ban-restrict-trump-d9e44f3c-8366-4ba9-a8a1-7f3114f920f1.html

“President Trump’s job approval rating plummets after mob attack at the Capitol” says the USA Today headline. “House Democrats Introduce Article of Impeachment Against Trump,” says the Wall Street Journal. “Armed protests being planned at all 50 state capitols, FBI bulletin says,” quoth ABC News.

Honor.

Five days ago, we saw mobs of insurgents dishonorably storm the United States Capitol, hunting down lawmakers, doing damage, apparently determined to start executions on the spot. Here’s a link which should provide a little context: https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/disturbing-new-video-and-details-emerge-from-capitol-riot-99252805718 It was apparently much worse than we thought even as we saw it unfold. These folks were coming for blood. Because their Dear Leader told them to. They thought what they were doing was necessary, critical, historic! Honorable.

Nobody liked Cassandra back in the day, in ancient Greece. She was cursed with the ability to prophesy, to always speak the truth, and to never be believed. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassandra) Since the summer of 2015, I have been Cassandra. So have a handful of my friends. We told you – privately, in person, on the phone, via the dreaded social media – we told you that he was a nascent Fascist. We swore up and down that it would in fact come to exactly this, if Donald J. Trump were allowed to become POTUS. We motherfucking told you so. You called us snowflakes, you laughed at liberal tears, you ridiculed and insulted.

Well here it is.

Now… what does your honor compel you to do?

I hope it compels you to consider the possibility that the reason he’s called “Don the Con,” is because he actually is a Con Man, and you, me little droogies, have been well and truly conned. Don’t be a chump.

Turn back.