Great expectations by Sue Robin

Great expectations
by Sue Robin, Los Angeles, California

There are dozens, maybe hundreds, of books about what to do when you’re expecting. They are not written for my demographic. But expectations still happen at my age, though they are significantly different than waiting for a bundle of joy to arrive.

At 75, I still expect my body to work, the good folks to win, and sanity to prevail. Too much to ask for?

I am in remarkably good health save for one very cranky knee and, while I cannot expect it to work normally, I can expect a new one at the end of August. Not everything is as easy as it once was, but I can still expect to be around for a few more years. I worry that our country, as we have known it, will not be.

There have been numerous opportunities to wait in expectation in the past five years. There were the 20-plus woman who accused the former President of inappropriate sexual behavior. Nothing happened. There was the tape with the crude and demeaning talk. Nothing happened. There was the Mueller Investigation where Mueller found there was obstruction on the part of the former President. Nothing happened. There was Impeachment One and Impeachment Two, and nothing happened.

Now the January 6 Committee hearings are providing an extensive overview of the insurrection, the Justice Department is requesting all the committee files, the Georgia Attorney General has promised to rule this month on a possible indictment for obstruction of the election, and I am again waiting for justice to be served and for sanity to prevail.

But when I overhear a conversation in the beauty shop, or see a MAGA hat or bumper sticker, or hear the Republican Party buzz, I fear that yet again nothing will happen.

These hearings have made a compelling argument that sometimes the good guys can prevail, while at the same time showing us how easily ugliness can overwhelm an entire country. Until the 6^th of January, I had nothing particularly nice to say about Mike Pence, Liz Cheney or Adam Kinzinger. Since that date, they have all shown remarkable courage, strength and dignity, and chosen to do the right thing in the face of a vicious, backbiting narcissist. They have earned my respect. They are working hard to heal the almost fatal wound inflicted on our country by those who subscribe to conspiracy theories and other assorted lies.

I cannot fathom the depth of hatred that has reared its ugly head, nor the ability of people to bury their heads in the sand or up their whatsis, in response to this horrific human.

Mitch McConnell said after the first impeachment that the “Democrats will take care of that SOB.”  After the second impeachment trial, he said, “President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office, as an ordinary citizen, unless the statute of limitations has run, still liable for everything he did while in office, didn’t get away with anything yet – yet.” Alas, McConnell, also, still says if Trump is the nominee in 2024, he will vote for him. I think I will mail him a compass, as he certainly has lost his own moral one.

In a few months, my new knee and I will be playing with the grandchildren or strolling on the beach. My heart holds onto a thin thread of hope that good will triumph, sanity will reign and, if it is not asking too much, the bad guy will, at long last, get his comeuppance.

I am trying to be as confident of that as I am that the doctors will be able to repair my knee.