TOWER OF POWER

Two stories:  Ever hear of a buffalo jump?  How about radio towers from the 1940's?  Both are a part of our country's history and both exist today, in spirit if not in actuality.

Buffalo jump sites exist in the state of Montana.  The buffalo jump was used by the Blackfeet tribe to efficiently maim buffalo so they could be killed with spears and bows.  "Hides [of the buffalo] were used for clothes and shelter, bones for tools, sinews for bowstrings and laces.  Hooves could be ground for glue, and the brains could be used in the tanning process for hides.  Extra meat was preserved as pemmican."  The buffalo jump was a communal hunt dating as far back as 12,000 years ago and lasted until 1500 C.E., until about the time of the horse's arrival.*

How was the buffalo jump conducted?  Meriwether Lewis describes it in the Lewis and Cl ark Expedition:  "one of the most active and fleet young men is selected and disguised in a robe of buffalo skin...he places himself at a distance between a herd of buffalo and a precipice proper for the purpose:  the other Indians now surround the herd on the back and flanks and at a signal agreed on all show themselves at the same time moving forward towards the buffalo; the disguised Indian or decoy has taken care to place himself sufficiently near the buffalo to be noticed by them when they take flight and running before them they follow him in full speed to the precipice; the Indian (decoy) in the mean time has taken care to secure himself in some cranny in the cliff...the part of the decoy I am informed is extremely dangerous."

The story of the buffalo jump recurs as I awake full of dread.  I feel like one of those buffalo; my country feels like that herd of buffalo.  We are being led to the cliff by a decoy.  Just as in the story, Trump is the decoy, dressed to look like the rest of us; he tries to make that connection in his rallies.  He's drawing us ever closer to the edge of the cliff to our demise.  But he fools us because he's planned a way to save himself:  he will enrich his businesses and his family at the expense of the safety of our country.

What has happened?  Donald Trump is naming ultra-rich members to his Cabinet.  Since when have most ultra-rich looked out for anyone other than themselves?  Donald claims inaccurately that not only did he win the electoral vote but also the popular vote since millions of the undocumented voted illegally.  There is no evidence to support this claim.  The truth is that Hillary won the popular vote with 2.5 million more votes than Donald.  The media do not speak up with one voice against this lie.  When in the past we may have been able to depend on the media for objective reporting, that is no longer the case.  Fear rules them.  Fear rules the country.  We are at the mercy of Donald's tweets.

In the 1940's, radio was in full swing.  Air waves carried the news and entertainment to the country.  They emanated from towers that passed the signals from radio stations to our radio consoles at home.  In cartoons, those radio signals were depicted as small bolts of lightning coming off high, triangular, steel towers.

Today, those bolts of lightning represent Donald's tweets.  He sits in his Trump tower in New York and, at any time of day even 3:00am, he tweets out his messages.  It's a signal heard 'round the world.  Trump supporters feel emboldened; they enact whatever menace they desire.  At the very least, they spit on those who offend them; pull off scarves worn by women who are Muslim; scream obscenities at Uber drivers.  Tweets are the new bolts of lightning once used to depict radio signals.  They now emanate from Trump tower.

It feels like we as a country are at his mercy.  We are a herd of buffalo heading senselessly toward a cliff.  We see it; we know it.  But fear is the name of the game.  We are surrounded by Trump's ultra-rich cabinet, by Trump hangers-on who see visions of enriching themselves at our expense like Paul Ryan (Speaker of the House of Representatives) and Jason Chaffetz (Chairman of the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform).  No effort is made by them to assure that traditional checks and balances will be put into play.  No effort is made to investigate conflicts of interest Trump has around the world.  No effort is made to do the job for which they are paid.  We are headed to a cliff.  Tweets from Trump tower keep us in line.

Is there any hope?  Next time...

*Wikipedia