By Stephen Macaulay

In responding to a concern vis-à-vis the term “pro-MAGA,” the writer used “IMHO.” Just as we have come to realize that “IMHO” is shorthand for a phrase, I think it is fair to say that “pro-MAGA” goes to the point of that crowd of people who stormed the Capitol on January 6. To be sure, this isn’t universally accepted, but it has become sufficiently germane. I mean, does anything think “IMHO” is “I Might Have Olives”?

But let’s go a little further. There is an issue about referring to what took place on January 6 as an “insurrection.” The straight-up dictionary definition of “insurrection” is “a violent uprising against an authority or government.”

Was it violent? Yes.

Was it against the law enforcement officials, authority, who were at the Capitol? Yes.

Was it meant to stop the certification of the presidential election by Congress, the government? Yes.

Seems to tick all the boxes.

What I take exception to is the adverb in the phrase “Make America Great Again.”

Again? Really?

His dystopian American-carnage style inaugural address notwithstanding, Trump inherited an economy on the upswing and a country that had respect and stature around the world.

What did he do? There was the debasement of public discourse such that anything goes. He demeaned and belittled people whether they were disabled or victims of a natural disaster or happened to live under heinous conditions (e.g., “shithole countries”). He said he believed Vladimir Putin more than his intelligence agencies. He met with the dictator of North Korea for no apparent purpose besides a photo op.

He had an epic fail when it came to dealing with COVID-19.

Great Again?

Sad.