Welcome Back, Howard

Among the many changes in my life occasioned by Donaldissimo, was a drastic revision in my radio listening habits.

During my life B.D. (Before Donald), every time I got into the car, my satellite radio went straight to Howard Stern. I loved it. I started my attachment to him and Robin and Fred and BaBaBooey in the mid-80’s on terrestrial radio. I avidly followed the Wack Pack through their various travails – Howard’s divorce, fart contests, Dial-A-Dates of all shapes and sizes, and, well, all the stuff that the FCC thought was too much for America’s tender sensibilities. 

Anyway, then came the Era of Bad Feeling. Big Don arrived, and I don’t mean Imus. Every day was a soap opera, except that it wasn’t whether a soap star was really alive or dead. It was whether America was really alive or dead. Each morning, the first question in my mind was “what did he do today?” I was addicted to the news. Like the cliché of the car accident, I couldn’t turn my head away from it. Sadly, for me and for the country, Howard took a back seat.

In my world, politics became what everyone talked about. Conversations that went longer than five minutes always mentioned Orange Julius. No longer was politics the banned subject for fear of offending. Only religion was still exiled. Incredibly, this was a good thing for the nation.

How was it good? Well, after all, we are supposed to be a democracy, and  democracy depends on an informed public.  A vote only benefits the rest of us when the voter has a clue. How clued in we really are from listening to the torrent of political talk is a separate issue. At least, though, we were listening more than ever and we were thinking about the stuff we should always be thinking about.

So, here’s the question. Now that the malignant tumor has been excised from the White House, will we continue the public concern that the tumor years fostered?  Will it be like right after we have a real malignant tumor removed from us. Then, we always promise ourselves that we will change – that we’ll appreciate all the more the time we have been blessed with; and that we will exercise; and that we will diet.  Of course, that’s always bullshit. It lasts about a month. Then, we’re back to getting pissed off at the driver ahead of us, and forgetting about the gym, and eating pizza with extra cheese.

So, will we now change back to our old ways or will we maintain our recently developed interest in public affairs? Some change is ok. I am not proposing that we eliminate all matters other than politics. Of course, not.  We didn’t even do that during the Orange Ages. What I am proposing is that we not shrug away the social urge that was required during our recent time of troubles. Need we know as much about Biden’s Secretary of Education as we knew about Betsy DeVos? Probably not. But, we will still need to know who Biden’s Secretary of Education is? As in all things, there needs to be a balance. Politics need not be every conversations’ starter. But, we should not revert to a world where politics is every conversation’s stopper. 

The rejected Emperor has left us with one worthwhile lesson – that our citizenship before Trump wasn’t enough. Thanks whomever needs to be thanked that we have barely escaped (number of votes for Trump) the Trump play at our freedom. It must be said that a large part of the reason for that is our heightened daily concern for what the White House and its vassals were doing.  We cared. We became what the geniuses in Philadelphia in 1776 hoped we would be. 

And we certainly hope that our new President Biden will be successful in every way. However, we have to learn from our experience during the Donald Darkness. Biden will be no Trump, that’s for sure. But, if we fail to closely examine what he does, and if we fail to remember what could have happened if we had not understood our function as citizens during the Trump years, then our recent success will have meant very little.  

So, I am going back to Howard.  Not all the time. Just, more of the time. I can follow and wish good fortune to both Joe Biden and High-Pitch Eric. 

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