Tuesday, December 27, 2016

It Can't be 1980 All Over Again

Change is coming.

I sense it as uneasiness.

Not all change is good. But it does always require adjustment.

This is not me trying to be coy or to pretend that I have prophetic powers. I don't. But we will soon have a new president, or precedent, depending on how you chose to spell it. The transition since the election has been anything but easy. About one-fourth of the American population seems happy about the change--the group that supported and voted for the new president. The rest, about 75% of the population, did not vote for him. Many of them are mad because of what he said to get himself into office.

I remember the winter of 1980, the period after Reagan won his first term. I remember people wondering how it could happen. They referred to the Gipper, a star of B movies, taking on his "greatest role, as President of the U.S." Of course, many were elated that we were finally going to have a conservative in office. I didn't know what to think. I hadn't voted for him either. We all adjusted, though. Soon enough, I was wearing docksiders and an occasional polo shirt with an alligator on it. That was about 1983. It took me three years. My hair, though, was still parted down the middle.

Today, though I'm much older and not about to change the style of clothes I wear, I'm not just wondering about what is about to happen, though I do. A reality TV star has won the election. He's got a brand and name recognition. But I think I'm uneasy because it is now possible to wonder if we will have news outlets and media that will give us fair coverage of what is going on. We might not. We might have a press that keeps going for ratings. And not only that. I'm also concerned that we will have an electorate of people who actually care about getting that news.

Too many people I talk with today don't care to hear the news. They don't have details. They have an alternate view. Everyone has his or her talking points taken from favorite columnists and TV shows.

It may turn out okay. Or it may turn out that we will just be subjected to frequent tweets and ads that make major, over-the-top claims about the new leader. Without a free press, will the new man in office be held responsible for his actions and words? He hasn't been so far. He won his office doing what no one before him has done. Others saw their candidacies sink in the mire of their bad behavior caught on tape or reported. Not our leader-elect.

So what is ahead? Some say we get the leaders we deserve.

Change is ahead. It is coming.

You can expect some adjustments.