I listen to and read far too many discussions about Trump and it gets me into a funk. Elon Musk is my vaccine as he adds hope to the future of humanity and gives me something to get excited about and look forward to. Maybe you are a huge supporter of Trump but it's likely that if you aren't you absolutely hate him. Do you have an anti-Trump vaccine to help get you through the malaise?

Motorcycles are my anti-Trump medicine. Riding demands enough attention that the Washington madness is beaten back into the recesses of consciousness. No overnight stays and no refreshing restaurant breaks, thanks to Covid; just day trips of a couple hundred miles or so on nearby familiar roads, maintaining extra vigilence so as to avoid an emergency room visit. Hoping against hope that the Election in 98 days will prove to be a definitive vaccine . . .

But isn’t Musk an immigrant?

Our vaccine used to be the late night comedians who became overtly political for the first time under Trump. But now they are too depressing to listen to because Trump.

Unfortunately, we get daily doses of pro-Trump from our conservative families. They don’t just like him, they think he may be the best president we’ve ever had and an extraordinary, once-in-a-century leader.

I feel for you as that would be painful. Oh what ignorance can do.

The pain, frustration and stress of interacting with dear family members who embrace the Trump malignancy is an unwelcome reminder of the nightmare of growing up with a paranoid schizophrenic mom. Nothing I say or do breaks the spell.

You had a paranoid schizophrenic mom? If you mentioned that before, I’m sorry I forgot it.

I did too and lived on the streets with a lot of schizophrenics. I don’t think people realize how the scare tactics Trump and Fox use torture paranoid schizophrenics because they whole-heartedly believe that stuff.

Back in Cake's early days we talked about our moms a bit. What I find terrifying is how effective the Fox News/Trump propaganda machine has become at mind control. My loved ones who have fallen under the spell seem to have completely abandoned objectivity. I can no more reason with them that I could with mom in her darkest time. But while propaganda has been wildly successful it has so far been ineffective against a global pandemic. Could the harsh reality of Covid 19 at last unmask the gaslighters?

Sad about family and friends. Maybe even sadder is that conspiracy believers (and those not far off) always ignore the evidence and create ad hoc excuses to merely reinforce their beliefs. For example, let’s say the United States ends up with way more cases of covid deaths and the economy is severely damaged (not far from reality currently), they won’t say gee we should have listened to the science and health experts. Instead they will forge ahead and say it was a conspiracy by the Chinese to attack America. The vaccines were a mechanism for further blah blah blah. The Democrats were in on it. Somehow they will spin the story to continue entrenching their view such that their heads are buried deeper into the sand and lead more people astray. Call me a cynic but it’s the sort of thing I’ve seen happening in the last decade. I spend an inordinate amount of time studying skepticism and debunking nonsense and it could be the reason for my cynicism. I have to remind myself that humans were much less rational and knowledgeable during the Spanish flu pandemic. Let’s hope people come to their senses. It’ll be that much easier if the United States has a leader that isn’t as ignorant about science like Trump.

Exactly how I feel.