Opinion: An ‘Illegal Smile’ may be your salvation
An "Illegal Smile" may be your salvation
When I woke up this morning, things were looking bad
A bowl of oatmeal tried to stare me down and won
And it was twelve o’clock before
I realized that I was having no fun
Ah, but fortunately I have the key to escape reality
And you may see me tonight with an illegal smile
It don’t cost very much but lasts a long while.
John Prine was singing on my boombox next to the fireplace this morning, and I was singing along with him; I turned up the volume.
And I suspect in a day or two after next week’s election results there will be more than a few "illegal smiles" on some faces; winners will be happy and the losers will find it difficult to smile.
And I’m thinking even Uncle Sam will be displaying an "illegal smile\" his very self; for the ‘times they are a changin.’
Have you ever been so tired of things, you had trouble smiling even though you try. John Prine was having a day like that, I’m thinking, when he wrote these lyrics.
And to tell you the truth I am about exhausted myself. I am tired of watching TV and those daily updates; I’m beginning to dislike the news altogether, because every time I do, like Prine, "I realized that I was having no fun."
It actually becomes an effort to switch the channel from one to another and listen to the same ole rhetoric from today’s presidential candidates, and trying to dissect out the truth from all those exaggerations.
I sometime wish "every" political candidate was required to take a polygraph test before running for political office just like the Maryland Correctional Officer does.
It makes total sense, doesn’t it? For once we could end up with an "honest" politician and our biases totally destroyed.
One has to hope there are at least a few honest candidates out there.
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I’m beat down myselffrom all this political rhetoric, and John Prine’s lyrics seem about right to me: "things were looking bad."
The only two words I’m hearing on TV these days are Trump and Harris, and most likely that will continue for months. I feel certain election "confusion" will rule the roost once again.
And on election day, I’m thinking, about half of our country is going to be waking up with an "illegal smile," and those left smiling will be happy with the results, while those who lose will be sad, mad, disgusted and very tired from this election cycle.
Uncle Sam might be thinking too; "What is happening" to this grand old place?
What’s next?
You may wonder too and ponder the future.
Will this election result be as hotly contested as the last one? Each news channel is campaigning hard for their candidate; money rules the day!
I remember when Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, Walter Cronkite et al gave us one hour of news at night and then we could move on to Alfred Hitchcock and Rod Sterling with the "Twilight Zone." It was much different back in those days.
Now today the Twilight Zone seems more real.
I’m thinking this election will go down in history as 24/7 news inflicts another serious dent into our civilization.
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Prine continues:
"Sometimes it seems like the bottom is the only place I’ve been,
Chased a rainbow down a one-way street, dead end.
And all my friends turned out to be insurance salesmen;
Ah, but fortunately I have the key to escape reality."
I want to extend my condolences to you if your candidate loses on Tuesday and console you. So, what if you’ve "Chased a rainbow down a one-way street, dead end"; take a deep breath, breathe out slowly, and "escape reality" and go meditate in a quiet place.
Billionaires still have their billions, and millionaires still have their millions; us folks down below will continue to "smile," some maybe real, some maybe "fake," but life will go on.
And another rich person will run again for president in four years and promise a better world for those old folks in the woods with kerosene heaters and lanterns, and everyone else.
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While I’ll still be listening to John Prine’s song:
"And you may see me tonight with an illegal smileIt don't cost very much, but it lasts a long whileWon't you please tell the man I didn't kill anyoneNo I'm just trying to have me some fun."
James Basford once suggested that "The present is the laboratory of the future."
If he is correct in his assumption, what awaits us tomorrow?
I’m thinking a few more "illegal smiles."
Cheers!
Pete Waters is a Sharpsburg resident who writes for The Herald-Mail.