Don’t Let The Terrorists Win

Remind me again who the terrorists are.

I’m old enough to remember …

Don’t get ahead of your skis…

Oh, I could go on about all the jargon I’m so over after plowing through non-stop TV news during my isolation these last 57 thousand months. Oh, it’s only been four and a half? Funny how time doesn’t fly when you’re not having a good time.

But back to cliches. Of which there are many on Lamestream and Cable News.

I say it’s time to bring back an old favorite, Don’t Let The Terrorists Win.

Remember that one from post-9/11 days? Everything from carrying flammable liquids in your carryon luggage to forgetting to floss your teeth at night and wearing last year’s shade of lipstick would, “Let the terrorists win.”

Remember that one from post 9/11 days? Everything from carrying flammable liquids in your carryon luggage to forgetting to floss your teeth at night and wearing last year’s shade of lipstick would, “Let the terrorists win.”

Lucky for us, a new generation came up who confused 9/11 with their favorite convenience store and that irritating cliche went the way of beta tapes.

But you know what your mother said about not ditching any of your ugly, outdated clothes— everything comes back in style.

And here we are, with terrorists swarming the beaches. Literally. Have you seen the pictures from the coastal states? You’d think the correspondent was going to speak with a Kiwi accent and report on how well the people of New Zealand have sliced and diced the pandemic.

Except she’d open her mouth, and you’d realize she was coming to you from Miami or Galveston or LA. With the number of cases spiking in our country, the photos had all but the dead bodies floating in the surf.

Forgive me for getting graphic, but seriously, people. The terrorists are winning. Trouble is, we have a hard time figuring out who the terrorists are these days. After all, we haven’t had any bombed out buildings within our borders for oh, like nineteen years.

But make no mistake, our beleaguered country is overrun with terrorists.

President Trump looks like a terrorist to me, but not because he thinks he’s a doppelganger like the Lone Ranger in his mask. (Am I the only one who noticed he picked a masked character to emulate who sent his “Indian” sidekick Tonto off to water the horses at the end of a hard ride while he kicked back and polished his silver bullets? Yeah, I learned my racism from 5:15–5:30 M-F on ABC radio.)

Oh, please. Do I have to give you examples? Surely, you’ve seen a photo of the Prez flashing his big tRUMP while playing tennis. That’s a sight to strike fear into any schoolyard bully.

Settle down. I’m not playing the size card here. I’m talking about the scary black heart that’s powering that serve and volley. The one that overlooks 60k daily cases of COVID and rising as he plays bait and switch with the numbers, flashing the job report from the beginning of June as some kind of victory.

But don’t forget this terrorizing fact: The job report reflects the way his much-touted too-early opening has now caused so many states to suffer the fate of New York in the spring. The country now has worse numbers than when this nightmare first started. And make no mistake: I’m not talking about numbers with dollar signs in front of them.

But if our fearful leader is not enough to send you running for the exits, how about the govs of some states who seem to think that because the founding fathers didn’t mandate wearing masks in the Constitution, calling for face coverings now infringes on personal freedom.

Except some of them are screaming duck and cover as if the virus can hear them. Looking at you DeSantis and Abbot. Where were you when masks were a thing and everybody knew it. A little late to the party, don’t you think? But, see, that’s a terrorist thing these days. They speak our language. But with forked tongues.

Actually, we have a lot of terrorist behavior in our midst.

People waving guns at peaceful protesters.

People tearing other people’s masks off.

People throwing shade at hikers who ask them to step away from the path if their mindless texting too close to others puts everyone at risk.

And the most horrifying image of all? The clueless, privileged, arrogant jerk or jerkess coming toward me on the street with all his or her private parts hanging out. I’m talking about noses and mouths, uncovered and naked as the day they were born. I’d rather see their peenie beenies and v-jayjays coming at me than their virus machines. Where did they learn those terrorist tactics? Oh, right. At the knee of our leader.

I have my own terrifying image. It’s my daughter pulling out the card from the crematorium service I paid for years ago to tell them to pick up my body, but to use precautions because some a-hole wasn’t wearing a mask and breathed the virus all over me.

But in that event, save your tears for her. We are pretty close, and she lost her father last year, her very dear, beloved buddy. So I think my passing will be a blow, leaving her without two of the people who loved her more than life itself.

But I’ll be fine. I’ve taken up writing ghost stories these last few years, filled with the shenanigans of the spirits of folks unhappy with the conditions of their lives and deaths.

So I have a few tricks up my sleeve, ways I might come back to haunt the bejesus out of any lunkhead who comes near me with his or her ugly mug hanging out, breathing this pandemic over my old, wobbly, bones.

And trust me, you don’t want to mess with a vengeful spirit on a tear. That would be a terrifying sight. Don’t let that terrorist win. Wear your blinking mask.

I’m an editor and writer on Medium with Top Writer status. I’m also an editor for the publication, Rogues Gallery. I’ve published 55 titles on Amazon and edit for private clients. If you’d like to hire me as your editor for fiction, non-fiction, or business writing, please contact me here. If you’d like to read more of my work on Medium, click here to sign up for my newsletter. Thank you for reading.

I‘m an editor and writer on Medium with Top Writer status. I’m also an editor for the publication, Rogues Gallery. I’ve published 55 titles on Amazon and edit for private clients. If you’d like to hire me as your editor for fiction, non-fiction, or business writing, please contact me here. If you’d like to read more of my work on Medium, click here to sign up for my newsletter. Thank you for reading.

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