The man wanted to construct a beautiful box in which to store his many important papers. He wasn’t much of a woodworker, but he knew he could do the job because he was smarter than everyone else.
And, because he was so smart, he knew he needed a hammer. He took himself down to the hardware store and asked to be shown the hammers. He saw one with a straight edge on one side, which he knew was what would pound nails into one piece of wood to hold it to another. The other side was a claw, that is, a curved piece of metal with a slot designed to pull nails. It was a beautiful hammer.
But the man knew he didn’t need the claw because he would never make a mistake and hence not have the need to extract nails. So instead, he bought a different hammer with a straight edge on one side and a rounded piece of metal on the other, just because he liked the looks. The clerk told him it was a ball pean hammer.
When the man got home, he nailed board to board and produced a box of just the size he wanted. He examined the finished product and pronounced it perfect. A close examination showed some nails sticking out while others had entered the wood and then bent over.
The man admired his work and told everyone stories about his expertise in constructing it using the hammer he had purchased. He was asked questions about that hammer. He responded by saying, “Oh, I’ve got what I want. I don’t need it anymore.” At that point he picked up the tool and said, “You’ve done your job” and threw it under a passing bus.
This little story reminded me of the MAGA movement. If you are a part of that movement, and I doubt you are since you are reading this post, I have a few questions for you.
Do you happen to be a farmer, and are you concerned about the on again off again tariffs Trump is imposing?
Or do you work for the federal government and has your life been disrupted by outright firing or fear of what will happen to you in the future?
Are you on Social Security? Do you worry about the push to reduce the number of employees in that department, a move that certainly will increase the difficulty in accessing assistance from them or perhaps even delay or disrupt your payments?
Do you fly for work or fun? Are you worried about the on again off again debate to fire or hire air traffic controllers, especially in view of all the recent flying incidents?
Are you worried about incurring a sickness because the health warning system is becoming gutted, or your Medicaid is threatened?
Are you a veteran concerned about the staff cuts taking place at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs?
I’m sure many of you will be affected in negative ways by the above and other changes taking place.
In spite of that, I see reports that you remain supportive of your man and are thrilled by his victory.
So, yes, you have done your job well. You got him elected to the office that he badly wanted so that he could get back at everyone who had spoken against him and begin the process of becoming king, a position for which he is singularly unqualified.
Alas, though, your job is now over, and you are no longer needed. Suddenly you aren’t important to your hero. He doesn’t care about you anymore. You see, you have been nothing more than a useful tool to accomplish his task. Now he is free to forget you and switch allegiance to billionaires and dictators.
And it is likely you can never do anything about it, even if you finally realize you’ve been used, especially if Trump and his rich and powerful cronies manage to rig elections and remove the possibility of any retaliation you may eventually desire.
You have been a tool no longer of use.
You are a clawless hammer tossed under a bus.
Or is that a clueless hammer?
And, because he was so smart, he knew he needed a hammer. He took himself down to the hardware store and asked to be shown the hammers. He saw one with a straight edge on one side, which he knew was what would pound nails into one piece of wood to hold it to another. The other side was a claw, that is, a curved piece of metal with a slot designed to pull nails. It was a beautiful hammer.
But the man knew he didn’t need the claw because he would never make a mistake and hence not have the need to extract nails. So instead, he bought a different hammer with a straight edge on one side and a rounded piece of metal on the other, just because he liked the looks. The clerk told him it was a ball pean hammer.
When the man got home, he nailed board to board and produced a box of just the size he wanted. He examined the finished product and pronounced it perfect. A close examination showed some nails sticking out while others had entered the wood and then bent over.
The man admired his work and told everyone stories about his expertise in constructing it using the hammer he had purchased. He was asked questions about that hammer. He responded by saying, “Oh, I’ve got what I want. I don’t need it anymore.” At that point he picked up the tool and said, “You’ve done your job” and threw it under a passing bus.
This little story reminded me of the MAGA movement. If you are a part of that movement, and I doubt you are since you are reading this post, I have a few questions for you.
Do you happen to be a farmer, and are you concerned about the on again off again tariffs Trump is imposing?
Or do you work for the federal government and has your life been disrupted by outright firing or fear of what will happen to you in the future?
Are you on Social Security? Do you worry about the push to reduce the number of employees in that department, a move that certainly will increase the difficulty in accessing assistance from them or perhaps even delay or disrupt your payments?
Do you fly for work or fun? Are you worried about the on again off again debate to fire or hire air traffic controllers, especially in view of all the recent flying incidents?
Are you worried about incurring a sickness because the health warning system is becoming gutted, or your Medicaid is threatened?
Are you a veteran concerned about the staff cuts taking place at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs?
I’m sure many of you will be affected in negative ways by the above and other changes taking place.
In spite of that, I see reports that you remain supportive of your man and are thrilled by his victory.
So, yes, you have done your job well. You got him elected to the office that he badly wanted so that he could get back at everyone who had spoken against him and begin the process of becoming king, a position for which he is singularly unqualified.
Alas, though, your job is now over, and you are no longer needed. Suddenly you aren’t important to your hero. He doesn’t care about you anymore. You see, you have been nothing more than a useful tool to accomplish his task. Now he is free to forget you and switch allegiance to billionaires and dictators.
And it is likely you can never do anything about it, even if you finally realize you’ve been used, especially if Trump and his rich and powerful cronies manage to rig elections and remove the possibility of any retaliation you may eventually desire.
You have been a tool no longer of use.
You are a clawless hammer tossed under a bus.
Or is that a clueless hammer?
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