Mere Anarchy Is Loosed Upon the World

If it was last year on this day, I'd have been awake since 2 a.m., keeping an eye on the Hurricane Irma updates and maps, doing laundry and going to get gas at 3 in the morning--I was trying to avoid the gas lines that began as early as 5:30 or so.  But at 3, I found an open gas station with gas that remained, so I filled up one car, went home, got the other car, and filled it up too.  And I was not the only one.

Another year, another hurricane.  Or several of them.  Hurricane Olivia won't affect me directly, but I am interested because Hawaii has never been threatened by a hurricane coming at them in the direction that Olivia is tracking.  Hmm.

I can't tell what is more terrifying these days, the weather and the larger climate, or the political scene in Washington.  I used to say that each morning brings a new "what is going on?" moment.  Yesterday, I began by hearing about the anonymous source in the White House who wrote an op-ed in The New York Times to tell how the administration is being subverted.  After a very long day at work, I drove home at 6:30 hearing news of how Senator Cory Booker is releasing documents that aren't for public viewing.

With both incidents, I am aghast--mainly that the state of the Republic has come to this.  But I'm also uneasy.  With the information in the op-ed, I do wonder if there's not a better way--if the president is really incompetent, there are ways to have him removed.  I understand that individuals think there's no other way and that they are protecting the Republic--but how do we know we can trust their vision of what is best?

I know that many of us right now aren't ready to trust that any single person or team really knows what's best.

I am similarly discomfited by Cory Booker's actions.  He may see it as civil disobedience, and it may be--but is this action the best way to achieve what he wants?  And what, exactly, does he want?  For all of us to see these documents?  For the Senate to have more time to read them?

I want to believe he's not just being disruptive for the sake of being disruptive.

With all of these events--with every branch of government, with the storms that stalk the planet, with the larger geopolitical scene--lines from Yeats echo in my head:  "Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world."  It's from his poem, "The Second Coming," which is perfect as a poem, and perfect for the times we live in--sadly, it's been perfect for every decade since it's been written.