Though I am loath to start the new year off on a discordant note and will get to better things eventually, I do want to mark the occasion of this ominous day in American history before shit goes off the rails. Indeed, it could happen as early as this week, when our new President sends his jackboot loyalists to conduct performative illegal immigration raids in Chicago.
I heard this song come up on my Spotify the other day. It’s a song by the immortal Bob Seger, one of my favorite singers from the 70s and 80s, which I heard on the radio a million times as a kid. When I heard it the other day it dawned on me that the lyrics perfectly capture how I feel about a man who, inexplicably, is about to assume the presidency for a second time after having violated so many laws, defrauded the American public in the most ridiculous of ways, and after shitting on the democratic process that once again, is handing him so much power to abuse and bend to his will and profit.
I’ll be playing it on a loop for the next 4 years, unless God or karma intervene.
Still The Same
You always won every time you placed a bet
You’re still damn good, no one’s gotten to you yet
Every time they were sure they had you caught
You were quicker than they thought
You’d just turn your back and walk
You always said the cards would never do you wrong
The trick, you said, was never play the game too long
A gambler’s share, the only risk that you would take
The only loss you could forsake
The only bluff you couldn’t fake
And you’re still the same
I caught up with you yesterday (still the same, still the same)
Moving game to game
No one standing in your way
Turning on the charm
Long enough to get you by (still the same, still the same)
You’re still the same
You still aim high
Still the same, still the same
Still the same, still the same
There you stood, everybody watched you play
I just turned and walked away
I had nothing left to say
‘Cause you’re still the same (still the same)
(Baby, baby, you’re still the same)
You’re still the same (still the same)
(Baby, baby, you’re still the same)
Moving game to game (still the same)
(Baby, baby, you’re still the same)
Some things never change (still the same)
(Baby, baby, you’re still the same)
Oh, you’re still the same (still the same)
(Baby, baby, you’re still the same)
Still the same (still the same)
(Baby, baby, you’re still the same)
