I used to enjoy debating politics on Reddit. I started doing it on Fark way back before Reddit, in the early 00s. I did it to pass the time, as recreation. I mean, not like a recreational game. It was always serious. But it was fun researching facts and presenting my case, learning from others, exchanging perspectives. It could be stressful at times, but never like these days.
I’ve taken a bit of time off from that. Tonight, I went and made a few comments, and had an exchange with someone on Reddit who doesn’t believe T***p was ever in office during COVID. They genuinely think the pandemic only hit America in January of 2021. I’m baffled—are we living on the same planet? Are you only 3 years old and didn’t live through that entire year of chaos during his presidency? The first confirmed U.S. COVID case was in January 2020, T***p was quoted at that time as saying we’d have it all under control, T***p was undeniably president from Jan 2020-Jan2021, overseeing the initial response (or lack thereof). Yet somehow, here I am in 2025, arguing over basic facts that anyone with a working internet connection can verify. It’s just not fun anymore. I think I’m done with politics. Forever. To too many it’s become a petty game, to too many it’s become a mindless culture war, to too few is a serious conversation about the future of our republic.
And this is the main reason: there’s a deliberate “sanewashing” of T***p’s presidency happening—a collective gaslighting so massive it’s infuriating to anyone who paid even a shred of attention. It’s like the world has conveniently forgotten how divided, frustrated, exhausted, and disillusioned we were at the end of 2020. Remember the chaos? The politicized mask debates, the daily COVID briefings (some of which felt like surreal performance art), and the endless blame-shifting? The mass layoffs, the business closures, the healthcare worker shortages, the overwhelmed hospitals, and all the PREVENTABLE DEATHS from Covid. And let’s not forget the insurrection on January 6, 2021, when we watched in horror as a mob stormed the Capitol, spurred on by T***p’s lies about election fraud. That wasn’t a generation ago—it was just four years ago. And it only took him a couple hours to go pardon those 1,500 traitors.
But here we are, on inauguration day, and a significant portion of the country has collectively decided to pretend that none of it was a big deal. A traitor—a man now a convicted felon—is once again being handed the reins of power by what feels like the largest assembly of imbeciles in history. And somehow, it’s supposed to be fine. Normal, even. The tv networks are acting like it’s business as usual and we’re all supposed to be just giddy we have a new president in office.
I’ve lost hope for this country. Completely. It feels like watching a terminally ill patient, knowing the end is inevitable and just trying to make peace with it. There was a time when I’d have dismissed such feelings as hyperbolic doomscrolling, but not anymore. T***p isn’t just a bad president—he’s a man who seems hellbent on setting the world on fire, and millions are gleefully handing him the matches.
Maybe this post comes off as defeatist, but I’d argue it’s realistic. When truth becomes optional and history is rewritten in real time, how do you move forward? How do you rebuild trust in a society that has decided facts are malleable? I don’t know anymore. All I know is that pretending this is fine isn’t the fucking answer. Like it wasn’t the answer when imbeciles pretended covid wasn’t serious.
