The harsh reality is that we need Reality, no matter how she went about it.
A new player, sporting the unlikely and potentially prophetic name of “Reality Winner,” has emerged onto the scandalous Trump/Russia scene. In accordance with the deep divide within this country, sides were quickly chosen as to whether this young woman would be assigned the role of heroine or villainess in our national tragedy. I can but only throw my humble opinion into the ring, as I sit up here in the nosebleed section, mournfully watching the wretched scenes of this frightful American melodrama unfold.
For me, the reality is that this sorry play must end. As individuals and as a country — and now as an international community — we are beyond exhausted. One way or another, the soul of our nation is crying out for truth and clarity.
The reality is also that what Ms. Winner did appears to be a felony and that she is poised to become the latest in a long, depressing series of political footballs, whose actions will be exploited to further the ends of whichever side occupies the stage at any given time.
Beyond all this, however, the reality is that we live in the throes of a national crisis. Our faith in government is all but shattered. Our faith in the democratic election system lies in smoldering ruins at our feet. Our faith in everything we thought America was has perished under the oppressive yoke of a disordered individual who assumed the presidency on January 20th of this year.
Enter Reality.....Reality Winner. Whether cherished leading lady or repugnant antagonist, many of us simply do not care anymore. The reality is that Reality undertook an action which might shed the light of truth on this dark melodrama — and many of us no longer have the patience to engage in theoretical discussions regarding the scrupulousness of such a choice. Perhaps she did it for the noblest of reasons. Perhaps she did it for political gain. The desperation of these times render such unknowable questions gratuitous.
I don’t need to know why Reality did what she did. I just need to know what Reality knows.
We MUST have clarity on this situation. We MUST know and understand what this country, which we called our home, is and has become under the scandal-ridden presidency of Donald J. Trump. We MUST learn the truth - the actual, unfettered, un-whitewashed truth about what took place during our elections.
We MUST know what the reality is.
So, I’m very sorry to have to resort to justifying these desperately-needed ends with such ambiguous means. I simply don’t have much patience left to debate the finer legalities of anything which has the potential to take us from this nightmarish darkness into something resembling the light of truth.
No matter how the final scenes of this sad production play out, we will all choose to occupy a version of reality in which we are the most comfortable. Right now, at least Ms. Winner has provided us a means with which to get to the long-anticipated final act and I have to be grateful for that. I can’t worry about how this shortcut came about.
This is what 18 months of election horror and four and a half months of a Trump presidency has reduced me to.
Not pretty....but that’s the reality.