The Butcher

Every time I’m told that the upcoming election is going to be not only the most important in my lifetime (more important than 1968 or ’72 or 2004? In all three cases, American voters made disastrous mistakes), but potentially the most bitterly contested, regardless of who wins, I’m reminded of an episode of Oprah that I watched 15 or more years ago. Since I’m tired of always having to recount the episode to friends whenever I feel compelled to make the comparison, I thought it would be better to simply present it here and refer them to it in future. 

The episode that I watched featured a woman who had been involved in a contested divorce that she had won. Her ex-husband was a gynecologist (I’m not sure if that was how they met). He was also her gynecologist, and despite having beaten him in their divorce case, she continued to seek his gynecological services. 

On her last visit to his office, he performed a minor procedure on her that required a local anesthesia. When he was finished, he gave her a prescription for painkillers, warning her that she might experience a little discomfort once the anesthesia wore off.

Later, when the woman started to experience bleeding and severe pain, she went to an ER where a doctor examined her and was astonished to discover that her ex had caused such extensive damage – with a scalpel – to her uterus that much of it was irreparable. By the time she appeared on the Oprah show, she was suffering continuous pain that required her taking prescription painkillers, and that it would likely be with her for many more years. And she could never again bear a child.

The divorce case of the United States of America vs. Donald Trump goes before the judge in 6 weeks. Once it is final, Trump will have another seventy-seven days to vacate the domicile. In the meantime, Trump, like the aforementioned gynecologist, is going to do as much damage as possible to the government, its institutions, and to our social fabric. He’s already responsible for most of the two hundred thousand Americans who have already died from the Coronavirus, as well as the economy reduced to a shambles. How many more will be dead before a real leader with guts and intelligence takes over we will have to wait and see. But what condition will the nation be in by then?

It has been said that evoking posterity is weeping over your own grave as well as ventriloquizing the unborn. Yet who cannot fear for what the future will say of this time and we who must endure it?