Happy Muted 4th of July.

Dear you,

Post-Independence Day, I reflect on that (for me) muted holiday.  My joy is on mute.  As fireworks exploded around Seagrove Beach last night, I paced around grumpy.  Independence Day?  It felt like Dependence Day.  We depend upon the decisions of a Supreme Court to tell us how free we are. Last week's bloody verdicts, not so good for individual freedom, unless of course you are a white Christian nationalist.  We depend upon the cruel whims of certain governors like my DeSantis whose captive state legislature dropped more restrictions on citizen choice.  Among the worst there, a thumbs up for using toxic waste to build highways; yes, radioactive roads.  Add that to the list of fun things to enjoy in the Sunshine State.  We depend upon branches of government that are partly or wholly owned by a gun lobby.  See the list of 4th of July holiday mass shootings.  Overall, I am not feeling independent at all.  And yet, the flags flew, the grillers grilled, and the locals and visitors here donned their favorite red, white, and blue beachwear.  Party on. Me? I'd rather adopt my cat Coco's strategy; curl up and snooze with paw blocking input, a very effective muting action. Wake me up when it's over!

Today, the morning after, I am determined to turn off the mute button and regain my Aurelian sense of "carry on", and as always, comedy helps.  Case in point, the recent political ad by my governor attacking Trump for being too soft on the LGBTQ demographic. In the ad, we see shots of male body builders. I guess these represent his idea of masculine normalcy.  Oh, Ron.  Your fans may not get it, but that choice is so obviously homoerotic, one can infer something different than you intend. And we see this:

Ah, the dream of laser eyeballs that can target and eliminate those pesky "others".

Maybe that's not funny after all.  Moving on, I check out my foolproof source for laughter, The Onion.  Their current edition's Breaking News headlines:

Oath Keeper Shoots Out Other Eye

Mysterious White Powder Found In West Wing Identified As President Biden

Texas Governor Adds Backup Prayer System To State Electricity Grid

Critics Say Submersible Should've Been Tested With Poorer Passengers First

CEO's Skill Set Transferable To Any Job That Requires Dumbass To Receive Big Salary

Smiling temporarily!  But still, reality kinda bites right now.  Dependency bites.  You say this too shall pass?  Excellent.  Just wake me up when it's over.

Meow.

Joyce