The setting was the great hall of a nondescript ski lodge chosen for my high school senior class trip, and when I entered it late one afternoon, I found a few dozen of my classmates and an English teacher engaged in a mysterious game, with two classes of people. The inner circle players were on chairs and sofas, taking turns to stand and make exaggerated body motions – like gymnastics or Tai Chi – that concluded with the rest of their assemblage ooh-ing and ah-ing in recognition of their exploits. The other group, standing on the outside and continuously growing as more people arrived, watched intently, trying to understand what the inner circle was seeing. Occasionally, someone in the exterior assemblage would figure it out, step into the interior to do their own body motions, be recognized for their success and, beaming with pride, become a member of the inner group. The teacher instilled order, calling out those on the inside circle if they appeared to whisper the solution to outsiders. So it went for the better part of an hour, until, despite the teacher’s best efforts, word spread among the outsiders about the silliness of the whole thing, and then the game collapsed. I was a skeptical soul even then and suspected at first the game was a version of the Emperor’s New Clothes, with the movements having no meaning and the point being to make the outsiders feel like fools. Looking back now, I see the game more as a microcosm of the adult world we were soon to join, one that is relevant in the emails I receive these days. The game was a variation of something called scissors. All those strange body movements masked a single, subtle one, the crossing or uncrossing of legs. One person would start their gyrations with crossed legs and end with them uncrossed. The next would begin with legs uncrossed and finish with them crossed. Uncross. Cross. Back and forth. So simple, but for many, so hard to see. For the life of me, I can’t remember if I figured it out or someone clued me in, but I didn’t play. I found it all a bit revolting – a privileged class of elites working hard to maintain their superiority over the befuddled outsiders. I get a lot of emails these days from people who clearly feel they are part of the privileged class because they identify as MAGA. They ridicule me and others who are not part of their group. And they seem willing to do anything – even abandon their long-held allegiance to the principles of our government – to maintain their professed superiority over those on the outside. What’s happening in America today was unthinkable not very long ago. We have a president trampling over the power of Congress -- which is only too happy to be his flunkie – and now showing signs he plans to ignore the courts. The longstanding balance of our three branches of government -- the source of our strength for nearly 250 years -- is in serious jeopardy, which means this nation is in jeopardy. I’ve said it before but it bears repeating: Donald Trump is exactly what our Greatest Generation fought against in Europe in World War II. We used to be the nation that championed democracy and fought despots. Now we are ruled by one. Anyone with a basic understand of our history should be able to look at the first month of the new administration and see how it violates our most basic national principles, but when I read my email from MAGA supporters, I see people who just want to be in what they view as the privileged club. If you note the danger of blanket firing of federal workers without consideration of ramifications, they say government is bloated. They don’t care or understand that cutting bloat should happen with careful thought, Trump’s their guy. They’re in his club. Anything he does is fine by them. They cite nonsense they get from FOX News and other phony media outlets as their proof that all is well and that me and my ilk are the ones destroying the country. They are the modern version of flat earthers, denying what is so clearly obvious. They have blinded themselves to truth. Fortunately, I hear from many more people who do comprehend what’s happening and want to do something to stop it. Protest groups are forming. Boycotts of businesses connected to Trump’s sycophants, like Jeff Bezos, are scheduled. Eventually, the protesters will come to see themselves as part of their own club fighting for a noble cause, -- preserving a democratic nation -- and people who believe in American principles will join. We have a history in this country of people getting together to stop misdeeds by government. The journey is hard. It took years of anti-war protests to finally end the Vietnam War, but it did end. The protesters won. Ultimately, I suspect, more people will be revolted by the requirements of MAGA club membership – blind allegiance and abandonment of truth – than are attracted to it. More people voted against Trump in November than voted for him, after all. They will rise up. He has no mandate. And like that game I witnesses in the ski lodge all those years ago, the MAGA club ultimately will collapse under the weight of its absurdity. I’m at cquinn@cleveland.com Thanks for reading. | 