Beautiful Country Burn Again

Ben Fountain, at the behest of The Guardian, is sent out on the campaign trail in the lead-up to the 2016 US Presidential election and finds himself at the Quicken Loans Arena for the Republican National Convention. Here he finds stern warnings against tennis balls. Tennis balls are definitely not allowed on the convention floor. Same goes for water guns, toy guns, tape, rope, umbrellas with metal tips and a dozen other items that are considered verboten. What are allowed are guns. In the open carry state of Ohio, guns are allowed on the convention floor. Clearly America has lost its mind.

It's Fear and Loathing on the campaign trail and while Fountain saves much of his head-shaking ire for Trump, he's a non-partisan critic assessing Hillary as someone completely incapable of connecting with the middle-class and Ted Cruz who is determined to out-Jesus everyone else. He posits that the United States finds itself at a critical crossroads, one they've only been twice before during the Civil War and the Great Depression. In all cases, the country has had to completely reinvent itself to survive as a democracy.

Fountain is one hell of a writer. In our current breakneck news cycle that sees fresh new dumpster fires everyday, looking back those few short years seems to make the most sense. It is an arms length view that still seems horribly prescient. Full length video review here: https://youtu.be/uQ1HHhujnXY