Out of the fog

OK guys, I am back. Positive, ebullient me! One of the main reasons for this turnaround is the preliminary results of the US elections and the fact that the Rebublican stranglehold on the House of Representatives has been broken. Halleluyah! You hear, yo right wing, conservative hypochrites! The day of reckoning is at hand! Phew! That feels good! Now maybe the pendulum will swing back and some sanity will return to US politics. Amen!

I first went to the US in 1967, with a jaundiced eye, objecting to the Vietnam War and generally espousing the anti US politics of the British left. Unfortunately for me, I also happened to be a stateless person with absolutely no legal or political rights or protection, apart from the flimsy UN Travel Document that was nothing more than a booklet to accommodate the numerous visas - transit and otherwise - that one needed to step one toe out of England, where I was a resident refugee alien. Wouldn't you know that I accidentallly overstayed my permitted absence from the Foggy Isle and got stuck in the last place I ever wanted to be - the US.

Well, this is all old hat, but I just wanted to mention that today, because now that I am wiser, I understand that basically the US system is a fine and amazing institution that has the inbuilt capacity to return from the extremes of politics to the centre. Truly.

The first time I saw this happen was in 1972, shortly after I got my citizenship, when the Watergate Trials were in full swing. Man, those senators were impressive. They knew and applied the law. Richard Nixon, who seemed invulnerable a few months earlier, got his comeuppance. I would never have believed it. So, miracles do and did happen and I am confident that the stage for finally breaking the Republican juggernaut has been set. As I said: Halleluyah!

Right! That's enough of that. The second reason for my ebullience is the fact that the chemo fog is lifting and I've had two quiet days when nothing really untoward happened. I wrestled with household chores, walked around the block and rested when the body called for a rest. How good is that?