Being an accounting of the recent and continuing pandemic and its various circumstances, from the perspective of an inhabitant of the regions lately called the Lost Quarter. Dates unknown.

Day Three Hundred Twenty Six

It is over a month now since the attempted coup south of the border and a couple of weeks since the new president was sworn in, relieving the planet of the delusions of grandeur of the man who believed he was king. There have been countless news stories about the speed with which the new administration is moving to undo all the harm the previous one did, as well as to enact an agenda to actually confront the grippe reborn as Trump never did.

Uttering his name before was enough to make a person wince. It was to immediately conjure into the mind his sneer and grimace, his oddly coloured tan, and that droning voice that never ceased sputtering. What is so surprising about the last weeks is how quickly all that has disappeared. He is no longer upon the news, his consigliere’s are no longer invited to speak for him, and his banning from social media means neither his followers nor his detractors need whip themselves into a frenzy at his latest missives.

His absence is palpable, a relief. Even with his impeachment trial approaching, the story is more about how the various factions of his party will respond than about him. He is a void, a punctured balloon with the air let out. His only power was the office he found himself in, but he didn’t truly understand the nature of that power or how to use it effectively. Had he, he might still be there, lawfully or unlawfully.

How long through his four year reign did I wait for this moment when whatever spell he cast would fail and people would see him for what he was. So many of his followers still look in his direction, but the vulnerability he has demonstrated in the aftermath of his failed coup and the investiture of a new president means that they will gradually drift away to other causes, though a few will still be casting about for someone who will take up his fallen mantle. Will they find someone?