The last time I ran this little counter graphic, the total also stood at six but since then, I got one back and lost another so we're still at six. The one I got back has become greatly disillusioned with Mr. Trump since the election, mainly owing to (a) The Donald acting like he can just reverse himself on things he said on the campaign trail he'd do and (b) the indicators that Trump's greatest interest in the presidency is how much he can increase his personal fortune, conflicts of interest be damned.
This once and future friend hasn't reached the point where he wishes Hillary (you know: the one who got the most votes) was the one who'll be inaugurated but he's starting to believe things I told him that he'd once thought were dirty lies. He called and apologized and I told him we're fine. He wanted to meet for lunch but I told him I'm a little busy right now so we'll have to delay it 'til after the first of the year. By then, he'll probably wish he'd voted for Clinton.
That felt good. What didn't was divesting myself of the offsetting friend whose support for D.T. hasn't wavered but he's starting to go all Alex Jones on me.
Apparently, we're entering an era where whatever you don't want to believe can be dismissed as a lie along with everything that we once called proof. I think the premise is that any reality is as good as the real one; that you're entitled to believe two plus two equals eleven if it's what you know in your gut and all those people who insist it's four are conspirators — or at least dupes of the conspirators who conspire to force their math on others.
I do kind of understand how nice it must be to live in a world where you can just make whatever you don't like go away like that. I'm thinking of taking the position that Hillary was elected…in a landslide, no less. And people across America do not have to worry about a nutcase National Security Advisor getting us into another stupid war or about them losing their health insurance or civil rights or ozone layer or anything. If someone tells me next month that Trump was inaugurated, I'll just say, "Don't tell me you fell for that lie!"
That might be a good way to get through the next four years. That's assuming any of us get through the next four years.