My Birthday Wish

I turn 73 tomorrow. My dreams of starting at shortstop for the Yankees now seeming a bit unrealistic. So what can I wish for? Something massive. Something totally extraordinary. How about an updated version of "It's a Wonderful Life"?

In a world where Donald Trump never existed.

What if I woke up and there had not been a Trump University, Trump Vodka, Trump casinos? If there has not been page 6 self promoted NY Post stories? If “The Apprentice” had never seen the light of day?

What if no one had actually challenged Barack Obama's place of origin? Or there had been but an empty seat at that Correspondent's dinner? What if that golden escalator had been broken and we never heard that Mexicans were coming to rape and pillage? What if that reporter for the Times had not been mocked or the million insults and ten million lies had never been uttered?

What if there had not been a first term in office, or a President who cozied up to dictators, disregarded Congress, disrespected everyone who didn't kiss his ring, who treated science as a disease and truth as a plague? What if January 6th had been just another day? What if we didn't need to impeach anyone?

What if we didn't have a former President found to have committed sexual assault, defrauded the State of New York, paid a former porn star to keep her silent?

And imagine if there were no second term, no tariff war of his own invention, no intentional destruction of the Federal work force and, since this is still part of my birthday wish, no Elon Musk whispering sweet nothings and handing over a few billion to co-anchor this show?

What if the universities and the media were not the enemy? What if the ruling of Judges carried weight, even with the President? What if we now had a leader who we could actually put our full faith and credit in? What if we were not frightened by what we threatened to become? By what we had become?

But I should stop wishing for things that can never be and instead focus only of ones that are possible. Thus, on this birthday, I will work in the morning on turning the double play a little quicker and later in the day successfully challenge Anthony Volpe for that starting shortstop position. Because, sometimes dreams really do come true.