The Year of the Cat

It is the year of the cat in the United States. Between childless cat ladies and cats (and dogs) being food for more than thought in Springfield, Ohio, our feline friends have grabbed the spotlight in the upcoming election. Who would have thought that a household pet, particularly a sometimes petulant or standoffish one, could hold the future of the nation in its paws?

I mean we just passed the year of the cat in Vietnam and we do often celebrate the year of the "big" cat (the tiger) in the Chinese calendar, but here in America our focus is rarely, if ever on this little companion with the nasty habit of coughing up hairballs.

But if Mr. Trump's red hat is shorthand to all Republicans for how much he loves this country and hates the pinko, Commie, radical, liberal Dems, the Taylor Swift embrace of her cats is a signal that the petless Mr. Trump knows nothing about the meaning of love, companionship or how in the Hell to run a country.

And that poor embattled community in Ohio, subject to endless attack as patriots storm it in search of "illegals" (okay, they are technically legal but that is irrelevant for purposes of those tracking them down) who are doing unspeakable things (okay, they are not doing them but we are honor bound to discuss this as if they were) to our most treasured possessions, is emblematic of everything that has gone so horribly off the rails in America (ok, actually nothing has gone wrong in Springfield until the hordes arrived seeking retribution for a wrong that was never committed, but what kind of story would this be if the truth was an actual impediment to saying and doing whatever the Hell we damn pleased).

Ok, that last sentence was a short story in itself, but you get the point. Which is that the cat has now become the unknowing hero/villain in our tale. Either best friend to those whose empty lives are shallow, meaningless and detrimental to the future of this country, revered by the wholly unfulfilled who have failed to propagate any potential Donald Trump loving offspring, or alternatively, the victim of some grotesque enactment of the destruction of everything we stand for, ie truth, justice and keeping Haitians from having any food to eat.

This country's future may well depend on with whom our cats ally this November. Coming out of the shadows, out from beneath our couches, behind the curtains and under our beds to take center stage.