Mirror America

Thank goodness that all my years of watching and reading sci fi - Star Trek, Stargate, Sliders, etc. - prepared me for this.  Otherwise, I might seriously think I was losing my mind.

It's been about 15 months since the rift happened on election night in November 2016 and the parallel universes began to diverge.  Or, maybe the process had begun years earlier, but kicked into high gear that night.  We could almost viscerally feel the lurch as Donald Trump was declared the winner, the spacetime continuum fractured and Bodhi Kitty, who is very sensitive, actually barfed, and the whole world changed. 

I don't know how I ended up on this side of the rift, or whether I am my own doppelganger, the "real me" still on the other side.  I feel like me.  Would I be able to tell the difference?

What I can tell for sure, is that other people in this reality are different.  People who were long-time dear friends on the other side have abandoned me here for the sake of Trump, whether because of their adoration or their hate for him.  I was un-friended merely for not saying enough good things about him, or failing to defend him and his followers against legitimate criticism, or defending his opponent, Madam President, against slanderous allegations that were obviously false but the people here find perfectly plausible.  Other friends un-friended me for not hating him, for suggesting that he might have any good qualities, even for saying that he is less evil than the others in the GOP leadership.  

A very dear old friend, the cofounder of the Community of Francis and Clare in which I am a Third Order Sister, despite his being a devout Buddhist who continually talked about compassion, turned his back on me just for defending beautiful Melania Trump against slut-shaming by liberals, people who ought to know better.  Liberals in my old reality didn't slut-shame women, period.  That was the job of conservatives.  And close friends didn't become enemies because of a politician.

Everyone in this reality is obsessed with Trump!  Whether they worship him or despise him, they are completely fixated on the man and everything revolves around him.  When I point out that it is really VP Pence, who is clearly undead with some photos almost showing his fangs, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a.k.a. Demonic Mayor Wilkins of Sunnydale, who are running the country behind the scenes along with their evil cohorts Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and gang, nobody will listen.  They are all totally mesmerized by Mr. Trump, as per the GOP plan.  Only one lady, JuLeah, really seems immune to the spell.  I suspect she is either from an advanced alien species, a parallel universe or maybe from the future.

And President Trump is not even the same guy he was in the other reality, where his background was strongly pro-LGBTQ rights (with a big gay fanclub!), pro-choice, pro-legalization of cannabis, non-religious, libertarian-leaning Democrat, a party guy, perhaps rude, but with a fun sense of humor.  In this parallel universe Mr. Trump is an authoritarian Republican who has allegedly converted to Christianity, with televangelists as his advisors.

Unlike the fundies back home, who were obsessed with sex and never would have rallied behind a thrice-married man who cheated on all three of his wives, had affairs with porn stars and bragged about "grabbing women by the pussy," Trump's "evangelical Christian" friends believe that material success is evidence of holiness.  According to their gospel, his wealth and having won the election is proof that President Trump is a man of God.  In my world this "Prosperity Gospel" was a heretical fringe doctrine widely known to be a scam, whereas here its proponents are respected clergy advising the President of the United States.

This religious Trump has lost his sense of humor but is funny without trying, in a way that embarrasses the country in the eyes of our allies.  And his values are completely opposite from what I remember.  He has abandoned the LGBTQ community, is strongly anti-choice and even opposes birth control.  He is allowing Sessions to overturn the law in states where cannabis is already legal, expanding federal civil forfeiture power in violation of states' rights.  When I comment on how his values and policies have changed 180 degrees, nobody believes me.  They look at me like I'm crazy and insist this is how he's always been, further proving I've fallen into an alternate reality.  It's very much like that Star Trek episode, "Mirror, Mirror" where Spock was evil and had a beard.

Reminiscent of Orwell's novel 1984, "Religious liberty" here means, "the liberty to oppress employees and/or discriminate against customers based on your religious views."  Self-proclaimed fascists marching down city streets with torches and swastikas are lauded as "patriots," while members of Antifa (literally, "anti-fascist") are called "fascists."  Feminism "degrades women" while misogynists are seen as saviors.  People are appointed to run the various U.S. government departments based on their publicly stated opposition to the job and their intention to dismantle said departments.

The legislative process is different here, too.  In addition to the Attorney General unilaterally implementing his own policies in defiance of the President's previously expressed intentions (at least those I remember from before the rift happened), there is a blatant disregard for the rule of law, e.g., there is no restriction on Presidents receiving income from foreign governments, something called "emoluments," which in the other universe was illegal but is perfectly acceptable here.  Or, maybe laws in this parallel America are just suggestions.

Very little legislation has been passed by this Congress besides a highly unpopular tax reform favoring the super rich, and when citizens went to their so-called "representatives" to voice their concerns, they were arrested, with the elderly and disabled people in wheelchairs hauled off to jail.  What I found most shocking is the fact that nobody seemed shocked about it.  Otherwise, most of the legislation accomplished thus far has been by numerous Executive Orders on the part of the President.  In this universe apparently the previous President, Obama, who was a Muslim dictator, issued the most Executive Orders in history, so nobody minds Mr. Trump doing it.

People here believe everything bad that ever happened was Obama's fault, and they may be right.  I suspect he may have inadvertently created this rift in the spacetime continuum when he used the Tardis to go back in time, put his birth announcement in the Honolulu newspaper and forge his birth certificate, resulting in the creation of this dystopian parallel universe.

Congress did finally pass a bill instituting sanctions against Russia for interfering to help Mr. Trump get elected, despite the President and the GOP leadership insisting it never happened.  Rather, in this reality it was Hillary Clinton who colluded with Russia, bribing them with uranium.  Like Uhura's evil counterpart in the Star Trek episode, this Hillary is ruthless and cunning.  She even ran a pedophile ring out of the basement of a pizza parlor, in addition to her ties with the mafia, and all the rapes and murders she previously covered up.  The GOP has found her and the FBI guilty in the surveillance of Carter Page, a Trump advisor who publicly bragged about his ties to the Kremlin.  

Apparently in this universe Russia is somehow our ally, people who work for the Kremlin are trustworthy, and the FBI is corrupt, in cahoots with Hillary's mafia.  Anyway, although President Trump did sign the sanctions bill into law, it is not being implemented.  And Republicans in Congress tried to shut down the agency which would have investigated the hacking of the electoral system to prevent it in the future.  They say it is not necessary because the hacking never happened; U.S. intelligence agencies were lying.

Besides my new friend JuLeah, I'm aware of at least one other highly evolved alien here, a brilliant fellow with the odd name of Elon Musk.  Here NASA no longer launches spacecraft; it is done by private entrepreneurs like Mr. Musk, who successfully sent a Tesla convertible into space with a sign on board from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and music by David Bowie (another advanced alien, may he RIP) blaring on the stereo.  Were this not delightfully bizarre enough, when I saw Musk's rockets return to earth and touch down gently standing upright, I knew for sure "we're not in Kansas anymore," because in my world rockets couldn't do that.  

I wonder what great things Madam President is doing back home.  I must find a way to get back, a means through the portal, before the rift increases to the point that these parallel universes part completely and I am stuck here forever.  I can't survive for long in this world, where I am considered stupid and/or delusional for not believing the government propaganda.  My job pays half of what it did before the rift began, and having only a Master's degree, I am virtually unemployable.  All the decent-paying jobs here require at least a Ph.D.  

Maybe JuLeah or Elon have the technology to get me home.  Or, maybe Barry Obama will loan me his Tardis, although I've heard that this Barry is not the nice guy I knew in high school.  He, like Hillary, is evil in this world.  Anyway, rumor has it that Melania stole the Tardis to go back in time and prevent herself from marrying Mr. Trump.  Who could blame her?  He isn't the guy she thought she was marrying.  Maybe she also fell through the rift and, like me, is shocked and horrified to find herself in this situation.