Not on my watch

Aaron scampered down the stairs of Aunt Wilhelmina’s house to the garage, opened the door, and removed the cover to the time machine. He got in and started it up. The machine sputtered, jumped up and down. Fog spewed from both sides and the machine groaned its way to a start. Aaron turned the time dial back to 1935 and the location dial to Louisiana.

He hoped he’d land in Baton Rouge just in time. He was doing research for a political science class, and needed to speak to Huey Long. He knew the rules – he couldn’t tell these people what was going to happen to them. But he’d love to tell Long he’d be shot and killed because he was such a creepy demagogue.

After he interviewed Senator Long, he’d swoop over to the Senate floor in 1954 and meet with Joseph McCarthy – his second interview for the term paper at U.C.S.F.

The machine finally began to purr, then Aaron felt himself rise in it and get swooped into the clouds. Before he knew it, he saw the white light in front of him, blackness surrounded the white light. And then he landed with a thud that had him groaning.

He was surrounded by bushes and trees, but could see a small town’s buildings just beyond. Good – a rural, country town likely in the Deep South. He’d made it to Louisiana. Aaron crept out of the time machine – oh, his left hip to a beating at yet another rough landing.

He walked around the corner to Main Street. His heart sank when he saw a Chevrolet Camaro and a Toyota Prius. New models. Damn, he hadn’t made it back to the 1950s. He was still stuck in 2015. But he did get to another location – though it was Marietta, Georgia. Not Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Damn. He heard the political rally beyond. He could hear the threats and the insults from the microphone – a high-pitched voice spewing insults with bad grammar and a thick New York accent that always had Aaron thinking, “this guy has no class.” Aaron walked toward the rally and saw all the denim and polyester among the overweight people wearing old shoes and baseball caps.

There wasn’t a non-white in the crowd. Oh, well, Aaron thought – he needed to interview the third demagogue on his list for the term paper anyway. Might as well check Donald Trump off the list now as later.