Jim Newton

Itasca

Cat Ballou, the 1965 comedy-western starring Jane Fonda and Lee Marvin has a quote that could be seen as a commentary on our current events obsession.

“Cat,” played by Fonda, hires a drunk gunslinger, “Kid Shelleen” (Marvin) to avenge her father’s death. There’s a problem: Shelleen’s equally menacing twin brother is in the way. Shelleen’s brother wears an eye patch type garment over his former nose which he apparently lost in a fight.

For a decade, roughly half of America has been dueling with MAGA nation and Trumpism. More astute observers have offered that Trump is only a symptom of a larger problem, but here’s where the movie is instructive.

Before Cat’s father is murdered, he says, referring to the rival gunman’s noselessness, “I’d be more afraid of the guy who knocked it off.”

Anti-Trumpers, including conscientious Republicans, could stop fuming over their trigger-happy president. As Cat’s father might say, “I’d worry less about the White House Mudslinger, and more about the voters who keep putting him there.”

When Democrats are through licking their post-election wounds (any time now), they might consider rejoining the effort.

If both parties focused on serving all Americans instead of rubber-stamping every Trump-Musk whim, they might produce more satisfactory presidential choices in 2028. Imagine deliberating over two honest, qualified candidates instead of voting for the one you least despise.

Too optimistic? Maybe. But agonizing over two exceptional hopefuls is a problem I would welcome.