I am so lucky. And sad. And pissed off.

Just read about Craig Robertson, the 70-something man in Utah who got killed by the FBI as they were serving a warrant. Based on his social media content where he threatened to assassinate Biden and other officials, it looks like the FBI did what it had to do.

On one level, he got what he deserved. He asked for it and he got it. But I got to thinking, what would this man be like today if America hadn’t made this lurch to the right?

Would he have been bragging about his sniper rifles and Ghillie suit. I imagine he’d be your basic, slightly racist grandpa. Maybe not the greatest guy, but fewer guns and a good Santa for the grandkids.

Or maybe I’m wrong and he just was what he was. Who knows.

It got me thinking about how shitty it is that a sophisticated propaganda machine decided to weaponize people like that guy. Most old men, even those with a shit ton of guns, would never do something like that.

But a lot of them have gone far enough right to alienate their children and grandchildren. Which is a tragedy in itself.

Why am I lucky? Because I was born right in that generational sweet spot. Too young to get hooked on Fox News, too old to get sucked into the Manosphere on social media. Aloof enough to avoid parasocial attachments to my favorite entertainers who decided to catch the wave of crazy, for the money or the crazy.

Old enough to remember Walter Cronkite and actual journalism. Young enough to enjoy the Internet, when it was a place to open minds rather than close them. Old enough to get a college education, while that was still in reach.

Lucky I had the teachers I had, read the books I read, had the parents I had. Lucky I was able to tell the Republican party was a runaway train and jump off early enough so I can sleep at night.

How much of what makes you a good person is luck?