Saturday, January 9, 2021

The Fat Lady Sings

 

Tr*mp the Opera approaches the finale faster than I anticipated, with a climax somewhat more surprising than it should have been.  I wonder what they were saying from the pulpits of the megachurches this morning.

While impeachment at this point seems like a long shot, it would be worth the effort if it can deprive Tr*mp of his post-presidential retirement benefits, including a million bucks a year in travel expenses (and half-a-million more for Melania), lifetime Secret Service protection, and a pension equal to the salary of a Cabinet official.  Fittingly, he won't get lifetime health insurance, which only kicks in after five years of Federal employment.  I can't object if he's signed up for Medicare.

Meanwhile, it looks like the Republican Party is fracturing, which is not necessarily good news for progressives.  If there is "bipartisan cooperation" between Republican and Democratic "moderates," the Senate may as well elect Joe Manchin the new Majority Leader.  Granted, even that would be better than having McConnell in charge.

As for Tr*mp's "base," it will survive, albeit somewhat diminished.  Just how diminished remains to be seen: those who get their "news" from One America Network, Parler, and 4chan, or who live in communities where Romney is seen as a liberal, can cling to their alternative realities for a long time.  (FOX will follow the eyeballs and the ad revenue.)

Needless to say, Biden's FBI will have to pay a lot more attention to domestic terrorism.

Monday, January 4, 2021

Catch-up

 

I've been trying to tune out the Opera for a while, but it's impossible.  Yes, I suppose I'll be watching the election returns from Georgia tomorrow night.  Just as significant will be the Tr*mpists' decision to force every Republican member of Congress to go on record as pro- or anti-Tr*mp when they vote to accept or reject the Biden victory on Wednesday — a move that might lead to a schism within the party that has lasting repercussions.  McConnell is very unhappy about that.

That bizarre Tr*mp-Raffensperger telephone tape has a lot of people wondering if Tr*mp actually believes the fantasies he's been promulgating, given how bizarre his behavior has been lately.  My guess is that his cognitive dissonance is raging, but he still can't accept the idea of being a loser.  Fred Tr*mp has a lot to answer for in hell.

As if the Senate and the Electoral College weren't enough, the vaccine rollout truly points out the weakness of our federal system of government.  I'd say it were time for a Constitutional Convention if I had any confidence in the people who would wind up writing the new one.  Anyway, it looks like Tr*mp the Opera is headed for a finale.  For Wagner, though, just one opera was never enough.  Let's hope the next one doesn't have too many Aryan warriors in the cast.