Darkest December

 

What will become of the Republican Party?  Will the Tr*mpists stay in power, solidifying its drift towards fascism?  Will the more "moderate" neoliberal corporatists regain power?  (Unlikely.)  Will Republican corporatists abandon the GOP and find common cause with Democratic neoliberal corporatists?  If that happens, what becomes of the progressives, who make up (according to Bernie) about 40% of the Democratic Party, and so about 20% of voters?

Historically, corporate interests (think Krupp and I.G.Farben) have been far more accommodative of fascism than of anything smacking of socialism.  Mind you, this is not a prediction: just one of a number of things I've found to worry about lately.  Another worry is Tr*mp choking on a Whopper (pun intended) and dropping dead.  "Murdered" by the "deep state," he becomes Christlike to his conspiracy-addled followers.  Tr*umpism becomes a religion, zealously protected by Tr*mp's Supreme Court, and we're in big trouble.

That kind of thinking has no place in a reality-based blog; but reality is more than a little screwy these days.  It's also possible that the Democrats could win both seats in Georgia, and Biden could appoint Stacey Abrams Attorney General; and she could order a review of the redactions of the Mueller report, possibly satisfying a lot of curiosity.  The biggest problem of dealing with now is that the possibilities are endless, and the chance of making any kind of accurate prediction is negligible.

Add in an underwhelming "relief package" from Congress, and Biden could still find a superspreading homeless encampment on the front lawn of the White House when he moves in.  Or not.  That's the problem with reality-based blogging these days: too much reality.  Any internally consistent explanation of what's going on is most likely a conspiracy theory, whether or not you're inclined to believe it.

A very merry Winter Solstice to all, the time of the year when the days start getting brighter.  Fingers crossed.

Waiting for Brunhilde

 

The opera has grown increasingly Wagnerian, and I never had much tolerance for Wagner — too long and just too noisy to sleep through.  Although all the major news outlets have accepted the idea that Biden won the election, a distressingly large number of Americans still firmly believe that Tr*mp was “robbed” of  victory.  The cognitive dissonance suffered by Our President is shared by his loyal base; and their news sources are working hard to preserve their illusions.

Trump still seems to be counting on “his” Supreme Court to back up his play to remain in power, and the first test of loyalty will be his attempt to discount illegal immigrants when allocating representation in the House.  Frankly, I can’t see how self-proclaimed “Originalists” and “Literalists” can twist the plain language of the Constitution to exclude them, but logical consistency, of late, hasn’t been held in especially high regard.

For all the optimism around the Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca vaccines, it’s hard to imagine a two-dose protocol having enough impact to make much of a difference. It’s hard enough to get people inoculated even once, much less have them return for a second dose a month later.  In the Third World especially, dispensing on-time second doses will be next to impossible.

Wagner’s painfully long Ring Cycle “ain’t over ’til the fat lady sings” — and it looks like the fat lady, this time around, isn’t even waiting in the wings.

Tr*mp, the Opera

 

Reality being what it is at the moment, I’ve found it easier to cope by viewing current events as a kind of dramatic performance which, sooner or later, will have to be over.  Too tragic for farce and too farcical for tragedy, it has to be opera.  The music is in my head.

In my libretto, Tr*mp sincerely believes the craziness he’s been spouting (and Giuliani sings the role of Tr*mp’s id.). All his life, Tr*mp has been a devotee of Norman Vincent Peale’s Power of Positive Thinking.  He genuinely believed he would win a second term: after all, positive thinking always had worked for him before!  (It often works pretty well for those who are born to rich fathers who bail them out of all their failures.)

Friedenberg’s cognitive dissonance theory gives us a useful description of how people behave when their deeply held beliefs are disconfirmed.  Their first response is to double-down, finding rationalizations for why the disconfirmed belief remains valid.  With a decent number of fellow believers (or sychophantic enablers) around them, they can cling to their delusions for a long time.  

Chorus: Indeed, Sir, ’tis a dark conspiracy!
             If you believe it, we, of course, agree!
Rudy:    And I, your knight, shall rout the enemy
              Including Soros, Gates, and AOC!

(In a subplot, Christian Soldier Mike Pompeo is off in the Middle East, pursuing policies aimed at hastening the Apocalypse and the Second Coming.  He has his own delusions, and his own agenda.)

I don’t know when the curtain finally will come down on Tr*mp, and I expect that Tr*mpism will outlast him.  Meanwhile, the virus thuds along the bass clef like a tympani, impossible to ignore for long, however hard we try.  This opera, I’m afraid, is Wagnerian — too dark, too noisy, and too damned long.
 

About that election...

 

 You may feel like it's okay to take a breath now, but the stink of authoritarian populism still hangs heavy in the air.  Biden may aspire to lead a united country, but it won't be happening any time soon — if ever.  Some of the oversized American flags may come off the pickup trucks, but the American reservoir of racism and misogyny remains full to the brim, continues to spill over into the streets, and will allow Republicans to continue exploiting the divisions that make minority rule possible.

Tr*mp's supporters. whether they know it or not, are okay with fascism — and there are a hell of a lot of them.  Add in the 20% who didn't trouble themselves to vote – which probably means they figure they can live with anything – and that's a significant majority of America.  That ratio is probably neither better nor worse than what you'd find in other developed countries, human nature being what it is, but the past four years offered ample evidence that the threat of fascism in the USofA is real. 

October

 

 

The avalanche of news this month kicked up a tsunami of commentary.  I saw no reason to kick in my own half-pint, having nothing especially original to offer.  Maybe I'll have something new after the election — maybe not.

Briefs

 

• I've watched every presidential debate since Nixon-Kennedy, and last night's performance was easily the most entertaining.  I also found it more useful than most, in that it provided a clear delineation  of the characters of the participants — Tr*mp as a bully, and Biden as far more impervious to bullying than many may have expected.  Those looking signs of senile dementia should have seen far more in Tr*mp's behavior than in Biden's — and for those just looking for signs of basic decency, Biden was the clear winner.

• Anticipating a loss of the presidency – and, perhaps, their Senate majority as well – Republicans are certain to confirm the Religiulous ACB to the Supreme Court in coming weeks.  If Democrats follow through on a threat to "pack" the Court with two new Justices, Chief Justice Roberts once again will become the swing vote – but well may be less inclined to support positions of the Democrats who "sullied" the institution he holds dear.

• If a District Attorney can "get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich," it's pretty clear that Kentucky's Attorney General could have won indictments of the cops who killed Breonna Taylor if he'd had any desire to do so.  Granted, a Kentucky jury most likely would have swiftly acquitted them — but the process would have looked at least a little more like "justice."

Reality Check

 

“Alternative facts” are facts indeed — in alternative realities.  As you’ve probably noticed, the USofA is suffering a bad case of multiple reality disorder at the moment.  Even a Democratic sweep in the upcoming election won’t change that. 

Not much of what a human being “knows” is based on personal experience.  The bulk of our “knowledge” comes from trusted authority figures — parents, teachers, scientists, priests, talking heads on TV, celebrities, social media influencers, etc. etc.  The only thing we ask of them is reasonable consistency with our other authority figures.  Human beings have always lived in bubbles where received knowledge included large dollops of misconception — but in the past, the bubbles didn’t bump up against each other nearly so often.

The QAnon cult is pretty firmly entrenched in Evangelical Christianity these days. The Boogaloo crazies will remain well-armed, and the racists will be even more paranoid.  Fox News won’t lose any viewership.  I’d like to know how a Biden Administration will handle that.  “Bringing the nation together” sounds good, but it won’t happen in Joe Biden’s lifetime.

__________

The death of RBG was a gut punch to progressives.  If a Democratic President and Senate decide to go ahead and "pack the Court," they won't hear any complaints from me.