Ideological Idiocy

Early this morning I was tip-toeing down memory lane, looking at some of the things I posted on this site early in the fabled Campaign of 2016. I was simultaneously amused and disgusted to see that two years ago today, I relished the thought that Donald Trump had entered the race. To my way of thinking, it was too good a prospect to be true. He could only throw a serious monkey wrench into the festivities and - on the long-shot chance that he should get the nomination - the American people would never be stupid enough to send the perverted little  psychopath to the Oval Office. That's just never gonna happen, I thought.

 

Idiot Nation.

 

Incredible as it may seem (at least for my purposes) the administration of Donald J. Trump has been a mixed blessing. While I'm fully aware that this is the worst thing that could have happened to a country as comically dysfunctional as the United States, it also has been oodles of fun to watch the clown car bursting into flames. It's no longer being discussed in whispers behind closed doors. Today on the Morning Joe program on MSNBC, more than one talking head was openly discussing the president's obvious "mental illness" and "instability" - something that has been apparent to me for decades. You could not have possibly missed it if you were paying attention. I was paying attention. You were, too, I'm sure.

 

It wasn't until about a week before Election Day that I was finally able to swallow the bitter pill of reality: The civic irresponsibility and recklessness of the American electorate, combined with the fact that the Democrats had nominated one of the weakest candidates in their nearly two-hundred year history, made a Trump victory - if not inevitable - highly probable. Our only choice was to make the best of an exceedingly bad outcome. Take those nasty-tasting lemons and turn them into a delicious pitcher of juicy lemonade! The fact is, when I was fifteen years old, I never believed that I would live to see the American political situation get as bizarre and as entertaining as it was during the age of Dick Nixon and Watergate. I stand thoroughly and modestly corrected: Say what you will about the Nixon Gang, no one - on their worst day - ever accused them of treason (or at least not in their lifetimes). The story of Nixon's covert sabotage of Lyndon Johnson's peace agreement with North Vietnam during the waning days of that long-ago 1968 campaign is another subject for another day. Despicable.

Every day - in every way - the situation is getting more-and-more untenable for the Donald and the Republican Party. The GOP finds itself stewing in the juices of their own mindless extremism. From the moment that "the party of Abraham Lincoln" realized that it could gain some cheap political points by exploiting the resentments of the racists in the predominantly Democratic South (Nixon's "Southern Strategy") they have been appealing to the very worst angels in the nature of the American people. It worked for a while, and it worked out quite well for them. The problem was that, quite simply, none of these assholes ever dreamed that the sun would rise upon a day that white people would no longer be the majority.

FUN FACT:

Deal with it

If you are a Caucasian, your great-grandchildren will more-than-likely have brown skin. It's not the end of the world. As Frank Sinatra once intoned, "Relax and don't you worry." We're the human race. Chill.

The week that is only beginning promises to be the most interesting of all. On June 8, fired FBI Director James Comey is set to testify in an open session. The White House was contemplating stifling him by claiming "executive privilege" but quickly realized that, since he is now a private citizen, that would have been a  futile tactic on their part. My guess is that, as completely dysfunctional as things have become for Donald Trump at this late stage in the game, by this time next week it's going to be only a matter of time before his impeachment is a foregone conclusion.

It's not quite over - but almost.

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY

SUGGESTED READING:

I've linked several articles in the past by my old friend and travelling companion, Kevin Swanwick. Here is his latest; a non-debatable essay as to why pulling out of the Paris Climate Accords was a horrible idea:

http://swanwickmuse.blogspot.com/2017/06/springtime-in-paris-fact-fiction-and.html

The guy is on the mountaintop.

AFTERTHOUGHT:

On this day, forty-nine years ago, 6 June 1968, Robert F. Kennedy died. To tell you the truth, I don't feel so good myself.