ATTACK OF THE GOSAR

"Gosar". It sounds like the name of a monster in a grade Z science fiction film from the fifties. Or, perhaps, a villainous character from Tolkien's  The Lord of the Rings. It might have been Gollum's half-witted cousin. But the Gosar I speak of this morning (as I'm sure you figured out from the get-go) is not a character of fiction - science or any other. He is a human being (I think) that today walks the same floors that were once walked upon by the likes of Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams. He is the contemptible numbskull who just this week released on Twitter an animated video that depicted him murdering New York Congresswoman Alexandrea Ocasio-Cortez and physically attacking President Joe Biden. Nice, huh? He is a congressman who represents Arizona's 4th congressional district. His unnerving habit of rolling his head around while he speaks publically gives me the impression of a man deeply disturbed. If you think I exaggerate, check him out on YouTube sometime. I'm not kidding: the dude is delightfully bonkers.

Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez has been the subject of numerous death threats since she entered congress less than three years ago. Paul Gosar must know this. That very fact makes his actions this past week all-the-more inexcusable. He needs to be removed permanently from the House of Reprehensibles.

Unfortunately, violence under the great dome of the nation's capital is not a particularly new or unique idea. Students of history may recall the horrible incident of May 22, 1856 when Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner, a staunch abolitionist, was savagely attacked by slave-owning, South Carolina congressman Preston Brooks with a metal-edged walking stick. Sumner was wounded in the attack so badly that it was three years before he could return to his seat. Brooks was never prosecuted for his crime. In fact, in the deep south he was hailed as a hero. Sound familiar? By the time Sumner was able to resume his duties in 1859, Brooks was long gone, having died a horrible death eight months and five days after the attempted killing from an unexpected attack of what was known as "croup". I suppose it's a disease that modern anti-biotics  long-ago wiped out. According to a contemporary news account of Brooks' demise:  

"He died a horrid death, and suffered intensely. He endeavored to tear his own throat open to get breath."

Steadman and Thompson

Wow. The only artist in the world that I can imagine illustrating such a weird and grotesque scene is Ralph Steadman, the English artist responsible for the surreal visions in the books of Hunter Thompson. Can you imagine? Which reminds me, I sure wish Hunter was still around to report on the "bad craziness" of present-day Washington D.C. The only reason most progressive bloggers exist today, is simply because we no longer have Dr. Thompson around to kick out the verbal jams. Less than one month after George W. Bush's second inauguration,  he was in such complete despair over the state of the country he loved so much, that he put a gun to his head and ended it all. We who blog walk in the pioneering footsteps of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.

Between the GOP's bat-shit insane rhetoric and the Democrats' timid ineptitude it's no-small-wonder that either party is still a viable commodity. I gave up my registration as a Democrat nearly twenty-four years ago. My opinion then (and still is) is that they long-ago forgot that they are (or were) the party of Franklin D. Roosevelt. But while there may still be a few pockets of hope among the Democrats (very few) the Republicans are beyond redemption. That is no longer a political party. That is a satanic cult. I miss the good old days when they were merely a threat to our economic security - and not to our freedom as Americans.

Summit of Schmucks

Alexandrea Ocasio-Cortez is (in my humble opinion - and for what it's worth) the most extraordinary new-comer to step into the national political spotlight in my lifetime - and I was born when Eisenhower was in office. That someone as decent and as undeniably brilliant as she is could be the subject of such cruel and vile invective from so many sides - including a few members of her own party - is inexcusable. Today, Preston Brooks is remembered for no other reason than his attempted murder of Charles Sumner one-hundred and sixty-five years ago. In 2021, Senator Sumner stands like a rock in American history. I imagine that, by the year 2186, Paul Gosar will be remembered (if at all), just as Preston Brooks is barely remembered today: as a vile clown who spent his meaningless career planting the seeds of political dysfunction and chaos across the American landscape. Like Brooks, Gosar will end up on history's shit-pile. In fact, he's already there.

In one-hundred and sixty-five years, there will be statues remembering AOC. Count on it! There will be no mass movement to tear them down. Anyone care to make a little wager on this point?

Tom Degan

Goshen, NY

SUGGESTED LISTENING:

Bo Diddley

by Bo Diddley

Bo Diddley - YouTube

From 1955, this is the greatest rock 'n' roll record ever made. The percussion is nothing short of hypnotic. 

Rock on, children!

SUGGESTED READING:

For a more complete update on recent postings on this naughty, left wing site. please go to the link below:

"The Rant" by Tom Degan

Enjoy!