Post Obama Blues

Kevin Drum has seen the future and it is multicultural and progressive.   Forget about tRump and the deplorables. They were part of the last gasp of white resentment of a nation which is fast changing and their level of outrage and victimization is unlikely to stoke another election victory for The Donald or anyone else looking to energize this type of voter.  I surely hope so, but if I was a democrat running for office I wouldn't count on it.   My own congressional district is a case in point.   Despite an energized progressive movement, NY 21 is overwhelmingly old and white and even with a great candidate it is unlikely to vote Democratic for the forseeable future unless as happened in 2008 the republican base splits among several candidates and one runs as a third party standard bearer.  , As unfortunate as it appears, appeals to white fears is a pretty good electoral strategy in many areas of the country for many years to come.  But, change is coming and by fits and starts, a new, more progressive nation will come.

Perceptions

The crew at Morning Joe, including the execrable Joe Scarborough were hand wringing over the democrat's seeming inability to get their messaging right as election day approaches.  In a typical case of projection, these pundits say the dems should be laser focused on health care and tax reform instead of tRump's tweets.  Meanwhile, in almost all competitive districts healthcare is the focus!  The candidates know what the electorate says they want.  The problem is the social wedge issues which cause many low information and racist voters to vote against their economic interests.  As this blog has maintained, until the boomers and their parents pass from this earth, the government will be held hostage by the one per cent and their enablers. 

the irony limit

Like the speed limit on our highways, the "irony limit" is regularly ignored by a majority of the population.  The latter was exceeded once again as a crowd at a GOP rally in Wisconsin chanted "lock her up" in reference to Hillary Clinton's use of a private e-mail server when she was Secretary of State.  Meanwhile, the NYT was breaking a story in which the intelligence agencies allowed as how tRump regularly talks to his pals all night long on an unencrypted I phone which is tapped by both the Chinese and Russians.  The only saving grace in this case is that unlike the hyper informed Clinton, The Donald is a low information individual who doesn't pay attention to intelligence briefings and probably is not spilling secrets.  Instead, the Chinese and Russians know who he is talking to and can use that information to influence the way the *president "thinks".  The thought experiment in this case as in many others with this administration is to ask "What would Republicans do if Obama did this".    Calls for impeachment would probably be the mildest threats from the howling mob in the House.   As I said earlier, the "irony limit" is so regularly exceeded in the present time it has essentially become meaningless when applied to the MAGA set.

The banality of truth

It seems these days we are living in a post truth environment.   One of the two major political parties, the *president and the party's official propaganda outlet have decided to bombard the public with non-stop lies 24/7.   Of course they are using George Orwell's playbook, aka "1984".   The only difference is the other major party and most of the news media are not on board, so the inconvenient truth is also told and most of the lies debunked in real time.  The problem is roughly a third of the American electorate wants to be lied to and actually seems to enjoy having their trust abused on a regular basis.  An additional 10-15% will buy into selective lies which reinforce their prejudices.  This is a potent base which republicans know they can count on in most elections.   Hannah Arendt wrote about the banality of evil.   We are now in the era where the banality of truth may usher in the kind of evils she exposed.   The solution is not more hand wringing by media pundits.  If it is a lie, call it out and count on the majority of the population to do the right thing.  Stop being polite if that is what it takes.  

Garden update

Well, we had the galinsoga killer over the weekend, but that is the extent of garden damage so far.  Most of the warm season crops were done anyway, but the chard, kale cauliflower, collards etc.  are thriving so far.  The 10 day forecast calls for a narrow temperature range.  We should be getting highs in the mid 40s and lows in the lower to mid 30s with a couple  of mornings in the  upper 20s.  This should not bother the aforementioned crops.  I hope to get the 2019 garlic crop planted next week.  Meanwhile, I'll keep enjoying the fruits of the summer's labor for as long as possible.

What is to be done

The title of this post is also the title of a diatribe written by Vladimir Lenin in the run up to the Russian Revolution in 1917.  I don't remember the specifics of his prescription, but violent revolution was the outcome.  Certainly that is not what I would suggest as a restorative more than a century later in the USA.  Russia pre 1917 was a backward country with more in common with the ante bellum South than the vibrant America of today.  However, the present political situation here today and then in Russia shows some similarities.  The system in both cases was rigged by the political and economic aristocracy to funnel the country's wealth to a tiny elite.  Of course the comparisons between the Romanovs and DJT practically write themselves.  The main difference between the two systems is the right of universal suffrage in the US as opposed to the fairly un representative and relatively powerless Duma in Russia.  We can vote the rascals out and establish a more level playing field if we can summon the political will to do so.  So, What is to be Done.

Bias verified

A new study by 3 political scientists from across the country lends weight to the theory that appeals to racism, rather than economic anxiety, was the key driver causing whites  who voted for Obama to vote for Donald Trump in 2016.  According to Kevin Drum, some combination of a black man in the White House and the relentless drumbeat of racial animosity directed at the President by conservative media along with tRump's appeal to the worse angels of our nature combined to cause nearly 3 million voters to switch allegiance in the last election.  A contributing factor may have been the reluctance by many men and some women to pull the lever for a female candidate.  Hillary's political baggage, accumulated over a 35 year political career probably facilitated some people's switch.  The study shows that most of the whites who switched were economically better off than the average voter.  What the study also shows is racism is still alive and well in America and appeals based on hatred of the "other" still resonate among a sizable chunk of the electorate.  It is an unfortunate truth that both the "greatest generation" and its offspring, my own "baby boom" generation will have to die off to make America great again!

Through the glass darkly

The cause of the week among the media is the killing by Saudi government agents of a ex-pat journalist working for the Washington Post.  As has become usual in these most unusual times, the *president has weighed in on what would seem to be the nonsensical side of the story.  The Saudis' first 3 or 4 attempts at explaining how Jamaal Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Turkey but never left it were totally at odds with the facts on the ground.  Now, abetted by tRump, they are circulating a theory he was killed during an interrogation gone awry.  In other words, he died under torture.  That being the case, they should at some point produce a body.  If they don't, there will be another fanciful explanation and The Donald will continue to help cover the Crown Prince's sorry posterior.  As always, money is the sole driver of our Liar-in-Chief's performance which is another black mark in America's standing in the world community. 

Dog Talk

The hypocrisy of most people is breathtaking.  According to a column in the NYT by someone who "writes about the intersection of religion and politics", 70% of Americans identify as "Christians".  This is obviously a meaningless term to the people who regularly vote  for republicans and the policies espoused by that party.  The writer goes on to lament the decline in "god talk".   Terms like thankfulness, grace and salvation are no longer on the tips of most people's tongues.  In the polarized times in which we live with a rising portion of the population who identify with a religion, but not its tenets, it is no wonder few people speak out about belief in supernatural beings.  I also find it refreshing that many have abandoned even a pretext of declaring belief in a divine being who frets about the well being of billions of humans, but is curiously uninvolved in the tragedies, major and minor which befall them.  If more of us lived by the "Golden Rule", there would be less need for abstract concepts of god talk.

Frustration

One of the most frustrating aspects of the tRump administration is the sheer amount of blatant lying which goes on, mostly unchallenged by a press which can't seem to figure out how to respond to this in your face assault on the truth.   Sure, you can keep score and tell everyone the prevaricator in chief tells an average of 6.7 untruths per day, but most people don't encounter sociopaths on a regular basis and are ill equipped to deal with an avalanche of lies.  At a certain point, most of us tune out.  This is bad in a democracy which depends on engagement.   When the *president declares an obviously true story to be "Fake News", a certain, diminishing segment of the electorate takes him at his word.  Democracy dies a little with each lie.

Polling and #metoo

Well, it seems the first senate polls after the Kavanaugh confirmation hold good news for republicans.  From Texas to Tennessee to Arizona and Nevada, GOP candidates rolled out to leads beyond the margin of error.  Even Beto O'Rourke, the poster boy for a reimagined democratic message featuring a bold progressive agenda which most Americans support.  This latest news is just more confirmation the lizard brain in most of us is dominant over the socially conscious thought process.  White men and the women who have internalized the patriarchy are still reliable GOP voters and until the democratic constituencies of women, people of color and youth match or exceed the voting rates of the former, the party will continue to languish in the midterm elections.  Unless tRump manages some outrage in the next few weeks, it looks like the senate is out of reach for the moment.

Confirmation

Turnout is key, but a new CNN poll in the wake of the Kavanaugh confirmation vote shows women preferring democratic candidates over republicans by a whopping 30%.  This is an historical bump by any standards and presages a blue tsunami.  Unless the pollsters are totally mistaken, the GOP has managed to alienate women, people of color and younger voters.  Relying on cranky old white men as your base does not seem like a winning strategy in the long run.  The supply of this demographic is shrinking over time and if the shift of women to the democratic side is a more than one election cycle phenomenon, the Kavanaugh confirmation may come to be seen as the GOP Waterloo.

Tired

I'm tired of the winning and the losing.  Keeping score these days is an exhausting experience.  The worst part is the refusal of the republicans to compromise on any issue.  As the Kavanaugh debacle confirmed for progressives, the GOP, led by McConnell will use their narrow majority to ram any tRump favored nominee through the confirmation process.  The transformation of an independent judiciary into a partisan arm of the party is accelerating.   The next democratic president may find himself hamstrung even with congressional majorities by a Supreme Court ready and willing to find any progressive legislation unconstitutional.  This latter day gilded age may last until the results of climate change turn most people into reluctant democrats since the GOP with its refusal to deal with the results of anthropomorphic climate change will have backed us into a corner.   At that point, we'll all be losing.

Be Careful

Republicans got what they wished for on Saturday.  A reliable fascist vote on the Supreme Court in the person of alleged sexual assaulter, Brett Kavanaugh.  I think they may have actually gotten more than they think they did.  They woke American women to the fact that despite all the gains the fair sex has made in the last hundred years, to a large chunk of the electorate, they are still second class citizens who should shut up and embrace the status quo.  I do believe the GOP and its congressional enablers have misjudged the reaction of women to Dr. Blasey Ford's testimony.   Women are mad as hell and while many will take an active role in politics, many will be content to let their displeasure with the patriarchy be on display at the ballot box in November. 

Paying what you owe

As the patron saint of this blog, Jerry Shulman, once said, he was happy to pay taxes if he owed them.   It proved he was making money and had a successful business.  That seems to be the opposite tack of that taken by Cheeto Jesus, who continues to rally the rubes even after being exposed as a tax fraud and cheat going back decades.  I find it ironic that Jerry was a reliable republican vote during most of his life, but became fed up with the GOP in his later years as it veered further and further away from its roots.  Meanwhile, tRump mostly supported the democrats (after all, this was NYC) until the other party became corrupt enough to support a lying, tax cheating sexual assaulter for president.  It's a tale of two men and their political journeys to opposite poles.   I always respected the one and disdained the other.

Haves and have nots

Money and political power.  Republicans have it and Democrats don't for the most part.   We are seeing it in real time during the confirmation battle over Kavanaugh and the NYT article on tRump's financial chicanery over the years.  On the former, the White House deliberately hobbled an investigation into sexual assault allegations against the embattled SCOTUS nominee and the majority leader will ram the nomination through by the beginning of next week.  Regarding the report indicating that tRump's reputation as a self made man is for the most part a fantasy, there is no outcry among republicans to hold hearings into possible tax fraud.  Nor is there demands to make the *president's tax returns public.  The GOP holds all the power in Washington and they will protect the leader and his nominee from scrutiny.  The only solution is to change the dynamic in next month's election. 

Despicable Him

As Lawrence O'Donnell, the MSNBC 10 o'clock host put it, he saw the footage of tRump at a Mississippi campaign rally making fun of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and was so repelled by it he refused to put it on his program.   That the liar-in chief can still get away with mocking victims of sexual assault shows how far we have yet to go in this regard.   That the crowd began to chant "lock her up" after his disgraceful performance says more than most of us want to hear about the coarseness of our society in 2018.   Add to that the publication by the NYT of an investigative report on the tax fraud which enabled tRump and his siblings to hoover up hundreds of millions from their father without paying taxes on most of it.   The brazenness of the frauds perpetrated by Fred Trump and his spawn is breathtaking and shows pretty conclusively that tRump was continuously bailed out of financial jeopardy by his old man.  About the only successes junior ever enjoyed involved parlaying supposed business acumen in the TV show "The Apprentice" and money laundering from his father's fortune and later on performing a similar service for Russian oligarchs.  Truly a despicable excuse for human being.

Three ring circus or carnival

As the Kavanaugh investigation grinds on, the *president hosted a Rose Garden press conference to tout his new USMCA, or as one critic put it, he ripped the cover off NAFTA and replaced it with a new acronym.   But it was more than that.   The North American Free Trade Agreement was a conscious attempt at making a more cohesive international system with the US in the lead but with other nations on a equal footing with us.  tRump wants the US to dictate terms to those he considers weaker than us.  This is a fundamental change in the system and in the long run will be detrimental to our interests.  I see The Donald as a carnival barker attempting to sucker the rubes in with tales of the three headed woman, rather than the leader we need in dangerous times.  This is not a circus, but the only habitat humanity has at the moment.  We need someone who understands this critical piece of information.

America First, Ryder Cup edition

In another epic Sunday swoon, America's Ryder Cup hopes were dashed as the singles matches became a European rout.   The Red Team (hopefully prophetic of the coming mid-term elections) was crushed by the Blue 17 1/2 to 10 1/2.   As usual, recrimination was the order of the day.  Patrick Reed, aka Captain America pouted because he was paired with Tiger Woods instead of Jordan Spieth.  Meanwhile, the Euros were perfectly happy with whatever pairings were put up by their captain, Thomas Bjorn.  In particular, the twosome of Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood cut through the Americans like a hot knife through butter.  Of course, it is easy to say the team spirit of Europe had much to do with the outcome, but more to the point, the home course in Paris was set up to take advantage of the things most of the Europeans excel at, namely driving accuracy and putting.  The big bombers on the American team did not fair well with the tight driving holes and the long rough.  Hopefully there will be revenge in two years when the Cup is contested in America.  I'll be rooting for team Red in that match!