American Reptile.

 

 

Someone said that Kamala Harris did not do enough to pass the message to voters.  The problem was that she did, but it was the wrong message.  And here in Florida, prominent democrats are trying float ideas attempting to revive a moribund party.  At this stage of the game, turning Florida blue is a Sisyphean enterprise. Democrats, let’s roll that rock up the hill anyway. Apathy is the worst enemy of democracy.

 

The woke mentality of the left was given a severe thrashing and it was the perception of most voters that they had, rightly, enough of cancel culture, with universities cancelling those of opposing points of view from the traditional left, DEI culture and the general feeling, among other things, that some trans rights were intruding on both traditional culture and common sense.

 

The Trump campaign hammered video of a clearly masculine, hairy, arm-pitted, grotesquely tattooed trans basketball player, twice the size of the opposition flexing his/her muscles to a group of befuddled, intimidated girls.  This was a blatant, but effective call to baser voter instincts. But that is what Trump does. Reptilian arguments stoke fear.

 

It really does not take too much thought to understand that trans women do not have the same physical attributes of female athletes, and that thought was conveyed at the ballot box. Sally playing with George (Georgina) is not playing well in flyover country or in Florida (fly to country.)

 

Of course, that is an exaggeration and an emotional argument which many believe would discriminate against people with alternative lifestyles.  That discrimination should not be countenanced.

 

Additionally, the pro-abortion movement was not sufficiently thought of as a reason for people to abandon their feelings about paying $8 for eggs, instead of $4.00 no matter how grassfed or organic they be.  And a majority did not care about Trump’s mendacity, sexual abuse, and misogyny.  Nor did they care about threats to democracy or the attempted coup on January 6, 2021.  

 

They cared about the border for sure.  Earlier generations of immigrants always became “American” enough to reject later generations.  It’s history. American history.  Chinese, Japanese, Italians, Irish, Jews all suffered rejection at first.  Did they threaten jobs of the people already here? Probably.  But America thrived with immigrants and will do so again.  Just keep the criminals out.  Trump mischaracterized immigrants to his advantage.  People did not believe Kamala’s protestations. She bore the brunt of the MAGA attack and bore the responsibility for the Biden immigration policy.

 

What does that say about America in the 21^st century?   We really do not know.  Is the MAGA movement the slippery slope to authoritarianism?  Is this, as Putin thinks, the decline of the American world order?   I like to think not, judging by worse things we have come through as a nation.  Civil War, Great Depression, World Wars I and II, Viet-Nam, the Cold War etc. etc. 

 

People who fear authoritarianism are correct to do so.  Authoritarian bent leaders select lackeys and knuckleheads to serve in the government because they have nothing else to recommend them, save the leader, and will be completely loyal to him, or lose their jobs.   Trump learned his lesson about having people smarter than he is around him.  Dimwits do not write books trashing the boss. Kim Jung Un has similar hiring habits but says “you’re fired” in a less salubrious manner.

 

Trump’s cabinet picks so far with the perhaps the exception of Rubio, are not serious.  They are intended as a loyalty test for Republican senators.  Previously, the loyalty test was simply saying the election was stolen.  Now it is whether an incompetent dunce, no matter how unqualified, can pass confirmation muster and perhaps to determine which GOP senator will be relegated to Trumpian purgatory for not following the leader.

 

For those who forgot how chaotic Trump’s first term was and voted for him because they did not like the Biden administration, are you scared yet?   Stay tuned. 

Be careful what you wish for.

 

Well, well, well.  The election is over.  Kamala gave a graceful concession speech, unlike Donald Trump would have, certainly, appealing to the better angels of our nature, unity, freedom, praising justice and congratulating Trump on his victory.  Trump got his justice last night, from  clearly enthusiastic millions of his supporters.   Jack Smith will go away, and Trump will not.

 

The mystery to us Democrats, despite the howls of pundits is what caused so lopsided a victory for Trump?  What was it that Democrats did not see that a majority of voters in the country did?  Was it jobs, the cost of living, racism, gender bias, foreign interference, social media, a low-information electorate, rage against cultural elites, immigration?  Or was it all these things, melded with years of propaganda from FOX news, and Rupert Murdoch’s malign influence on the information cycle?  Was it lies becoming truth?  Was it Orwellian verisimilitude?

 

Some of my liberal friends think the world is coming to an end, or at the least, the American experiment will now go down in a whirlpool of authoritarian power and revenge, presided over by a convict, rapist, and truculent liar?  Maybe.  I told them not to take it so hard. Get a life. Turn off MSNBC and read a novel or do some navel contemplation.

 

It would behoove those who think the sky is falling, to reflect on some aspects of American history.  That we have survived , among many other disasters, a Civil War, two World Wars, the Korean War,  a plethora of equally malodorous con men, racists, bigots and scoundrels, including, but not limited to, Father Coughlin, George Wallace, Joseph McCarthy, the House Un American Activity Committee, Communist witch hunts, backlists, Atomic spies, Pearl Harbor, 9/11, misbegotten wars in Viet Nam and Iraq, The Great Depression, The Great Recession,  Jim Crow, slavery, the Ku Klux Klan, Segregation, and  failed presidents like James Buchanan, followed finally by Abraham Lincoln, who saved the Union.  Then assassination.  And don’t forget, after Lincoln, came Andrew Johnson, a racist who was impeached, just like Trump, but stayed in office by just one vote in the Senate doing what he could to sabotage reconstruction.

 

Some of us feel like we have been cheated out of seeing Trump marched away in a complexion-matching orange jump suit  and handcuffs  on his way sharing a cell with one of his insurrectionist constituents, the guy with the fur hat, outrageous tats and horns who now, among all the others, Trump promises to pardon for trying to  overthrow the government and hang Mike Pence for doing his constitutional duty. 

 

Now, Kamala Harris will preside over the Senate when the votes are certified.  Just as did Al Gore when he lost to W.  There will be no cries from Trump’s minions, since this election will be deemed Trumplistically “perfect,” Why? 

 

 

 

 

 Be careful what you wish for.

 

Well, well, well.  The election is over.  Kamala gave a graceful concession speech, unlike Donald Trump would have, certainly, appealing to the better angels of our nature, unity, freedom, praising justice and congratulating Trump on his victory.  Trump got his justice last night, from  clearly enthusiastic millions of his supporters.   Jack Smith will go away, and Trump will not.

 

The mystery to us Democrats, despite the howls of pundits is what caused so lopsided a victory for Trump?  What was it that Democrats did not see that a majority of voters in the country did?  Was it jobs, the cost of living, racism, gender bias, foreign interference, social media, a low-information electorate, rage against cultural elites, immigration?  Or was it all these things, melded with years of propaganda from FOX news, and Rupert Murdoch’s malign influence on the information cycle?  Was it lies becoming truth?  Was it Orwellian verisimilitude?

 

Some of my liberal friends think the world is coming to an end, or at the least, the American experiment will now go down in a whirlpool of authoritarian power and revenge, presided over by a convict, rapist, and truculent liar?  Maybe.  I told them not to take it so hard. Get a life. Turn off MSNBC and read a novel or do some navel contemplation.

 

It would behoove those who think the sky is falling, to reflect on some aspects of American history.  That we have survived , among many other disasters, a Civil War, two World Wars, the Korean War,  a plethora of equally malodorous con men, racists, bigots and scoundrels, including, but not limited to, Father Coughlin, George Wallace, Joseph McCarthy, the House Un American Activity Committee, Communist witch hunts, backlists, Atomic spies, Pearl Harbor, 9/11, misbegotten wars in Viet Nam and Iraq, The Great Depression, The Great Recession,  Jim Crow, slavery, the Ku Klux Klan, Segregation, and  failed presidents like James Buchanan, followed finally by Abraham Lincoln, who saved the Union.  Then assassination.  And don’t forget, after Lincoln, came Andrew Johnson, a racist who was impeached, just like Trump, but stayed in office by just one vote in the Senate doing what he could to sabotage reconstruction.

 

Some of us feel like we have been cheated out of seeing Trump marched away in a complexion-matching orange jump suit  and handcuffs  on his way sharing a cell with one of his insurrectionist constituents, the guy with the fur hat, outrageous tats and horns who now, among all the others, Trump promises to pardon for trying to  overthrow the government and hang Mike Pence for doing his constitutional duty. 

 

Now, Kamala Harris will preside over the Senate when the votes are certified.  Just as did Al Gore when he lost to W.  There will be no cries from Trump’s minions, since this election will be deemed Trumplistically “perfect,” Why? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because you dummies, he fucking won.

 

I am exhausted after nine years of Donald Trump.  And now another four?  Now we are sentenced to four years ourselves.

 

I promised myself that if Trump won, I would not watch cable news or read a newspaper for four years.  I would not listen to journalists wringing their hands about what the Democrats did wrong enough to lose the election.  Or how all those voters could be fooled and vote for someone who did not represent their values.  Or how they drank the Kool Aid.  Au contraire.  The voters got what they wanted.  Trump represents their values.  They overlooked his criminality, his self-enrichment, his disdain for the rule of law.   They got what they wanted, what they wished for.  So as the saying goes, be careful about those wishes. 

Because you dummies, he fucking won.

 

I am exhausted after nine years of Donald Trump.  And now another four?  Now we are sentenced to four years ourselves.

 

I promised myself that if Trump won, I would not watch cable news or read a newspaper for four years.  I would not listen to journalists wringing their hands about what the Democrats did wrong enough to lose the election.  Or how all those voters could be fooled and vote for someone who did not represent their values.  Or how they drank the Kool Aid.  Au contraire.  The voters got what they wanted.  Trump represents their values.  They overlooked his criminality, his self-enrichment, his disdain for the rule of law.   They got what they wanted, what they wished for.  So as the saying goes, be careful about those wishes.