Wednesday July 22, 2020
102 Days until the election on November 3rd
182 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021
At times like this, of grave peril, I tend to retreat to fantasy. It’s not helpful to society, but it keeps me sane. My take on Hunter S. Thomson’s “I wouldn’t suggest drugs for everybody, but it worked for me.”
There are a jumble of images I am replaying in my head and then I wonder, “What if?”
There’s the young girl in the black plastic helmet when the two guys in camo that grab her and put her in an unmarked van. She repeatedly asks who they are. She demands to see identification. They don’t answer. So I wonder, “How long is it going to be before some not to bright fellows decide to go into the snatching women off the street con?”
I get this kind of mash up in my brain of “Hey, Clyde why don’t you and me go down to the surplus store and get us some camo? We already got a van,” and Donald Trump talking to Billy Bush, “You know they let you do it.”
I keep wondering when those supposed federal police are going to run into Spiderman or someone who knows a mess of karate. What happens if those camo guys get beat up, cuffed, DNA swabbed and identified for their mothers to see their faces on TV as a national disgrace?
Okay, I can dream. Dream big in fact.
Then I think of Sarah Cooper who was interviewed yesterday by Nicole Wallace. She spoke of Trump’s “empty words.” I was reminded of Alex Baldwin saying of his impersonating Trump that Trump seemed like a person searching for the right word and not finding it. That he, Trump, then settled on the word he did find and decided to repeat it several times. I thought of Seth Myers talking about working with Trump on SNL. How Trump didn’t understand what made something funny. How he, Trump, had to look at the reaction in others to conclude that it must be funny.
We are looking at a damaged human being and we are all suffering because of his leadership.
Moving on.
What’s up with the Republican governors? Other than Dewine in Ohio they all seem to have no idea what governing is all about. Most pathetic is DeSantis in Florida. After stealing that election he is now faced with actually having to do something. Whatever he has done has made the situation worse. He is backed up by Scott, a crook and a cheat; and Rubio who seems totally out of his element. Then in Georgia there’s Kemp who outright stole that election. He seems petty, nasty and sneaky. Well, yeah that’s kind of the way he stole that election. Now he has to do something and he’s doing nothing.
But this seems to be the way it is for all these governors. Why did they want the job? They have no idea what it entails. Their only motivation seems to be the consolidation and aggrandizement of power. But for what end? Other than lining the pockets of their buddies they seem to have no idea.
This is nothing new for the modern Republican party. There’s always been an undercurrent, but with Reagan it began to blossom. He really had little idea himself of what to do. But he surrounded himself with people who could direct him and use him. George Bush came in and one of the historians who chronicles presidents said of Bush that once he got to the Oval Office he too didn’t really know what to do or what he wanted to do. W, of course, was a joke. He ran to prove to his daddy that he could be somebody. He ran a second time to outdo his dad, but he was led by people had less than admirable agendas.
This all reminds me of ancient Greece and the Persian Empire. Darius II dies. He has two sons. One becomes ruler and the other, Cyrus the Younger, collects an army made up partially of Greek mercenaries and marches against his brother. The army marches deep into the Persian Empire where Cyrus is killed. Now what do the Greek mercenaries do? They try to cut a deal with whomever is around and finding no takers they have to fight their way out. They go north and make it to the Black Sea.
What’s the point? The point is that a generation later Alexander knows that it can be done. That you can take on the mightiest empire of the day and win.
The modern Republican party has figured out how to win elections. Once they win they have no idea how to govern. Maybe, that’s not of interest to them? Based on the evidence I see I’d have to conclude that their main objectives are twofold: 1) Stay in power, 2) Line their pockets. There are a few other things they espouse, but those seem to be mainly tenets that they need to say to keep some of those who vote for them happy.
It’s a perverse and dangerous phenomena.
102 Days until the election on November 3rd
182 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021
PS The author in from of the Casa de Monjas (House of the Nuns) in Chichen Itza. This building has nothing to do with nuns. It was so named by the Spanish because to them it looked like a nunnery. Actually, the real use is not known. It is believed to have been either the residential palace, the home of a high priest, or a council house. There are two distinct building phases so it could have been used in different ways at different times.
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