Day 1319 – Has the Last Domino Fallen?

Saturday August 29, 2020

64 Days until the election on November 3^rd

144 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021

I got so into my writing yesterday I forgot to mention the reason I most recently saw of Mike Pence’s hypocrisy, Or is it stupidity? It’s hard to know with Pence. He is certainly cold and calculating. Yet he has that beguiling look of a moron when he stands behind and to one side of Trump. Worshipful is the best way to describe the look. Oh well. The point I wanted to make about Mike yesterday was his closing arguments for the Trump/Pence/(Putin) team. That argument was that a miracle was going to save us. 

Yeah, that was it. Period. Full stop. Other than his “make America great again … again.”

The miracle cure like the “ya gotta believe” argument is akin to the “I got nuthin’ “ reply. And so the crowd cheered. I hope we have most of the people at the event identified so we’ll know how many got and spread the virus. Also, it will be helpful to nail them on Hatch Act violations. I’m not sure what the penalty is for violating the Hatch Act but I’m pretty sure it’s crucifixion, pretty sure. Ya gotta believe.

Okay, on to today’s topic. One of the things that history teaches us is that there is often a precursor to the next act. I like the case of the 400 Greek mercenaries who had to fight their way out of Persia after their usurper leader died. This was a generation before Alexander. What it showed Alexander was that the Persians could be beat. That you could march into the belly of the beast and survive. He wanted to kill it, and he did.

If we look at the transformation of the Republican Party it’s a march from what they call conservatism to authoritarianism. It started with Reagan, and every Republican president since then has added to it. Now we have Trump, but is that the end, or is Trump the John the Baptist? Will we get someone even more unhinged and bat-shit crazy? More authoritarian? It’s hard to imagine, but it’s something worth keeping in mind. 

The building of The Great Pyramid didn’t just happen. It was the result of not only years and years of experimentation and developing of building techniques but also the creation of a series of systems to get the people, material, and tools to the job site. Likewise the transformation of the Republicans into what it is today took time and they were being directed by a concerted group of very rich and scheming people, who have no regard for the traditions and ways that our Founding Fathers developed. In fact, they are working directly against many of those ideas and principles. 

For those people, working with a dictator is easier. Easier to do business, easier to control, easier to get what they want.

What do they want?

Ah, that is the question isn’t it?

Basically, they want to make as much money as possible and pay no taxes. To achieve these goals they need power. 

How do I know this is true? Look at history. 

Much of this in modern times is outline in “Democracy in Chains” by Nancy MacLean.

In the book “Lost to The West” Lars Brownworth details how the city of Constantinople was besieged over the centuries, both from within and without. When the large landowners aided typically by the religious elite got control the first thing they did was to pass tax reforms that said the church and the large landowners didn’t have to pay taxes. What happened? The middle class was left with the burden. Not being able to pay the taxes, they and the poor left the city. They literally “took to the hills.” The political structure collapsed and a new authority emerged which taxed at least the wealthy and the city flourished once again. This didn’t happen once, but many times.

If you look at Hitler’s rise to power he used the levers of power he acquired to rise higher and then he abolished those systems and institutions. He had his own squad of hired thugs, called “The Brown Shirts.” I can’t help but think of that when I see those unmarked Federal law enforcement people supposedly protecting government buildings from protestors.

During the Spanish Civil War the people who were fighting Franco and his military thugs were also having to deal with a stealth enemy – Texaco. The head of Texaco not only diverted the ships of fuel destine for the rebels to give those supplies to Franco, but he also used his extensive contacts throughout that area of the world to provide Franco with intelligence. Once Franco came to power he let Hitler try out his air force blitzkrieg tactics by attacking the city of Guernica. For three days the German airforce bombed and strafed the city. Shooting unarmed women and fleeing children in the back with 50 caliber bullets. The town had no military significance, but it was a symbol of Catalonian resistance to Franco and Spanish rule. This atrocity was denied by Franco for his reign. Picasso painted his masterpiece “Guernica” and gave it to the Spanish people, not to return to Spain until Frano was dead. It hung in the Metropolitan Museum of Art for years where I saw it.

So I ask myself the question, “Is Trump the end of the line or is there someone worse to come?” It’s hard to imagine, but … but we are in the midst of it and we won’t know until we stop the banging of our collective heads against the wall and wake to find the headache gone.

Lots of little prep work yesterday. Hopefully we finish the exterior of the house today.

64 Days until the election on November 3^rd

144 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021

PS Barbie!