Day 772 Sunday February 17, 2019
624 Days to the 2020 election and 702 Days to Inauguration Day
Tis a good day to reflect.
The president gave a long rambling (speech?) dialogue in the Rose Garden. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has been real quiet of late. It has been revealed that she has been talking to the Special Counsel. The right is going after AOC with a fervor usually reserved for Hillary Clinton. Why? Why attack AOC? Well, it’s understandable. If you listen to what that young woman says and not what the right wing says about her, one will find that she is factual, cogent, and saying things that make sense. This, in the estimation of the billionaires and lunatic Republican party, can not stand. If it did imagine what would happen?
People could actually be able to see doctors and pay for their visits. A single health event would not bankrupt them. Prescription drugs would be brought down to reasonable prices. A person wouldn’t have to work two jobs just to pay their rent. Everyone would pay their fair share in taxes. The negative side of this for the Republicans in Congress is this: They would no longer be able to make massive amounts of money via insider information and legislation to favor companies that support them or that they bought stock in. They could not take “dark money” without someone finding out. They could no longer rig elections by limiting who could vote, where they could vote, or how the voting districts were made up.
It’s scary. I know. On both sides of the aisle.
As to Trump’s Rose Garden wall speech. Well, what can one say? He’s basing policy on a metaphor, which is not based in reality (ie facts.) He has now moved to saying things that have moved way beyond lies to outright fantasy. If one goes back and looks at things he has said previously, this is nothing new. When his casino in Atlantic City first opened half the slot machines weren’t working. His explanation? “They were getting so much use they broke down.” This was a total fabrication. He has managed to surround himself with a small group of yes people, who allow him to indulge in these lies and fantasies. The only question seems to be can he distinguish reality from what he purports? Evidence suggests it is highly unlikely. This allows him to be easily led, as it seems Putin is doing. The only time I have seen him get a smack of reality was when the U.N. members laughed to his face. Then he got a wry smile and for a few seconds seemed to come face to face with a truth. “Well, I didn’t expect that reaction,” was what he said. But therein is the problem with Trump. He doesn’t understand basics of how most people function. He doesn’t understand humor, or empathy, or sadness, or why someone would not like him after he has disparaged them publicly for years and then calls them up and asks for something. “Why would they be upset?”, “Why are those people laughing?” (Oh, it must be funny.) “Lock her up. You like that? Okay, we’ll use it.” These are all examples of a person who can not discern for himself and must depend on others to understand, what for most of us, is obvious. It’s sad. Having a person like this in charge is dangerous.
We are now coming to a climax. Will the Republic survive? Can we keep it? Our democracy hangs in the balance.
Will good people come to the fore? Will those sitting on the fence, uncertain of what is going on, weigh in? Will some who have allowed themselves to be soiled and stained by this plague stand up and do what is right?
It remains to be seen.
624 Days to the 2020 election and 702 Days to Inauguration Day
PS Nagas! (I mean, “SNAKES!”), Angkor Wat
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