Welcome to Dystopia

Vladimir Putin has had his opponents locked up or killed.  Nicolás Maduro has done the same.  Long before that pair of demagogues entered the picture, Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, Joseph Stalin, Adolph Hitler, Augusto Pinochet, Mao Zedong, and Benito Mussolini did likewise.  These authoritarian leaders all pushed their will upon the people, tried to convince them that this was a good thing, but didn’t really care how the people felt, one way or the other.  The will of the people was but an annoyance if it didn’t mesh with their desires.  These leaders held positions with threats, violence, and intimidation.  Most in the U.S. would decry such tactics.

The question now becomes, why are so many Americans’ trying to anoint a new demagogue to rule them?  Even if they aren’t students of history, there are many who have first-hand knowledge from Cuba, Venezuela, or other countries of how it all worked before.  Are their current petty agendas of such importance to them that they are willing to abandon our democracy to achieve some singular goal?  Will white supremacy, abortion, or some other item on their dockets end our way of life? 

What seemed like a 70-year-old piece of fiction written about a dystopian future, now has devolved into a very possible political reality.  George Orwell’s cautionary tale involved a perpetual war, extensive government surveillance, a distortion of historical record through reinterpretations of history, and extensive propaganda.  I would say that recent events have ticked every single box of consequences listed as warnings of life under totalitarian rule.  Societal science fiction of the 30s and 40s dealt largely with a dystopian future rather than one with a more technological or space travel bent.

Scene from 1984

We have seen a real estate entrepreneur and charismatic reality tv star fool a large enough group of gullible riff-raff into believing he is one of them, that he was able to take control of a major political party.  Republican leaders now cower at the very thought of displeasing this man who controls such a fervent vocal crowd.  He reminds me of the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz and her hoard of flying monkeys.  He is also the wizard operating behind the curtain to control a fearful constituency and their collection of “cowardly-lion” elected officials.

Witch Trump about to release monkey Steve Bannon
to confuse Tucker Carlson, a simple task.

Another dystopian tale of note was based on a 1966 novel and made into the movie, Soylent Green.  It is only made a bit more relevant in that it is set in the far distant future of 2022.  In this one, overpopulation, pollution, and climate change (nothing to see here folks) bring about worldwide shortages of food, water, and housing.  The Soylent Corporation steps up with Soylent Red, Yellow, and Green wafers for a nutritional solution to the food shortage.  Claims that the Soylent Green is made from ocean plankton placate some.  It is later revealed that (spoiler alert) corporate greed is attacking two of the worlds’ problems at once.  They are operating a euthanasia center (overcrowding) which provides the protein for Soylent Green (food shortage).  “Soylent Green is people,” shouts the protagonist, Thorn in a closing scene.  

Soylent Green production is overseen by Charlton Heston

Certainly, that couldn’t happen here.  Not in our future.  Well, 1984 was off by about 36 years so, perhaps 2056 will find a time when cannibalism will gain acceptance within the for-profit morals of some future corporate entity.  I could see Eric Trump cast in the role of CEO of the new Soylent Green of 2056.  He would be 74 at the time.

Eric, CEO Soylent Corp, 2056

As an odd footnote to this piece, I found a conservative site that also warned of a 1984-like dystopian threat.  They drew similar parallels but geared more to the loss of First Amendment rights and god-forbid, a Second Amendment attack on their guns.  They too saw the threat, but it was coming from liberals.  "America is in the middle of a literal coup d’etat right out of the CIA playbook from 1954," warned this piece that was written in November of 2020.  They quoted Sidney Powell regarding the recent election, "we are about to learn that the entire election has been subject to illegal manipulation and interference by the intelligence agencies, specifically the CIA, and by Machine Democrats in key states."  Oh, if only hindsight were as clear as the year this was created, 20-20.  

The referenced article was written by a self-proclaimed, "non-partisan commentator taking aim at all aspects of governmental domestic and foreign policy and the American socio-political landscape with an eye toward examining the functional realities of the modern age."  He would have been well to have considered his reliance on Sidney Powell who later defended her statements about the election by saying, "reasonable people wouldn't have believed as fact, her assertions of fraud after the 2020 presidential election."  Ms. Powell is being sued for defamation by Dominion Voting Systems and is now tap dancing to a different tune and trying to exit, stage-left.

Threatened with a defamation suit,
Sidney Powell wants to tap dance away.

Are You a Patriot?

Patriot, we hear that word a great deal these days.  The terms patriot or patriotism are broadly used to justify an action, or as a declarative statement of self-identification, or as an accusation in its perceived absence.  By definition, a patriot is a person who vigorously supports their country and is prepared to defend it against enemies or detractors.  In that limited scope, the participants on the January 6, 2021, attack on our nation’s capital could be patriots.  At least they thought of themselves that way.

So, what is the difference between a patriot and an insurrectionist?  The first American patriots were the Whigs, Continentals, and Revolutionaries who rejected British rule in 1776.  By British standards, they would have been insurrectionists.  The not-so-subtle difference today is that we must judge the participants who entered the capitol building, attacked the police, destroyed our national property, and attempted to interfere with the lawful transfer of power following a legitimate election, as lawbreakers who were attacking our country and not defending it.

Patriots

Not Patriots

Those who protested the outcome of the election and did not attack the police at the capitol building were nothing more than citizens exercising their right of free speech.  When they advanced beyond mere protest, they were violating the law and became insurrectionists.  In our democracy, we hold elections, count the votes, declare a winner, and the rightful person assumes the office.  Just because things didn’t go a certain way does not legitimize any action beyond peaceful protest.

To use a simple example, it would be like a child being told to let another sibling play with a toy.  If that child then breaks the toy so that nobody can play with it, he/she should be punished.  The January 6 insurrectionists didn’t get their way and thought violating the law was justified.  To them throwing a tantrum was the best way to get what they wanted.  This is juvenile behavior, not patriotism.

I didn't get my way

The guilty are those who broke through police lines and those who inspired their actions.  Neither class of individual is a patriot as they violated the law and attempted a violent overthrow of our government.  No matter how much certain Republicans say to the contrary, this was not a patriotic act but it was perhaps the most serious crime one can commit against a democracy.  The wholly unpatriotic actions of the defeated president Trump, and other spoiled brats within the Republican party, need to be called out for what they are.  Whatever term you want to apply here, the word patriot or patriotism would never work.

Members of Congress like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Paul Gosar, Mo Brooks, Madison Cawthorn, and Louie Gohmert were all shameful participants in the insurrection activities of January 6.  It was their fraudulent claims, that were proven false after an extensive investigation by their own party, that was the inspiration of those who listened to them and acted accordingly.  Free speech has limits and when you yell fire in a crowded theatre when you know there is no fire, and people are injured, you are guilty of a crime.  In the events of January 6, many were injured and people died as a result of their claims of “fire” when there was not even a flicker of truth in what they were saying.

Part of the Insurrection brain-trust

Claims of patriotism do not apply in this event.  Charges of insurrection and specific crimes against our country should be brought against the members of Congress who participated in the Big Lie fire that precipitated the events of January 6.  They are perhaps more guilty than those undereducated faux patriots who actually did what they had been told.  These individuals have defied the rule of law and have advanced the culture war in this country.

While we are on the subject of patriotism, the shameful diatribe of Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis that preceded the solemn anniversary memorial at the Capitol shows that he is not a patriot.  He may have served in the military but that doesn’t give him a free pass to openly lie and downplay this attack on our democracy.  His attempts to whitewash this watershed moment in our nation’s history, are contemptible.  While Trump decided to cancel his counterpunch to the memorial remembrance of January 6, Governor Ron DeSantis had no shame and tried to advance his political capital within the ranks of Republicans who continue to support the big lie.

There is a bold line between being a patriot and being an insurrectionist because you didn’t get your way.  I can almost feel sorry for the people who were conned into believing that what they were doing was right.  I must however temper that compassion with the fact that many were motivated by an underlying desire for white supremacy and their racist hatred for all persons of color.  It is that sinister deeply held belief that brought them to the world of Trump in the first place.  This is a different motivation from those on the other side of the Republican party, the educated conservatives who, through blind ambition for power, would use the gullible and prey on their racist beliefs.

Many of the insurrectionists of January 6 and the planners of the downfall of our democracy call themselves Christians.  Meet Bubba.  Now Bubba drives his Ford F150 pickup to church on Sunday if he is not too hungover.  He has his patriotic flags flying proudly.  One is Confederate stars and bars and another is a Trump in 2020 flag.  Bubba missed his Klan meeting last Tuesday because he was at the No-Tell Motel outside of town meeting Roxanne whose husband actually went to the meeting.  Bubba came home Thursday smelling of kerosene because he spilled some on his new jeans while filling his tiki torch at the Aryan Brotherhood fish fry and beer bash.  Bubba is a Christian, just ask him.  By Sunday evening he has broken nine of the ten commandments; he didn't kill anybody this week.  Bubba will also tell you he is a patriot.  Just look at that shiny Ford F-150 in the driveway.  The fact that 50% of the parts in his pickup are made overseas doesn't seem to bother him.  Yup, Bubba is a Christian patriot.

Bubba's Ford F-150
Half the parts are made in Mexico, Canada, and China

This morning I saw a snippet of CNN Fareed Zakaria's upcoming special, THE FIGHT TO SAVE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, where he delves into world history, and draws parallels between the conservative ultranationalism of Hitler’s Germany and Trump’s new America.  He rightly points out that Trump is no Hitler, but that many of the same lies were being told to advance a conservative agenda. 

Donald Trump’s effort to suspend the constitution to retain power on January 6, 2021, and all of the planning that went before it, bore more than a casual resemblance to Adolph Hitler’s Reichstag takeover in 1933.  While Hitler used a suspicious fire at the Reichstag to consolidate his power and suspend civil liberties, Trump tried to use mob power to disrupt the certification of the election that would mark the end of his reign.

Conservatives are willing to accept a popular racist as their party leader to subjugate liberal advances.  They are willing to allow individuals, blinded by nationalistic or religious fervor, to be preyed upon by anyone who can advance their cause even when they must use Hitler’s tactic of the big lie.  They stumble over themselves to kiss the ring of their new messiah even when they have to say things they know to be untrue.  Ted Cruz, Matt Gaetz, Jim Jordan, and Marjorie Taylor Greene have no shame and are even willing to be called out when some moment-of-truth utterance leaks out and they have to run back to conservative media to do their “mea culpa's.”  Ted Cruz recently stumbled all over himself when he had to clarify his use of the word terrorist in relation to the perpetrators of January 6.

Donald Trump is not a patriot.  President bone-spurs used his wealth and connections to avoid serving his country when called.  He got a note from Dr. Larry Braunstein, a podiatrist in Queens who rented space from Trump’s father, and avoided military service. 

Real patriotism is to be applauded.  When you get that decided tingle when a patriotic song plays or you see our flag, that’s a good thing.  When you use patriotism to shield yourself from reality and to attack our democracy, you are not worthy of calling yourself a patriot.

We're Number One

Yes, 

Florida is number one again.  No, this has nothing to do with Covid infections, and yes, we are number one there too.  This has to do with the fact that Florida has the largest number of people who have been charged with crimes related to the January 6th Insurrection.  

Governor Ron DeSantis is arguing that there was no insurrection and that the whole thing was just “Christmas for the D.C.-New York media.”  Perhaps Governor Ron is confusing what happened in Washington D.C. on January 6th with the January 6 Feast of the Epiphany (aka 3 Kings Day) commemorating the coming of the Magi.  I watched the events of that day, and I would challenge Ronny to find even one wise man in that crowd, let alone three.  I would also remind the governor that the definition of the word insurrection is, “a violent uprising against an authority or government.”

The Florida governor tried to put lipstick on the pig* that was the Republican-Trump-led attempt to disrupt the lawful transfer of power of our government.  One of the most cherished and heretofore untarnished examples of our great democracy was now bloodied.  DeSantis even went so far as to suggest FBI involvement in planning the events of January 6.  To quote Joseph Welch in his testimony during the 1954 Army-McCarthy hearings, " Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”

[* I would suggest to the governor, that if he wants to put lipstick on a pig, perhaps he should ask Marjorie Taylor Green how she does it.]

MTG getting ready for her close up

Florida has seen 76 of its residents arrested for their involvement in the attempted coup d'état in January of 2021.  The group failed in their efforts to appoint, by the violent efforts of a small group, their choice of president and not the one elected by the citizens of the entire nation.  A successful coup requires, as a prerequisite, that they would control all or part of the armed forces, the police, and other military elements.  

Of the 76 Floridians arrested, 20 were from the military extremist groups, Proud Boys (9) and Oath Keepers (11).  The latter group was very coordinated with travel plans and weapons caches outside town in preparation for the predicted armed conflict that would follow.  You know, like “Christmas” in DeSantis speak.  Four members of the Oath Keepers have apparently violated their “oath” and have pleaded guilty and are cooperating with authorities.

Titusville, Florida Oathkeeper inside Capitol

Florida’s governor spoke on Thursday to a partisan crowd (they removed or arrested all thought to have opposing views).  He said that this whole riot depiction was overblown and “it’s an insult to people when you say it's an “insurrection” and then a year later, nobody has been charged with that.”  He went on to label it a “politicized Charlie Foxtrot,” using the military alphabet to say it was a Cluster F**k. 

If he was talking about the outcome of President Trump’s insurrection planned by his brain trust of desperate sycophants, I would have to agree.  If he was talking about the ongoing investigation, arrests, court filings, and jail terms, I would remind him to listen carefully, the proverbial fat lady hasn’t hit her high note yet.

The high-note is coming

Day of Infamy

 One year ago, January 6th, 2021 -- a date that will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the disciples of the Empire of Donald Trump.  My apologies to the former president, Franklin Roosevelt, for paraphrasing his famous Infamy speech.  Given the seriousness of the events of that day, January 6th will go down in history as the first such attack (insurrection) on our capital since the cornerstone was laid by George Washington on September 18, 1793.*  Not even during the Civil War was the capital attacked.  It took Donald John Trump and his minions to spoil a perfect record of 228 years.  This was the first time in our history that a sitting president planned and attempted to violently disrupt the peaceful transition of power.

[* It was burned during the War of 1812, a few bombs were set off to protest a variety of personal causes, no insurrection]  

Slowly over the past year, we have learned how this national tragedy unfolded.  We now know that Donald Trump, Peter Navarro, and Steve Bannon, along with a select group of insiders, carefully planned to have important members of Congress challenge the election results in several key states in hopes that the certification of the results of the election would be stalled.  The operation was given a name, “the Green Bay Sweep*.”  If the certification could have been stalled, there were over 100 members of congress, and a large group of GOP legislatures, governors, and judges who were committed to the plan.  Senior Justice Department official, Jeffrey Clark was working to flip the election and promoted the idea to have Trump remove the current acting attorney general to support their efforts.

* Note:  The Green Bay Sweep was a football tactic used by the legendary Vince Lombardi during his time with the Green Bay Packers.  In it, Paul Hornung (the Golden Boy) would take the ball and run parallel to the line of scrimmage while blockers would move to that same side before Hornung would make his move forward.  On January 6th, Mike Pence was the Golden Boy and that large group of GOP congressmen and congresswomen would be the blockers.

Paul Hornung running the Green Bay Sweep

In the hands of someone smarter than the inexperienced Trump, the insurrection might have succeeded.  Had Mike Pence refused to certify the results, as had been suggested to him by his boss, things could have gone very differently.  Former VP Dan Quayle convinced Pence that this was a very bad idea.  On the day of the certification, 147 Republicans voted to overturn the election results based on vague allegations of widespread voter fraud.  They had no proof of any fraud but that was not important.

Actually, the riotous mob that stormed the capitol at the direction of then-President Donald Trump, and further inspired by other speakers at his rally, may have thwarted the coup.  Their disruption of proceedings forced a recess until later that evening.  When they resumed the certification, the debate over the Arizona results continued briefly but eight members in that list of 147 members abandoned their objections and other state result debates were scrapped.

All post-election lawsuits have been thrown out of court.  That happened with 96 different judges, many appointed by Trump.  The Supreme Court rejected a Texas lawsuit seeking to challenge over 20 million votes in four states not named Texas.

Even at the anniversary of the insurrection, Trump is still promoting his big lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen by massive voter fraud.   Many Republican leaders in Congress still promote that same lie.  Many of his followers believe the big lie.  The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, a part of Homeland Security, found no evidence that any voting machines were compromised.  Even Trump’s own Cyber Ninjas, hired to investigate massive voter fraud in Arizona, failed to find any fraud.  In fact, they found that Biden won by a slightly larger margin.

In America, true Patriots include Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, George Washington, and Tom Brady*.  Donald Trump, on the other hand, joins the ranks of Aldrich Ames, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Robert Hanssen, and John Walker Jr., as traitors to our democracy and all that it stands for.

[* For the record, Tom Brady has retired to Florida and has taken up a new hobby with some Buccaneers.]

January 6th will continue to be a day of infamy.  Perhaps not as big as Pearl Harbor, but certainly a day that marks a serious attack on our democracy with a similar risk of the loss of our freedoms.  December 7, September 11, and January 6 will all be listed as dark days in our nation's history.  A defeated Donald Trump has retired to his lair in Mar-a-Lago but still remains a threat.  We can only hope that the investigations are fruitful and that not just the low-hanging fruit ends up in jail.  I won’t hold my breath, but one can hope.

Welcome 2022

We begin the new year with hope and trepidation.  Will this be the third year of the SARS-CoV-2 decade?  Will the perils of climate change seal our fate?  Will American democracy become unrecognizable in its evolving shift to authoritarian control by the wealthy?  Lastly, at my age, should I give a damn?

Taking that last one first, I probably shouldn’t care, but I do.  As part of the continuum of humanity, I would like to think it will survive into the future.  The other things mentioned will all evolve in their own time with or without my intervention.  Humans have survived over 200,000 years and will likely survive a few more.  Whether that is an easy evolution into the future will rely on the human spirit.  What will stand in its way will be human frailty, greed, and stupidity.

We have been given the gift of great intelligence.  Our bigger brains and tool-making ability allowed us to advance.  We now have science, philosophy, and the arts, that differentiates us from other life forms on our planet.  While those traits elevate us, it is the curse of evolution that some of our more primitive proclivities remain.  Fight or flight, survival of the fittest, fear of the unknown, to name but a few.

We see the kindness of the human spirit and the ugliness of human greed and contempt for those who may be different.  We have all witnessed the triumph of science over a microscopic virus threatening our very survival and the rejection of that science in unconscionable ways.  We have seen attacks around the globe by anti-vax groups on vaccination sites.  These people are not content with not taking the vaccines themselves, they want to deny others from getting immunized.  

Protestors shut down La Dodger Stadium

Protesters shut down a mass vaccination site at Dodger Stadium in LA.  In Paris, since July 12, a total of 22 health facilities have been attacked and defaced, including 15 vaccination centers, and five COVID-19 test centers.  In Colorado, one man slashed the mobile clinic signs with a knife, while another person threw lit fireworks into one of the vaccination tents. People drove menacingly toward staffers and ran over signs. They hurled insults, trash, and liquid each time fleeing before law enforcement could hold anyone accountable.

This is our third coronavirus outbreak in the past 20 years.  Before COVID-19, we had SARS and MERS.  The first two were contained and research was largely discontinued.  Knowledge gained in the two decades since the first outbreak helped in the fast development of an effective vaccine.  That triumph of the human intellect was largely diminished by collective human stupidity.

Misinformation is the other virus that will possibly kill more of us than the microscopic spikey one.  Some of the misinformation is homegrown and some is coming from foreign trolls.  Both Russia and China are major sources of deception.  Long before our 45th president became a player on the world stage, the term “trumped-up” was part of our lexicon meaning something that is faked or fabricated to use as an excuse.  How fitting.

Live on the moon, the New York Sun 1835

Fake news is not new.  In 1835 the New York Sun, in a series of six articles, claimed there was an alien civilization on the moon.  They claimed that a famous astronomer, Sir John Herschel had set up a new powerful telescope in South Africa (true).  They went on to say that Herschel had found evidence of life forms on the moon, including such fantastic animals as unicorns, two-legged beavers, and furry, winged humanoids resembling bats.  (I think that maybe bats are getting a bad rap.)  The articles also offered a vivid description of the moon’s geography, complete with massive craters, enormous amethyst crystals, rushing rivers, and lush vegetation.  The Sun was part of the new “penny press” that found a market with a wide audience with its low-cost sensational news.  Today we don’t have to spend even a penny to get similar “good science.”  Just tune in to Fox News, navigate to any QAnon* site, or listen to Alex Jones, and you can be treated to as much “factual information” as was provided by the New York Sun in 1835 with their Great Moon Hoax. 

[*QAnon is not to be confused with Qanoon which is a restaurant in Chelsea, Manhattan featuring middle-eastern cuisine.]

The Sun’s Great Moon Hoax articles were intended as satire but, they fooled some in the scientific community.  A team of Yale University scientists was so taken in that they traveled to New York in search of the quoted Edinburgh Journal articles claimed as the source for the Sun stories.  I know, you are thinking, how could a newspaper called the Sun make a joke about the Moon?  Fast forward to the 21st century and we find that even Artificial Intelligence algorithms, designed to warn of hoaxes and misinformation, don’t understand “funny.”  I know, as I have been chastised on Facebook when an outrageous article I wrote as obvious satire was blocked by their AI Police.

Shaman Mark

Shaman:  a person regarded as having access to, and influence in, the world of good and evil spirits, especially among some peoples of northern Asia and North America. Typically such people enter a trance state during a ritual, and practice divination and healing.

HAL 9000: I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And I want to help you.  [From 2001: A Space Odyssey]

Dave from 2001: A Space Odyssey

Most of us give climate change a passing nod and some acknowledgment in our lists of concerns but its impacts are not immediate, or so we think.  Unseasonably severe hurricanes and tornadoes have killed and injured thousands and have made many homeless.  Biblical droughts have dried up reservoirs and roasted Portland and Seattle with 115-degree heat waves. Wildfires in the west and more recently Colorado, made worse by drought, have destroyed forests and homes.  A Texas deep freeze tested our crumbling infrastructure and killed hundreds through hypothermia and exacerbation of chronic illness.  A recent report discussed new findings in the Antarctic where warm water currents were eroding an ice sheet that could release a mass of water capable of raising sea levels as much as ten feet in as many years.  If even a fraction of this is possible, we should remember that places like Miami average only six feet above sea level.  Before Miami turns into a new Venice, saltwater intrusion, loss of potable water, and sewage disposal will become major issues.

Like many of our problems, science will eventually find solutions.  We can only hope that these solutions don’t die because of the stupidity and greed of others.  Solutions to climate change are expensive but those costs will rise exponentially if we procrastinate.  Those solutions face an uphill battle as they require global cooperation.  Good luck with that.  World leaders met recently, discussed, and acknowledged the problem, and did virtually nothing.  To use a crass expression from the poker table, “money talks, bullshit walks.”

Roughly half of our nation is willing to abandon our democratic way of life in pursuit of some utopian dream that can only be achieved through an autocratic rule.  Yes, it worked out so well for those folks in Russia that Vladimir Putin has been president for twenty years.  Please note that I don’t count the 4-year stint when Dmitry Medvedev was installed as a Putin puppet due to a pesky term limit.  

Our nation’s poor and marginally educated populous is being conned by wealthy individuals and corporations to support things that are contrary to their own self-interests.  I can only assume that Joe Manchin’s stocking was filled with the very best anthracite coal that money could buy.  Meanwhile, the West Virginia economy still ranks near the bottom with a GSP (Gross State Product) placing it 45th out of 50 states.  The poverty rate in WV is 16% and makes it the sixth highest in the nation.

Anthracite Coal for Manchin

The former Republican party has in place a cleverly disguised plan to ensure white supremacy using false claims of voter fraud.  It is an excuse for their own brand of voter fraud, aka, voter suppression.  If you wonder how this could be possible just look at the intellectual brain trust that stormed our nation’s capital last January.  I would generously estimate that the collective IQ reached double digits.  

Easily a collective double-digit IQ

Using fake news, deception, disinformation, and “alternative facts,” those party members who evolved beyond our Neanderthal roots, are manipulating our democracy.  They are attacking at all levels.  From local elections departments to state officials in control of the election process, they will attempt to “correct” the will of the people.  If that doesn’t work at the state level, congressional skullduggery may “set aside” the election results and replace them with something more amenable to their political agenda.  If/when that happens, our democracy will be dead.  

As a harbinger of what the political future may hold, Donald Trump will celebrate the January 6th insurrection with a 2022 anniversary event planned at Mar-a-Lago.  You can bet that he will put the old Trump spin on the truth.  Trump's pitch will be a spitball that justifies his fomenting a violent overthrow of our government by challenging the election process with more lies about his "stolen presidency."  This will all be juxtaposed with the more solemn prayer service scheduled at the Capitol.  For the Republican party, you are either a true believer or a heretic, there is no middle ground.  Gaining a Trump endorsement is the holy grail of Republicans everywhere.  Bow low, kiss the ring, and hope that his holiness the Trump will grant you mention in a future papal pronouncement.

Recently three retired generals (the only type who are allowed to talk freely) stated that a 2024 contested election could cause a total breakdown in the chain of command along partisan lines.  The result could be a Civil War.  We came close in January of 2021 and were perhaps saved only by the ineptitude of the leader of the insurrection.  It was amazing to me that the same election process that brought wins for Republicans in many of the contested states was corrupt only after Joe Biden won the vote.  Before that everything was beautiful.  That’s a real head-scratcher.

California pigs get more room
The man in the picture is collecting mail-in ballots for 2024 (SATIRE)

To end this on a brighter note, 26 states and Washington, DC, are raising the minimum wage to $15 hr.  In California, a new law went into effect today where breeding pigs and livestock will get more living space.  Now if only humans could get a similar arrangement.  Here’s hoping for a better new year, 2021 set a pretty low bar so anything is possible.