Where Are The Democrats?

The news every day is a Britannica of stupid coming out of the White House and congress. I say the White House, you know, but I mean wherever the Donald happens to be, Mar a Lago, a MacDonalds, some other golf course, France, a campaign rally out in Kick Stump, wherever his 3G is getting the hook-up. Don’t allow loose talk about how the Republicans “can’t seem to get anything done” to fool you. They’re getting plenty done. And it’s all either stupid, mean-spirited, contrary to American values, treasonous, venal, vaguely unconstitutional, or borderline criminal. Regulatory changes; judicial appointments; more Gerrymandering; policy changes at Federal agencies and cabinet departments; that whole anti “voter fraud” program; the purging of voter lists in general; the demonization of all non-white Americans; and the jettisoning of any government decision or rule that might help non-white Americans or promote science or justice; this program has been going great guns since the inauguration, with considerable success. What has been the response of people who preferred the direction that America had been going in for the previous hundred years? Good question.

Thank God we have the Democrats to protect our democracy with their ingenious, comprehensive, and vigorously pursued program to limit the damage to our great American experiment in self-government!

(Switches to Stephen Colbert’s smug expression and tone.) “Only kidding!”

No, the Democrats do not seem to be too worried about, nor even particularly aware of, what’s going on. They are not challenging anything; amazingly, they are not even complaining about the Republicans ramming through rule changes and forcing through dozens of Federal judge appointments, the same appointments that they denied to President Obama for eight years. The Democrats have yet to advance one attractive candidate for any office, either now, for special elections, or for 2018, for what will be a spectacularly important off-year congressional election, or for the next presidential election in 2020. What are they waiting for? There have been more than a half-dozen special elections for congressional seats since Trump was sworn in. The Democrats have managed to lose almost all of them. If the Democrats are trying to formulate a plan, it is still a deep, dark secret, and if they are taking any baby-steps to counter the immediate threats to our way of life, those steps are invisible and ineffectual.

Standard Disclaimer for rants like this: Yes, I am aware of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Yes, I like both of them very much. Yes, I find them to be highly intelligent, articulate, good-hearted and hard-working people, and I am glad that they are in the Senate. Two individuals is not even a good start, however. It’s John the fucking Baptist announcing a movement that may or may not gather followers. So far, it looks like “not.”

The Democrats at large can't seem to agree on anything, with the possible exception being their general dislike of Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Okay, that was agenda item number one. She now wanders outside the city walls. Can we move on to item two?

They do have a new slogan, the Democrats do. It’s so lame I won’t even repeat it here. It’s an obvious copy from the slogan of the mediocre pizza chain, Pappa John’s. They might as well have adopted the slogan, “mom, apple pie, and Christmas.”

I guess that we can forget about help from the Constitution as well. The Constitution has several mechanisms for blocking a duly elected but obviously unqualified president from taking office, or removing one who either abuses his power or proves himself to be an idiot. They are there for anyone to read, and we are all justifiably proud of their words standing strong in that great document. We are now discovering to our chagrin that in its current interpretation by the American legal system the Constitution is a SUICIDE PACT. In spite of his having lost the actual vote count by a rather dramatic margin, and despite being possessed of a lazy and weak mind, with no relevant experience for the job, Donald Trump was the clear winner in the all-important Electoral College, so we’re stuck with him for at least the next four years. Plus four years after that if the electorate and the voting process itself can be rigged for the second time in a row, and we'll be stuck with him forever if the Republicans can achieve their “final solution” to the problem of national elections. Two hundred years from now, a hologram of Donald Trump could still be the president of the United States. Would the hologram say the same stupid things over and over again, or would they put intelligent words, or maybe homilies, in its mouth? Nothing would surprise me anymore, although they’ll probably go with a hologram of Reagan when the time comes. He’s more likeable. How about John Wayne? The Duke! We’ve broken the stupid barrier, people. The stars are the limit!

Alas, Babylon! Are we to be covered with the same dust that now blows over the bones of that once-great city?

Or, in words that will probably be more attractive to most Americans, will we still have big flat-screen TVs? Will there still be wi-fi? Netflix? 4G? Will there still be Happy Hour dinner specials at Applebee’s? Will they keep the taxes low on beer? Can I keep my car? Will there still be recreational weed? Will there be a season four of Better Call Saul? Will Dirty Johnny still sell bootleg Oxy?

If we can still have most of these things, it is likely that most people won’t care what we lose in the way of freedom, equality, and democracy. Most strongly in the “not caring” column will be the straight, white Americans from places you've never heard of who voted for Trump in the first place. Let’s face it, it has always been better to be straight and white in America, and it’s getting better every day, even as we speak. If they can put the straight, white Americans back in charge, it’ll be over for sure. This will not end well.

As always, the blogger wishes us all a hearty Good Luck! Bon chance, mon Ami! Viel Gluck, Landsman! And remember, in good times you have a certain measure of rights, but in bad times, all you have is the right to get your head cracked open by a night stick. So be careful, you.