Prime Time

THE ABSURD TIMES

 

 

 

 

Illustration: the fight never ends.

 

The maxim is that people get the government they deserve, but isn't the corollary true? Governments get the voters they deserve? When Biden ran against Trump, he was asked how Trump had a good economy. Joe's answer was "Like everything else, he inherited it." Right then, he had made up for all the manipulation corporate America did to eliminate Bernie. Trump eliminated himself. As Joe said during the debate, "Don't even try to get a sane answer from this clown."

 

Unfortunately, Joe inherited a raging pandemic the clown pretended was nothing and later took credit for the vaccine (the technology had been developing for 20 years) while Joe actually got it distributed. The delaying he inherited made it worse, but it is better now. Now we are in the midst of all sorts of coup investigations and prosecutions, some of those sentenced to 3 years in prison broke out in tears – hey, Proud ones, man up! Aren't they the ones with the raging testosterone?

 

Soon we will be dealing with more of the shit, even though we are wading in it increasingly. We really need to find the Bull, indict him, and put him away. Believe me, his family will not make a single sacrifice for him, although they may try to benefit from his fall. As his cousin Mary Trump so accurately points out, "All communication in that family is transactional." Count on it.

 

So what about the mob of idiots (you know, the ones that cry when they are found out) left over? For awhile, other, pardon the expression, Republicans will try to emulate him. They may be smarter and more intelligent, but they lack his marketing instincts.  Perhaps Ted Cruz will wind up leading the charge, much to the surprise of Ron DeSantis (you know, they guy who lost millions of tax dollars to Mickey Mouse or Disney).

 

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Ukraine is also pretty much of a mess so far as knowing what is really going on.  After all, who is the good guy and who is the bad guy? Before you answer suddenly, consider a few things. A kind of madness grips the country once it decides it is at war with another country. I think the process is the same in any country in any time. Reading about behavior in England while it was at war with Prussia confirmed this for me. The enemy is pictured as the very embodiment of evil while "we" are just standing up for all sorts of virtues.

 

It has been a bit strange in this country. Things began to turn with the feckless adventure in Viet Nam, bringing no gain to any other country except perhaps China. As American citizens were gathered up, much like the slaves from Africa as those who actually liked the idea of having their own gun diminished, American youths started to object. The country became a veritable divided looney bin. Things like the "Domino Theory" were invented to justify it, invented by a 99 year old guy who now charged over $1,000/hour just to sit in front of him, but it was pertty much a joke. Finally, we were ridiculed out of that adventure, with only the weapons industry benefiting. Some time after, all other such adventures were opposed.

 

Well, sometime later some guy up in Sweden held a bunch hostage and it turned out, they tended to agree with him. Behaviorism was still the primary Psychological paradigm then, so the term "Stockholm Syndrome" became vogue.  (It also gave mankind water-boarding and Abu Garab.) What it was trying to do is say that anyone against war was psychologically unbalanced. That way, we could have all the wars we wanted and you would be crazy to oppose them. More importantly, it became easier to give money to weapons manufacturers, the real purpose anyway. Additionally, during the Viet Nam era, there was an argument that it was immoral to draft people when they are not able to vote. This resulted in the voting age being lowered. The same happened with consumption of alcohol. Eventually, Nixon eliminated all objection by instituting a lottery and eliminating any exemptions. End of conscription. Realizing how stupid the entire thing was, Jimmie Carter granted an amnesty to anybody who went to Canada or otherwise expatriated themselves.

 

Other wars passed despite overwhelming objection, but the arms factories had to keep being funded. The results were insane, but now we have what seems to be a tidy solution: Ukraine. No Americans are required to be involved (in fact, we prefer it that way) and still we support a thriving arms industry. Meanwhile, the media has a great time of it being patriotic by relaying atrocities committed by Russia (evil folks, they are).  Clearly, regions of Eastern Ukraine are populated by ethnically and linguistically Russian people and we are told they don't like Russia. Well, I've heard a few direct statements from some unidentified Ukrainians that they would rather be with Russia, but that is by no means a reliable measurement. This situation seems to satisfy the media (with the exception of Fox and others of that ilk that people like Shepherd Smith and Mike Wallace escaped). 

 

 

 

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So, talking about this particular war is pretty much meaningless and will remain so. The real danger to which attention should be paid is a possible civil war here.  We all could have seen the coup attempt on January 6, 2022, staged to keep #45 in power.  There are contenders to his position, people who are more educated and clever, but they do lack his rhetorical flair and marketing skills. There are enough citizens fed up enough with the damage he has already done and that may frustrate the take over, but only locking him up will provide any real safety.  He and his imitators all know better than to believe much of what they say, but that is irrelevant.  Unless this midterm election keeps a non-maga majority in control of both chambers in congress, we face real danger. There are some people in Biden's cabinet who are younger and more palatable, but they all have some short comings that may make them weak in voter appeal. I don't know right now, but the next election is crucial.

 

One bit of trivia: I have recently seen a U.S. government poster with an image of Stalin, making him look almost saintly and with the caption OUR FRIEND AND ALLY.  I can not find it online anywhere despite searches, but it does illustrate how reality and presentation too often differ.

 

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Just a bit of advice for AIPAC. When the brownshirts marched in time, they shouted YOU WILL NOT REPLACE US – JEWS WIL NOT REPLACE US, (repeat). Here is the idea behind CRT. Like many, at first I was quite confused about it, thinking that it probably had something to do with Critical Theory, a very subtle form of mixing culture and political thought, Horkheimer, Adorno, Marcuse, and so on. Race had something to do with bigotry here. Well, it turned out that CRT had nothing to do with anything so subtle. When it is used by members of the Brownshit, er Brownshirt, faction of the Republican party, it just means anything not supporting white supremacy. Of course, the theory goes, the blacks and brown don't have the brains to organize anything so complicated, so that's where the Jews come in. Instead of trying to get the U.S. to bomb Iran, put your energy into watching things here.