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THE ABSURD TIMES
Illustration: The future of the Democratic Party
(She was so popular, she not only defeated a long time establishment Democrat, but was also elected in an adjacent precinct in w2hich she was not running and had to decline.)
U.S. Elections Explained
by
Czar Donic
Of course, there is more going on here than just the elections, but they were significant, although puzzling for those in other countries who keep hearing about "Democracy". So, We are are going to try to unravel a few things here.
Trump fired the Attorney General, Jeff Sessions. Someone remarked that it is the only monument to the Confederacy that Trump has touched so far. Now, according to our Constitution, the Attorney General must be confirmed by the Senate before he can take any action or even take office. However, his replacement has not been confirmed by the Senate (despite the fact that Trump says he has and also that he does not know who he is). Hey, I shit you not. He actually said both things, both of which are lies. The biggest problem Trump had with Sessions is that he recused himself from the Russia investigation (as was legally required). Otherwise, he has been the prefect Trump follower and a huge disaster for the United States. There is, in fact, no downside to the departure of Sessions under these circumstances.
In the middle of all this, I was reminded of a song from the Watergate era, but cannot remember the name of the writer. He had tried to fill the vacancy left by Tom Lehrer, but it was impossible. Still, the lyrics stay with me and the tune is in ¾ time, Andante:
We're Haldeman, Erlichman, Mitchell, and Dean,
The way we've been treated is simply obscene.
Who would have thought a thing like a bug
Would wind up getting us kicked in the Jug?
Dean has since turned into a fairly astute political analyst. I have heard that only two Attorneys General have been convicted, but I can only remember Mitchell and the strange dopped up and alcohol inspired late night calls from Marth Mitchell that proved to be the most incisive comments to come from that group.
At any rate, there is talk that the investigation into the Russia situation will be stopped, but we should keep in mind that Mueller has been well prepared for such an eventuality. In addition, he is currently writing up his final report. The real danger is the possible destruction of documents by Republican operatives.
There is some speculation of what can be done to redraw districts. See, in the U.S., voting districts are based on the census and then drawn to bias elections in favor of one party or another. The last time, the Republican Party drew them. Replacing the Attorney General the way Trump wants is clearly unconstitutional, so what would be a constitutional way to end not voter fraud, but election fraud? In fact, first Trump declared that he knew him well and he had been seen in the Oval Office repeatedly. Then, to show how impartial he is, Trump claimed not to know the replacement. The fact that he knows nothing about a nominee is the best reason he can give for his choice.
Well, there is no Constitutional provision for Political Parties (other than freedom of assembly in the First Amendment) and at one time the Communist Party was outlawed in America. Well, if that was constitutional, then so would be making the Republican Party illegal. It is worth considering. Is the Republican Party an Enemy of the People? It certainly supports corporate interests over people's interests. In fact, they could join the Democrat Party and we could establish a Democratic Socialist party for the moderate and progressives.
Of course, that would be a mistake now that Democrats hold enough State power to redraw thos districts. Instead, these (pardon the expression) Republicans would be renamed the Whigs or perhaps the Tea Party. This is not the first time that the party has been so facistic. For example, when JFK was running against Nixon, this party begaan to change drastically. After Dulles and Company had JFK killed, people were left with a choice between Barry Goldwater, supported by the John Birch Party, and who said his solution to the Vietnam War was to bomb Hanoi into the stone age. Well, that left LBJ to take over and the party to begin to fall apart, expecially a few years later with Watergate. Who was behind the John Birch Society? Mr. Koch Sr. Yes, the father to the current Koch brothers who founded the tea party. This is the party that had people so stirred up that one of the people shouted out at Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania that he should "keep you government hands off my Social Security!" He became a Democrat. This is the guy who devised the "single-bullet theory of how JFK died and even he was too liberal for the tea party. Whigs, Tories, Birchers, whatever would be a better name for that party and it could be done just as the Communist party was outlawed.
CNN remains the "Enemy of the People," a term Stalin used to employ before he sent people to Siberia. Someone said that Jim Acosta, a reporter for CNN was not a hero because he was only doing his job when a White House intern attempted to wrest the microphone from him because he was asking questions that Trump didn't like. Nevertheless, under the current administration, any reporter who is doing his or her job is a hero. (Either that, or an Enemy of the People.)
At the same Press conference, he was asked about the implications of his use of the term "Nationalist" as it is potentionally racist. The reporter, a block woman, was then accused of asking racist questions. Thus, another Enemy of the people. He asked if he was racist, why he has the higest approval ranking from African Americans in history. Well, I didn't know he did, and I have no answer if that is true. Stupidity is the only answer that comes to mind as he constantly refers to blacks as "Low IQ". Whose stupidity is another question.
There has been a great deal of talk from Trump on how effective his endorsements have been. In fact, only 28% of those candidates he endorsed won. On the other hand, the Democrats won 38 seats in the House of Representatives, the highest in four decades. The only other time they did this well was after Nixon and Watergate. It did not help that Ford had to debate Jimmie Carter who had a brain, either.
Many of the newest Representatives are "progressives," more of the Bernie Sanders faction, the Social Democrats, rather than the establishment faction. They are a part of the "Resist" movement. Incidentally, at one time Hillary Clinton tried to claim she was a part of that faction until others in that faction told her "you are one of the things were are trying to resist." The best that can be said for her is that she would not have been as bad for the country as Trump. If that is her claim, she is welcome to it, although who knows what she would have done in foreign policy? Above is a photo of the newest type of person that will represent the Democratic party (if the know what is good for them).
