Category: Uncategorized

It is more than disconcerting, to consider, that the very same anti-democratic individuals, most especially, the fascistic, White Christian Supremacy groups, whose militant aspiration is the so-called, preservation of an “all-white Christian Nation,” are factually and inarguably, the descendants of those white Christians, who inhumanely and forcibly, abducted to these shores, the forbears of the black and brown people, they would now wrongfully, seek to exclude.

It is to be borne in mind, that the North American Continent was, originally, populated by indigenous, brown skin people, in possession of their own rich culture and valued beliefs, and not White Christians.  Moreover, if such reductionist bigots were, by some, unprecedented, chance, to consul the recorded American history, they would also discover that their propagandist meme: “America was created to be a White Christian Nation,” is far from the truth. History reveals that the Founders, were not religiously oriented, being, predominately, agnostics and deists. It is relevant and determinatively significant, that the U.S. Constitution contains absolutely no reference to a Deity. As the Founders sagely articulated, if one were to put “God” in the Constitution, he would thereby, exclude “Man.”

Additionally, it is no less than, incredible, to note, that this identified, anti-democratic, “underbelly” of America, has consistently and vehemently, opposed immigration. It takes but little thought to realize that our Nation is populated, 100%, by immigrants and their descendants, with the sole exception of the referenced, earlier, Indigenous Peoples. However, as has eternally been the case, problematically, rational understanding, objective perception and accurate information, were never strong suits of America’s bigoted, loud and belligerent, underbelly. Their nightmarish myth concerning the tragic replacement of a white America, by a mixed racial America, is an anthropological concern, more appropriate to the loyal sycophants of Herr Adolph Hitler, than the realistic and healthier, morality of Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson.

In earlier writings, we felt the need to emphasize the [all-to-obvious] fact, that one’s race, religion and ethnos, are involuntarily determined, and acquired by the happenstance of his birth,[ as distinguished from choice]. Our salient point was, that physical differences are biologically and non-preferentially, distributed.  It would appear to us, that the phenomena of prejudice, fear or animus regarding  “others,” different from oneself, racially or culturally, [“we” and “they”] are lessons, often, unartfully taught and ratified, by well-intentioned, nurturing people; insensitive to the problems they unwittingly create, by their mode of instructing the young as to identity. It is an existential prerequisite, to the ultimate reduction of prejudice and human conflict that, in addition to teaching the culture and beliefs of the family into which the child has been born, that he be aware that there are many other, different and acceptable cultures and beliefs.

In the unique creation of an experimental, Democratic Republic, the Founders sought to eliminate the historical European injustice of privileged birth and societal entitlement. They decreed equal status for all [then, implied, white] citizens, a sociologically limited inheritance, charitably understandable in the context of their times. More recently, as morally appropriate, interpretive legality and common understanding have [justly] enlarged “equality” to be the identical birthright of every American, regardless of culture or race.

This principle, especially includes non-interference with the citizen voting franchise, an egregious democratic misdemeanor, apparently being the anti-democratic darling of the Trump cult, and shamefully, at present, being legislatively affected, by many Republican State Legislatures.

In the years prior to the Civil War, and the consequent, 13^th Amendment, people who, by the accident of birth were, unfortunately, born black [viz., any color but unquestionably, white] were either enslaved or, if free, treated like far less than equal American citizens. Indeed, it was late in the period of American Slavery, that the Supreme Court of the United States, [“SCOTUS”, J. Taney] legally decreed, that a black, runaway slave, named Dred Scott, was not a man, but a mere item of agricultural equipment [a “chattel”] and therefore, could be legally recovered by his [it’s] “owner.”

Fortunately, times have radically changed, and have progressively, been improving, so that the concept of equality has been well on its way, toward the moral goal of universality, by means of education and, when necessary, by mandatory Statute and instructive case precedent. Universal equality, America’s eternally prized mantra, is the aspiration of every right-thinking citizen. However, too many atavistic, apparently, emotionally flawed, individuals seem to cling, like rock or tree lichen, to the pernicious dogma and, abhorrent practice, of racial prejudice.

Among the latter folk are many who desire to exclude the darker periods of American history, like slavery, from the teaching of America’s history. It is our view that the tactical exclusion from the curriculum of American education, of its darker moments [viz., slavery, the government’s treatment of the indigenous residents of the land, the tuning back of the ship, the “Exodus,’ containing 5,000 fleeing Jews, in 1947, to a certain extermination by Hitler] amounts to dishonest, autocratic- style censorship.

By contrasting choice, acknowledgment of our historical mistakes is empirically and instructively, essential, for the Nation’s growth and moral advancement; and, empirically, as well, as a credible testament to the efficacy and objective value of [our] recorded historical accounts.

All right-thinking Americans, irrespective of their nuanced, racial and cultural inheritance, must affirmatively stand together, as fellow Americans, motivated by the common moral, aspiration towards the maintenance and preservation of the Democratic Republic in which every citizen is an equal participant and beneficiary.

-p.   

We have noted an unsettling, almost palpable concern, presumably, arising from the widespread trend in citizen, anti-democratic, sentiment. The latter seems, to encompass the virtual entirety of the Republican Party, which, alarmingly, constitutes one component of our established, two-party system.

 Policies favored by said recently, turned aberrational party, are inclusive of, the ratification of Donald Trump’s, fascistic, “Big Lie,” the voter suppression of minority communities, opposition to the women’s right of abortion, the denigration of science [including medical science] and education, in general, the atavistic perpetuation of  Jim Crow policies, the opposition to immigration, the politicizing the Judicial System, including SCOTUS, the denial of global warming and the sociopathic support of unhealthy, large polluting industry, and the shameful maintenance of an unjust criminal justice system.

It is disturbing to additionally, observe that the members of that party’s cultish homage to the defeated and despicable, Donald Trump, leading to the unprecedented mounting of a violent and bloody, Trump-inspired insurrection in Washington, the dedicated actions of Republican controlled, State Legislatures, officials and Trump sycophants, to distort the American vote [the salient ingredient of democracy], to hobble progress in civil rights, and in historically, 1930’s Weimar Republic style, to pervert and morph democratic government in the direction of autocratic fascism; featuring the despicable, Donald Trump, as the desired autocratic despot.

One can almost feel a cold, insidious and ominous wind, perilously blowing in reverse to the direction of our current of Democratic government. The salient, operative, question, is, what to do about it?

The comfortable, inactive of many American citizens, to occupy the posture of a mere spectator, of National events, an analogous tendency to a sports stadium, hot dog eating baseball fan, is no longer feasible; if the present trend towards a pernicious autocracy [fascism] is to be defeated. The protection of our precious personal freedoms and American lifestyle now requires more than simple or, inactive, attendance, as if at a “spectator sport.” To the extent that the latter, conceivably, was ever tolerable, it is, inarguably, not so, under the extant circumstances. We cannot, and should not reliably look, to our government or other fellow citizens, to fix, or to restore, matters, respecting this present clear and present danger. American freedom loving citizens, must actively and conscientiously, place themselves in the mix, of what, metaphorically, is this existential “contact sport,” if the Founders’ American experiment and our natural liberties, are to continue.

It is of the utmost importance that every citizen remain well informed. Reading reputable newspapers such as The New York Times and The Washington Post, published by the legitimate media, observing the current events, by the patronage of principled and objective television media, is a daily must. The most important of all strategies is voting for democratically suitable candidates, federal and local. Also recommended, where possible, is active attendance at town halls or other public meeting events, and, as appropriate, voicing one’s opinion as to the intrinsic value and equal rights of every American citizen.

When relevant and appropriate, voice your opinion, instruct your children and, if necessary, other adults in the legal and philosophical underpinnings, of universal equality. Do not remain silent, but, be sure to emphatically, object at the recitation of racial, or ethnic jokes. Do not be reticent, in any assemblage, in the expression of your views. [Enemies of democracy are certainly not soft-spoken]. What is mandatorily required is an articulate, groundswell of assertive, democratic voices, to counteract today’s extant, broadcasted, autocratic demagoguery.  We cannot permit the ignorant roar of vociferous opponents of democracy, to drown out the reasoned, moral and historical arguments of its defenders.

It is no less than existentially important, to maintain publicly demonstrated confidence in the certain and undeniable, continuance of our Republican Democracy; fear and anxiety are of tactical use and value to the opponents of democracy, and can even embolden such detractors. 

America has successfully survived a bloody Civil War, the violent and corrupt, 19^th Century Reconstruction Period, The McCarthy Proceedings, the scourge of polio, various epidemics and two World Wars. Through the confident expression and affirmative maintenance of our American ideals, together with the exercise of prudent reason, we will as done eternally, prevail over this latest outrage and source of citizen angst.

-p.      

The violent insurrection at the Capitol Building in Washington, like the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, has similarly, been termed a “Day of Infamy.” As known, many hundreds of American protesters were involved, notably; members of its undemocratic, right-wing Christian White Supremacy Groups. Seven lives were lost and millions of dollars of property damages incurred. The effort was to set aside the result of a certified, democratic election, incited by Donald J. Trump, the defeated candidate.

While, conceivably, the motivation of the individual insurgents may have respectively, varied, as we have declared, in previous writings, there was uniformly expressed, a shared discontent. In most cases, we presumed that the ego mechanism of “projection,” was operative, so that the varied causation for such unhappiness was unjustly, displaced, e.g., the government, “liberals,” people of color.

Mainstream American citizens, shocked and concerned about this existential threat to our Republican Democracy, seem unified, in their desire that the participants, planners and supporters, of this autocratic insurrection, be appropriately, punished by the Justice system, as a future deterrent. There are a substantial number of mainstream American citizens, who maintain the expectation, that the punishments, meted out will not be adequate to discourage future misguided zealots from such aberrant, fascistic, behavior.

We too, have concerns about such delusional, Trump cultists, tactically, perceiving such jailed miscreants as “martyrs,” or as “political prisoners, notwithstanding that either perception is, factually, absurd and ridiculous; but, empirically, no more ridiculous than the “Big Lie,” itself, and the plethora of conspiratorial, paranoid ideations, bandied about by Trump sycophants.

As an additional matter, incarceration is very expensive and it may be felt that these deluded faux patriots, have to date, wrongfully cost our Treasury, enormous sums of money as a result, of their illegal and delusional attempt at an undemocratic coup.

Following some personal rumination, we are pleased to declare, that we have successfully reached what we perceive to be, a just, pragmatic and acceptable solution to the problem. However, first, a brief geographical note and recitation of certain specific current events might seem in order.

[Geographic note]: Kazakhstan is a huge country, far bigger than the size of Western Europe, situated in Central Asia, bordering Russia and China, and granted independence in 1991, following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

[Current Events]: Kazakhstan, an unquestionably, autocratic and repressive Nation, is, presently, in the throes of an enormous revolt and insurgency, from its angry and oppressed population. Our readings indicate that said autocratic State suffers from corruption, inflation, political repression, authoritarianism, police brutality, human rights violations and significant civil unrest.

[Solution]: The peace and tranquility of two separate nations can be mutually, be achieved with the exercise of a bit of rudimentary [albeit innovative] imagination. Neither the American cohort of insurgents nor the Kazakh revolutionaries are happy with their National plight. The American insurgents seem most anxious to surrender their democratic rights [vote, universal equality of opportunity] in exchange for an autocracy and an autocratic ruler [in this case, Donald J. Trump]. The Kazakhs, by contrast, are revolting against autocratic rule and its concomitant oppression.  

Would it not be the ideal solution, instead of the expense and trouble of incarceration by America of insurgents, and the public firing squads, for Kazak protesters, to have a mutual exchange of permanent citizenship and residences, of the relevant, discontented, insurgents, similar to long-term, Air B&Bs, and thereby, ameliorate their respective revolutionary angst? Why not, officially identify the International Program, “Burgers for Borscht”?

-p.      

In the immediate, preceding writing, [# 635 “Song of the Discontented”], we chose to presume, that the fundamental motivation of the individual, January 6, 2021 insurgents, and conceivably, the run of the mill, Trump acolyte, amounts to an all-pervasive discontent with personal life, and the emotional need, to project such mundane disappointment, on others; such as government, people who look different, or on “liberals” or immigrants. Our recommendation to individuals, needing more depth and affirmation in their lives, has consistently been, the pursuit of personal elective interests, seems eternally, disregarded. Compounding the problem is the empirical difficulty, inherent in the amelioration of any non-specific, or generalized, as opposed to defined, grievance.

Historically, the motivation for insurgency or revolution is the product of defined, attributed causation, viz., American Revolutionary War- independence from England; Russian Revolution- overturn of the Czarist aristocracy; French Revolution –revolt by the lower against the upper, privileged class. Our thematic conundrum is, as follows: in a Nation guaranteeing, free speech, liberty, and the right to the pursuit of happiness, what can logically and empirically, ignite and fuel such revolutionary outrage?  The apparent answer, bizarrely, seems to be the enduring, mesmerizing effect of an errant, unprincipled, “pie-in-the-sky”, mendacious demagogue, on a substantial receptive, cohort of ignorant malcontents.

There has been no noticeable revolutionary cry, by example, for bread, for freedom, independence or main justice. The sole, discernable demand, of this underbelly of the Nation, seems to be the irregular and undemocratic restoration to the office of the Presidency, of a twice impeached, mendacious, ignorant and autocratic hazmat to the Republic, Donald J. Trump. Mr. Trump who, in his one term of office, had already proven to be an ignorant, dishonest, bigoted, egotist, possessing no acumen for the office, whatsoever. Shockingly, and in a shameful and autocratic manner, Trump, as outgoing President, has failed and refused, to procedurally, pass the baton to the winner of the election, Joseph Biden; as is historically, consistent with democratic government; but instead is responsible for directly, fomenting the unprecedented insurrection.

There is an apocryphal folk tale, bearing a symbolic general message for the Nation, most specifically, the cultish Trump sycophants:

Two elderly, world-weary, travelers arrived in town. It was cold, and already past mealtime. The two, being very hungry, had as their sole possession, an old worn, pot with a lid, but, unfortunately, no food with which to make themselves a meal. Their requests for food, from townspeople, had gone ignored.

 In the Town center, amidst several local people, they put some water and a smooth stone in the pot,  and then lit a small wood fire under the covered pot. Several townspeople approached the travelers and inquired as to their activities. They explained that they were cooking some delicious stone soup for dinner. The gullible onlookers stared at each other and at the simmering pot. They were amazed when told by the travelers, in response to their questions, that the stone would make a delicious and satisfying soup, but that it lacked a bit of garnish to make it simply, wonderful. In exchange for the travelers’ promise to share the miraculous soup, one person brought some carrots, another, potatoes and peas, and yet another, a piece of fatty beef. Several townspeople watched, hungrily, as the two old men cooked and stirred the soup pot. One villager brought spoons and bread, another some soup bowls.

When the traveler announced that the “Stone Soup,” was ready, the soup bowls, spoons and bread were distributed, and the shared soup was unanimously, declared, “Delicious”; but not before the round, stone was removed and discarded. This is the best soup we ever had, said some of the villagers. The two elderly travelers were too busy, hungrily eating, to respond.

It may acceptably, be said that the tale is about “sharing.” However, by adamant contrast, we would prefer, in the context and circumstances of our contemporary political scene, to recite the tale as one about gullibility and ignorance. Our analogous “stone,” would be slick, orange-haired, and inedible and the tale, itself, chiefly, about fraud and deceit of the gullible.

-p.       

On a great many occasions, we have wrestled with the enigma as to the motivation of those Americans whose contemporary mindset appears to reflect an insurgency against the liberal principles and relatively non-intrusive operation of our reasonably, competent, democratic republic. Their loudly expressed opinions and overt actions, [the most extreme of which was the January 6, 2021, violent insurgency against the Washington Capitol Building,] which, if conceivably successful, would seem, ultimately, to, lead to a steep descent into autocracy, portending a far less free and spontaneous life experience for all concerned.

It has been, ominously said, that the next Presidential election will determine the nature of the country we will inhabit. Our Nation, it seems, has been generally, bifurcated, into two competing constituencies; one of which, remains fully in favor of the precepts of universal equity, the unfettered right of every citizen to vote, and the implicit responsibility of government, when necessary, to render assistance to the needy citizen. The other, to supporting racial and religious preference, voting regulation and diminished government participation in the lives, business and welfare of the citizenry.

It was the latter cohort, in its crude intolerance and adolescent rashness, that chose to mount the violent insurrection; erroneously based upon the false, fascistic and tactically manufactured, “Big Lie,” [“stolen election,”]  tactically authored by the defeated, Donald Trump, purposed to overturn the result of that [certified, as correct] democratic, election. Those protestors and the Nation’s balance of Trump sycophants, would, thereby, engineer the setting aside of the vote, and thoughtlessly, the keystone institution of the democracy itself. In an earlier blog, we warned such ignorant, errant citizens, to be wary of what they ultimately wish for, viz., the cold iron fist of autocratic rule.

It has ominously, been said that the next Presidential election will determine the nature of the country we will reside in, as in the present, free, republican democracy or an autocracy, such as monstrously exists in Putin’s Russia, or Oban’s Hungary.

It is no less than crucial, that Congress pass the current Voting Rights Bill, as, yet another formal and articulated expression of Americans’ universal right to vote, the latter, being the salient criterion of a Democratic Nation. Yet, it may fairly be observed, that we have historically passed voting rights Statutes, [in addition to the U.S. Constitution, as it is contemporaneously read]. It is the theme of this writing, that, while the relevant enactments,, must be passed, the salient causes of the problems of inequality and of race and religious prejudice, apparently, are not intrinsically, legal ones.

It has been in our empirically considered observation, that we cannot depend upon Statutory Law, alone, to preserve democracy. As stated, to date, we may possibly have a surfeit of legal enactments providing for the preservation of an equitable democracy. It is essentially, the relevant people, who have to be convinced of the essential morality of universal equality and of personal worth. We have in our Nation, a huge conglomerate of varied individuals, discontented with their lives, who feel that their lives have no meaning and that the latter, is the fault of the government.

We certainly do not presume to infer that such discontent, or lack of meaning, is in any way, the responsibility of government. To the contrary, our democratic republic certainly does not discourage literacy nor self-advancement; the latter being the best route to a more fulfilled life experience. It is difficult to imagine any redeeming or perceived value in a daily life, pursued solely, in an ignorant, unaware, and insular manner. In fact, the foundational, and eternal purpose of this blogspace, is the encouragement of self-advancement through the conduct of personal elective activities; from reading and artwork to collecting and carpentry. The greatest number of pliny essays, especially the earlier writings are dedicated to the theme of self-fulfillment by the pursuance of non-work-related, selected interests. These “outside” interests furnish private insight to oneself and a mature perspective of others.

There, conceivably, may be ways, to encourage such self-improvement, personal self-fulfillment and as a positive consequence, feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction with life. This would tend to eliminate any felt need to seek a scapegoat for one’s discontent in life, such as the government or people who look different, Unless and until that methodology is developed and utilized, we will be obliged to rely upon efficient enforcement of Statutes, for whatever they may accomplish.

-p.   

The leaf dry rustling thru the breezy arbor
The subtle impress of a cool infant kiss
The stream’s quick chortle over its rock bed
The snap-hard taste of orange chocolate

The raucous din of children at playtime
The buzz- stiff buzzing of bumblebees
The adoring looks of the quietly loving
The tart-sweet taste of June cherries

The cheek’s soft touch of warm sunbeam
The smells: newly sawn wood and baked bread
The quick chin-lick of a small, furry kitten
The immense relief at a friend’s good diagnosis

The closing of the cover of a much-loved book
The wine glass of cold bubbly, Prosecco
The sitting midst’ loved ones for dinner
The soft utter surrender to a cool pillow.

APOTHEOSIS

Leonard N. Shapiro 1/3/22

The year 2021, observably, was a rather bleak one; featuring, among other joyless subjects, the Covid pandemic, instances of police brutality,  the aftermath of a violent insurrection, voter interference, extreme weather, (presumably, the effect of unaddressed climate warming), the continued rise of White Christian Nationalism, Congressional investigations, inflation, and judicial threats to established abortion rights. In this Holiday Special Writing, we attempt to sort out, from the din, real and fictional anecdotal trinkets (“Gewgaws”) which we hope the reader will find amusing.

*The Hammond Map Corp., in 2021, has announced to its stockholders, the recent development of an entry-level version of an Outer Space, GPS mapping device, to enable billionaires to view their earthly tax shelters during space jaunts.

* Tucker Carlson has testily, insisted that the use of Ivermectin, was, in reality, very successful. He admits that, while those who ingested it did sustain a high rate of Covid infection, he argues that, reportedly, less than .04% of Americans who did so developed horse worms.

* The Sierra Club has found that wearing red MAGA baseball caps, invites painful skull attacks by diving blue jays, and constant jabbing by inquiring hummingbirds.

* Forty-three Republican majority State Legislatures, have passed, in excess of three hundred bills, slanting the vote, in order to prevent the undemocratic effects of slanting the vote.

* The NRA has developed a pink-colored Gatling gun for gifting by sweethearts, next Valentine’s Day.

* Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene resents certain recent comparisons of herself to Machine Gun Molly, of the 1960s, and has angrily stated her preference for comparison to Florence Nightingale,  Jane Austin or Eleanor Roosevelt.

* The Board of the Mike Pence Foundation has publically announced its unanimous ruling, that, following the decease of  Vice-President Pence, that there be installed an exact wax replica of a smiling Mike Pence in Mme. Tussaud’s Wax Museum, inserted between the statues of Jack The Ripper and Bela Lugosi.

* A request, identical to the previous, item has been made, by the constituents of Sen. Ted Cruz.

* We are not exactly sure, but believe it was the intellectually gifted, Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas, who, prudently suggested, that instead of the expense of the purchase of a fleet of gondolas for the Potomac, it would be cheaper to buy two gondolas, a male and a female, and permit them to mate.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

–p.

What would be more bizarre than Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky?” More distorted than a carnival funhouse mirror? More, conceivably delusional than believing that “liberals” are maintaining a profitable business in child sex trafficking ?  More misguided than drinking bathroom cleanser, or injecting veterinary horse worm medicine, as preventative to an attack of Covid-19? More delusional than believing in laser attacks from outer space by Israel? That the Federal Government has secreted microscopic tracking devices in Covid vaccine?

The irrefutable answer, to all of the foregoing challenging questions, is The nomination of the disgraced and odious, Donald J. Trump, to run again for the American Presidency.

In the business world, applications for employment positions, involving any reasonable degree of judgment or experience, universally and necessarily, encompass a written resume, and a series of personal interviews. Such requirements are, discernably, in aid of the potential employer’s responsibility to determine the potential suitability of the job applicant for the relevant position. Should a prospective employer or his representative, detect any suggestive negative traits or questionable experiences, relative to the applicant, he would, reliably, refrain from electing to hire him.

The evaluation of any prospective performance by Trump, beyond his past, single and singular, four-year term, would not seem, as a practical matter, to require a written resume or personal interview. His established, ignorant and corrupt [mis]management of the high office, has been more, empirically informative than any descriptive resume or follow-up interview. Trump’s two Congressional, impeachments, the contemporary commencement by Congress and the Attorney General, of prosecutions to be pending against him for a smorgasbord of criminal offenses, including the possibility of Treason,  gross violations of the Emolument Clause of the U.S. Constitution, and most particularly, the unprecedented failure to peaceably step down, after his loss to Joseph  Biden, [as is traditionally required in a Democratic Republic], and his autocratic, creation of the “Big Lie,” ultimately, fomenting a violent and deadly insurrection, against the Capitol  Building [traditional historic  Nazi tactics], would, undoubtedly, mandate a long jail sentence, and not another detestable opportunity to replicate his un-American and immoral behavior.

Such dishonorable acts, are in addition to criminal negligence in issuing misleading statements, concerning the seriousness of Covid, promotion White Christian Supremacy Groups, bigotry against minorities and women,  serial mendacity, cruel, public ridiculing of the disabled, an embarrassing  and pathetically, sophomoric international performance, appointment of unqualified and ignorant toadies to the American Cabinet, autocratic campaign against the news media, derogation of the concept of truth, itself, and the contrary promotion of “alternate facts,” derogation of intellectuals and scientists, denial of global warming, publicly demonstrated, lack of moral principle, consort with prostitutes and criminal bribery to silence knowledge of such misbehavior, slander and castigation of critics, immense neurotic egotism, arrogance, coupled with massive and all-pervasive ignorance, lack of mature perspective and refusal to seek better counsel, lack of empathy for the needy, cruelty to immigrants and their families, improper relationships, viz.,  Epstein, Putin, perpetration of fraud and misrepresentation in business, ex., “Trump University,” “Trump Vodka” and others, plus an egregiously immoral record in the real estate business, inveterate golfer and slacker-off, grantor of financial favoritism and grantor of  bribes, general grifter and consummate violator of mainstream morality,  observable, full-time sociopath.

To those who, impulsively, would tolerate any consideration, whatsoever, of a reprise of the  Donald Trump  Presidency, we submit this writing, as his personal resume, for evaluative consideration.

-p.   

At this disturbingly divisive and rancorous moment in our Nation, it would seem relevant and useful, to recall the 1935, Sinclair Thomas novel, “It Can’t Happen Here.” The prescient work published a full 86 years ago, describes the uncanny ease, with which the rise of a charismatic, populist, demagogue, similar to Adolph Hitler, may come to power, disastrously resulting in a dystopic and autocratic, political government. [Hence its title]. A reading or review of this work should dissuade any thoughtful person from the misguided impression that such a tragedy could not, at any time, occur in our democratic Nation; indeed, that, recent events, conceivably, might portend a harbinger of such nightmarish tragedy.

Our readings indicate a historically, tried and true, household recipe for the successful preparation of this bitter repast, evincing its authentic and dystopic, autocratic and repressive lifestyle, flavored with a generous overlay of cold, unsweetened, quotidian fear. To access this consistently utilitarian and reliably, error-free recipe, one need not go to the trouble to consult the cookbooks, ex., “The Joy of Cooking,” or “The Silver Palate,” nor even, Ms. Julia Childs, herself; the reported events, appearing in the daily newspaper, will suffice to favor the reader with more than sufficient factual information.  

The sycophantic followers of Donald J, Trump, essentially, made up of the vast, populist “underbelly” of our Nation, whose extant cultish adoration of, and obeisance to, that bizarre, orange, Deity, prior to his Presidential election, seems to have endured, despite two shameful Congressional Impeachments, and his election loss. By such adamant support, they yet remain, loyally and unshakably, in accord with his crude and Nero-style, egocentric pathology, of favoring the pattern of autocratic rule.

Replicating the historically, inglorious, Adolph Hitler, and other such repulsive autocrats, Trump, with such cultish support has favored the reprise of the traditional, autocratic tactic of the subjective distortion of truthful facts, in favor of the more convenient use of “alternate facts, or, “alt-reality,” to comport with his own subjective distortions and evident ignorance, the disparagement and control of legitimate newspapers and other institutional media, the promotion of divisive prejudice, particularly, regarding people with dark skin as well as religious minorities, the disparagement of learning and educative science, opposition to immigration, the practice of promotion to high political office of his personal acolytes, of controlling police discipline and the military sanction of dissidents, abridgment of free [critical] speech, absolute intolerance of critical opinion, feminine and gender abuse, lack of empathy for the disabled,  the xenophobic opposition to immigration, distrust of the intellectual, and legitimate academia, ready acceptance of irrational conspiracy ideations, and a universal, systemic paranoia and ubiquitous oppression.

The plethora of disturbing, undemocratic observations during the past, dystopic, term of Donald J. Trump, and the persistent, cultish loyalty of his followers [to the point of violent insurrection makes the fear of a regression to autocracy, with all of its despicable concomitants, a cogent possibility. Our Nation must constantly stay engaged and informed, so that it can, resist the false, but tactically alluring, snake-oil promises by skilled, wily demagogues, and continue to maintain a fully aware and informed citizenry, to be enabled to counter the conditions that allow autocracy, or “totalitarianism,” to flourish.

It can happen here.

-p.

It is on the first day of the Winter Solstice, that Earth, our domiciliary planet, begins its slow, rotational turn, to the existential light of the Sun. Would that it was conceivably possible, to analogously observe Mankind’s assured regular inclination to enlightenment. Notwithstanding its laudable advancements, in science, digital technology and medicine, there has not been a commensurate heliocentricity, relative to Mankind’s advance to the attainment of enlightenment.

Any candid chronicle of events of the year 2021, would be hard pressed to do so, in a celebratory context; no psalms, carols, bells or whistles would suffice to dim: the anguished tragedy of the many thousands of preventable infections and deaths, attributable to the persistent Covid invasion, as exacerbated by the irresponsible ignorance of the Trump administration; nor, the emergence from the proverbial, woodwork of an anti-democratic horde of the Nation’s chronically ignorant underbelly, [catalyzed by their revered orange demagogue-deity, Donald J. Trump ] for the purpose of vociferously, and violently, demonstrating their psychotic hatred of representative democracy, in general, and American citizens, born with a noticeably heavier pigmentation of melanin, specifically.   

In a Nation, such as ours, populated entirely by immigrants and their progeny, the ardent, populist opposition, to the admission of desperate fugitives, fleeing foreign corrupt and dangerous venues, seeking acceptable lives [like their predecessors], is inhumanly cruel and despicably selfish.

At the close of year 2021, we find ourselves, confessedly, populated by a plethora of atavistic and undemocratic bigots, successful enough to date, to cause forty-three, Republican controlled, State Legislatures, to enact anti-democratic Laws, limiting the votes of America’s minority communities. The Kafka-like, “Through the Looking Glass” rationale, bizarrely enunciated for the latter, amounts to the avoidance of election manipulation, by [themselves] “overtly manipulating elections. This travesty has its tangled, gnarly roots, in Trump’s monomaniacal claim, the “Big Lie”, viz., the completely unsupported, fabrication that the election was “stolen” from him. It was this delusional, ideation, that led to the criminal insurrection at Washington’s Capitol Building, January 6.

At this remarkably, bleak time, the scourge of the pandemic continues to be increasingly, concerning. Notwithstanding, the laudable development of effective vaccines, Trump’s public disparagement of their administration, and, as well, of medically recommended prophylactic measures, tragically added to the preventable deaths of hundreds of thousands of American citizens. In addition to the reported mortality figure of upwards of 800,000 deaths, the prolongation of the virility of the epidemic disease, by his wrongful denial of its true threat has, to date, enabled two virulent mutations.  Hospitals are overwhelmed with cases involving Covid pathology, preempting surgery and other medical needs. There were loud, audible, boo’s the other day, when Trump and that avatar of arrogance and bigotry, Bill Reilly, publically admitted, to a television audience that they, inconsistent their ardently expressed, public disparagement of the process, had each taken both rounds of shots, plus the booster.

At the time of the occurrence of the present Winter Solstice, the most sacred and reverential part of the Founders’ architecture of our Separation of Powers, i.e., SCOTUS, scarcely resembles the institution, as properly and functionally constituted by our Founders.  A mandatory prerequisite to the acceptance of any case by SCOTUS, has, since its inception, the “certiorari proceeding,” purposed, to legally demonstrate, that no political issue was involved, nor any political impact thereof, possible. This was, appropriately, to prevent a breach of the requirements of the Constitutional provision of, “Separation of Powers.” Since the 2000 case of Bush v. Gore, SCOTUS has, in a surprisingly inconsistent manner, become political, [and worse, partisan] as was irrefutably, demonstrated by the Citizen’s Union case. The latter case was indisputably, political, and, further, contrary to all legal precedent extant, since the English Statutes of Elizabeth, ruled that “corporate personhood” [merely, a practical business fiction], entitled Corporations [as “people”] to make unlimited political contributions; thus upsetting the long accepted, constitutional mandate, and more existentially, dangerous to our citizen representative democracy; perpetrated by the very institution, created to assure and guide the proper functioning of our democratic republic.

Most troubling and existentially perilous, to our Democratic Republic, [perhaps, immorally seen as a useful tool by the autocratic, Donald Trump] is the Nazi-like rise of militant, White Christian Nationalist Groups. Their recent brazen, anti-societal behavior has metastasized from local criminality to the level of a full-blown, bloody, public Insurrection at the Nation’s Capital. The bitter lesson of the 1930’s Weimar Republic and Adolph Hitler must not go, unheeded. The insidious enemy, no doubt counts upon the reliable indifference of the public.

A mature and candid recognition of the presenting challenges is an existential prerequisite to their effective amelioration. We remain hopeful that, perhaps, by the next Winter Solstice, an aware and enlightened American population will, in natural adherence to its historically dedicated orbit, effectively, fend off, such threats to our fixed aspirations for eternally universal democratic equality and natural human advancement.

-p.