inthetrunkroom

In 1965, a song unlike most of the time was released in which the artist, Barry McGuire, asked the question whether or not did you understand we were on the eve of destruction,It was reflecting on a time – THE time – when “ violence is flaring “ and “ human respect is disintegratin ”. It was the mid sixties and there was, in spite of the mood in some sectors of the up and coming generation and in spite of the progressive efforts of many,  a great deal of chaos and social strife which led to significant  disenfranchisement of even more groups of people. There was division about the war, about race and about mores – all taking it toll across the board. In short order, the whole Watergate mess hit the fan, so to speak,  and deep rooted corruption  directly involving the White House further intensified the growing rift among segments of society. But, as the saying goes, we had seen nothing yet. Fast forward to 2016 when a well known bigot, grifter and pathological liar, while losing the popular vote, by virtue of a dysfunctional “ Electoral College “ system, still won the election and was installed in the Oval Office, due in addition to the hatred of voters  shown against one family and a voting population which was enthralled with a  reality television barker.

The next four years were to witness corruption of historic proportions. The famous journalism duo of Woodward and Bernstein had thought that the Nixon era  defined corruption but then came the trump era and not only was there clear evidence of deep rooted corruption but , with the unqualified cooperation of the GOP leadership, unfathomable manipulation of congress.

Fast forward and indeed the worst was yet to come. And come it did. The lies and conspiracies intensely promulgated over the previous four years now all came to a boiling point and the extreme right wing elements that were for years just under the surface , compliments of the White House and its cabal of loyalist supporters, now had  a path to not only up to the surface but to the front of the line. What was of particular impact was the out and out lie that the 2020 election was rigged and that the actual loser won. There were all manner of conspiracies associated with this lie – some ridiculous, some unbelievably outlandish and a few just simply insane such as voting machines being altered by satellites from Italy or two thousand “ mules” carrying secret ballots to drop boxes.However, what was started back in 2019 well before the actual election, became the mantra for the extreme right and, as they say, the rest is history – including the storming of the capitol building by a domestic terrorist , armed mob literally sent by the sitting occupant of the oval office with the express purpose of having the certified election thrown out, eliminating the “ peaceful transfer of power “ and literally overthrowing the democratic system of government. It was, for historians, a replay of 1939  Germany – an insurrection right out of the Third Reich play book. The  “deconstruction of the administrative state “  almost succeeded.

And now, the aftermath, as it were, and the outlook for our future time. After trying to cope with nearly three years of the lies and mindless conspiracy theories promulgated by the far right and its entertainment outlet supporters – one must refuse to call them news outlets –  the stacking of the Supreme Court and the constant pounding ot he “Big Lie – the “ stolen election “ — the events following have shown that far right extremism has now taken over and the tide toward authoritarianism is gaining stronger foothold as  the election season approaches.Red states have enacted draconian voting regulations. Legislatures are introducing Bills which would take us back to the nineteenth century, such as in Arizona where one member is on record saying that not everyone is entitled to vote while another introduced a bill that  would make members of the senate  be appointed by the legislature. There are also states which would give the legislature the authority to overturn an election  in the event that it did not approve of the outcome.

All of this as the GOP is now not only supporting but fiercely pushing candidates who not only support the far right agenda but also openly support trump’s big lie about a stolen  2020 election. The lies are spreading far and wide with even more intensity and sadly, the fearful and ignorant are willingly joining what can only be described as a cult, complete with blind loyalty and a rage against “ non believers “ such as we have not seen since the McCarthy era. The venom is flowing especially from the white supremacy factions and those who, while they have no clue what CRT really is, believe that elementary schools are teaching what they consider doctrines which espouse the hating of white people. The insanity is mind boggling and to try to reason with any or all of the members of these factions is, as Thomas Paine so aptly put it, like “…administering medicine to a dead man…”. And so here we are. With the likes of Kirk, Keshel, Pastor Locke, White supremacist Nick Fuentes, members of congress like  Boebert, Green,Johnson, Biggs and Gosar being the messengers, the message of the far right is clear. The agenda is to eliminate a central federal government, replace it with an authoritarian dictatorship headed up and controlled by whites only and install as its leader – one donald j trump.

Welcome to what could be the newest third world dictatorship. We as a nation are sitting on the edge of the abyss and, if the body politic fails to awaken to this reality and fails to take the necessary steps to turn this tide particularly by the use of aggressive voting, then we shall see the fall of the “ great experiment “ at the hands of those who chose power over community,  donors over voters and conspiracy theories over sanity.

To quote , “  I can’t twist the truth, it knows no regulation ; handful of senators don’t pass legislation ; and you tell me over and over and over again, my friend,

Ah, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction “.

Take my word for it – BELIEVE IT

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TITLE : AND WE HAVE COME TO THIS

               

In a discussion regarding the then state of affairs, we referenced a paper written by the eminent scholar, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, titled “Declining Deviancy Down”. Borrowing from a theory in criminology, Dr. Moynihan drew parallels to how a community may, as the tide of crime expands and persists, actually normalize it as being acceptable behavior.  Seeing this emerge in our political world, we referred to this behavior as being an ever spreading disease  One must now ask the question, in assessing the current status of things, particularly the political landscape,  have we descended to the level of thinking that what we see all around in terms of clearly deviant, dystopian behavior, should be treated as the norm.

Led by a confirmed narcissist and pathological liar and actively supported by QAnon disciples, the GOP has been and is  presently engaging in a concerted  drive toward eliminating our representative republic and replacing it with a kleptocracy, with a focus on securing and maintaining all the political and economic power there is to be had.

Beginning with a campaign littered with half truths, outright lies and rhetoric specifically geared to fears  propagated by the far right, the disease began to not only spread  but gain traction, especially in the deep red states. The country was witness to what can only be described  as the singularly most corrupt regime – one refuses to call it an administration – in our nation’s history, all the while pounding out the message that the other side of the aisle was planning to overrun the country with a socialist agenda, taking away all our freedoms and the “Big Lie’ that a GOP loss would be only due to fraud and the rigging of the election. Sadly, somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty-seven per cent of the voting population believed it all. The regime, being propped up by far right elements in congress, and the right wing media, continued to spew conspiracy theories hammering at the fears of the less than informed and fundamentally politically ignorant.

The messaging from this regime  also had a singular target – the main stream media, especially the well established press. Using quote from Stalin himself, the leadership continually referred to the press as the “ enemy of the people” who refused to push the regime’s “ Big Lie “ , Hitler’s favorite strategy mantra.

Over time, the plague intensified and, as more and more  baseless and brainless conspiracy theories surfaced, the fomenting of disruption mounted and a volcanic explosion was imminent. The body politic was now witness to not only the rhetoric but the actions of the GOP and its cult followers, setting up not only the centralizing of power but orchestrating the stacking of the courts and other systems, insuring the lack of accountability for their actions.

The national election was finally here and, after months and months of hammering the “Big Lie”, the GOP cult leader candidate lost. And not just lost, but their candidate lost the popular vote for a second time and by over seven million votes.

Immediately, the rants began and the “ Big Lie” became the mantra of the party and its followers and a season of continued screaming about rigged elections was in full sway. 

Behind the scenes, the party was plotting and planning on how to overturn the election and  place their candidate – the cult leader – back in the White House. Clearly, we were in the throes of a movement to overthrow the government.

There being absolutely no evidence on any level to support the Big Lie of voter fraud, the movement became more and more focused on the end numbers of the election, the electoral college votes and their counting in joint session of congress, set for January sixth 2021.

On that date, the volcanic eruption happened. In Washington D.C, as the final Electoral Vote count was about to commence,  a mob of thousands stormed the Capitol, destroying much property, calling for the hanging of the vice president and the assassination of the Speaker of the House,  killing several and seriously wounding hundreds of law enforcement. Inside, numerous members of the senate called for the rejection of the election results and in the House, over one hundred and thirty members voted  in like fashion. For the first time, the peaceful transfer of power was not to be and a full scale insurrection was on display.

The aftermath of this is far too convoluted and complicated to discuss here. However, when you take into consideration the run up to, the events surrounding January sixth and the continuing aftermath, there can be no dispute that our very system of government – that representative republic constructed in the mid eighteenth century –  is on the verge of collapse and the modern GOP is clearly and squarely to blame.

The following months saw the increase in intense activity among the conspiracy theorists and, with the mid term elections fast approaching, the GOP drive is to push candidates who one, subscribe to the Big Lie and two, are blindly loyal to the cult leader.  The end agenda is to eventually control all state and local elections and to have, according to the Kremlin playbook,  the White House occupied by an authoritarian dictator. There is now even serious talk about revising the Constitution in order for it to fit the kleptocracy agenda, an agenda all led by a demented sociopath.

We have come down to this. A country, with all its faults, still has been the bastion of  freedoms has now been taken over by a crime family mentality bent on destroying a system and replacing it with an directorate more closely aligned with fascism than with a representative republic. The objective is an authority which cannot accept any argument, any disagreement or, for certain, any questioning of its precepts. The entity of the American Experiment is doomed unless and until a right thinking, truly patriotic public with rise up and  reinstates what should be a government of the people, not of the kleptocrats -a return to regular order, as noted by the late senator from Arizona.

It all will come down to the vote. In spite of obvious suppression of voting rights, it will be  contingent on a voting pubic which must be awakened to the reality of the tyranny at hand on the part of the GOP and will turn out to vote for a functioning government.  Understand  this one’s fear of the outcome.     Dies Irae prope adest !

THE POINT  OF  INFLECTION

Over the past two decades and particularly over the past six years we have seen a major shift in the political tide. We have, in that time,   suffered through a political era unlike any at least in our history as a nation. One could go on  in a diatribe about   “ he who must not be named “..  his coterie of enablers, his total disdain for every one and all institutions,  all conventions and all laws and all the havoc wreaked by him and them. But it is more than that. Far more than that.  Covid-19 is not the only virus plaguing this country and it did not just all start in 2015. The mindless extremism, adherence to outlandish conspiracy theories and widespread anti-intellectualism up and down the social strata, from up on Capitol Hill to down on the  street corner, have infected every day living in one way or another across the board and the 2016 election and its term was a symptom rather than a cause. While dangerous, dysfunctional conduct has always been out there on the fringe or in the background, it now has found a pathway to the forefront, finding its way even to the halls of congress with the rise of the Tea Party and later, the Freedom Caucus. It has provided a pathway for groups like QAnon and others of like mania. It also, by virtue of that pathway, provided not only a road map for the resurgence of like minded extremist groups and proponents of far beyond fringe messaging but also a certain level of validation for the cult followers of that crime family who once were camped in the West Wing. It has even deeply infected at least three major so called news outlets,  which spew their poison nightly with no regard for fact or even intelligent discourse whatsoever.

The underlying current of racism, which has been there since our beginning, has now become almost accepted behavior and, in fact, is actively supported in some circles . The tide of white supremacy  has risen to flood stage level, adding fuel to the fire of already widespread xenophobia – as the hatred for immigrants –  illegal as well as legal  – grows in intensity and provides another fear mongering message point for the far right.

But, aside from all of this, there is yet another disease – a most destructive cancer, that is spreading far and wide and it has  far more serious indeed fatal  consequences for us as a  republic. While the chair of the Republican Party continues to insist that the riot at the Capitol by seditionists was merely “ ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discussion “, the GOP and its followers have been  full scale engaged in the deconstructing of the structure of government on all levels. Of special attack target has been the right to vote. Yes, we are seeing the seeds of fascism grow and grow. We are witness to widespread disinformation campaigns, book burnings, hate mongering and, voter suppression strategies.

What is evident is the fever growing in the ranks which spouts the myth that “ …all our freedoms are being attacked..” and the only solution is to overthrow the government and replace it with what is clearly an authoritarian idea of governance. Evidence the cheering for the Russian president at a recent  white nationalist convention – one by the way at which members of congress spoke. Amazing as it is, almost half of the voting population not only is demonstrating its ignorance of history but also its complete lack of knowledge of government and the consequences of really not having any say in it.  

One cannot say anything more except that the American Experiment is in deep peril and if the ignorant and arrogant hold sway, we shall see the end of what was, along with all its faults, the most utilitarian system of government in history.

Inflection is loosely defined as a change in course and we, as a nation, are at that point. We have traveled down that road to perdition and have finally, as feared, arrived at the fork at the end of that road. It is now imperative that a choice be made as not only has the road ended but we are likewise out of time . Is it to be a representative republic or an authoritarian dictatorship – we must choose !

Throughout history there have been uprisings, revolutions and large scale riots, usually precipitated by social pressures such as economic or social  inequality or just a plain grab for power. What we are seeing now, however, is the destruction of a government based almost entirely upon greed and bigotry fostered by widespread fear and ignorance.

Our institutions of government have fallen unchecked to  a level of corruption unseen in modern history.  It does not take a genius level of intelligence to see what is happening all across the nation and, while most may not really understand the what and wherefore, let alone the why, it should be evident that matters of state have gone terribly wrong over the recent decades and particularly over the past six years. It has, over that time, gotten so demonstrably perilous that one writer warned pointedly that the republic was headed for its requiem. Then it was a stern warning. Now,  as the nation descends into the throes of total and complete chaos,  it is evident that we are there and it may be only a matter of time before the entire “ experiment” collapses 

 The reality of today is that nearly forty per cent of the body politic strongly believes a most fantastic lie, perpetrated by a madman, obsessed with his own sense of self and his need for power. That we came to the point of seeing a mob attack the Capitol with the purpose of overturning a legitimate election is beyond comprehension. That so many are engulfed in conspiracy theories and are mired in what is actually a cult mentality should make everyone stand up and scream. What it has done is forced so many into retreat, thus allowing the loud and preposterous to reign headlines and airwaves.

The most preposterous of them all are those who continue to push the “ Big Lie “ that the most recent presidential election was “ stolen “ by a whole list of evildoers when the actual evil doers are those pushing these theories – theories which have paved the way for true fascism to make its way to the forefront with seemingly no bulwark to stand against it.

The promulgating of lie after lie by the extreme far right wing media  joined by the active participation of not only members of  extreme right wing white supremacy groups but also sitting members of congress make for a flood of disinformation fomenting a dystopia of gargantuan proportions. We are seeing the active suppression of the right to vote, the denigrating of the  press as being the enemy of the people,  book censuring and calls for actual book burning  and the the rise of vigilante law throughout the states. In short, we are engaged in a civil war of cult and culture with the fear that it will soon possibly erupt in to actual armed conflict – an end that many are proposing as the only solution to an imagined socialist takeover of the nation.

The question then remains, what can or better, what should be done about all this. While it is highly doubtful that matters will completely turn around even in the distant  future, there might be a way to stall the progression of this madness and perhaps at least bring government back to the point where it is actually governing. Until and unless that is realized, the risk of a complete collapse of this democracy is quite possible and he American Experiment could come to a fiery end, being replaced by an authoritarian regime much like the previous swamp dwellers. As many sources as are able and willing must address the ignorance that is so pervasive. The education of the masses must be a priority and while there will always be that percentage of the mindless who will continue to follow the former occupant of the white house and his cult, at the very least, minimizing their impact should be a primary objective.

A totally redirected legislative agenda  must be formulated and enacted, especially one which addresses the two most pressing concerns – the right of full access to voting and the severe curbing of disinformation.

It all comes down to having the will and courage to regain this nation’s status as a representative republic. Remember what Benjamin Franklin replied when asked what sort of government the new nation would have.. A republic, if you can keep it…

That challenge is now being seriously tested and the nation  and its people must now choose… democracy or authoritarianism, a requiem or a celebration…… 

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Over the past six years, we, as a nation, have suffered through a political time unlike any in the more than the four decades that this writer has been involved with, engaged in or otherwise closely following. This  Republic and its government, as noted before, is in the  throes of a war for survival and perhaps in  a war that cannot be won.

While having its roots long long ago, it really kicked in to high gear when we  saw a known grifter, reality television barker and confirmed pathological liar , calculating the crass ignorance and fears of the electorate, gaslight himself in  to the highest office in the country, in spite of the fact that he lost the popular vote by over three million votes. Continually spouting hate, bigotry, ignorance and disregard for the rule of law, he sowed the seeds of the autocracy to come.

The tenure of the regime – one cannot call it an administration – was marked with policies that were blatantly inhumane, a strategy to, in fact, dismantle the government as we know it, establish a kleptocracy supported by Wall Street and its corporate welfare beneficiaries and, with the aid of loyalists both inside and outside the West Wing, spinning some of the most incredible conspiracy theories and peddling  a calculated campaign of misinformation the likes of which we have never seen. Claims  such as the press was the enemy of the people or the whole “deep state” conspiracy that contends that there are those in government that were out to ruin the White House occupant. Evidenced this now by reports coming out regarding that the regime, through the Office of the Attorney General, was actively spying on members of congress, their staff and their families who were seen as enemies, subpoenaing their records from email carriers and from their phone records from Apple. To this day, he and his allies continue to proclaim that the “Left” is undermining democracy and he is the only one who can save it from their “ extreme socialist agenda”.

One could go on for pages and pages about the nothing less than madness emanating from the Oval Office but, as time went on, we became frightfully aware that the worst – by far the worst — was yet to come.

During the night of  the 2020 election, as they watched the returns the candidate screamed ““This is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to win this election — frankly, we did win this election,” trump declared. “We want all voting to stop. We don’t want them to find any ballots at 4 o’clock in the morning and add them to the list.”                    It became quite evident that one, he was completely ignorant as to how elections are processed, and two, it was also becoming clear that a “ peaceful transfer of power “ was simply not going to happen.He had his entire entourage convinced that the only way he would lose the election was if it were rigged and this became not only his mantra but the mantra of the entire GOP.

Throughout the coming months after the election, the “Big Lie “ was being spread far and wide and as thick as molasses.  The cult loyalists began to take action in a clear attempt to change the election result. In no less than sixty court filings, the state GOP leaders, ONLY in the states that trump lost, tried to have the election results thrown out, alleging voting by illegal immigrants,, widespread fraud and machine tampering – all to no avail.  The actions were ALL thrown out of the courts as being the baseless charges that they were. But that did not stop the tide of madness. As the states began to certify election results and impanel the delegates to the Electoral College, some states actually tried to block that or, as in the case of Arizona, select an “Alternate delegation slate “ pledged to trump and sent that in to Washington as the official electoral vote. As all this nonsense was continuing , the believers of the Big Lie, stoked by the losing candidate, his close allies and his deep delusions, took to another plan. And yes, it was a plan. By invitational urgings from the White House, and orchestrated by White Nationalist groups and  certain so called militia, large groups were to descend on Washington for a rally to “Stop the Steal “ – a mantra coined by extreme far right groups and happily approved by the White House. The rally was called for January sixth, no accident as this was the date for the certification and official counting of the electoral college votes, to be conducted in the U S Senate chamber.

We all know the result of that rally. We all SAW live action of the storming of the Capitol, the destruction, the mayhem, the injury of many and the death of a police officer and the shooting of one  insurrectionist trying to break through barricades into congressional chambers in order to kill the Speaker of the House and hang the Vice-President.

There were many mistakes made during those hours and the system designed to protect the Capitol miserably failed. Nonetheless, after things subsided, no less than one hundred and thirty-nine members of the House of Representatives and at least three members of the Senate voted to reject the election results. Yes, they sided with the White House, the delusions of its occupant and the out of control insurrectionist mob. Finally,  in spite of it all, the process was completed, the Electoral Votes counted and the election was certified and it was done. Or was it ?

Here we are, seven months after the 2020 election and still, yes, still, the GOP controlled state legislatures are trying to overturn the election results. Pay no mind to the protests that this is not what they are trying to do. One state senator in Arizona went on record  saying that  they are only trying to make certain of the integrity  and security of  future elections. This, in spite of CISA reports as well as other intelligence and law enforcement agencies certifying that the 2020 election was the most secure in our history.

This same senator then proceeded to demand yet another audit, subpoenaing

all the ballots from the most populated county in the state and have them reviewed by a firm brought in from Florida – a company led by a known QAnon conspiracy devotee with NO EXPERIENCE in election auditing whatsoever.

And Arizona is not the only place. This whole mindless audit rehash thing is spreading – curiously only those GOP controlled states where trump lost.

For certain, this insanity is not over and the campaign to overthrow our democratic process continues.

The next phase of this overthrow, and by far the most dangerous in the long run, is the passing of strict voter suppression laws which blatantly establish the mechanics of making voting increasingly more difficult, especially in heavily democratic neighborhoods, and in several instances, permitting the state legislature to reject the final election results if the outcome does not seem supportive of their agenda. 

Now, back to inside the beltway and in to the halls of congress, we find that the GOP leadership, though in a minority in both houses, has managed to block any and all legislative movement to counter what is happening in the states and what is designed to bring a level of uniformity and security to the voting process across the country. Laws that are clearly meant to disrupt the process and favor certain constituencies  and therefore certain outcomes, seem to now be embedded, especially in what are know as swing states, currently controlled by the GOP.  As former Attorney General Eric Holder, with no hesitation in answering a question from the audience in Phoenix noted, the most dangerous threat to our national security is “VOTER SUPPRESSION”. 

Now, this is where we are today.  If one follows the path of history, one will clearly see how totalitarianism, and its specific form known as kleptocracy, grew from the back  rooms of hotels, spread throughout and grabbed hold of a country.  What we can also, beyond doubt, confirm  that we have failed to learn from history.  In his book “ On Tyranny “, Professor Timothy Snyder warns to beware of a one party state. It appears that this is the path down which we are headed.                                                             

We have gone long past the era of bi partisanship and the idea of negotiating in good faith between the parties in order to get relevant and functional legislation passed is now foreign inside the beltway. What we now are plagued with is one party which is obsessed with securing and maintaining power as its sole agenda and another party which, while well intentioned, has neither the strength of character nor the determination to bring a sense of government back to the halls of congress.

In short, we are now without a government which actually governs. As before, a “Requiem for the Republic”.

A while back, there was an article which presented an appraisal of the state of the national government, raising concerns about the state of affairs inside the beltway and its impact on our societal stability. The discussion raised serious concerns about rampant corruption and in the end, raised the challenge ,  as Professor Glaude of Princeton put it so succinctly, of an honest reckoning as to who we are as a nation. Time has moved on and with no hesitation, one can definitively state that circumstances inside the beltway have deteriorated from borderline dysfunctional and blind partisanship to singularly unbalanced and deranged of catastrophic proportions.

 The evidence is clear that the White House has fallen to a level of corruption unseen in modern history. Even the infamous Tea Pot Dome scandals of the twenties and the WaterGate scandal of the seventies  pale by comparison. With brazen contempt for not only the protocols of government but also for the rule of law, this regime has taken kleptocracy to new heights. Paired with the occupant’s own particular brand of extreme bigotry, the arrogant display of disdain for constitutional mandates, a domestic policy agenda which focuses on deregulating all the protections for the everyday consumer, the appalling display of fawning over some of the worst dictators in the world while denigrating our own government services,  all have rendered the Office completely compromised possibly beyond repair  While demeaning the press as an “ enemy of the people” along with the constant and continual spewing of complete fabrications and outlandish conspiracy theories, this regime has openly violated the emoluments clause of the constitution, the principles of separation of powers and has failed miserably in understanding that members of the cabinet do not work for the individual occupant of the oval office, they work for the people.

As all this was unfolding over the past three plus years, one may have hoped that the system of checks and balances put in place from our founding just might  have stemmed the tide of corruption. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. In actuality, it has proven to be the precise opposite.

The concept of checks and balances was designed to accomplish just that and, while often the task seemed insurmountable, over history, it has prevailed. That is, until the present regime. Not wishing to succumb to the flow of conspiracy theories, one has to harken back to one key conspiracy echoed time and time again about the so called “Deep State” conspiracy that the White House has promulgated and preached at every red hat rally. Truth be known, the “Deep State” theory is awash in its own alternate reality. However, the tactical scheme put forth by early White House advisor Steven Bannon has not only taken  root but has and is the underlying principle behind the trump regime. To paraphrase Mr Bannon, the “deconstruction of the administrative state” is the objective of our agenda.  This is what the regime, possibly under the influence if not the direction of the Kremlin, came to Washington to do and the White House embarked on this path from the start. Along  with the collaboration of the senate, the attacks on our very system of government have gained traction at an alarming rate.

Consider the senate at the time of the inauguration of the previous and actual administration. On the very night of the inauguration, GOP leaders were meeting in a hotel suite to plan its downfall – an agenda they proudly announced to the public in the following days. It was to be “… a one term presidency”. Once they achieved control of both houses. they did absolutely all they could do to block any efforts to move the national agenda forward, including gutting the recently passed health care legislation and completely blocking all nominations to the Supreme Court. Matters became even more destructive during the second term so by the time the current regime arrived, the senate was ripe for what can be described as a scorched earth policy on government as we know it.

From positioning on the federal bench  shamelessly unqualified jurists to confirming cabinet heads whose sole purpose is to dismantle their respective departments to the stonewalling of over four hundred pieces of legislation passed by a democratically controlled House,  the current iteration of the United States Senate bears little resemblance to the body charged to provide check and balance to an out of control White House. It has proven to be not only unable to provide those checks but clearly unwilling – indeed, being an accomplice to the abuse of power flagrantly displayed by the Oval Office and certain executive offices , specifically the Department of Justice, now headed by one who, in his own words in speech and in writing, has declared that the occupant of the Oval Office is above the law.

The discussion of the many facets of this systemic collapse could continue at great length, as indeed it has in news media, in political pundit circles and in academia. There have been theories advanced as to the how and the why as well as back and forth on the idea of who or what is to blame. Suffice it to say , there is blame to go around aplenty. Both sides of the aisle have failed miserably in their charge as members of Congress. Most of all, however, perhaps it is as much the body politic which has failed. 

Consider some particulars. In the 2016 election, over one million eligible and registered voters decided that it either was not important enough to vote or, having dislike for both candidates, they voted for a write in or a candidate with no chance whatsoever of coming close to winning. One can understand not liking either candidate but we are often faced with the choice between the lesser of two evils and we saw how that played out.Then there are those whose sole and total source of news and information are networks, such as Fox, Sinclair and RT, which rarely deal in facts and whose broadcasted stories are regularly built around conspiracy theories. It plays to ignorance of reality. And finally, at least for here, there are those schools who have, over the years, dropped civics and government as a course of study. Acknowledged that many have returned to offering that but one should not have to wait until college years and have a political science major to be taught how government works. All in all, one figured that, with political ignorance at an all time high and a near baseless xenophobia carried to the extreme – stoked by so called news sources as above – it was time for a regime such as we have. Playing on ignorance and fear and an underlying racism still present in this country, we now have what we have – a pivotal times in the history of the Republic and its future.

So it is not time to turn it all around. It is time to wake up, educate and participate. It  is time to search our valid news sources and exhaust fact checking. As a colleague of mine wrote, I want this all to be a bad dream but when I look around, you are a living example of how Hitler took over Germany. Disbelief that your leader is capable of this kind of evil…..newsflash – he is !!

Wake up and take hold… if not for this generation, for future generations. It is time to make change – a complete new direction. Dies Irae….. the Republic is headed for its requiem…..

The history books have dedicated volumes of attention to the Great Depression that racked the United States, as well as other countries, during the 1930s. There has been debate upon debate on causes and effects, solutions – both proposed and enacted – and what the long term effects have been over the following decades. What is key in any discussion is how the Roosevelt administration, either along with or in spite of congress, chose to contend with such an economic disaster. It was not with idle chatter and ego building nonsense but with real down to the street corner policies enacted across the country, focused on bringing families back to a level of not just survival but  an actual decent living.What we saw was a combination of programs aimed at bringing the labor force back to work and engaging government in the recovery. 

Fast forward to early 2008 when, for similar reasons, the United States saw itself on the verge of yet another complete and total economic collapse. History has repeated itself and, while again we can debate cause, the effect is still rather the same. Millions of jobs were lost, the housing market failed, smaller banks went under, Wall Street looked like it might crash and the overall economic status of the nation was, to say the least, precarious, The outgoing republican administration had squandered a budget surplus and plunged us into massive debt and once again, idle chatter prevailed.

Enter a new administration and immediately the task of recovery began and while unpopular bail outs of certain industries were made to advance recovery ( admittedly adding to the debt ) the labor force saw an uptake, jobs were coming back and families were beginning to see at least some level of stability.That administration, after eight years , left with recovery well on the way and, though certain issues were never solved, at least the hemorrhaging stopped. Then the whole thing turned around with now, again, a republican regime that seems to be more interested in power and profiteering than in actual policy formulation, either domestic or foreign.

Accepting that the parts of the economic picture are better than it has been in years, it is still primarily benefitting a relatively small sector of our social structure, the top ten per cent being the primary beneficiaries. Statistics show the lowest unemployment rate ever, though those statistics rarely provide an accurate picture of the job market. The largest sector of the employed are in the retail market and near to 65 % of them are, by corporate policy, part time.

Corporations are benefitting from the largest tax break since the Reagan years which again was a major factor in the debt rising over 26 % just in the past three year. A prime example of the mind set of corporate America was demonstrated at an event in New York in the course of the 2018 Annual  CEO Forum conducted by the Wall Street Journal. During an evening session, while discussing those massive corporate tax cuts, the then Director of the National Economic Council Gary Cohn asked for the house lights to come up and he then asked a room of about one hundred and fifty corporate CEOs, how many would be looking at reinvesting those profits from the tax cut back in to their local communities either directly or indirectly through research and development aimed at job creation. With a show of hands, only FIVE said yes. Five. It was later made clear that, for the most part, those funds were used for stock buy backs  thus increasing profit margins. Can you smell the aroma of history starting to repeat itself ?

The recovery from the early 2000s is still a work in progress to many who observe these matters but the question is, with all that has transpired within the beltway. how do we move forward. How do we move in a direction which will further stabilize  the social structure, bring greater participation in the economy and less economic inequality and have long term beneficial effects not only here domestically but also abroad on a more global scale. Indeed, folks, that is the pressing question of our time and one has to ask, is the  GREEN NEW DEAL the answer ? Perhaps, or perhaps not but its basic tenets demand consideration – serious consideration.

The Green New Deal is package of projects with a broad based agenda focused on not just environmental issues, as the title might imply, but also on the economic and social arenas on which these projects could have profound impact. Reports credit journalist Tom Friedman for coining the phrase and an orchestrated effort by members of the Green Party of England in collaboration with the Friends of Earth, Solar Century and the economic editor of the Guardian for its original promulgation. Regardless, conceptually, it has several roots, much like its agenda.As expected, the GOP side of congress, following the lead of the anti science, anti-intellectual, anti fact White House, is blocking giving any consideration to the measure which, at this point, is only a House Resolution ( H RES 109 ). Nonetheless, the merits of the approach have been successfully tested on a smaller scale on a state level, most notably in Washington under the leadership of Governor Jay Inslee.As he and others rightfully see it, the Green New Deal is not simply an attack on the environmental crisis. It is a panoramic approach to environmental, social, infrastructural and economic challenges in a way which links public-private partnerships, varying resources and likewise varying disciplines in meeting the broad spectrum of the current compelling issues.The principal agenda focuses on three basic elements – the establishment of a sustainable economy, the cleaning up of the environment and the developing of a broad based sense of social responsibility which would focus on community renewal.

The schema, so to speak, for this approach, as demonstrated by Governor Inslee and fiercely promoted by democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, has as its linchpin wide scale cooperation between government and corporate America. It will take, in order for it all to succeed, massive joint efforts particularly when it comes to job development, water and air clean up and the total overhaul of our domestic infrastructure. It will require not only investment on the part of government but also substantial investment on the part of private corporations, a feat which can only happen when and if the powers that control these two factions – i.e. congress and boards of directors – acknowledge the critical nature of the need. It will require leadership which accepts science and its findings, that understands the realities of climate change as well as the reality of economic inequality. They must also be in total agreement that, nationally as well as globally, time is not particularly on our side.

House Resolution 109 lays out a framework for consideration, taking into account the several facets of our daily lives which are in serious need of repair. Not only the physical infrastructure but ,for certain, the economic infrastructure as well. Targets include a resurgent affordable housing market, development of a up to date job market and an education system which provides skills for that job market and, as a corollary, a wage scale commensurate with the modern cost of living.While this may not be a perfect scenario, H R 109 does acknowledge the real very crisis and it does offer, if not the manual complete with answers, nothing less that a serious starting point for critical  and one might add, long overdue discussion.

Historians tell us that if one does not pay attention to lessons learned,  we are doomed to have history repeat itself.  On a broad scale, we have seen this first hand and it is indeed the circumstance we find ourselves in presently. However, the stakes now are so much higher than simply the issue of economics, which for sure is not simple. What we have are global crises in respective economies, in environment and in social infrastructure. What we need to be about is, as a nation, taking a leadership role in addressing this crisis. If that leadership is not forthcoming from inside the beltway, then the responsibility is squarely upon the citizenry to demand that it be and take all legitimate measures to bring that to fruition.

 

 

From the vantage point of decades of work on all levels in the public sector,  one can get a fairly authoritative view of how government should work – how it operates, how agencies and their enabling legislation connect and how government connects with the private sector and how that  can, with the right leadership, actually work. Conversely, one can also glean from this experience how and why things do not work and a good insight into the behind the scenes nonsense that is aimed at furthering an hidden agenda. That being said and to our charter here, it is important if not imperative that  certain current issues and concerns be aired.

As we know it, our nation is at a point at which its complete demise as a representative republic is imminent and it is time for the citizenry to finally awaken, take notice and demand the taking of appropriate measures to stem this tide of destruction.

Over the past two and a half years, what we have witnessed has been the occupant of the white house – in our opinion, a dictator in the making – conducting what is tantamount to an anti government strategy rife with half truths, baseless assertions , outright lies and profuse insults directed particularly at the main stream press, branding the it as the “enemy of the people”.

This consummate con man, put in to office through an highly questionable election, abetted by an archaic electoral college system, has gaslighted the country in to normalizing what can only be described as severely aberrant behavior with the single purpose of enhancing his own family wealth. Governing, if you can call it that, in the style of a well oiled crime family, we have seen the continuing deterioration of government as we know it, near to the point of extinction.We have seen unbridled plague of corruption  of historical proportion and total contempt for the rule of law, the precepts under the constitution and the the protocols of government. While the campaign mantra was to “ drain the swamp”, it is clear that the swamp has not only not been drained, but in actuality has deepened and the stench of corruption has intensified beyond tolerance.  The blatant abuse of power and the complete disregard for the  separation of powers required by the Constitution, added to the continuous flow of lies and false accusations about a “ deep state coup” have made for a frightening display of chaos within and around the west wing. The favoring of dictators of foreign adversary governments over the information collected by not only our own intelligence agencies but intelligence agencies from around the free world causes one to wonder  for whom does this so called leader work or to whom is he really beholden.

The sad thing is, while all of this is ongoing, the one avenue available to hold accountable and engage the constitutionally established system of checks and balances – namely Congress – is, to say the least, missing in action and has become the enabler for this entire farce.

While the wrangling between parties in congress certainly did not begin in this century, the current phase got a major boost in early January of 2009 shortly after Barack Obama was elected for his first term.  Senate Leader – and one uses that term guardedly , the senate leader  convened a closed door meeting of the party leadership and emerged declaring that  their goal was to make certain that the newly elected president would be a one term only president. The obstruction began even though the GOP was not in the majority. When President Obama was reelected, McConnell vowed that he would block every and all efforts on the part of the president to move his agenda forward and would also strive to repeal all the the advances that had been made, especially in the area of health care. The obstruction agenda increased, as control of both houses went GOP, far right. The intensity was such that it blocked numerous legislative efforts aimed at national betterment and, for the first time ever, would not allow even a single hearing for the nomination for a position on the Supreme Court. Once the GOP gained majority status in both houses, all bets were off regarding any progress relating to the general public and a complete take over of the legislature had happened. 

Over the next two  plus years, the overall strategy became more and more evident. With corruption at historic levels and both houses in league with the white house and its agenda, the kleptocratic nature of this regime became clear.  A proliferation of lobbyists, for example, have been appointed to head  agencies which were the target of their lobbying with the express purpose of diminishing the role of that agency or even the elimination of it. While all this was there for the eye to see, the senate , with a few rules changes so as not to give any opposition time to question either the process or the candidates, was stacking the courts with a judiciary completely sympathetic to the causes of the far right while being in place to protect the White House and the GOP controlled congress from any and all legal challenges.  What began as patent obstructionism deteriorated to an out and out take over of government and government functioning. With the GOP owning both Houses and the White House, there would be no limits on advancing the long standing GOP agenda. Pair that with a White House which had no idea of government or protocols in governing and clearly came in to power with an agenda of the “deconstruction of the administrative state”, the  extremist right wing of congress, not to mention far right foreign interests ,found a fertile ground for pushing their causes with complete immunity. As a nation, the United States was indeed faced with virtual extinction as a representative republic and was fast on the track to becoming a banana republic.

We are now witness to continuing wholesale corruption, mindless and inhumane  domestic policy, total disdain for the rule of law and a building distrust of the government both at home and abroad.One could and indeed should expect that those who are responsible for and take the oath of office to provide governance of this republic will , in effect, do just that. One should expect that they conduct the business of governing, being mindful of the sentiment and expressed views of those governed. Sadly, this is not and has not been the case for decades and it is long overdue that we, as a nation and as an electorate demand a return to government being responsive to the governed and to their best interests, not only the best interests of a select few.

In the final analysis, we are facing a battle for existence – a battle between unfettered capitalism and greed and the financial well being of a select minority versus a version of, as some may call it, democratic socialism.The outcome will decidedly determine who we are as a nation and the direction in which we will move – either forward or backward – for decades to come.

To quote the eminent Princeton professor, Eddie Glaude, “We need an honest reckoning as to who we are as a nation”….of this there can be no doubt. The choice is there and the choice is now.