Once Again, Mitch

So I read in Semafor that Mitch McConnell remains terrified of what Trump is doing to the nation. He is openly saying that if something isn’t done, and soon, to stop Trump…and Musk, and others in their circle…that it is only a matter of time before the United States is overwhelmed. As he puts it, Russia will win. We will lose.

This is probably true. He is probably absolutely right. But, alas, he is…well…late. This is the man who spent his entire professional life as “the Grim Reaper,” killing anything like progressive legislation. This is the man who openly told President Obama that his job, as he saw it, was to make certain that Obama would be a one term president.  This is the man who labored long and hard to turn the GOP into a militant, centralized, disciplined band of right-wing radicals who thought of nothing but victory, regardless of the consequences. 

In other words, McConnell is one of those who most of all got us into this mess. He helped Trump gain the White House, not once but twice.

So what do we say to Mr. McConnell? I’m not certain. But perhaps it begins with “Yes, sir, you are correct. But you should have spoken up long ago, and acted constructively. As it is, you are like an enfeebled Lenin, who at the end of his life railed weakly against Stalin, a monster he’d helped create.”

The DSA, Harpers, and a Shame

I subscribe to Harper's Magazine. I’ve read it for years. The most recent issue, however, contained a letter that I found particularly fascinating, and disturbing. It was titled “Left Behind” and was from Maurice Isserman, who identified himself as a professor of history, at Hamilton College.

Professor Isserman was responding to a piece in Harper’s on the failure of the American left to make a real impression on the last election. In particular, Isserman was interested in the failure of the Democratic Socialists of America organization to be anything more than a sideshow in the battle against Trump. He has an excellent perspective on the problem given that he was a founder of the DSA, though he has since left it because of a variety of issues and concerns.

In his letter, though, he notes that the DSA does not support Bernie Sanders or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, both of whom are arguably the most legitimate and certainly the most energetic leaders of the American Left at the moment. In fact, he says in the letter, certain members of the DSA have branded Sanders and AOC as “traitors” for their support of Biden and then Harris. In other words, for not being pure enough in their radicalism. How dare they compromise with reality?

I was startled and disappointed to learn that the DSA had said any such thing. I’m not a member of the organization, but I knew about it in my younger days and vaguely approved of it. Not that I’m a socialist, particularly, but I’m always at least a little bit supportive of any organization that offers an alternative to the fundamentalist Ayn Randism that’s usually foisted on American culture.

But to find that they had fallen so far, so fast, was disappointing. You expect, say, the Green Party of Jill Stein to engage in such antics, but not the DSA. Yet, there they are, being so damn pure and holy and self-righteous that they can’t bother to support the Democrats in general and AOC/Sanders in particular. 

And one does have to wonder how much that kind of attitude on the Left, whether at the DSA or anywhere else, crippled the Biden and then Harris campaigns, and whether it didn’t assist Trump back into the White House. Or, if it didn’t significantly impact the benighted election of 2024, how much it is holding back the Democrats, and Progressives, everywhere.

Simply put, it seems that (once again) the reformers need themselves to be reformed. Until they have learned the art of the possible, the worth of compromise, and the importance of limited victory today so that greater victories may be won tomorrow, they will be useless.

Or, worse, they will give aid and comfort to the enemy. And thus must be considered, in their indirect way, among our enemies themselves. Little Trumps, in other words, or MAGAs in mufti, lacking only the red hats, and the ridiculous yellow flags with snakes. 

Gold Rush!

Just in case you’re interested in such things, Gold is booming. Its price has been on the rise for weeks now. Or to put it another way, the value of the US dollar has gone down in relation to the yellow metal.

Why? Well, now, isn’t it obvious? Trump and Musk and co. came along with their “reforms” and “cost cutting measures” and began the happy process of screwing up the American economy. Investors are fleeing currencies (particularly the dollar) and stocks (particularly American stocks) for gold, whose value is something you can count on.

Let’s stress that again. Gold. Not cryptocurrency. Not the dollar. Gold.

So, gee, thanks, Trumpsters. You’ve managed to bring home to us all where real value is to be found. And, guess what? It isn’t in Trumpcoin…or anything like it. 

 

4D Chess, Occam’s Razor, and the April Fool

So there was recently an interesting article in the Atlantic, The Wild Trump Theory Making the Rounds on Wall Street: QAnon for tariffs by Rogé Karma. In it, Mr. Karma notes that among Wall Street insiders, there is a weird conspiracy theory circulating that Trump’s apparently insane antics about tariffs are actually planned and highly rational. The idea is that Trump is using his clownish behavior to drive other nations toward an agreement by which America would profit greatly. 

Mr. Karma is not impressed by the theory and suspects that Trump’s clownishness is the result of his being just, well, a clown.

I tend to follow Karma’s lead on this. Though, you always do wonder, could there really be more here than meets the eye. Could Trump actually be a brilliant tactician who’s just playing the fool to lure his enemies to their doom? It is certainly what his supporters have said many times in the past. They imply that he’s playing 4D chess and simply looking like he’s a nutcase. And you have to admit, so far Trump’s been far more successful than he has any right to be.

Upon reflection, though, I think that we can dispense with the theory that he’s a genius in disguise. Occam’s Razor suggests that the simplest explanation is often the right one, and so if a person appears to be a raging, narcissistic idiot…well, then…that is probably what he is.

Or, to put it another way, this particular April Fool is just exactly that. I.e., a fool, in April or any other month.

But What Is Schumer For?

So I read in Axios that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has launched a charm campaign to regain the trust and respect of Democratic Voters everywhere. According to the article, Inside Chuck Schumer's March survival plan, by Hans Nichols and Stephen Neukam, Senator Schumer is reaching out to supporters and critics alike to prove to them that he is tough enough to take on Trump/Musk and really fight for the Party’s values.

The question is, why bother? First, that’s because very few will believe him. His failure to oppose the GOP-crafted funding bill looks incredibly bad to everyone. And it’s hard to think that he’ll somehow now take off the cufflinks and put on the brass knuckles.

Second, he really doesn’t need to do anything. According to the article, he is in no real danger of being removed from his position. Senate Democrats see no alternative to him. And, while Democrats nation-wide may be appalled at his failure to get into the ring and really fight it out, his constituents will probably vote for him again and again, regardless of what he does or doesn’t do.

But maybe that’s the real issue here. The average Democrat in the street is angry. He/she wants to see his/her party get out there and Stop Trump/Musk now! While there’s still time…and while we still have something like a democracy.

The fact that the Party’s leadership can and does remain inert when the times desperately call for action…and yet face no consequences…is terrifying.

Perhaps the single greatest lesson we can learn from this benighted age is that somehow… somehow!...the barriers between the voters and the Party Leadership must come down.

Or we will face dangers beyond imagining. 

Ms. Vivian Jenna Wilson…and America

I’m not normally a big reader of TeenVogue, but the most recent issue contains an article of real importance to us all, Vivian Jenna Wilson on Being Elon Musk’s Estranged Daughter, Protecting Trans Youth and Taking on the Right Online, by Ella Yurman with Photography by Andy Jackson. In it, Ms. Wilson comes across as an intelligent, thoughtful, assertive, and attractive young person of whom any normal dad would be proud. 

Except, of course, she is Elon Musk’s daughter, and Voorsitter (look it up) Musk is anything but a normal father. He has famously rejected her and says that she was “killed by the woke mind virus.”

One wonders how dreadfully hard it was (and is) to be his child. But there's a larger issue here, of course. Her Dad is now everyone’s Dad. That is, he is President or Co-President or CEO or Voorsitter or whatever for the whole country. Meaning that his attitudes and activities impact us all.

Which makes this article and interview with Ms. Wilson particularly important. It gives some insight into who Elon is and what he might do.

And, alas, unlike his daughter, we cannot fly to Japan to escape him.

Voorsitter Musk

Elon Musk is now either running the American government or trying very hard to do so. He seems to be calling the shots at the White House while his nominal boss heads out for another round of golf. 

But the question is, what do we call him? Co-President Musk? Prime Minister Musk? Grand High Poobah Musk? It’s a puzzle.

I, however, have a suggestion. Let’s call him Voorsitter Musk. That’s Afrikaans for “Chairman.” It’s from the Dutch voorzitter, which means the same thing.

I think Voorsitter would make a great title for our fearless leader. For one thing, Elon Musk is not of Afrikkans-descent, but he is of South African origin, and so there is a nice continuity there. And, besides, he just looks like a Voorsitter, don’t you think?

Oh, and if you added an “h” in just the right place…

Well, you get the point.

~mjt