streaming consciousness…

Karma, Tr*mp and the 2016 Election…

My wife says Donald Trump reminds her of Mandarin ducks, not just the hair, but the personality.  Myself, I was thinking more like Peking duck.  What do you think?  Ni hao. Ni hao ma?

The Repubs brought this on themselves, of course, this ‘theatre of the absurd’ style of politics that now has brought celebrity mogul Donald Trump to the brink of the Republican nomination for President. This has its origins in the obstructionist tactics that even mainstream Republicans used to inflict their inherent racism upon the country for the last seven years, offended that a black man could be smarter than the lot of them, and without even trying, they holding on to the politics of the Wild Wild South, negroes ‘wanted dead or alive’, frustrating Obama at every move simply because he’s a black man…

In a way, Trump’s the perfect payback for the a$$hole treatment that the Repubs have exhibited over the last seven years, during which not only was racism not overcome, but was in fact doubled down. The question now is whether the Democrats will take advantage of this opportunity, or whether they instead will take the bait and succumb to the same level of absurdity, throwing caution to the wind in favor of long-pent-up desires and agendas. With Trump at the helm, Dems should be able to waltz to the Prez, and maybe pick up a house of Congress to boot. But will they?

Just when Democratic solidarity could be the perfect antidote (anecdote?) for Republican fragmented extremism, the ghost of Christmases past raises its head in the form of Bernard Sanders and his legions of hardheaded minions determined to Feel the Bern or Bust. But is this the time to press our luck just when there is so much at stake and so much to gain, willing to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory simply for the sake of passion?

I like Bernie, but I think he’s guilty of a certain sleight of hand, too. For one thing: he’s not so progressive. “Break up the banks” sounds a whole lot more like 1916 than 2016. I’ve heard almost nothing about the climate and environment, THE pressing issue of our time. For another: “equalizing income” is easier said than done, accomplished incrementally at best, and could come at some cost to the traditional Wild West-style US economy, with its reliance on wheeling and dealing for its ultimate performance. This is NOT Europe—nor China.

Then there’s the fact that for all his supposed purity and authenticity, Bernie’s team is guilty of much of the same tactics that they accuse Hillary of: monopolizing the media. In Hillary’s case, of course, that’s the ‘mainstream’ media, and a highly debatable point, so Sander’s team blatantly monopolize the ‘alternative’ media, whether by design or intent. Huffington Post, once the social media stalwart, is so biased that I don’t even read them any more, they like Bernie’s PR team, and many others are no better. In fact, even the mainstream media seems to be bending over backward to be fair to Bernie.

When Bernie won New Hampshire by over twenty percent, we heard about it endlessly, both the fact and the margin. When Hillary trounced Bernie in South Carolina last Saturday, the almost-fifty-percent margin has barely been mentioned. Some of Bernie’s true believers can be bullheaded to the point of bullying, too, and black-hearted to the point of blackmail, threatening—in advance—to boycott any election that doesn’t include the Bernster (cue melody to “It’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to”)…

I’ve never heard a Hillary supporter say a bad thing about Bernie, in fact, but that’s pretty much ALL the Berners do—diss Hillary, so much so that they sound almost Republican, another debatable point, according to several sources (but impolite to mention to the true believers). Mostly, though: the idea that the USA is ripe for socialist revolution is absurd beyond belief. I wish so—really.

So today is Super Tuesday, and the direction of the election may soon be known. I’m glad Hillary’s had no easy ride, to be honest, but let’s keep our eye on the ball here (the perfect ticket would be Hillary AND Bernie, of course).  We are all part of this convoluted corrupt cynical economy—capitalist by default. No one has much right to be judgmental about it. I don’t see Bernie doing any tour of all the self-sufficient communes and ‘intentional communities’. Wonder why? That’s next year.

So quit hassling Hillary for making money. Work’s work. Where you get your money and where you put it are two different things. So let’s defeat that disgusting pig Trump. That’s what’s important. And I’ve got news for you, Lindsey Graham: your party went ‘batshit crazy’ long ago. And now I’d like to thank the Academy (I swear I’m retiring from politics when this election is over)…