“No one in this world, so far as I know…has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”
“As democracy is perfected, the [President of the United States] represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
H.L. Mencken is always the go to guy when you're looking for high sounding quotes calling people dumb-asses. He missed by 60 years living to see this second prophecy come true.
When I decided to try a blog about American politics in the age of the White House's resident imbecile and his cult my intent was just getting my thoughts down somewhere other than Facebook. At the time it was the only way I could think of to oppose the Stable Genius from where I sit outside the United States. Besides, my wife was sick of listening to me and it this seemed the best way to vent. It became apparent fairly quickly this shit-storm was going to be overwhelming and it was uncertain whether my sanity could come out the other side intact. Now I just want to keep a record of how one American feels as he watches from across the Atlantic as the country I love comes apart at the seams.
As I write this, my wife and I are riding out the state ordered confinement against Covid-19 pandemic at our home in southwest France. The longer this nightmare in the States goes on, the happier I am to be living outside the US. Today I read an essay in The Atlantic by George Packer, entitled "We Are Living In a Failed State." Read it. It's depressing but if the United States is to survive it's going to take the complete defeat and total destruction of the Republican party coupled with the same for Fox News and the extreme right wing media echo chamber. Simple, right?
When my wife and I decided to spend our retirement overseas it was always in the back of our minds we'd probably come back the States at some point. It's becoming more difficult to imagine, now. I don't see how we come back from all the damage wrought by Tariff Man and his cult. Even after he's gone (this November, I hope) it's looking increasingly likely the US might be irretrievably broken.
That we're still talking like the Stable Genius' re-election is even a remote possibility is an indication of how far gone we are. Three and a half years of incompetence and lies yet the numbers have remained more or less stable. Three and a half years of chaos and mis-management and still almost half the country thinks the B-list celebrity from Queens is just swell. From the beginning the media's emphasis has been that the Contractor Stiffer's approval rating has been historically low and never above 50 percent. But while it's made the occasional dip in to the high 30s, it hovered consistently into the 40 to 45 percent range. And when this pandemic broke it actually took a bump upward despite the fact the White House Troll and his minons repeatedly called it a hoax or minimized the threat. 2016 revealed the American voter to be a frightening ignoramus that could no longer be trusted to do the right thing, if they ever could. And thanks to them the United States is now an oligarchy and de facto theocracy run by filthy-rich incompetents at the highest level who are nonetheless managing to systematically dismantle the federal government while packing the courts with right-wing ideologues.
Sometime during the run up to the 2016 election, I can recall telling my wife, "You know, on some level I almost hope he wins. Then one way or the other we'll find out what kind of a country we are." While the jury's still out, the future is not looking rosy.
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