I was reminded this morning why I’d lost interest in politics and the news during Obama. It wasn’t that I was actually disinterested, it was that no matter what, there was almost zero serious discussion about anything Obama or his minions did. Anything and everything was amazing and just wonderful. That makes me suspicious. No president, administration, politician, or government is wonderful and amazing all the time.
Just as it is untrue that anything and everything Trump did for the past four years according to the media, was; wrong, evil, bad, racist, or whatever negative descriptive you can think of.
Then I remembered the movie Protocol with Goldie Hawn. I’ll be digging it out of the library later today.
Just thinking about it made me smile, and I could use a laugh or two.
I honestly don’t give a runny crap about who is in power. But I absolutely care about fair play, and politicians that actually work for the people.
I don’t believe that we have either now and doubt seriously that we’re getting fair and accurate news reporting about the goings on in Washington DC.
It’s the imbalance in reporting that makes me question. Now that we don’t have a President that the media can target, the Media and many of the politicians have switched to targeting anyone who disagrees with the prevailing narrative, or who supported the former President.
This is not a hallmark of a democratic republic. It’s a hallmark of a totalitarian state.
I’d stopped watching the goings on in Washington during the last four years of Obama. Every time I sat down to watch the Obama press conferences or state of the union I found myself having far more questions than were answered. I found that I fundamentally disagreed with the direction then President Obama was taking the country.
Apparently so did many in congress which led to nothing but wasted time and money because nothing was getting done. I was very displeased with Obama’s use of executive orders because it felt very much like he was a King, not an American President.
To be fair Trump also used executive orders, but not the the extent that Obama and now Biden have.
I think we’re in for yet another four years of congressional deadlock and infighting rather than congress doing the job they exist to do. How long can a country survive doing nothing for the people? 12 years? 16 Years? 20 years?
About 1/2 this country no longer believes in voting. Not because Biden won, but because no-one in the courts would even hear the voices of the people upraised in protest.
Last week there was an article in Time magazine that essentially says there was something going on designed to make sure Biden won. Whether this collusion behind the scenes is illegal or not we will probably never know, because the courts will refuse to hear any cases about it.
The article is here. The article could be read to imply that votes don’t actually matter in this country anymore. But that politicians and corporate oligarchs are deciding our fate.
I’ll grant you that American politics is, and always has been a dirty business. That doesn’t mitigate the fact that a very large number of people were demanding answers as is their right and were dismissed like spoiled children from the dinner table.
That was insult enough. But those in power are compounding the insult with what appear to be blatant misuses of their power by continuing to silence all opposition, engaging in what looks a lot like settling vendettas against their enemies.
It hasn’t gone un-noticed that the nation is suddenly calmer, that protests and riots are no longer front page news. Many predicted this would be the case. It’s also worthy to note the SPLC has designated, (and the party in power agrees,) quite a few right leaning groups (note I said leaning, not right wing) as terrorist organizations, but that the groups responsible for billions of dollars in damage in cities nationwide have not earned a similar designation.
It is also interesting that states which had been locked down for COVID are opening up. One could say that is a result of the vaccine, but the timing is somewhat coincidental especially in light of the limited availability of the vaccine itself. Many also predicted this would happen.
I find myself once again wanting to turn a blind eye. But I’ve tried that, hoping that the problem would go away.
It didn’t work
I hoped that the politicians would correct the problem because it’s their job.
They didn’t.
I hoped that my vote still counted.
It didn’t.
I believed that the rule of law still held sway in my country.
It doesn’t
I thought that justice was blind.
It isn’t.
I’m a relatively moderate conservative leaning person. If I’m thinking things like this, I have to wonder what other more disenfranchised people are thinking. I wonder if Germans in pre-Hitler Germany were asking the same questions.
If they were, then along comes Hitler who promises them their place in the world. He promises to restore their national pride, and tells them he will make it happen, and has a plan…
We all know, or should know how that turned out.
Logically I have to ask, “What happens if a gifted orator comes along and manages to speak to the masses of disenfranchised Americans who are asking these same questions?”
Despite what the media pundits said about Trump being Hitler. We can all agree he wasn’t a gifted orator. Neither is Biden or Harris…
But what happens when a really gifted orator comes along?
Somehow I can’t get past the feeling that we’re all sitting on a powder keg and someone is playing with matches.
I can have that opinion, it’s been demonstrated time and again over the past four years that what we feel is true… Actual Facts be damned!
So I’m going to watch Protocol, and perhaps The American President both are sweet comedies and make me smile.