Communique 11-13-2020 "Getting Rid of The Old Bald & Change
By Philip Drucker
I don’t know how many of you know this but I ran in 2012 for California State Senator, 28th District. It was lilt old outsider me running on the Democratic ticket against three well-heeled Republicans in a district that at the time leaned very heavily to the red side of the spectrum. I fought the good fight only to come in fourth place, out of the running for the general election by roughly 1,200 votes, the winner eventually needing a total of over 40,000. What was the lesson learned? Money may not be able to buy love, but a million or so dollars spent on a statewide campaign comes in handy, money of course I did not have.
Once the campaign was over, I did emerge with a much clearer picture of all things political and the post Citizens’ United partisan patronage & propaganda if not full out falsehoods and lies campaign process that we still charmingly call free and fair elections decided by the people. It was right before the full-on madness of the no longer silent MAGA lemming masses took hold and it was not a pretty sight watching the world digress all around you into a battle for who could promise the most attractive cliff from which to plunge.
It would be several years before the depths of how low this group of “look at me I can vote for the guy who says out loud what I am thinking” cowards or cretins, or both take your choice, put into the White House the singular person in the United States who is manifestly unfit for the job raised their ugly, racist, anti-immigrant, deal with it attitudes began to unravel our country into the mess it is today. Bless their little flat earth addled fact free heads.
Today I find myself in the odd position of writing about political matters as if I actually like politics and politicians. I don’t. Oh, once in a while a politician of some honor, merit and the backbone to buck the system and get something done emerges, but I feel on very safe ground stating the average politician’s shelf life is about two years before they forget about the people who put them into office and are off to bigger and better things, whatever that means, at the end of which is hopefully a cushy job as an on-air commentator who now has the luxury of telling everyone else what they did wrong.
I think all of us with functioning synapses and are willing to use them can only conclude the last few years have been an unmitigated disaster on both sides. Until recently, it’s been let down after disappointment leading to the near complete degradation and near destruction of democracy, all so some ex-television reality star with some serious mental health issues could try to curry favors with various dictators around the world as in all likelihood was to get a Trump Tower in every repressive state world capital. I understand there are some very nice pristine beach front properties in North Korea just waiting to be developed.
Am I excited about the prospects for a Biden/Harris administration? Of course, but somehow the argument we are better off without Trump, true as it may be, has only so much appeal. We need representatives who will not only talk about respecting the will of the people, but doing what is necessary to see that our will, We the People, be done.
It is this that keeps me so keenly interested in politics. The idea of democracy, a nation of, by, and for the people. The ideal that left to ourselves we will invariably make the best decisions for us.
This is an important distinction that must be accounted for as we deal with the few straggling MAGA supporters who don’t seem to know the difference between their now slapped silly asses and a rabbit hole in the ground. Namely, they have no interest in democratic rule of values and clearly, prefer to be told what to think, say and do no matter how inconsistent with reality that may be.
These are the personality types who will follow whoever is willing to lead, as long as they hate the same people as they do. Shared hatred is a powerful and hard to break chain that can spread like wildfire through the roots of the uneducated all the way up to the top of the flirting with fascism for fashion’s sake crowd.
For those who were watching, we’ve now seen this unfortunate display of political suicide for ourselves. If history can guide us, when the soft white underbelly of less than desirable human beings get their fires lit, these misguided campfires of flummoxed and far from famous flames burn bright and fast, for a while anyway. Then without additional hatred to feed the fire, the blaze dies out quickly, with the remaining embers disappearing one by one, each time a vote is cast for the other side. Still don’t think your vote counts? We need more firemen, don’t you think?
When are we going to be done with Trump? How about right now? How about as I have been saying for years he works for us and with this blowout landslide victory for We, the People, why not terminate him now? Hasta how long do you think you can hold onto Mar-a-Lago baby?
Why not head home for the holidays, and then never come back? How about we change the locks on the White House doors and shut them behind him? Can we change our phone number? Can we all take out a restraining order against any further acts of bad governance and judgment?
How is it everyone seems to know what to do after breaking up with a narcissist except this time? Isn’t it time we break some chain, chain, chain, of fools? Isn’t it in essence freedom from the chains and shackles of a minority of a minority backed by cash we wish to break free of? Isn’t the Covid-19 virus nothing more than a chain of misery spread from idiot to idiot with not even a second thought for the safety of anyone else?
But here’s the good news. We have an even bigger and better chain with which to fight off the bondage we still find ourselves in. Isn’t democracy a virus spreading among the majority one vote at a time? We will never build a perfect union. But what we can build is a better one and for me, that means one responsive to the will and voices of the American people.
Does this mean some disgruntled voters will ultimately be disappointed when we force affordable, adequate healthcare with no exceptions for pre-conditions upon them? Will some minority mistaken and easily shaken not stirred stakeholders who are afraid we are going to stand up for their rights to retire in dignity by protecting their social security call us socialists and several other terms they don’t actually understand the meaning of if not Nazis as the Nazis used the word “socialist” in their name where “nationalist” would have been far closer to the mark, continue to throw around the baseless assertions that we are ruining the American way of life? By taking care of them when they are old, sick and dying? Boohoo, right?
The point of all this? I know that regardless of what “havoc” Trump and his crew of Krusty the Clowns may try to cause on their way out the service door in the back and into an endless sea of indictments, criminal prosecutions, lawsuits, unpaid debts collection, forfeitures and forced sales and yes, jail time, I will always put my faith in the American people.
We defeated a king. We defeated an empire (War of 1812). We defeated a band of traitors who insisted on practicing slavery as a birthright. We defeated an Axis of Evil far more dangerous than anything we face today. As for today? I’m not positive how history will portray the Trump years. Not kindly, to be sure. An era where America did a fancy two-step with fascism, but saved the last dance for freedom and democracy? Riddle me this, when is a presidency not a presidency? If not what would you call the moron in the Oval Office calling the shots for his own personal gain and nothing more?
What will we call his extended crime family? Don Jr. seems a lock for the stupid and incompetent son, but then there’s Eric the Dumb. Oh, I could go on, but the real question is how soon can we get rid of them? Is exile too good for this lot? Will we forgive and forget this now roving gypsy band of national security threats who would without hesitation sell whatever information they have to the highest bidder? Or a trademark or two? Or a Tower in Moscow or Saudi Arabia, or Turkey with or without cranberry sauce on the side?
Whatever we do, can we do it by Thanksgiving so we can all have a calm, peaceful and joyous holiday served up with a slice of pumpkin pie? Safe and secure in the knowledge this nightmare of a presidency is never to be repeated again? We have the power. It has always been ours and it is only when we forget we have the keys that the locomotive goes off the rails and generates a million of train wreck themed memes. That’s the power of Twitter for you.
When we pull together as one We, the People are unstoppable. Unstoppable in our quest of fairness and equality under the law. Where opportunity for all means for all. Each of us going as far as our individual strength and ingenuity can take us. This is the America I know and love where We, the People are large and in charge.
So, fellow American, let’s flex our political muscles and identify what is OUR agenda for the first 100 days of the Biden/Harris Administration? Covid-19, universal healthcare, presidential crimes commission, comprehensive immigration reform all come to mind. As I mentioned above, other than not too kindly, I do not have a bead on how the Trump administration will eventually be remembered, but I do hope the next four, eight, twelve, years will be remembered as the People’s time. The time that truly, We, the People defeated a fascist dictator one post, one tweet and one vote at a time. Our country. Our turn. Our time. Now let’s go out and make it so. You in?
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