Democrats are Professional Losers

I heard Michael Moore once say this, "Democrats are professional losers." In light of recent events, I'd have to agree. Let me explain before you cast me off as a disgruntled Bernie Bro. There is no doubt in my mind the powers that be in the Democratic Party threw all of their weight (and I'm sure a few dollars as well) behind Joe Biden. Why? Bernie Sanders offers a more left stance on many major issues. For most of my lifetime we have drifted further right because our distinctly American Oligarchs want it that way. They have long paid the bills for our shit show attempt at democracy. Any small amount of democracy left was power-washed away with Citizens United. It is so bad companies pay for regulations they write to become law so they can go on TV and say we are regulated! The Democratic Party has been bought right along side their Republican friends. Remember when Republicans used to like things like good roads, schools and even Social Security? The pro-business party knew such things were necessary to keep an economy going. Now pro business means no regulations, no accountability and this quarter's bottom line. The democrats are much the same way but without the religious, homophobic, xenophobic science denying tendencies. Democrats pretend to be your friends while rummaging through your pockets to steal whatever is left.

We live in a time of grave, clear and present dangers. Climate change / ecological collapse, nuclear proliferation, a rising tide of nationalism / fascism. Yet we cower clinging to the familiar same ole politics of moderation and compromise. Which turns out to be neither. Was Obama's drone bombing really any more moderate than Trump's kids in cages? Was Hillary (I never met a war I did not like) Clinton the great compromise we needed in the face of Trump and his brand of self-worship and national nihilism? Yet here we are four years later with Joe Biden and his brand of moderation. "Hey Republican friends and banker / finance cronies, I want to cut Social Security too!" Yes, it's natural to fear change. But things are going to change.

Continuing down the path of business as usual is NOT sustainable. I think we have waited too long already and our inability to accept reality is going to hurt a lot more then it would have otherwise. Had we taken President Carter's example of putting solar panels on the White House and ran with it how far along a better road could we now be? But Nope. Democrats ran a moderate / compromise candidate and we got eight years of Ronnie RayGun! Bill Clinton and Barack Obama broke this pattern only reveled  to be status quo protectors while in office. Trump won because he was not in this club. (That's how his supporters see him to this day.) Oh, and a little thing called the Electoral College that can give the office to the candidate with the second most votes. You Go Greatest Democracy in the World! We are headed for a crash into the side of a granite mountain called reality. Instead of slowing down, we are accelerating. This is going to hurt.                         

Trump is Gonna Trump

Well here we are on the verge of a worldwide pandemic. What's Emperor Donald going to do? Pass the buck to Vice President Mike "No Science" Pence. Yup, he put that guy in charge of our response. And Trump is going to tell us everything is under control with vaccines just around the corner. Of course thy are, right? Right. The dearly beloved stock market is taking a hit and this is all The Donald cares about. He measures himself according to this number which is another absurdity of American politics. Does the President actually have anything to do with the national or international economy? The economy runs in bust boom cycles no matter which clown car party is in the White House at the moment. Yet both parties take credit when little is due and blame the other when things are bad. Getting off topic... Maybe that rant another time. Microbes are an old foe. We are better at fighting them but never defeat them completely.

All the aircraft carriers, fighter planes and tanks are useless in a war with microbes. Bad microbes come around from time to time to change history. Ask the Europeans about The Black Plague or Native Americans about diseases of the old world. It is unlikely that Coronavirus will be anything like these two killers but it may still me a history changer. These things have to run their course and at best we can hope to slow them down some. It may change the outcome of an election or two if it disrupts the world economy. This is not a Hollywood Movie or Stephen King Novel so don't run off to your bunker just yet. Humanity has always faced deadly microbes and we are still here. Just maybe it will make us reconsider our priorities? Probably not. There is too much money in war machines and war making.

Trump is going to do what he does best finger point, blame others and stoke fears. We have the CDC and other related agencies for a reason. Were budget cuts a god idea really? Big Daddy Putin in Moscow has no answers. A bunch of "Yes" people is useless. Insert miracle is never a good answer to a scientific problem. Sorry if that offends you. That's not even the saddest part. What's even more sad is a full third of this country will follow him right off the cliff of science denial and economic delusions. Sooner or later such a leader faces his downfall. Trump will face his but what will be the cost to the rest of us in the meantime?                     

The Long Apocalypse

 William Gibson on the apocalypse: “it’s been happening for at least 100 years”

Are we living the apocalypse out? What if it is not one very bad day for humanity but rather an on going event? I guess we could adjust the start date a little, say the start of the First World War. That sets the stage for the next hundred years or so. Perhaps like markets, life is also self correcting? But with different time scales. Read the article and see what you think.