2024 is halfway done. I have not managed to post a thing since the new year. I even forgot to put together a baseball post. I have studiously avoided talking about politics because there is nothing more depressing on the planet. I can't really duck it, though, can I.
Today, the supreme court declared that a president is immune from prosecution for anything done in an official capacity. This is an absurd and plainly lawless decision. It is dangerous and ugly - an invitation for politicians to crack down on their political opponents without fear of accountability. I suppose they could still lose the next election - though that gets harder, when the president has unlimited power. And makes the "next election" that much more likely to turn into the "next coup." This is a reminder, by the way, that bad as Trump has been, it was Mitch McConnell who really overturned democracy in America. Refusing to allow hearings on the open court seat in 2016 was basically a coup itself - undoing the functions of government. His actions have borne fruit.
There is a lot to say about politics; but everyone is saying it. I don't know what I have to add. Vote for Joe Biden; vote for Democrats, in every election, in every context. What else is there? I mean, before the shit hits the fan. But winning elections lowers the odds of catastrophe. So try that first.
I could say something about Joe Biden - apparently, he is old. It is strange that this is such an issue, though - of course he is old, but he has done the job without any real hitches. Meanwhile, the guy he's running against is a convicted criminal, a traitor, who keeps threatening to lock people up for opposing him and - all this between rambling on about batteries and sharks. It is strange. Though maybe not that strange. I think the asymmetry between how the candidates are treated comes down to this: Democrats are expected to govern. We expect Joe Biden to govern. We want him to be up to the job. The media expects him to govern. Everyone does. So they assess him based on his perceived competence.
Donald Trump, on the other hand - no one takes him seriously. That doesn't make him less terrifying - but we all know that he is not there to govern, or even to rule. As president he will be after what he is always after: getting his fat mug on TV, blathering away on whatever platform he has access to; acting the fool; and looking for the next grift. He is still dangerous because his act requires him to attack people, to stir up his chumps, to create mobs to go after people. And - because he is a racist misogynist bully and likes to inflict pain. So he will fuck things up. But he will not be very good at it. He won't do anything that requires effort and discipline. He will rant and rave and hope the people around him carry out his ideas. This is known - it doesn't matter if he is a drug addled idiot; he will act the same no matter what.
And behind the scenes, the Mitch McConnell types will continue to pack the courts and use them to plunder the country, to give corporations free rein to suck everything they can out of the world before it all crashes and burns. They have done this far more effectively than Trump - and will continue. Trump, in this case, serves as a face, a distraction, an excuse, to do what they want. They look at him with contempt - I think that's pretty obvious - a useful idiot who gives them cover to do real harm.
Not that there's any comfort in any of that. They do real harm; and he can do real harm, even if he won't lift a finger. He'll push for evil policies, and the GOP will go along, to get what they want; and democracy will die on the vine - or force an open confrontation. Not good.
So vote for those Democrats, keep prosecuting the criminals, keep pushing for better policies, and do what you can to cut this trend off now.
Yeah. We'll see.
