I had not realized that I missed last Thursday.. and then remembered that it was Thanksgiving and family was here, airport runs were made, too much food was eaten... so I am forgiving myself (it's handy to be able to give yourself that grace).
And now, back to the news. In a near-perfect demonstration of how American politics has descended into performance art over any semblance of substance, George Santos was voted out of the House today. Any Americans paying attention must have found this circus quite entertaining, beyond any wild plot Hollywood could write (now that screen writers can do that again).
New York voters were bamboozled by his brazen lies and must now feel chastened. Perhaps someone in the news media or even the political party hierarchy should take a look at all candidates running in the 2024 elections, just to, you know, avoid the most blatant grifters and charlatans.
I know. How naive of me. The House and Senate are full of grifters and perhaps always have been. But Santos created a basic standard that no one should squeeze under.
That it took 11 months to eject this joker from the House of Representatives is what I mean by voters and politicians abandoning any interest in good legislation and providing complex protections for our 330 million citizens.
This criticism does NOT apply to both parties equally, at least in the current climate, with Republicans continuing to cling to a fat, slimy old man who proudly declares that he will "rule" over the country in any way he sees fit should he be elected next November.
President Biden is not engaging in showboating and performance and is taking all sorts of hits for that choice. He doesn't make for good TV and rarely shares something alarming on social media. The economy is the envy of the rest of the world right now, as we seem to be balancing somewhat higher inflation with avoiding a recession after the pandemic.
The price of a gallon of gas, for instance, has decreased daily for nearly two months, but you would be hard-pressed to find headlines about that. Apparently, many of our fellow citizens will only be satisfied if prices for gas returned to 40 cents a gallon... the definition of wishful thinking.
What Americans most want is MORE... particularly those who have quite a bit.
Many Democrats say they can't support Biden in 2024 because he hasn't managed to stop all killing in Gaza while eliminated Hamas as an organization and creating a Palestinian state by the end of the year. That means that some of our most progressive neighbors have decided to defend (sometimes violently) a foreign state that is opposed to nearly every progressive value they support, from women's rights to free expression to academic freedom.
Long live Hamas!
I guess it's the right of each American to be a dumb ass (I reserve that right for myself, of course). Maybe we deserve the coming spectacle of Democrats and independents sitting out a presidential election or wasting their vote on some aged Third Party politicians (and they are all ancient) who will likely hand the Electoral College to a doddering fool who fancies himself a savior of the nation.
Perhaps when Trump becomes de facto emperor in early 2025, THAT might be the shock to waken the population to their failure to be an informed citizenry and members of what we have long bragged was society's "best hope."
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