“Chronicle of a Death Foretold”
Because titles aren’t subject to copyright, I’m stealing Garcia Marquez’s title from his novella (“Cronica de una Muerte Anunciada” in the Spanish original, the version I read). It seems appropriate to describe the situation in American politics this election year. The American political system is on its deathbed, many factions are responsible for the attempted murder, and I foretold that many times in these pages. Yeah, that’s flagrant pessimism and paranoia. But you know the adage about paranoia, and this situation is horribly real.
Let’s take the 2016 presidency first because many things hinge on the campaign results (not that they matter much in general, only in the details). On one hand, you have a tired old banshee and her philandering husband who want to continue their dynasty. They seem to be successful at collecting the delegates and are the favorites of the Democratic establishment. Their success is largely attributable to pandering to minorities, Blacks in particular, especially in the old South. Because minorities are known to vote against their own interests, the Clintons are on a roll.
On the other hand, you have a narcissistic and fascist demagogue whose solution for every problem is attack, attack, attack, whether verbally or with physical force. Because he’s confronting such a weak field of GOP candidates in the primaries, he has steamrollered almost all of them and is successfully bullying his way to the nomination. He’s strong in the South too, by the way, because the GOP is always strong in the South.
One party, the GOP, is ripping itself apart. The party’s establishment doesn’t know what to do with Trump. They send Mitt the Twit after him—no success yet (that much was foretold too—he is a loser). They make little Marco go down into the gutter to serve as their attack dog—no success (I thought that might happen too—Marco can’t even do his job in the Senate). They pour millions into attack ads in Florida—no success (exactly the contrary, because Trump has gained more steam). Like Hitler, Trump is the king of Teflon. Kasich won Ohio. He always wins Ohio, in spite of destroying his state (his party doesn’t like his Medicaid efforts and local communities don’t like his state-wide tax cutting and passing the bills due to them). And Kasich has no mathematical chance of winning the nomination. A brokered convention (let’s call it what it is) will complete the destruction of the party.
But the Dems are ripping themselves apart too. In this case, the establishment is winning. The Old Guard will be in control, so business as usual can continue. That means no change, folks! If I were Bernie and his supporters, I’d tell the party to go to hell and begin building a third party, a truly progressive party, one that doesn’t sell out to the one-percenters of this country, one where single-payer healthcare is a party plank, and one that adheres to most of the other progressive domestic policies Bernie is proposing. And old banshee Hillary should never expect all those Bernie supporters to support her. Why would they? She offers nothing to them, only more of the same.
But let’s not forget Congress. Trump has already met with McConnell. He has said that the Senate’s anti-constitutional criminals should NOT approve an Obama SCOTUS candidate. Of course he’s for that. He expects the GOP to name three or four justices, so why not another one? Clinton has said that Sanders won’t be able to get anything done with a hostile Congress. Probably not, but either will she, so the argument’s vacuous. This Congress has been a do-nothing Congress for six of the eight years of the Obama administration, and even during Obama’s first two years, it was obstructionist and dysfunctional. The worst case scenario? It becomes more obstructionist and fascist as a Trump landslide carries new demagogues to Washington. I can see senators and representatives packing heat in those hallowed halls.
The best case scenario? Business as usual; no change. Clinton will never win in a landslide and carry new Dems into Congress. In fact, Trump will beat her in the South, and she’s a weak candidate everywhere else, so she certainly wouldn’t create any change in the makeup in Congress. She might even make a few Dem candidates lose their seats because she’s a flawed and toxic candidate, so hitching their star to her could take them down. A lot of people don’t trust the Clintons. They might choose her as the lesser of two evils, but that doesn’t help congressional candidates. And I can see Billy Boy creating his own private bordello with Hillary’s interns. Sex on the White House kitchen table top—erotica is today’s menu choice.
Finally, let’s consider the Supreme Court. While there’s not much chance that Congress is strong, fascist, or stupid enough to kill SCOTUS’s power like the bill before the Kansas legislature where the latter gives themselves the right to overturn any state Supreme Court decision, SCOTUS runs the risk of becoming a rubber stamp for either party, depending on who wins the presidency. Clinton v. Senate in one case might make the media happy—they seem to enjoy a full-fledged circus (Trump has received a lot of free publicity). Or SCOTUS in Trump’s pocket? Those seem to be the choices. In any case, chances are good that every progressive gain achieved in the last fifty years will be thrown into the trash bin of history. Same-sex marriage—kiss it goodbye. Women’s reproductive rights—sayonara. Citizens United? It will only get worse. Healthcare for all? How ‘bout healthcare for no one?
You’re probably saying this is a lot of progressive, pessimistic schlock. “It won’t be that bad,” you say. You’re right. It won’t be that bad. It will be worse. At least Indiana Jones’s Temple of Doom was just a movie. Our future is a doomsday scenario with us and possibly the rest of the world going up in dysfunctional flames. Maybe all the Rapture believers and rabid hawks will be happy as Trump gives the command to start the nuclear war? That way we can take down the rest of the world with us. Talk about collateral damage! Global firestorm instead of global warming—now that’s being progressive.
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Like sci-fi thrills and conspiracies? Have you tried the “Clones and Mutants Trilogy”? The clones make their appearance in Full Medical, they combine forces with the mutant in Evil Agenda, and they save the world in No Amber Waves of Grain. These aren’t comic book characters like X-Men—they’re real people who try to halt a dystopian future. Available in all ebook formats.
And so it goes…
