Crazy, Stupid, or Just Plain Dishonest?

Ron Johnson, U. S. Senator from Wisconsin, has gone on national TV advancing the crackpot theory that the mob attacking the U. S. Capitol on January 6 was a false flag operation. The attackers, according to Johnson, were left-wing agitators impersonating Trump supporters. He spouted this idiocy in the full knowledge that the rioters had posted photos, selfies, and videos of themselves to social media accompanied by their boasting.

Even without the evidence just cited, why would left-wingers attempt to stop the inauguration of their chosen candidate, Joe Biden, who indisputably won the November election? The whole idea is preposterous.

 

Pence’s Faustian Bargain

I just finished reading a sympathetic article in The Guardian by Sydney Blumenthal on former vice president Mike Pence.

Rejected by the Trumpist part of the Republican party, with no political future, I suspect that Pence is finally being forced to deal with the Faustian bargain he entered into a little over four years ago. While I don’t expect him to have read Goethe’s Faust, I believe he may now be getting an inkling of what it means to make a deal with the Devil.

Pence, from his newsletters as US representative and his behavior as vice president, doesn’t seem to be a reflective person. In fact, he comes across as an inflexible religious fundamentalist, incapable of deep reflection. There is little room for reflection when you already know the absolute truth.

If I knew his mailing address, I would send him a copy of Faust as a gift, with the suggestion that he read Part 1 at a minimum, because it explores the meaning of a Faustian bargain and its usual infernal outcome. If he cannot see himself in light of Goethe’s hero, he is hopeless.

A Disheartening Process, Beginning With Ronald Reagan

Since 1981-01-20 when Ronald Reagan became president, subsequent administrations and legislatures have implemented neoliberal policies. In doing so, they have prepared the ground for Donald Trump to sow dragons’ teeth. All this time, the power elite has been promising the American people that their economic distress and the growth of inequality would eventually work for the benefit of everyone. They lied. Their promise of shared prosperity was a cynical ploy to persuade the average person to go along with policies that made wealth flow upward. Anyone who makes a cursory examination of the US Census  records will see inequality rising from Reagan’s first year in office.

Observing this process has been disheartening. It could only result in economic, social, environmental, and political disaster. The only surprise is that all four are happening simultaneously: recession, the disintegration of society, global warming, and a government captured by an irresponsible and short-sighted oligarchy.

I wager that President Joe Biden, an elderly politician with the best of intentions, will attempt to enact economic reforms, but because of his lack of insight, imagination, economic expertise, and political support, will fail to turn the ship of state out of its present course toward disaster.