Assessing Democratic Chances

This year's midterm elections will give us an early idea of how the 2028 presidential race will shape up. At the moment, Der Furor's abysmal ratings hint at the possibility of a blue tsunami ... unless, of course, the Democrats manage once again to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

As you know, Dear Readers, I have nothing but disdain and disgust for today's Republican Party, which long ago jettisoned any rational social, economic, and diplomatic policies in exchange for a parade of the most proudly ignorant leaders in our history. For a sadly entertaining history of the party's relentless intellectual decline*, read Andy Borowitz's brilliant Profiles in Ignorance: How America's Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber. 

Yes, the midterms and the 2028 presidential elections are the Democrats' to lose ... unfortunately, past history indicates that they will try hard to do it, in any number of ways. Here are the four big ones I see:

1. Choosing an unelectable candidate. As much as we might wish it were otherwise, a majority of Americans will not vote for a candidate - no matter how spectacularly qualified - who is: (1) female; (2) gay**; (3) not "Christian***;" (4) not white; (5) too old; or (6) any combination of these. The unfortunate truth is that most of the obvious potential Democratic candidates fall into one or more of these categories ... think Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris (female), Pete Buttigieg (gay), Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro (Jewish), Senator Cory Booker (black), and Senator Bernie Sanders (overly long in the tooth).

2. Overexplaining. Most American voters have the attention span of a two-year-old. They are not interested either in detailed histories and explanations of why problems exist or the complicated details of the policies that will fix them. They want simple, comforting slogans - think "Make America Great Again" - and just assume that the desired solutions will follow. Republicans learned long ago that a message that doesn't fit on a foot-wide bumper sticker in a huge and colorful font doesn't sell; Democrats make the mistake of trying to squeeze the finest of fine print onto a smaller sticker. Learn to explain complicated issues in brief terms your audience understands.

3. Ignoring the obvious. It didn't work for Biden and it's not working for Der Furor. Don't deny the truth of what people can see in their daily lives. Affordability is a crisis. Housing (availability and affordability) is a crisis. Health care (availability and affordability) is a crisis. Energy is a crisis, particularly as it's been aggravated by a foolish GOP campaign against renewable sources. Don't tell us everything's fine, tell us what you're going to do to fix the problems we all can see ... and do it in plain, non-wonky English.

4. Advocating programs while ignoring their costs. The answer to a stubborn problem is not always a new program, especially if that program has a hefty price tag and no clear source of funding. Democrats historically have a "tax and spend" approach to issues, as opposed to Republicans, whose approach is "don't tax, but spend anyway." Don't advocate anything without a realistic plan for how you'll fund it, and don't rely simply on new or higher taxes as the basis of that plan. Accept that painful tradeoffs are as  necessary for governments as they are for working class couples at the kitchen table trying to pay the bills.

I could go on, but you get the idea. Republicans (whatever that label means any more) have clearly demonstrated the bankruptcy of their ideas. Democrats must do better. The upcoming elections are theirs to lose.

Have a good day, and think carefully about what sort of future you want to vote for in the midterms and in the presidential election.

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* Don't get your panties in a wad, MAGAts - he roasts the Democrats, too, but for being too intellectual.

** I understand that "gay" does not cover the vast range of sexual self-identification terms that are piling up around us, but it's less cumbersome than "LGBTQIA+. I think you understand my meaning.

*** We can quibble about how much of a "Christian" Der Furor is, but he appeals to MAGA "Christians" because he hates the same people they do.

The USA in Volleyball Jerseys

We spent the Presidents' Day* weekend watching our granddaughter and her team compete in the Capital Hill Volleyball Classic. It was the usual three days of excitement and ear-splitting noise, marked at one point by the high-speed volleyball I took to the side of head that bent my glasses out of shape, ensuring that the action was more of a blur than usual. We cheered our team, ate overpriced concession food, and generally had a good time doing the grandparental thing.

But I was struck by one thing that says a great deal about the America we're losing, despite the empty slogans about making it great again - volleyball jerseys.

Each player wears the team jersey with her number and last name on the back ... and those names say a lot about what the United States of America used to stand for. 

Only in the United States would you see amateur athletes with names representing every conceivable national origin serving together on one team. Irish names, African names, Oriental names, English and German names, Hispanic names, Indian names, Italian names ... you name it**. The players themselves represented a racial color palette that ran from the whitest white to the blackest black, and everything in between - all united in an effort to win the game. And those of us on the sidelines cheered on those players regardless of their name, color, or origin - because we're all part of one team, and we support each other.

And that's what we're losing as Der Furor and his racist and misogynistic followers attempt to reshape the nation into something it was never intended to be.

Just a thought for a sad time, inspired by volleyball jerseys.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* A national holiday set aside each year to honor presidents worth honoring, which eliminates Der Furor right out of the box.

** Sorry.

The MAGA Government Aptitude and Placement Exam

Obtained from a confidential source ...

Thank you for your interest in serving in Musk's Alternative Government for America (MAGA). This MAGA Government Aptitude and Placement Exam will help us evaluate your suitability for employment in the new, rightsized United States Government as established by the Department of Government Efficiency. Please fill in the personal data requested in Part 1, then complete the exam by marking the appropriate answers:

PART 1

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Your Name: _______________________

Your Race:

a. ___ Caucasian

b. ___ Other (Stop here. No positions are available.)

Your Sex (there are only two choices):

a. ___ Male

b. ___ Female (attach photograph)

 

Your Ethnic Background

a. ___ Northern European

b. ___ Shithole Country (Stop here. No positions are available.)

Your Religion:

a. ___ Christian (Trump Bible-observing denominations only)

b. ___ Other (Stop here. No positions are available.)

Do you claim hiring preference as a DEI (Definitely European Individual) candidate?

YES ___ 

NO ___ (Stop here. No positions are available.)

PART 2

SUITABILITY EXAMINATION

1. Who won the 2020 Presidential election?

a. ___ Donald Trump

b. ___ Not Donald Trump (Stop here. No positions are available.) 

2. The Constitution consists of the Second Amendment and some other outdated and incorrect stuff about government.

YES ___ 

NO ___ (Stop here. No positions are available.)

3. The Founders clearly stated that the United States is a 100% Christian nation, and that all other false religions are causes of terrorism.

YES ___  

NO ___ (Stop here. No positions are available.)

4. "Climate Change" has absolutely no scientific basis, and people who believe in it are radical lunatics and probably terrorists.

YES ___ 

NO ___ (Stop here. No positions are available.)

5. The United States is the most exceptional nation ever founded, is a shining example for the rest of the world, is incapable of doing anything wrong, and anyone who says otherwise is a radical lunatic terrorist.

YES ___

NO ___ (Stop here. No positions are available.)

6. The federal government must rein in wasteful spending on useless and fraudulent things like welfare, education, food safety, public health, foreign aid, and environmental protection.

YES ___

NO ___ (Stop here. No positions are available.)

7. All political, economic, and social problems can be solved by applying tariffs at a minimum rate of 75%.

YES ___

NO ___ (Stop here. No positions are available.)

8. Taxes on businesses, corporations, and the top 1% of the population are counterproductive because they limit the economic success which eventually benefits the lower-income population.

YES ___

NO ___ (Stop here. No positions are available.)

9. Do you have any educational background or practical experience in the position for which you are applying?

YES ___ (Stop here. Education and relevant experience disqualify you for consideration for any position)

NO ___

10. Just to be clear, who won the 2020 presidential election?

a. ___ Donald Trump

b. ___ Not Donald Trump (You're a loser. Stop here. No positions are available.) 

11. Anyone who disagrees with the correct answer to any of the above questions is a radical lunatic terrorist who hates America.

YES ___

NO ___ (Stop here. No positions are available.)

Thank you for taking the MAGA Government Aptitude and Placement Examination. If you incorrectly answered any of the questions above, please turn in your answer sheet, leave, and go to Canada (unless it has already been assimilated as the 51st state) or someplace else where your godless radical lunatic socialist ways will be appreciated.

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Thinking about America in Terms of Names

This is a revised and updated version of a post I published in 2014.

In December of 2014, two New York City police officers were murdered as they sat in their patrol car. The killer ... who committed suicide rather than face arrest ... had threatened to kill police officers in retaliation for the killing of black men by police in Ferguson, Missouri and New York City. I found this justification a bit shaky, as he had murdered his girlfriend (who likely didn't have anything to do with the other incidents) in Baltimore before traveling to the Big Apple to murder random police officers, but I guess he had to justify it somehow.

I blogged about this at the time because one aspect of the senseless murder struck me right away - the names of the murdered police officers: Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu.

I think it says something about this country that police officers of Chinese and Hispanic descent were on patrol together. America has traditionally been a country that welcomed people - if eventually and often grudgingly - from everywhere, and although we've gone through cycles of discrimination based on racial, national, religious and other factors, we are still the refuge of choice for those fleeing bad conditions in their home countries. The phone book of any town in America is a compilation of names reflecting virtually every race, color, religion, and ethnic origin in the world.

Many years ago a cartoon in Mad Magazine lampooned movie stereotypes with an imagined scene from a World War II film in which a sergeant was selecting men for a patrol ... "Okay, listen up! Jones, Martinez, Chan, Goldberg, Pulaski, Schmidt, Yokuda, Giordano, and Wegryzynowicz, come with me! Oh, yeah, I almost forgot ... you, too, Olafsson!" The point, of course, was that America's army was made up of people from everywhere, brought together by the common ideal that allegiance was owed to an idea - the principles of the Constitution - not to a family, king, emperor, or dictator*. No matter where you or your parents were from, if you embraced those ideas, you were an American.

Nowadays, sadly, the idea is wearing thin with many Americans. Der Furor and his MAGAts insist that all immigrants (not just the illegal ones) are ruining the country and “poisoning our blood,” and must be kept out at all cost, with those already here rounded up and deported with no regard for the law** or history. Granted, there’s a small minority of immigrants who don't come here because they believe in American ideals and want to become Americans themselves ... they want to retain (and impose upon others) the very hatreds, customs, and beliefs that created the conditions from which they fled. "Honor killings," ethnic or religious enclaves, and the desire to implement Islamic Sharia law*** come to mind.

I don't have the answer to the underlying problem of hating the other. I wish I did. But one thing I do know is that we need to stop viewing each other with hatred and suspicion and start working together to build the nation the Founders imagined.

A nation officers Ramos and Liu died to make safe for us all.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* Yes, Mango Mussolini, I’m talking to you.

** Speaking of the law, wouldn’t it be nice of Congress could get off its fat partisan backside and update our immigration and asylum laws instead of trying to impeach the people trying to work with the mess we have?

*** To be fair, there are a lot of evangelical “Christians” who want to impose their beliefs on everyone else, too, but because they're home-grown Americans, they don't seem to see it as a problem.