We Are All In For It

Donald Trump hosted a self-rally October 9, hinting he might run for "reelection," ignoring of course that you can only run for reelection if you are currently holding the office you might run for. He's not alone. Pundits of every stripe are predicting he will run for "reelection." Comedians too, such as Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel.

Why might this be? In Trump's case, it is easy to understand. He is facing numerous criminal and civil prosecutions, and he needs to fight back in the only way he can - by pumping-up his "base" to cause more trouble, hoping to intimidate law enforcement, the judiciary - and potential jurors, enough that they fear his supporters' wrath.

For pundits and comedians it is a bit different. Trump is still the golden calf to them, the reliable topic of conversation and jokes, a gift that keeps on giving. His outrageous claims and behavior are "good copy," attention-grabbers that bring higher ratings on TV, radio and the Internet. It's all about money. 

How about "Republican" politicians who are fawning over Trump, like Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who made a fool of himself at the rally, thanking Trump for his support in his upcoming reelection bid? He really only revealed himself to be the fool he already has been for most of his life. It goes with being a "Republican," a criminal organization posing as a legitimate political party. They have reached the logical conclusion to a long descent into criminality. 

Trump has led them to the bottom, or at least to abandon the façade of dignity. He has them by the cojones. Go low or go home. Going low means going Trump. A few tried to vote to convict him of the impeachment charges he faced, but they are all together in trying to destroy Joe Biden's presidency. Biden is trying to save the country from the Coronavirus, mitigate the suffering that millions are enduring from the pandemic, repair the nation's infrastructure, and to join the rest of the world in reducing the effects of climate change. His attempts are imperfect and far from enough, but it would be much easier and more effective if he weren't blocked by "Republicans" at every step. 

"Republicans" wouldn't even allow discussion of voting rights in the U.S. Senate, for obvious reasons. Criminals to the core, they know that the only way they can hold power is to suppress the vote.

None of this is news. It is pretty common knowledge what Trump and the "Republicans" are up to, and the relatively passive "balance" the various news media give them. What isn't mentioned, though, is that change is on the way, criminal "Republicans" or not, "good copy" seeking media or not, attempts to destroy democracy or not, and Donald Trump or not. 

The news media especially present all these things as fragmented "issues" and events, people and personalities, sound bites and time-fillers - stuff to grab our attention. Even the effects of climate change, like hurricanes, storms, forest fires, floods, droughts, rising sea levels, resource depletion, extinctions - are all presented in a binary fashion, in classic reductionist isolation, with passing reference to relativity, but they really can only deal with one subject at a time.

This will continue, but not forever. Trump will be gone soon enough, whether through conviction, ill-health, loss of fortune, or the normal fading of celebrity that happens in a hyper-hero-based silly culture like ours. The fad of Trump will move on to someone else if other factors don't get him first.

And, climate change won't stop for anyone. Not criminals, not pundits, not comedians and certainly not Trump and his ignorant and fanatical followers. Covid-19 hasn't stopped for any of them, and the melting of the ice caps won't either. We are all in for it. We can lie about it, hide under the bed, make jokes, attack those who warn us and resort to crackpot religion all we want, but it is coming. You can overthrow democracy or protect democracy. You can wear a red hat that says "Make America Great Again" or a hat that says "I'm With Stupid." Or no hat. Call yourself a shaman of some imagined know-it-all. Pronounce yourself invincible. Whatever. None of it will work. We are all in for it.

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Here's a song. Here's another. This too. The Traveling Wilburys. Joni Mitchell. Richie Havens. INXS. The Guess Who. The Waterboys. Another song from The Waterboys. And this. The Beatles. The Beatles again. The Grateful Dead. Creedence. Another from Creedence. Here's a Creedence song for when the floods come. A little Johnny Cash will be worth a listen. There will be plenty of this. Maybe this version will be more cheerful. We can sing this when there is a drought. When we get thirsty we can sing this song. If only we could get rain when we need it. We will get plenty of wind. Prospects for a new home are slim, though some think Mars will do. We are at the end of something. Let's hope it isn't the end of us, the human species. We have little choice but to keep trying. We still have time, but not much. When the truth finally comes maybe we can start over.

"COP26" turned out to be more hype than substance. No surprise. We are on another path. 

Star Wars gave us a warning in 1977 of what might lie ahead. A beam that destroys the planet isn't very likely, but we never know what asteroid might come our way. The melting of the polar ice caps, though, will have an effect as drastic for human life as any asteroid, and probably worse.

Another movie that gave us a warning about the future is 1959's On the Beach. It is a fictional story about the last remaining survivors of a nuclear war, all in Melbourne, Australia. In the waning days of their lives the survivors become fewer and fewer. Nuclear war, climate disaster, economic collapse, they all have similar stories.

R.I.P. George Frayne. Here's a few Commander Cody songs: Down to Seeds and Stems Again Blues and Mama Hated Diesels. And, of course, Hot Rod Lincoln.

On the economic growth front, here's something new.