WELCOME TO SIBERIA
February 13, 2020: This morning it’s 10 below. Coldest day of the year so far. Looking out my window I see about a foot of snow on the ground. They say the ground hog didn’t see his shadow, so we won’t have six more weeks of winter. Har har. The other day I saw a coyote run across the back woods. I think he was heading South. Spring will come someday. Up here in the North we still get snow in April.
In this winter or our discontent my thoughts turn to the State of the Union. Since Trump’s acquittal a week ago we have witnessed how he has learned his lesson: I can do anything I want, and the Democrats are vindictive low life scum. He has sent Col. Vindman and his twin brother packing, along with Ambassador Sondland, a million- dollar donor to his inaugural, that told the truth to the House Committee: “Everyone was in on it”. He has released a budget with cuts to safety net programs with more tax cuts for the wealthy. And just in the last couple of days his Attorney General has intervened to reduce the recommended sentence for Trump’s buddy Roger Stone after Trump tweeted Stone was being treated unfairly. This is a direct political intervention in our criminal justice system. When the outrage is mentioned to Republicans, their response, as always, is move on, nothing to see here.
We no longer live in a constitutional republic where the three co-equal branches of government hold each other in check. Over the years Congress has ceded its power to declare war, allocate funds, and hold the executive branch accountable to the President. We might as well not have a Congress. Now we have a dictatorship, like Putin’s Russia that Trump so admires. Now we are all in Siberia.
The only hope is the upcoming fall election. After a fiasco Iowa caucus and a close New Hampshire primary the road ahead for the Democrats is muddled. Bernie leads, but the moderates are wary of his Medicare for All plan. So are a lot of others who think nominating a democratic socialist is political poison. Mike Bloomberg, who says he will get it done, is looming with a ton of money to drop into the March super Tuesday election. Mayor Pete and Amy Klobuchar are hanging in saying their common sense midwestern values message will resonate. Elizabeth Warren and Uncle Joe are hanging in as well saying the race has just begun. Will Rogers once said: “I don’t belong to any organized political party—I’m a Democrat.” How true.
In the next few months we will experience Trump Unleashed. Who knows what additional damage will be done? And if he gets re-elected? I don’t even want to think about it. Kiss the Constitution goodbye. Rome started out as a republic, but then ceded its power to the Caesars. Look what happened to Rome. The only difference between then and now is that the Visigoths are not at the gate—they are already inside. In the meantime, a cold wind blows.
Bad Randall 