|
In 1979, Robert Ringer (“Restoring the American Dream”, Harper & Row, New York) opined that the two-party system in the US is a fallacy. He maintained that the two parties claimed to have great ideological differences, but in the trenches played the game practically the same. He called them the Demo-Republican party whose aim was to keep us dumb schlubs arguing over stuff they mainly didn’t give a damn about. The “game” was to get re-elected and to get rich by peddling DC influence. Ringer also wrote that the pendulum had swung too far—that there was little chance of going back; that the situation was a fate to be endured, no longer a problem that could be solved. Sounds like they had us by the nads although we didn’t know it. Well, historically the two parties did actually begin as one, namely the Democratic-Republican Party, formed by Jefferson to battle the Federalists (although the Federalists gave Jefferson his narrow win over Aaron Burr believing he was the lesser evil of the two). The party separated when, among other differences, the Republican arm supported freedom for slaves and the Democratic arm did not. Some way or another, this perception flipped in the 1960’s when JFK, and then Lyndon Johnson, championed the Civil Rights Bill. Oddly, it was Republicans in Congress that voted the bill into reality while prominent Democrats fought against it. Among them were Al Gore Sr., Robert Byrd, Orville Faubus, and George Wallace. Still, the cadre Ringer wrote about in 1979 worked together smoothly while effectively keeping the electorate at each other’s throats. At the same time, the politicians laughed up their sleeves over cocktails and put on a good show for the media. That is, until sometime after the turn into the 21st Century. As mainstream and social media outlets exploded, the former supposedly regulated and the latter totally unregulated, politicians began to think of themselves as special—even as celebrities. The more extreme, the better—and the media lapped it up. Obama likened it to professional rasslin’. I recall an old SOUTH PARK episode where one pundit decided to become famous for saying “shit” on live TV. The next day, another pundit noticing the notoriety said he would say “shit” two times, and on-and-on it went. Meanwhile, back at the late-60’s ranch, the Tricky Dick Nixon debacle made stars out of Woodward and Bernstein, two WaPo reporters, who became quite famous. Tricky Dick helped. For those of you who don’t remember, he looked like the kind of guy who would steal candy out of a kid’s Christmas Stocking and/or Easter Basket while looking at the camera and saying his famous line, “I’m not a crook.” The legacy media mob wanted to be famous too so they made a quick left turn where they’ve been ever since. The more extreme, the better even in 2022 as newspaper readership and MSNBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, and CBS viewership went into the tank. The response was, “We must not be doing enough, go more extreme, ramp it up!” Biden shits his pants in front of the queen of England? He’s our guy: deny, deny, deny; bury, bury, bury. Biden’s legacy may end up being the worst ever, but I need to defend the guy a bit. It was obvious to almost everyone that he was having problems; the kind (in my world) not to make fun of. NOTE: Those of you paying attention noticed I committed the cardinal sin of ending the last sentence with a preposition. With that in mind, I ask you to mentally add the word “sparky” to be grammatically correct. Yet Joe’s consortium of (unelected) handlers propped him up like a cardboard cutout and insisted nothing was wrong, he was full of energy, ran circles around them, etc. The legacy media promoted the hoax. Those of us paying attention noticed the stumbling, the falling, the wandering off, the permanent stare into the cameras that looked like he was witnessing the docking of the Hindenburg—it was sad to watch. I had to even give him a pass for pardoning Hunter after saying he wouldn’t. I mean, that’s his kid. Now, if he’d awarded Hunter a Purple Heart for getting crabs in the Navy—that would have been too much. Then came the disaster of the debate with Donald Trump. It was punctuated once-and-for-all when the moderator asked Trump to respond to a Biden remark. Trump’s response was, “I don’t know what he said, and I don’t think he does either.” That hit home. Immediately, Biden’s “army”—those who insisted he was fantastic, including legacy media—threw him under the bus; said it was time for him to go. Even the Hollywood donors, the ink not dry on the checks they sent to him, piled on. George Clooney wrote a wimpy piece that was the lynchpin. I marveled at a CBS reporter asking Chuck Shumer why the Democrats didn’t make this an issue three years prior. Had I been Schumer I would have fired it right back at her—Why didn’t you instead of covering up? As a result, the legacy media lost all credibility with the voting public who considered them an effete corps of bullshitting opportunists. In my opinion, Kamala would have fared better had the media and Hollywood came out for Trump. Nobody, except the most head-in-the-sand zealots believed anything coming from that crowd. The perfect storm continues. The Democrats, doing something totally undemocratic, gave Kamala Harris the nod in a coronation like ceremony. What??? She’s even more unpopular than Biden! WTF! Was the strategy 1) to throw the election or 2) count on Trump being enough of a lightning rod that it wouldn’t matter? I think the latter was the strategy, plus, throw in some race-card, misogyny, xenophobic rumors, stir well, and see what happens. Meanwhile, Bill Clinton and strategist, James Carville, gave Harris the same advice they gave Hillary: Mainly, don’t do that! It’s the economy (stupid)! Yeah, the Harris team countered, but the economy is bad. So, what! said Carville. Blame it on Biden and present a plan—something! But just like in 2016, James Carville got the old heave-ho. Instead, the team spent time instructing how to pronounce her name. It is: COMMA-La, not Kam-MEL-La they insisted, and furthermore, to mispronounce her name is downright racist. Unfortunately, at the Democrat convention delegate after delegate used the inappropriate (and so-called racist) pronunciation. Oh, well… More storm. Meanwhile, Trump went “SOUTH PARK” exaggerating almost everything, but not being a politician, the voters knew he spouts out exactly what he believes without filter nor apology no matter how bizarre. Plus, he was on the right side of issues that mattered to them—the meteoric rise in the prices of goods and services, riots in the street, shop lifting, defunding police, releasing felons, men in women’s sports, etc. People were fed up, and the Biden record couldn’t be defended. My bottom line: None of this tripe is worth losing friends and family members over. Politicians are always wading through waist deep horse manure and they love it! The game is to make you believe the other guy stinks and they don’t. We all fall for it like South American football (soccer) fanatics. Look: Politicians are despicable—they are! They’re creeps! They’re impudent snobs that don’t give a rat’s ass about you or the ideology you care about! They change directions with the wind if it suits their purposes. Example: Biden authors ‘STOP and FISK” in the Senate in 1994, which is considered to be a prime example of systematic racism. In 2016, he declares himself “woke’ on National TV. Please do not lose friends and family members over these self-serving blackguards. Your life is too short. Let’s start at a real simple place: “Conservative” advocates States Rights, not unbridled gun violence. “Liberal” supports Strong Central Government not leftwing bomb-throwing. Obviously, there are other primary differences, but begin there and discuss what you agree on. You probably have more in common than you think. See the problem with the plethora of so-called news outlets is that many people in this “hurry-up” world just skim the tops, don’t dive into the story. Others let OP-ED blatherskites and politicians do their thinking for them. Hint: They’re the ones always shouting slogans. Your family and friends are more important than that noisy gaggle of corruption. So what if you disagree? Or as Ringer said in 1979, is it already too late? If so, the Philistines have won and this country is a falling body. Respectfully submitted by your working boy, ZORRO
Related Articles -
Robert Ringer, Jefferson, Democratic-Republican Party, mainstream and social media, Trick Dick, Biden, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, James Carville,
|
