Public Inanities

So, the Brits are approaching their own unnecessary cataclysm—the Brexit vote. Whatever we non-EU persons think of the EU, it does seem obvious that the British are better off within the Union than outside it, where they can influence none of its policies. The Leave argument, as best I can understand it, is that EU representatives, unelected by the British people, are daily making rules that affect everyday life in Britain, and the British people are (or ought to be) fed up.  Turns out, to belong to the EU is to have to act in accordance with its rules.  Sounds familiar . . . where have I heard that before??? Oh, yeah, it’s called the United States of America. And, we too have our TEXIT fans here, periodically threatening that Texas will secede—promises, promises.

One might think that WW I and WW II would have forever convinced the Brits that they better stay involved in European affairs, or they will suffer the consequences. But no. The Brits very own Donald Trump (aka Boris Johnson) has been scaremongering and seems to be succeeding, despite the bizarre lies being propagated about life in the EU.  What Boris neglects to mention is this little thing called the United Kingdom, which shows signs of coming apart, should Brexit be the actual decision. Scotland may well revisit its decision to remain part of the “United” Kingdom, Northern Ireland could well decide it does not wish to remain, and then there’s Wales.  So, Great Britain could soon become that tight little island called England.  The place would lose much of its appeal as an ally to the US, having lost its access to European affairs, it would have to work very hard to resecure its borders, and it would lose ready access to the Common Market, which could devastate its economy.

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play???

But what seems to be happening in Britain is similar to what has already happened here in the US of A. And that is, the public dialogue has been captured by the demagogic right wing, and the stupid people have taken over.  There really is no other explanation for the Donald Trump phenomenon, and even more for the gun non-debate.  How anyone with an IQ above 70 can even consider voting for The Donald is utterly beyond me.  People keep mentioning him in the same context as Hitler or Mussolini, but that argument fails utterly. Hitler was not stupid, just demagogic. He did sell his anti-Jewish message to a people who had been undone by WW I, and needed someone to blame. Germans wanted desperately to become once again a great nation. Hitler provided a theme around which the nation’s haters could coalesce.

But here, Trump has no such common theme. Trump is an incompetent, morally vacant businessman who has no grand strategy. Yes, he seems anti-everything, but that’s the problem. He seems to hate everyone who isn’t him.  And what is his message? Elect me and we will be great again.  What does that even mean?  He claims that: a) we aren’t great any longer; b) we are losers; and c) he will build a wall, and we will then be great once again.  Oh, and he will do something to China, unspecified, to defeat them.

That he lacks coherence is obvious, but he seems to lack the IQ to string whole thoughts together into a meaningful concept. He’s like Sarah Palin on steroids. I’m sure he and Sarah Bimbo will get along fine (she’s hot I guess), but maybe he should just marry her and get it over with.  Perhaps she will be his VP?? Wow, what a combo that would be.

So, he really is just a triumph of hate over intelligence—thank you, in part Fox News.

And then we have the gun non-debate.

The Senate actually defeated any meaningful attempt to even begin to discuss gun control.  How could that be, when the measures under “debate” weren’t even especially arguable. That folks on the no-fly list should not be allowed to buy automatic weapons?  That we should consider doing background checks before allowing folks to buy guns?

The gun crowd has become so absurd that it beggars belief that people actually believe the crap coming out of their mouths. The actual Second Amendment has nothing to do with any of this, since the “well-regulated militia” part has evaporated entirely. They just want their guns period. Facts no longer are allowed in the debate. Facts just confuse the folks with guns.

And I really can no longer even understand the NRA. One might imagine that even the NRA would not want this “debate” to move to the absurd levels to which it has fallen, since they begin to resemble some Neo-Nazi tribe.  Don’t they want to preserve any dignity?  Have you, NRA, at last, no shame???