I feel a bit embarrassed. Humiliated if I’m honest. Big fancy know-it-all with my blog pontificating about the day’s goings-on, and all this time I thought I was writing about a health crisis that had been compounded by the resultant economic collapse of both the macro- and the micro-economy and the catastrophic handling of it, all simultaneously, creating a crisis people have not yet appreciated. That’s what I thought I was commenting on. All this time. But I wasn’t.
I’ve been covering the campaign.
Back in the day, up until 2 months ago, the campaign was still part of what I was writing about, what I had intended to talk about when I titled my modest efforts “progressivelyolder.com”. A proud old codger lib letting the world know it was the silly season and I was going to be hoping for a progressive victory and here’s why, kinda thing. I was excited about it. Some of the early stuff was ahead of the game and I was proud of it, though no one saw it. I had just started putting a toe in the pond.
Almost immediately my blog, probably like many others, got run over by Covid-19. How could addressing the politics and government of the day avoid a direct and continuous confrontation with the virus? How could the campaign story, the politics of the moment be severed from the international story of a pandemic?
But silly me. I’ve been covering the campaign the whole time, cleverly disguised as a Federal Response!
This is a paradigm shift. It all makes sense now, the non-sensical response, the unfocused man at the podium, it’s all so crazy when viewed as an actual attempt to have an effective strategy to combat this scourge. This actually never mattered at all. Not a little.
What mattered was four more years, and that has been what we’ve been watching this whole time, the attempt to appear indispensable. If his advice had no real connection to the best scientific information, so much the better. His advice would be different and much more appealing. It’s not that big a deal, go to work, the cure will be worse than the disease. I don’t think a mask is for me, but you can wear one if you like. Real Americans want to work!
For this new strategy to work, he was going to have to silence the more serious voices within the administration. Dr. Birx could be depended on to some degree, trying so hard to walk a thin line Phillipe Petite would not attempt between letting the public know the state of the virus while trying to keep her job. Dr. Fauci did not appear to have such skills nor possess an inclination to attain them, but he was also probably the best shot the administration had to get a handle on the virus. Firing him would create a national firestorm, at least with his newfound celebrity status. What to do? Fauci was removed from the PR efforts of the administration, no longer appearing at briefings regarding Covid-19 and the Federal response to it. He would no longer be the public’s voice of reason, the face of an agressive and wise approach. Slowly his celebrity would ebb, and then…?
It would obviously be a disaster if it was revealed openly that no Federal response to Covid-19 was actually being attempted. The President needed to maintain the appearance of being a leader of a wise and coordinated effort to convince the public he was a necessary part of our survival, but there were so many landmines out there. So many ways for his deceit to be revealed, counter-narratives, ethical public servants, and so on.
In only two months, roughly the amount of time that the President has ackowledged that there is a problem afoot in the country that could cost him the presidency, he has removed four Inspectors General. These are the watchdogs of government, the non-partisan grown-ups tasked with keeping a particular branch or institution on the straight and narrow. Partisan goals are always pursued by the party in power, but these professionals are there to set the parameters of what is acceptable electioneering and what is a bridge too far. They stand between us and outright dictatorship.
Well, they used to. It used to be that an appointment by the President could only be but so partisan, because Senate confirmation was also required. A “yes” vote would usually require an offering that would not humiliate the senator that supplied it.
That obstacle has been removed. Humiliation in the Senate has been abolished. Oh, the confirmation is still required, it’s just that the Senate has lost its ability to be humiliated. Rather than be a unique branch of the Federal government, they have contented themselves to be the President’s rubber stamp, mimicking his base with an utter refusal to buck the Boss. Having dependable sychophants in the position of watchdogs seemed like the final piece of the puzzle. It was like having an inside guy for the Lufthansa heist. They never solved that one. The Senate was just part of the gang.
With any luck, the analogy will hold. Being part of Jimmy Conway’s gang didn’t turn out to have a great career path, and though Jimmy got away with this one, eventually a “whistleblower” brought him down and landed him in jail.
“Crime doesn’t pay!” How long has it been since you heard this tired bromide? There is a reason it has fallen out of favor. It is clear that crime pays very, very well. The President’s entire business career is a testimony to the error of this chestnut. The continuous lies testify. The presidential profiteering testifies. Industry celebrating fewer and fewer regulations on their activities to the detriment of the population testifies. Banks fined for illegal activities in amounts they could find in their carefully pressed pant cuffs testifies.
There is an inspector general that the President can’t fire. They are autonomous, beyond the legal reach of the Executive Branch or any other. They aren’t the smartest, or the most inciteful or meticulous or even honest broker of righteousness. No, they are decidely biased and silly and easily influenced, but they are independent, able to be influenced by just about anyone, not just one side.
It’s us. The institutions have been torn down. The Senate is a place where bills go to die, never to be seen again. Hundreds of them on Mitch McConnell’s desk will never be seen. A President that will lie in dangerous ways, putting the public in harm’s way, is now the usual way. The checks and balances built into the system have failed, requiring they be taken seriously to work. Instead, they have become challenges to meet, obstacles to climb and conquer. Can’t help but remember George W. being caught on camera lamenting that things would be so much easier if it wasn’t for the damn Constitution. It seems Trump took that to heart.
So what’s left? You and me. That’s it. The rest is gone. If you’re waiting for the life preserver, you may be a casualty. The sea is roiling and we have to swim for it.
The question is will we star in “Jaws”, defeating a mindless evil against all the odds and kicking, full of hope, toward shore? Or will we be Mark Wahlburg swept away, helpless, to certain death amidst a crushing sea in “The Perfect Storm”?
Coming soon to a polling place near you.