By Ken Marks[Originally posted on The Scratching Post three days ago, on December 24, 2021. Extracted here by permission of the author.]
We thought last January that the worst was behind us. We had a new president with an inspiring agenda. He called on an admirable cast of professionals to fill his cabinet posts. Covid vaccines were widely available. In short order, a Covid relief bill became law, though without the support of a single Republican senator. That was the first dark sign. Now, as the final days of the year play out, our democracy is clinging to a cliff’s edge. How the hell could this have happened? Let me count the ways.
“Stupichosis” never stopped growing.
That’s my word for the marriage of stupidity and psychosis. It’s the phenomenon you see when a long, costly election recount fails to placate angry voters with the truth. It’s on view when hundreds congregate for weeks in hopes of seeing dead people herald the return to glory of an ex-president. It’s in evidence when millions of credulous fools ingest medicine for farm animals to ward off a fatal disease. It’s manifest when the world is ravaged by superstorms, floods, rising sea levels, and wildfires as the adult population looks to the next generation for action.
Political rot is abundant at every level of government.
Trump warned us of a swamp in Washington and then proceeded to use the levers of power to ratchet up the stench in the Congress. He went on to spread it to the executive and judiciary branches through a multitude of irresponsible appointments. He left behind a rot so entrenched that it became self-propagating. It has settled into state legislatures and the offices of state officials, and it’s now taking hold in city and county commissions and on school boards.
What does this legacy of rot look like?….
[Read the whole thing on The Scratching Post.]
| Copyright © 2021 by Ken Marks Ken Marks was a contributing editor with Paul Clark & Tom Lowe when “Moristotle” became “Moristotle & Co.” A brilliant photographer, witty conversationalist, and elegant writer, Ken contributed photographs, essays, and commentaries from mid-2008 through 2012. Late in 2013, Ken birthed the blog The Scratching Post. He also posts albums of his photos on Flickr. |
As I told Ken on his own blog:
ReplyDeleteKen, I’ve been following you for many years, so I can be believed when I attest: your powers of analysis and penetration have never been stronger, nor your ability to craft succinct cut-to-the-chase pronouncements. And the thoroughness of your study of our current affairs is manifest. Thank you for the service you do your country.
And as to which he replied:
Kind words, Morris. One day we’ll have a country to be proud of, but it may not be the USA.