Meet the new boss, same as the old boss…

 

Those words are the closing lines from a rock song by a group called The Who. Title of the song is “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” It came to mind on Wednesday morning after I opened my iPad and learned that America had actually re-elected Donald J. Trump.

His opponent, the current VP Kamala Harris, is incredibly qualified, highly praised by just about everyone except the GOP, and ran a skillful and hard fought campaign with Tim Walz, her running mate.

Instead of electing her as the first female President as well as the first mixed race candidate, we have a replay of the administration that brought you such hits as:

·         “Don’t worry, it will just disappear!” Speaking of course about the Covid 19 pandemic which ended up taking the lives of over 1 Million Americans. (Scientists have stated that the failure of the administration to act quickly likely contributed to about half of those deaths.)

·         “I’m not going to that military cemetery; they’re all just suckers and losers.” Speaking of the opportunity to pay his respects to the fallen military heroes for Veteran’s Day. (He was unable to understand why anyone would sacrifice for their country, saying “What was in it for them?”)

·         “This is a witch hunt!” Speaking of the legal actions taken against him at various times during his time in office. So far, he was impeached twice and was found guilty of 34 felony counts. There are two other actions outstanding in state courts but the Federal charges against him will likely be dropped.

There are so many others that I could make this post literally dozens of pages long. I’ll just put up this cover from Vanity Fair magazine to illustrate what I’m talking about. The snippets down the left side say it all.

 

So, our next President is truly a piece of shit. Or, as someone in Scotland referred to him during his first term, an orange Cheeto dust covered, ferret wearing, shit gibbon.

His policies that he has offered and promised on the campaign trail include hair raising ideas about the economy that, according to 23 Nobel prize winning economists, will cause prices to increase dramatically and throw the country into a recession. They also include rounding up (using military and law enforcement) and deporting over 10 Million illegal immigrants, completing the wall across the southern border (the one that Mexico was going to pay for?) firing thousands of Federal employees and replacing them with his loyal followers (who know next to nothing about the job). He’s also threatened to have his detractors arrested and thrown in jail.

(I wish I were making this up but to give you some idea, as I write this, the stock of the two largest private prison companies has gone up 30% in value over the last 2 days. And that’s on the possibility that this sort of thing will happen.)

The result is that people who didn’t vote for him are very upset; some could be classified as despondent. People have been taking sick leave because of the election result. It’s that bad.

Meanwhile, many of those that did vote for him are acting like the good sports you would expect. A friend of mine posted on social media that she’d gone to the beach for some healing and this morning she was awakened by the sound of several dozen Jeeps driving in a line on the beach as loudly as they possible could with flags flying: MAGA, Elect Trump Vance, and Fuck Kamala Harris. They paraded for 45 minutes until the police showed up and ushered them off the sand. They reappeared about 2 hours later for more of the same.

How did we get here? I truly have no idea. I have some suspicions and most of them revolve around ignorance and an unwillingness to dig into the facts that candidates bring to their roles. I shudder to think it's actually brainwashing or something. Cult behavior has little to describe it so, I'm at a loss.

For the time being, I’m going to let all the pundits and analysts do the work they’re paid to do. I’ll read what they write, expand my personal reading list to learn what I can and see what turns up. The next 75 days (transition period) will be interesting.

At least we won’t have an insurrection this time around.

I hope.

 P. S. Here's the song; you can hear it on the internet.

Won’t Get Fooled Again by The Who

We'll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgement of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song

I'll tip my hat to the new Constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again

A change, it had to come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from the fold, that's all
And the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they all flown in the last war

I'll tip my hat to the new Constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again, no, no

I'll move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left half-alive
I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky
For I know that the hypnotized never lie

Do you?

Yeah

There's nothing in the street
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are effaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Is now parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight

I'll tip my hat to the new Constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again, no, no

Yeah
Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss