Mr. Write's Page

Note: political rant to follow. I have harsh thoughts to express about the lunatic behavior of the conservatives. Proceed at your own risk.

———

In a post back in July, I laid into the right-wingers regarding their decline from pesky, petulant whiners into rabid totalitarian nutjobs — in many cases, full-on Nazis — and I questioned whether enough normal people are left in the country to hold back the tide of right-wing lunacy.

It seems to me that, while the numbers are on our side, the capacity of the Republicans to lie and cheat is boundless. They almost certainly will taint the voting systems enough to tilt future election results in their favor to some degree.

The courts have shown a refreshing willingness to slap down the GOP cheating. But the Supreme Court has the final say, and it is now hopelessly conservative and partisan. The odds are poor that the Court will stop the GOP from gaming the voting systems. They will find a way to justify the GOP cheating on a technicality.

What this means is that American democracy is in deep trouble, probably the most serious in our history. In fact, democracy could easily end its run before much longer.

Goodbye to liberal democracy, hello to whatever Dark Side we lurch into in the future.

The conservative mindset was always selfish and mean; that is what defines them. But I think of the Reagan years as when the right wing decided that reality is an unnecessary annoyance.

Ronald Reagan was, in fact, a mere figurehead. In reality, he was a doddering old fool rapidly succumbing to Alzheimer’s. Team Reagan, consisting of Nancy and the boys, was in control, and the team decided the federal government would make an ideal whipping boy. It was brilliant. Reaganism captured the heart and soul of the GOP effortlessly.

You remember the Reagan crowd, which secretly and illegally sold missiles to Iran and secretly and illegally used the money to bankroll right-wing rebels trying to overthrow the government of Nicaragua.

FYI, 11 federal officials were convicted of perjury and fraud related to the Iran-Contra scandal. President Bush the elder pardoned them.

The Reagan era gave us still more.

In 1984, the Reagan team rewarded the already rich and comfortable by cutting the maximum tax rate from 70 percent to 28 percent. The loss of revenue was crippling, but the GOP replaced it by imposing the first-ever tax on social security benefits. Rich people 1, working class 0.

Meanwhile, the conservative masses responded to all this with mindless enthusiasm. They were happy to make government a scapegoat and a target of their prejudices while the GOP stabbed them in the back.

It was Morning in America, starring Ronald Reagan and his famous sunny disposition.

The Reagan era gave us even more.

In 1987, Reagan’s FCC scrapped the Fairness Doctrine, which for decades had kept American news organizations from telling lies and pretending they were facts. Disseminate BS, lose your license.

With the Fairness Doctrine eliminated, Fox “News” was born, created to spin the news — to weave a tapestry of propaganda, lies, and BS — in favor of Republican and conservative causes.

Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes probably never dreamed how successful Fox would become. In no time, the network had captured and brainwashed virtually every conservative bonehead in America.

Here was the amazing spectacle of a disingenuous, openly biased right-wing operation convincing its audience that all other news outlets were lying to them, and only Fox was telling the truth. Does the word gullible come to mind?

Two decades later, thanks to that same Fox News audience, we had the equally amazing spectacle of Donald Trump, a human fecal stain, being elected President of the United States.

Make no mistake, supporting Trump, then and now, is an unforgivable failure of morality and decency. Siding with Trump shows that your judgment and character are in question.

Oops, sorry. I meant to say that it shows your judgment and character are in the toilet.

On October 7, 2016, the Access Hollywood tape went public, on which Trump bragged about grabbing women by the private parts. In a sane world, Trump would have been driven into exile in disgrace. But, one month later, half the country — half the country — voted to elect the man President.

If you can look at a person like Trump and say, “Yep, that’s my guy,” you are terribly, deeply sick.

The options to explain how you got that way are limited. Perhaps you are an especially low-wattage bulb. Perhaps you are an evil and twisted human being. Perhaps you have lost touch with reality and need professional help. Perhaps all of the above.

Dozens of times while President, Trump revealed himself to be a literal traitor. He sought and obtained the assistance of Putin and Russia to get elected. He spent four years stealing from us. His term as President was marked by graft and corruption on a mind-boggling scale. Because of his incompetence, 400,000 people died of COVID while he was in office.

Still, on November 8, 2020, half the country — half the country — voted to give him another term as President. Incredible.

On January 6, Trump sent an army of white supremacist thugs to storm the Capitol Building and prevent Congress from certifying Biden as the winner of the November presidential election. This was a naked attempt at a coup, but you can count on one hand how many GOP elected officials objected, or even acknowledged it.

Unfortunately for them, the insurrection was presented on live television and thoroughly documented for posterity. I saw it unfold. You probably did, too.

Consider this for the record:

The conservatives among us, plus virtually all Republican elected officials, want to pretend that January 6 did not happen. These people are deplorable and irredeemable.

Naturally, most also are anti-mask and anti-vax. Will COVID cull the herd by natural selection, or will enough of them survive long enough to steamroll us?

Place your bets.