Random Saturday Musings
W.J. Astore
Hello, loyal readers of Bracing Views!
If corporations are people, can they catch the coronavirus? It appears not, therefore they're not people. But let's imagine corporations could catch COVID-19. Don't you think if Trump Inc. could be killed by a virus, the president would have acted far faster than he did?
When did fantasy become more important than science in American life? My guess is roughly 1980, when Ronald Reagan was elected on sunny optimism and trickle-down economics. It's only gotten worse since then.
The military-industrial complex has been relatively quiet lately, except for all those loud flyovers in honor of medical workers, first responders, and the like. I haven't heard anything about the Pentagon volunteering to cut its budget, either now or in the future, to help desperate Americans make ends meet.
Those demonstrations by Trump supporters who want "to reopen America": they sure carry some interesting signs, as in this photo from Cape Cod:
Some priceless symbols here: "the blue lives matter" flag to the far right, the various "don't tread on me" flags, symbol of the Tea Party, together with signs to reopen gun shops. It truly amazed me, as a history professor, to learn that so many of students equated freedom with the 2nd Amendment. Reducing freedom to guns, God, and Old Glory (and perhaps gold as well) is truly a propaganda victory for the NRA, the Republican Party, and corporations in general.
Another perspective on that photo: these protesters are pro-authority, i.e. they support the police with the "thin blue line" flag but they're anti-authority in that they resist a Republican governor's call for social distancing during a pandemic. So they're selectively pro-authority when it's convenient for them to be, and anti-authority when they can't gather and shoot their guns.
Echoing the photo above, this cartoon truly made me laugh out loud, perhaps because I had aquariums from roughly the age of ten to eighteen:
I love the fish holding the "My Choice" sign. Except it's not simply a "choice" when your decision to jump out of the tank imperils the lives of others.
I saw Tara Reade's interview with Megyn Kelly, which I highly recommend. Let's just say I find her account far more credible than Joe Biden's blanket denial. Here's the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dBdfUudsIk
When it comes to Biden versus Trump, I can't vote for either man. Both are deeply flawed individuals. I do agree with Tara Reade that Joe Biden should be replaced, no matter how unlikely that seems.
We need a leader who's calm in a storm, a leader with compassion, a leader with experience with adversity, and a leader who wants to end America's calamitous wars. Yup: I'd still much rather see Tulsi Gabbard than any other Democratic candidate, even Bernie Sanders. (Bernie really let me down with all that "my friend Joe Biden" talk.) Of course, barring the apocalypse, this isn't going to happen.
What say you, readers? If Biden can be replaced, who should replace him, and why?
A happy Saturday to all!