Archive for the Presidency Category

The “D” Division Invades The Swamp. The War On America Is On In America (January 25, 2021)

Posted in Bideni, First Amendment, O'Bama, Presidency, Trumpi, Wall Street, War, War and Wall Street Party on January 25, 2021 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “The ‘D’ Division rolled into Fort Swamp last Wednesday without much genuine fanfare or even many fans.  Attendance at the Emperor’s coronation looked like a Bideni campaign rally last fall.”

J          “To the accompaniment of more centurions than the Empire acknowledges in its many overseas wars of choice.  A bleak and barren tableau against a desolate and deserted landscape with a rank and file of American flags made in China.  No citizens were on the National Mall and no shoppers were in the nation’s shopping malls.”

. . . 

K          “One crime family leaves and another crime family arrives.  I provoke all manner of perplexed responses when I observe that we are giving up an Ivy League President and getting someone who graduated something like 97th in a law school class of 58 at a regional law school.”

J          “Trumpi only got into an Ivy League school because he is from a second generation crime family.  The Bidenis are now an established second generation crime family and thus Hunter had a spot held for him in the Ivy League.” 

. . . 

K          “Bideni is a foot soldier for the neoliberals in domestic policy.”

J          “And an errand boy for the neoconservatives in foreign policy.”          

. . .

K          “Nothing ever changes.”

J          “Everything stays the same.”

. . .

K          “He was true to himself until the end and simply could not muster the courage and integrity to pardon Assange and Snowden and instead pardoned some stray punks and thugs.  He is a waste of protoplasm in a great wasteland.”

J          “He pardoned people who reminded him of who he is not who he wants to be.  He will always be the saurian beast until he slithers off this Planet.”

. . .

K          “Bideni promised that nothing will change; he will keep that one promise.  Day 6 is a modest improvement, but under the most optimistic scenario the country will only marginally improve under him/her/them.”

J          “Marginal is the best we can do in this country.  He will broadcast a few flashy but hollow and symbolic policies.  Few legitimate grievances will be addressed.  This is the third term of the O’Bama administration.  O’Bama spawned Trumpi.  He/she/they are the transitional Presidency to a new more slick and subtle Trumpi Version 2.0 in four years.”

. . .

K          “The war on America and Americans now begins in earnest.”

J          “The only way to grow and expand the war industry is to invade and colonize new territory.  America is just sitting there between the two vast sloughs waiting to be plucked and plundered.  America is the last frontier and the last battleground.”

. . .

[See “Here Are the Superheroes To Come and Save Us”: Media Waste No Time Fawning Over Biden” in “MintPress News” by Alan Macleod dated January 22, 2021.]

[See the e-commentary at The “War And Wall Street Party” Concludes Its Confabulations (August 31, 2020)”, The Choice:  Pro War And Pro-Wall Street Candidate v. Pro War And Pro-Wall Street Candidate (April 13, 2015)”, “The ‘War and Wall [Street] Party’ On The War Path (February 1, 2016)”, “The First Look At The ‘Second Political Party’ (January 3, 2011)” and “DNC:  ‘We’re Losers.  Vote for Us.’ (February 27, 2017)”.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Give war a chance

No hope and no change

Dissent is patriotic

Hank Aaron

There is something to and something about ivermectin that compels a closer look-see

?The Dow at 20,000 or less by Halloween?

The Trumpi Referendum (November 9, 2020)

Posted in Elections, Presidency, Trumpi on November 9, 2020 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “He did more than anyone else in history to get out the vote on the Great Referendum.”

J          “He really was the only one on the ballot with voters voting for him or voting against him.  When he didn’t get the votes, they gave it to the other guy.  Good ol’ what’s-his-name . . . and the young Black Hillary.”

. . .  

K          “Listening to all the arguments and reviewing all the commentary, I suspect that a few extra ballots were slipped into a few ballot boxes.”

J          “Back in 2004, it was so easy and simple when Karl rerouted the Ohio votes to another computer and rejiggered and reduced the vote for Kerry and . . . insured the reelection of George Bush.  By 2012, the folks at Anonymous were on to Karl and did a workaround that outwitted Karl’s workaround resulting in the votes in Ohio actually being voted that . . . insured the reelection of Barack O’Bama.”

K          “Clinton was earmarked to get the nod in the 2016 election, yet the signals got confused.  Many were not amused.  That oversight was not going to be tolerated this time.”

J          “A friend contends that we should not disparage someone who steals something fair and square.”  

. . .

J          “Ten years ago, I advocated for making Election Day a national holiday.  Working people are working on Tuesday.  Now the country needs a national election process for national elections with write in ballots and far more security.”

. . .

K          “The economic, social, national and international problems are beyond intractable and off their radar.”

J          “Will all the problems that will only get worse result in President Harris being a one-term President?”

. . .

See the first e-commentary (“e-ssay” at the time) at “Boycott Red America (January 3, 2005)”.

Bumper sticker of the week:

Wine  The Glue Holding This 2020 Shitshow Together

First Monday And “Patient One” (October 5, 2020)

Posted in Covid / Coronavirus, First Monday In October, Immanentizing The Eschaton, Presidency, Supreme Court on October 5, 2020 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Are there gradations of illegitimacy?”

J          “Is the Supreme Court just quasi-illegitimate and semi-unrepresentative?”

. . .

K          “I gather that he becomes ‘Patient One’ and gets transported by ‘Marine Corps One’ to ‘Bed One’ for scrutiny by dozens and dozens of doctors.”

J          “Certainly more than one.  If you or I had presented with his symptoms, we would have been sent packing back home thus killing precious time to make a more careful diagnosis and treatment.”

. . .

K          “In the age of vicious irony, her introduction in the Oval Office to the powers that should not be may have turned into a superspreader event.”

J          “Moving from outside in the Rose Garden to inside in the Oval Office may have done it. No is speaking candidly who really knows his condition and the medical cocktail he is consuming.  The age of vicious irony is also the age of calculated ignorance.”

. . .

K          “The Court that may soon have 6.75 Catholics, with 5.75 solidly united in not allowing others to ‘immanentize the eschaton’ and one committed to allowing others to ‘immanentize the eschaton’ in this life.”

J          “And two other souls who also want others to be able to ‘immanentize the eschaton’ in this life.  The Court theoretically could be more unrepresentative but not much more unrepresentative.”

. . .

K          “What so many good folks fail to realize is that Trumpi is effectively packing the Court for the corporations.  A Court that went from the ‘Kennedy Court’ for years to the Roberts Court’ for months is now becoming the ‘Trumpi Court’ for decades with his three picks in three years.”

J          “A Court named not after a justice but someone outside the Court who was always outside the law.  Trumpi aspired successfully to achieve injustice by breaking the law in a legal system that allows the rich to break the law.”

. . .

J          “The controlling Corporatists on the Court hold opinions and values that do not represent the rest of the public pack in America.”

K          “If the opportunity presents, we the unrepresented pack should seriously consider packing the court and sending them packing.  Try to bring that topic up with others and you quickly discover that most folk’s Overton Window is the size of a side door peep hole.”

J          “Roberts sealed the front doors of the Court for the little people years ago and Trump is nailing them shut for two generations.”

K          “RBG opened doors for women and girls.  ACB will close doors for women and girls.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary under the Categories “First Monday In October” and the “Supreme Court”.]

Bumper sticker of the week:

RBG opened doors for women and girls.  ACB will close doors for women and girls.

Hiroshima And Nagasaki At 75 (August 10, 2020)

Posted in Nuclear, Presidency, War on August 10, 2020 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “I have a vague recollection that the parents said that maybe one possibly needed to be dropped to end the war, but maybe that was not the whole or the end of the story.  And if you can believe this, college provided more of the story and challenged the orthodoxy.”

J          “Trying to figure out why the second one was dropped is what got me trying to figure out why the first one was dropped.”

. . .

K          “During the course of the presentation, all but a pair politely got up one at a time every few minutes and left and left me conversing with two polite but unconvinced WW Two Vets.”

J          “The conventional spin has a half-life that far exceeds their lives and our lives.”

. . .

K          “At the time, Eisenhower and many others were against Truman’s decision to drop.  My esteem for Truman has been dropping while my esteem for Eisenhower has been rising, although I would rather have had Stevenson.”

J          “Agree.  To his credit, Truman did end discrimination in the military at the same time that he gave rise to the uncontrolled and uncontrollable MICAC that Eisenhower would warn us about on his way out the door.”

. . .

[See “Our Series on the Atomic Bomb” in “Consortium News” dated August 10, 2020 and “ATOMIC BOMBINGS AT 75: My Father Was to Invade Japan; He Did Not Feel Saved By the Bomb” also in “Consortium News” dated August 9, 2020 by Francis Boyle.]

[See the note in the e-commentary at “O’Bama Revisited (January 17, 2011)” on Eisenhower’s insightful and prophetic speech.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Think

Try Zinc

“The rights and wrongs of Hiroshima are debatable, but I have never heard a plausible justification of Nagasaki.”  Telford Taylor

President Donaldo J. Trumpi Resigns.  Oh, And Happy Holidays! (December 25, 2017)

Posted in Kleptocracy, Presidency, Trumpi on December 25, 2017 by e-commentary.org

          Citing overwhelming and incontrovertible evidence that he is a serial sexual predator and was a child rapist throughout his post-adolescent life and is not fit to serve as the nation’s CEO, President Donaldo J. Trumpi, the 45th President of the United States of America, tweeted his resignation from office today.

_________________________________________________

This article must be revised to reflect the following correction:  President Trumpi did not announce his resignation today.

[See the “Doonesbury” artwork created by Garry Trudeau in many of yesterday’s newspapers.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Merry Christmas    

Happy Hanukkah

Peaceful Kwanzaa

Swilling The Swamp (January 9, 2017)

Posted in Deep State, Genius, O'Bama, Presidency, Trumpi on January 9, 2017 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Cunning and catchy phrase.  Donaldo Trumpi fooled the populace into believing he would do something to change the epidemic and endemic corruption, cronyism and incompetence in Washington.”

J          “But it is just another grand lie.  Salt water crocodiles are supplanting fresh water alligators.”

K          “What he meant is that he would drain the swamp in the financial sector in New York City and decant it into the D.C. swamp.”

J          “O’Bama appointed Timothy Geithner and Eric Holder.  Trumpi nominated Steve Mnuchin and Jeffrey Sessions.  Same old, same old; same new, same new.”

. . .

K          “Remember when President Jerry Ford nominated Edward Levi who was a calm hand as Attorney General at Justice.”

J          “Finding a lawyer with a tutored intellect, integrity, courage, judgment and wisdom in the United States is almost impossible today.”

. . .

K          “By the time he was inaugurated, O’Bama had surrounded himself with the ‘D’ apparatchiks of the ‘War and Wall Street Party’.  By the time he is coronated, Trumpi will surround himself with the ‘R’ apparatchiks of the ‘War and Wall Street Party’.”

J          “Same old, same old; same new, same new.”

. . .

K          “They say ‘in vino veritas’ or ‘in wine, truth.’  Trumpi does not drink, Twitter is his drink.  Yet ‘in Twitter veritas’ is insightful.  And imprudent.”

J          “Communicating in 144 characters is gross.  Yet the communications are refreshingly candid in a town that runs on deceit and dishonesty.”

K          “They say the Presidency is the ultimate bully pulpit, and he is the ultimate bully assuming the pulpit.”

. . .

K          “He grew up or at least got older in opulence, yet so many of his antics are those of the parvenu.  He was and is not accepted by the old money in New York City and was and is not trusted by the Deep State in D.C.  He had the chance to end run all of them by appointing talented individuals who would assist him challenge the status quo and implement his more rational campaign pronouncements.”

J          “If he had done it right, he would have had the satisfaction of knowing that the old guard and the old hands know he did it right even though they would never acknowledge his accomplishments or accept him as a person or the President.”

K          “And the personal satisfaction of knowing that he did it right.”

. . .

K          “Sometimes, if you want to be a genius, you need to be a genius.” 

J          “Not.  gonna.  happen.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “The ‘Ownership State’ and ‘Bush, Inc.’ (April 11, 2005)”, “Corporations United (February 15, 2010)”, “Commodities Futures / Future Commodities (March 8, 2010)”, “Schooling The Apparatchiks For the Kleptocrats (December 7, 2015)” and “On Merit and the Meritocracy (January 11, 2010).”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Faking America Great Again

Keeping America American Again

Keeping America Hoodwinked Again

Draining the swamp into the swamp

Crocodiles replacing alligators

We did get fooled again.

There is a disturbance in the farce.

“You campaign in poetry.  You govern in prose.”  Mario Cuomo

You campaign in doggerel.  You govern in derision.  Donaldo Trumpi

“All you need in this life is a tremendous sex drive and a great ego.  Brains don’t mean a shit.”  Mayor Anthony “Captain Tony” Tarracino

Nero – Caligula In 2020  For a clear vision of the future

The E-pocalypse:  My Fellow Americans, Our Long National Nightmare Is Beginning (November 14, 2016)

Posted in Blue States / Red States, Clinton, Democrats, FBI, Journalism, Newspapers, Pogo Plight, Presidency, Press/Media, Radio, Republicans, Trumpi, Voting, War and Wall Street Party on November 14, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “The national political stage is now showcasing a burlesque reality show with America’s Silvio Berlusconi at center stage.  Donaldo Trumpi.”

J          “If you want to be the laughingstock of the world, you need a fool to make ‘em laugh.”

K          “And to fool them.  Washington has devolved into Rome, so the populace might as well coronate Nero to oversee the cesspool.”         

J          “Circuses and bread . . . and Trump.  P.T. Barnum would be amused.  He only took the peoples’ money and yet gave them a spectacle in return.  The people soon will see that Trump will take their dreams and give them nothing.”

. . .

K          “Post Trumpatic Stress Disorder (PTpSD) is haunting three cohorts this week.  The reflective Bernie supporters who voted for Trump or others in protest are stupefied.  The disconnected voters who did not want Trump in the White House but could not vote for Clinton and were confident she would win are horrified.  And those who simply cannot accept Trump in the White House are terrified.”

J          “We need to adopt a provision from consumer protection statutes to allow voters to reconsider their decisions within seventy-two hours.” 

. . .

K          “I thought the ‘e-pocalypse’ would be an economic apocalypse not an election apocalypse.”

J          “Don’t panic.  That is coming.”

. . .

K          “Trump is the only candidate who Clinton could beat.  Clinton is the only candidate who Trump could beat.  The rules were written so that the voters could not vote for both of them to lose at the same time.  Someone was forced to win.”

J          “In a nation with millions and millions and millions of potential candidates, the number ‘n’ candidate and the number ‘n – 1’ candidate were engaged.  Long before the election, however, the Democrats elected to lose with Clinton rather than to win with Sanders.”

. . .

K          “For the last few months, I could see something bubbling in the background and hovering on the horizon.  The media were trapped in a bubble.  The Clinton campaign was trapped in a bubble.  Neither had an air vent to the real world.  The double bubble was leading to trouble for Clinton.”

J          “An old boy once told me that you should never breathe your own fumes.”

. . .

J          “The decision by the FBI director James Comey to revive the inquiry into Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server was a factor that caused her to lose.  He should be indicted.”

K          “The system is so corrupt that the FBI director can do anything and is above the law.  Only the poor and downtrodden get indicted in America.”

J          “The successful efforts by Republicans in some of the battleground states to purge their voting roles had an impact that needs to be analyzed with care.”

. . .

K          “Madeline Albright’s threat that women who do not vote for Clinton will find a place in Hell did not play well.  Too many citizens are already living a hellish existence.  Telling someone that you have no choice except to capitulate to a candidate rubbed many the wrong way.  Voting the opposite way is the only way to proclaim one’s freedom and independence.”

J          “And worth.  The simple truth is that many uneducated white males were threatened by and unwilling to vote for an educated white female.  I told others to disregard her smug, privileged, arrogant and sanctimonious attitude and vote for someone who is at least somewhat stable.”

K          “Romney’s disdain and dismissal of the ‘47 percent’ in 2012 before a private gathering of old White boys played a decisive role in his defeat.  Why Clinton decided gratuitously to take a page from his play book, disparage the ‘deplorables’ in public and leave voters wondering whether they were worthy of voting for her is stupefying.”

J          “And stupid.  There is no other word for it.  She spent time in Arizona and Georgia seeking to win by a landslide but was unaware of how the tectonic plates had shifted under her.  She never even went to Wisconsin to touch base with the folks.  All she had to do was listen to one legitimate grievance and show some empathy.  Every newspaper in the Badger State would have covered the trip.  Some attention to Michigan and Pennsylvania and perhaps Ohio suggesting a positive message rather than carping about Trump would have served her well.”

K          “If she had truly labored on a salmon slime line in Alaska and learned some life lessons rather than just logging a novel resume entry, she would be POTUS-elect.” 

. . .

J          “Some projected that if Clinton were elected, Whites would flock to and flood gun stores.  With Trump’s election, the flood gates are now open to inflict violence on Blacks and Browns who now need to flock to gun stores.  The threat to them is much more real today.”

K          “The National Rifle Association did more than any other institution to put Trump in the House for Whites.”

J          “And the grand irony in this year of absurd consequences is that the NRA followed the practice of so many voters by voting against its interest.  If Clinton had been elected, gun sales would have exploded.  Gun sales and gun stocks now may go down.”

. . .

J          “His antics earned him a billion dollars’ worth of free media coverage particularly when he was outrageous and offensive and himself.  There is a take home message there for future candidates.”

K          “The candidate who spent more money has won every modern Presidential election.  Except this election.  That fluke likely will never happen again.” 

J          “The new ‘antisocial media’ allowed streams of vile and unfounded invective to pass for political insight and surpassed the effectiveness of Anger Mongering (AM) radio.  Elections may soon be fact-free and issue-barren.”

. . .

J          “Compare the list of endorsements for President published by the top hundred newspapers since the 2000 Presidential election.  They were divided about equally between the two candidates.  Never has a major party Presidential candidate received one and only one endorsement and that from a regional paper.”

K          “The media bubble again.  He also received the nod from the Klan rag.  Not receiving one endorsement from a major newspaper was the most compelling and convincing endorsement for many.”

J          “The hate and fear newspapers present a daily gauntlet of hate and fear to everyone going through the checkout lines at grocery stores.  Repetitive subconscious subliminal messages conveyed on the small bill boards that box in the consumer, even if the rag is not read or even picked up, increased the population’s susceptibility to the messages of hate and fear.  Toss in the trip hammer of hate and fear spewing from the Faux Network at home.  Trump only had to whistle.”

. . .

K          “Trump should read the discussion in “‘Mericanize:  Monetize, Mechanize And Militarize (December 30, 2013)” over at e-commentary.org.  The landscape has not changed since then.  Factories are all automated.  Factories, wherever located, do not employ and will never employ many workers.”

J          “He does not care about ideas.”

. . .

K          “By November 5, the Republican Party was pronounced dead on a few websites and then resurrected three days later.  During the early morning hours of November 9, the Democratic Party was put on life support and left in a coma.”

. . .

K          “The undigested anger is still festering.  None of the underlying problems will be addressed.  The anger will find another outlet.”

. . .

J          “Now what?”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “Boycott Red America (January 3, 2005)” and “‘Mericanize:  Monetize, Mechanize And Militarize (December 30, 2013)”.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

The election apocalypse (hereinafter “E-pocalypse”):  Coming to a Republic near you

Did America just repudiate its sanity, decency, humanity and integrity?

Fake quotes will still ruin the Internet.  Benjamin Franklin

The future is certain and the end is already here.

You can’t always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes, you get what you do not need.

Dividing The Divided Supreme Court In A Divided Country (October 3, 2016)

Posted in Constitution, Elections, First Monday In October, Immanentizing The Eschaton, Presidency, Supreme Court on October 3, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Divide the Court.  The Court is already quasi-formally divided, yet they meet in joint session.  The country is already divided.  Formally divide the Court in two.”

J          “So we simply acknowledge the divide in the country and divide the country and the Court in twain.  That is where we are heading.  That is our destiny.” 

K          “There is talk of dividing the Ninth Circuit which, if it is done, is always along geographic lines.  The Supreme Court is divided along easily demarcated ideological lines and adequately defined geographic lines.  The four Red Catholic Republican Institutionalist Boys should propound the law in the Red States.  The four Blue ‘Jewish’ Democratic Individualist ‘Girls’ should propound the law in the Blue States.”

J          “One Great Decision.  Two utopias.  I like it.”

K          “What is truly promising is that neither side would be forced to undertake and endure a great constitutional convention; that prospect is terrifying.  Each team could have a mimeographed copy of the same Constitution.  And then each team could continue to reach opposite results.”

. . .

J          “That would allow everyone in the two Americas to immanentize the Eschaton everywhere at the same time.”

K          “Not exactly.  One team would allow everyone in Blue America to immanentize the Eschaton and the other team would not allow anyone in Red America to immanentize the Eschaton.”

J          “Exactly.  Toward a more perfect division.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary for the last half dozen years in the Category “First Monday In October”, “Boycott Red America (January 3, 2005)”, “Immanentize The Eschaton: Move To Sunny Somalia (December 20, 2010)” and “Immanentize The Eschaton.  Say What? (August 22, 2016).”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

The Election is all about the Court

We are selecting one of the two Courts not one of the two court jesters

With liberty and justice for some

Better the crook we know than the crazy man we don’t?  Applying The Conservative Tie Breaker. (June 20, 2016)

Posted in Clinton, Elections, On [Traits/Characteristics], Political Parties, Politics, Presidency, Solstice, Sports, Supreme Court, Trumpi, Wall Street, War, War and Wall Street Party on June 20, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Better the crook we know than the crazy man we don’t?”

J          “You sure?”

. . .

K          “Better the crazy crook we know than the crooked crazy man we don’t?”

J          “You sure?”

K          “Better the war-savoring, crazy crook we know than the xenophobic, crooked, crazy man we don’t?”

J          “You sure?”

K          “Better the war-savoring and Wall Street-favoring, crazy crook we know than the xenophobic, bigoted, crooked, crazy man we don’t?”

J          “You sure?”

K          “Better the lying, war-savoring and Wall Street-favoring, crazy crook we know than the lying, xenophobic, bigoted, crooked, crazy man we don’t?”

J          “You sure?”

. . .

J          “We are now stuck with two presumptuous Presidential nominees and zero hope.”

K          “Clinton is part of the problem; the Donald does not even understand the problem.  Full stop.”

J          “I’m sure that we have a problem.”

. . .

K          “The conservatives resolve these conundrums by resorting to the aphorism:  ‘Better the devil we know than the devil we don’t.’”

J          “I sure don’t know who is the devil we know and who is the devil we don’t?”

K          “In the final analysis, it all comes down to the Supreme Court.”

. . .

K          “The solstice is the sunniest day of the year up here.  Defaulting to the lesser of the two diabolical devils isn’t the most promising ray of sunshine.”

J          “It starts getting darker every day after 22:34 UTC this afternoon.”

K          “There are still some long days in our future.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “The First Look At The ‘Second Political Party’ (January 3, 2011).”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

“And how many more of these stinking double-downer sideshows will we have to go through before we can get . . . a chance to vote for something, instead of always being faced with that old familiar choice between the lesser of two evils?”  Hunter S. Thompson

Better the crook we know than the crazy man we don’t?

The other election this week in Britain on the “Brexit” will be revealing.

Cleveland was hot yesterday and may be hot this July.

The Donald:  The Consummate Republican.  Sort Of. (March 28, 2016)

Posted in Elections, Presidency on March 28, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

X          “Dangerous.”

Y          “At core, the Owners are outraged that he is speaking far too candidly and failing to follow or even acknowledge the Rules.  The Donald has not made the sotto voce promises of position to the Republican government in waiting while amping the volume of dog whistles beyond the accepted level.”

. . .

Y          “He is the Consummate Republican or more accurately the Unvarnished Republican.”

X          “Dangerous.  The Unwashed Republican is appealing to the Unwashed Republicans.”

Y          “The Unwashed Republicans have been put through the wringer and come out dirtier, wrinkled and worse for wear.  They are now saying enough.”

. . .

Y          “The great elixir in America is the belief that everyone can get rich and everyone can grow up to be President.  Everyone cannot.”

X          “Every two years, the Republicans summon the masses and suggest that if they vote Republican they too can be part of the Beautiful People, members of the Rich and Famous.  After the false aura and the self-delusion wears off, the masses cannot ignore their grinding plight and hopeless circumstances.”

Y          “So the Donald promises . . . hope and change.”

X          “Amid the fear and loathing.”  

. . .

Y          “What about Cruz?”

X          “More dangerous.  Far more dangerous.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary for the last few weeks.]

Bumper sticker of the week:

“A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself within.  The essential causes of Rome’s decline lay in her people, her morals, her class struggle, her failing trade, her bureaucratic despotism, her stifling taxes, her consuming wars.”  Will Durant