I hate to bore you by regurgitating the details of Trump’s second impeachment trial or the awful events at the Capitol on January 6th, but how can anyone, living or dead (such as myself, of course) fail to comment on the Republican senators who voted against impeachment, who have twisted and contorted themselves into knots in recent weeks trying to appease Trump’s “base”? I’m talking about the likes of Mitch McConnell and Lindsay Graham, who have long-since surpassed “profiles in schmuckness”. Those dudes have shown so little backbone that they can only be described as “profiles in worm.” Indeed, to call them spineless is to insult every hardworking invertebrate on the planet. (If I’m not careful I’m liable to receive a cease and desist letter from the Xerces Society for disparaging their membership, all of which, unlike most Republican members of Congress, perform an extremely valuable function.)
And I find it hard to resist commenting on the former President’s defense team equating the Capitol insurrection with the Black Lives Matter demonstrations that occurred in so many American cities following the killing of George Floyd last summer. It is very unfortunate that some demonstrations turned violent, and even more unfortunate that some people used the demonstrations as an excuse to riot and destroy property. Looting and burning small businesses does nothing to advance racial and economic equality, the causes I champion. But to argue that such people constituted the political left’s “army” (that characterization being courtesy of Tucker Carlson and others of his ilk) is an absolute absurdity. This humble spirit has no recollection of politicians on the left “cheering” on the rioters as is now claimed. They supported peaceful demonstrations, as rightfully they should have, but the BLM protestors were never encouraged to riot or attack the police.
A Divided Ruling Class Engaging in Battle with Itself is a Recipe for Disaster.
Indeed, I see very little equivalency between the Black Lives Matter protestors and the mob who stormed the U.S. Capitol. BUT they serve as two sides of the same inescapable problem: The American “experiment” can’t continue much longer with a shrinking middle class and ever-widening inequality. Our country’s ruling class—whether you call them the “elites,” the wealthy, the top 10% or the top 1%, meritocracy’s winners, or what have you—can’t keep getting richer and more powerful while everyone else gets poorer and more aggrieved. If you ask me, this sounds like the formula for a good old-fashioned revolution. We may bicker about our respective armies all we like, but it should be clear that a divided ruling class engaging in battle with itself is a recipe for disaster.
The “K-shaped” recovery is no recovery. We need to turn the whole economy around and create new opportunities for people to thrive—pronto! Two tremendous segments of the population (I’m talking about working class whites and working class minorities) can’t both continue to be more and more aggrieved. The pie can’t keep getting smaller while economic inequality keeps getting larger. We need to come to the rescue of all our fellow Americans or, alas, I fear the country will be no more.