A Circus of the Kakistocracy
More than three rings are required for this show
kak·i·sto·cra·cy (noun): Government by the least suitable or competent citizens of a society or state
This week I peek inside the big top to see what some of the most performative public figures are doing to entertain us.
The current frontrunner for the Georgia Republican Senate nomination, Hershel Walker, a Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL star, said in an appearance over the weekend, “At one time, science said man came from apes, did it not? If that is true, why are there still apes? Think about it." (So, what’s your point, Hersh?)
Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R-CO) tweeted that some parents of U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan expressed support for her after she and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) heckled President Biden during his State of the Union Address. She claimed that one parent was the mother of a “lieutenant corporal.” Since there is no such rank, Boebert was dunked on by many in social media. Fred Wellman’s Twitter response was typical: “She is so passionate about these poor troops she doesn't know even the most basic ranks.” (Obviously, this was not a question on the high school GED test the Congresswoman took months before being elected.)
Congresswomen Greene is herself a Mistress of the Malaprop. Last month brought us her unforgettable reference to “Nancy Pelosi’s gazpacho police”. This week she tangled with conservative Bill Kristol on Twitter, replying to one of his tweets with “I tell you what pumpkin. How about you suit up and report to your commander and chief yourself and tell him your reporting for duty.” (Rep. Greene has the advantage of being born without the ability to feel shame.)
Last week, Congressman Madison Cawthorne (R-NC) was caught on a leaked video claiming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was a "thug" and “that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and is incredibly evil and has been pushing woke ideologies". In another leaked video, Cawthorn accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of being an alcoholic though Pelosi has always maintained that she doesn’t drink. All this came after Cawthorn was charged with driving with a revoked license. He has two pending citations for speeding. (The problem with attention-seeking behavior is that people get to hear most everything you say.)
My Pillow CEO and renowned conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell claims he is spending $1 million a month to launch a video-streaming app, ”Frank Speech”, to compete with YouTube. His ambitious plans also include the launching of a social media platform, “Frank Social”, to compete with Facebook. Lindell spends his days promoting the “Big Lie” that Donald Trump actually won the 2020 election and was the victim of wide-spread voting fraud. Without presenting any evidence, he claims that a number of states actually went for Trump. A typical reaction: A spokesperson for Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told Newsweek that Lindell "knows he's lying—but he's fallen so deep into the grift that he may actually believe his own lies." In general, Lindell has been unsuccessful in his politics-adjacent career: His attempt last month to deliver a truck-load of his pillows to the Canadian truckers who were protesting government mandates was thwarted when the Canadian government prevented both Lindell and his truck crew from entering Ontario; none of them had proof of vaccination. (Maybe Mike should lay his head on a pillow and take a nap.)
Tulsi Gabbard, erstwhile Democratic Congresswoman and a 2020 Presidential candidate , sees comparisons between Vladimir Putin’s Russia and the Biden Administration: In response to a question from Fox News's Jesse Watters about reports the White House briefed popular TikTok personalities in order to promote information on the war in Ukraine, Gabbard replied that the US is “not that different from what we’re seeing happening in Russia”, and that “Freedom of expression is directly under threat and under attack.” Her comments on Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s show about “biolabs” in Ukraine resulted in her tweet of that appearance being blocked by Google/YouTube. Her reaction:
YouTube/Google are offended by my criticism of the Military Industrial Complex and my advocacy for negotiated settlement in Ukraine, because they are the social media arm of that warmongering Power Elite/MIC.
(Gabbard is an Army Reserve officer- part of “the military’- who served in Iraq. Go figure.)
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) criticized President Biden while addressing the Senate this week.
Biden has refused to lead. Forget doing what needs to be done, he won't even say what needs to be said. He's fearful and he is scared to anger the new axis of evil. He's scared to anger one more timid ally in Europe. He's sacred to anger the radical left.
(To illustrate her support for Ukraine, Blackburn was one of 31 Republican Senators to vote against $13.6 billion military aid for Ukraine. Her undergraduate degree in Home Economics did not give her a foundation in geopolitical issues.)
I could go on but this circus of shallow thinkers is already large enough, so large, in fact, that it requires two ringmasters. From the political side, we have Donald Trump, who probably still wonders why he didn’t receive the Nobel Peace Prize for exchanging love letters with North Korea’s Kim Jung-Un and has had a long infatuation with Vladimir Putin. On the other, we have media star Tucker Carlson, whose own fondness for the Russian strongman has led to clips of his show being featured on Russian state TV.
No circus is complete without a clown car, of course, stuffed with the clueless. We can pack in Senators Ron Johnson, Rick Scott, Ted Cruz, and Tommy Tuberville, Congressmen Matt Gaetz, Tom Massie, Mo Brooks, and Paul Gosar, RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel… A proper mix of merely self-serving cynics and the intellectually challenged.
And, yes, they are all Republicans. The Democrats have their own problems but, to extend the metaphor, while the current GOP is a circus, the Democratic Party more resembles a dysfunctional family at Thanksgiving: Joe Manchin is the grumpy uncle, Kyrsten Sinema is the kooky cousin, and the Squad (Congresswomen Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Pressley, and Talib) are the idealistic youngsters.
If you are wondering how the nation survives this, two 18th Century figures stated it plainly: Joseph de Maistre, a Sardinian said [paraphrased] “in a democracy, the people get the government they deserve”. Our own Benjamin Franklin commented that the Constiution was giving us “a Republic, if we can keep it”.
To shut down the circus, we should vote the clowns out.
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I feel sorry for those who make a living writing satire. Things are so ridiculous that doing a tongue in cheek exaggeration of the status quo is almost impossible
The social media are filled today--for me at least--with candidates asking for campaign donations. And my phone rings off the hook every day. I am a political donor, and obviously Democrats share the phone lists they generate from collecting campaign funds. East coast to West. North to South and everywhere in between--calls and emails/imessages. It's the price of my supporting favored candidates in-state and nationally. But I need a phone that lets me shut off the ringer to save the nerves of my house guests who are dismayed I don't answer the land line--ever. They don't realize I have caller ID on the main television screen.
In my own civic and political lives I have seen how the less competent but more aggressive neighbors scheme and plot to gain civic association office, let alone political seats. I've had my share of time waiting for the less competent to fulfill their neighborhood directorships or offices including president. Then I take over for years when they lose interest and fall away. Even the PTA has its share of petty crooks and control freaks in office. But performance has its say and generating 1000s of dollars for the principal and staff's needs ordinarily has its day. So I was a local and district PTA leader for years in Louisiana. But eventually my son graduated from his primary school, the proscribed PTA involvement in politics with State officials induced 'retirement' or outright quitting by me. The incompetents can be overwhelming in their numbers and illicit acts.
I've been asked to run for political office several times by both parties. That was during political upheaval in the Deep South when Republicans were switching to be Democrats and vice versa--something few ordinary blog commenters understand, maybe the general public as well. Ginny Martinez was RNC national committee chairman at one point and her Republican women asked me to run for office. I simply attended a meeting with my long-time Republican party member and local elected Representative mother and the group seemed impressed. "What office? I asked. Anything; we'll support you," they said.
I was impressed but didn't run for anything; my inspiration was to support the RNC Presidential Convention with fundraising phone calls--alone at a huge phone bank; that energy for weeks induced the Convention people to make me 'volunteer security official' at the Superdome when I was assigned there. After all, I was a teacher and used to talking with people--in this case minor elected officials around the country seeking Convention spots as ushers and the like.
At about the same time the 'new' Democrats in New Orleans were asking me to run for State Electoral College delegate. That didn't happen either as teaching duties took up most of my time in- and outside of school. These were the activists ginning up a more democratic Democratic Party--but I had a son to raise alone and that takes time. But the aura of neutrality and people-orientation in professional politics was spreading. The duo of Trent Lott and Bob Dole simultaneously asked me to join them in a national political policy advisory committee in DC. Incredible--both parties.
So civic work and politics were increasing their calls on my time while my child was absorbing much school work and computer skills in his advanced classes--ready for high school after 6th grade with the accelerated content classes he attended. But even there at his level, the hoi polloi were impinging on the family as bullies attacked Rob on the playground at recess. The mediocre principal and inattentive teachers provided little supervision and rote lessons. Invasion of the mind snatchers even in my chosen field.
So I must say with my current ultra conservative blog reading and commenting, observation of national, state and local civic/political news and elected officials, knowledge of Fortune 500 companies AND small stock market listed groups of cast members, neighbors, 'acquaintances', business clients and civic leaders, there is a paucity of real governance and activism by average and above the cut citizens. It doesn't take much to rise above the crowd as I've proven many times in many places, but few are the citizens who make any effort beyond their 4-walls and neighborhoods--xenophobic and block dwelling Americans, but few statesmen.