Who Are We Trying To Kid?
Lies, damned lies, and politics
In the time that I’ve been writing this newsletter (blog? Polemic? Drivel? Whatever.) the accuracy of my predictions has been better than chance, but don’t assign that success to any great insight on my part. I did take a swing and miss in asserting that Griffin would be our next state supreme court justice – I failed to consider that the federal court might finally intervene. In most other domains I’ve turned in correct assessments not because of any carefully considered analysis, but rather because I am a rather glum and pessimistic guy, prone to expect the worst. Boy, is it my time to shine.
Which brings me to Thom Tillis. Thom has committed political hari-kari, by opposing the Criminal-in-Chief on one of his pet projects, the Billionaire’s Budget Bill. Before you credit Tillis with possession of an actual spine, consider two things: One, he had already pissed off the MAGA boss once before, and perhaps as a result, two; wasn’t getting any help from his party’s leadership in furtherance of his re-election. Soooo, he decided to blow the whole thing up and go home. Note that he “still respects” the Mob Boss. That’s his way of saying “Please don’t throw me out a window or send my family to a concentration camp in the swamp. I’ll go quietly.”
The social whattyacallit is all lit up this morning with shouting about the aforementioned BBB, with most of the pundits asserting that the cowardly GOP is going to suffer mightily in the midterms. Uh-huh. They ARE a cowardly bunch, but the midterm vote won’t do nearly the damage y’all are expecting. I know I’ve been spitting into the wind (notice how I cleaned that up?) about this for months now, but I will say it again, one more time: the midterms are DOA.
Do you not remember, back when Daddy was campaigning, how he would gather all his little minions around and promise them that this was the last time they would have to vote? Were you one of those people who thought the 2025 program would never gain traction? Many Substack scribes were tossing around words like “Nazi” and “fascist” and “authoritarian” and “oligarchy” back then, and “king” and “dictator” more recently, and yet. . .
Will there be midterm elections? Of course there will. Will they be free and fair elections? Not a chance in hell. Oh, maybe North Carolina will get a Democrat elected to the Senate, but I would not (and am not) counting on it. As recently as yesterday, we learned that – contrary to the interest of the NINETY PERCENT of voters in Durham County who are NOT registered Republicans – our county Board of Elections has become majority Fascist (formerly, “Republican”). This is true across all 100 counties in the state. A good gerrymander is a gift that just keeps giving.
In that regard, see Griffin, above. To make lemonade out of that lemon, his political party took the ideas proposed in his failed lawsuit and ran with them. It seems there are thousands of voters in North Carolina whom, for one reason or another, have what are deemed to be questionable registrations. Some people vote here despite never having lived here. This stems from being a U.S. citizen living out of the country and connected to North Carolina through parents who resided here. Another class of people – mostly in the military – have not provided the required identification with their registration. Those two categories are mostly small potatoes. The fascists are also trying to toss 225,000 voters from the rolls because they lack certain data on their registration even though they are otherwise properly registered, and despite a new law that requires all of us to provide identification when we vote. There’s also some problem with hyphenated names, and mismatches between voter registration and ID. Don’t be surprised at county-by-county inconsistencies in the purges to come, along party lines.
In the meantime, the SAVE Act, pending in Congress, is designed to toss millions (mostly married women) off the federal voting rolls, because they don’t have “adequate” proof of U.S. citizenship, either a passport or a birth certificate with a name on it that matches their current name. As you may be surprised to learn, women tend to be more politically liberal than men.
Does this mean you shouldn’t go out and vote? Not at all. You probably should vote, if you can. Will you be allowed to vote? Hard to say. Will there be candidates of your choice on the ballot? Possibly not. And there’s one other eventuality to consider – that you’ll be required to vote. If so, remember this: One of the most precious rights, in a real democracy, is the right to not vote.
In the meantime, cross your fingers and check your registration.
I personally cheered when Tillis quit. He and select members of his staff are, in my opinion, horrible human beings. (This has to do with NASCAR’s unspeakable and outrageously illegal* subversion of our civil rights lawsuit filed against them. To try and talk about it in any detail would end with me deleting this draft, then losing the next day or two in a PTSD blank-out.)
I regret that Tillis dropped out. I’d have registered Republican just to vote against him in the primary. Trump’s choices have generally fared fairly awful in the general election. So hopefully America’s favorite African Big Man is shooting off his own fat f*cking foot.
I would contend that Tillis’ decision centered on himself and his need to avoid personal embarrassment. I’ll bet it barely involved the people of North Carolina. But rarely, in my opinion, has he ever acted in our interests unless somehow it coincided with his.
What frustrates me is this: why can’t we organize to primary Trump’s minions? Are we really that self-defeated by these functional retards? Where are our gamers y’all? Let’s put our minds to it. What are we gonna do? Fail? Even if we lose it’s better than being losers who wouldn’t try. That’s such a bullshit way to let democracy die.