The Chickens Are Coming Home to Roost- Random thoughts on 2017
The Mueller investigation is closing in on the detritus of the Presidency, the ship of state piloted by a mad Ahab, who, instead of pursuing the great white whale, pursues personal narcissisms at the expense of his countrymen. Having achieved high office through an enormous con of the working people to whom he represented himself as their champion, the duplicity, mendacity and lack of a scintilla of integrity are finally being revealed by a dogged, intelligent, incorruptible and highly competent prosecutor and his team of first rate lawyers, all devoted to exposing the truth.
There are many Russia questions to be answered. And they will be, despite the naysayers the Trump apologists in Congress, and the White House sycophants, including Mike Pence, who thinks the world is 5000 years old, and will not dine with a woman unless his wife. whom he calls "mother" is present.
The truth is not something that the present incumbent has ever worn. In his real estate dealings, his competitors, dupes and stiffed debtors are legion. And the women he has harassed are now speaking up. A trial will soon occur when the President might be subpoenaed to testify, to the delight of political theatergoers.
After the faith in our institutions has been shaken to its core, light appears at the end of the dark tunnel. Trump will go, either through resignation or impeachment. I do not believe he will last until 2020. But then again, I did not think he would be elected. But wait, would he start a war with Little Rocket man to escape impeachment and possible conviction? Or indictment?
Now, we are faced with what will come next. Will the country continue to be riven with cultural divisions? The answer is probably yes. But hopeful signs emerge from the deepest of red Alabama, which has elected of all things, a progressive Democrat instead of a troglodyte "Judge Moore," who believes that the ten commandments belong on the courthouse door, that homosexuals should be in jail, gays should be prosecuted, that abortion is a mortal sin, and last but not least, that slavery was a better time for America. He has still not conceded the election, won by Doug Jones, a moderate Democrat, who most likely will be a decent senator. Mitch McConnell, that paradigm of compassion for the working class, should be thankful that the Republican senators will not be placed in the unwelcome position of attempting to expel Moore on ethics issues.
On a broader front the economy is humming along, but the threat to unskilled labor grows with each passing day. Automation, robotics, and industrial efficiency fueled by those two horsemen continue apace. Each day exponentially increases the body of knowledge and information. Parents agonize over the screen time spent by their children, who are mostly now ignorant of literature, language and rely instead on computers to do the calculations children did in former generations. The idea that a tax cut for corporations will allow them to pay more to workers is delusional. Workers, displaced by automation will not even be hired and the reason corporations are so profitable are because they mostly have reduced their workforces because of automation. Robots do not need wage increases, get sick, or sexually harass anyone (unless in a Arnold Schwarzenegger household).
Sexual harassment allegations are now as common as men and women. What used to be acceptable or to be more artful, was tolerable as was segregation in Birmingham, Alabama or slavery in the antebellum south, has now become outrageously unacceptable. Cultural shifts that came slowly now arrive with lightening speed on social media and on the Internet. Crowds of friends on Facebook roil about how our President is as culpable as any of the prominent men who have patted a butt or advanced their libidos at women's expense. But were not women at one time ambiguously agreeable to such behavior? Did not men interpret a "no" to really mean a "yes?" Some men grouse that "you can't even flirt with a woman any more," or "you can't even shake a woman's hand." Evolutionary biology has been eschewed by the new cultural ethos. But so has polygamy, and the rule of the old white walrus, beating off his rivals for command of the harem.
I liked the Charlie Rose show, but Charlie needed to go. He had informative and stimulating conversations with authors, statesmen, foreign policy analysts, composers, directors, professors, scientists and politicians. His guest list read like a catalog of important people with important things to contribute to the national discussion on almost every important subject. Seems like Christianne Amanpour, not a bad choice, will replace his show. Terry Gross would have been an excellent choice also.
James Levine is a brilliant conductor, Richard Wagner was an anti Semite, Ty Cobb (the baseball genius not the President's mustachioed lawyer) was an incorrigible, mean spirited jerk, Harvey Weinstein brought us brilliant film, Einstein had many mistresses, U.S. Grant was a drunkard, Lincoln was a depressive, Roosevelt and Kennedy dallied with many women; the list could traverse all of history, including the Founding Fathers. Thomas Jefferson had children with an enslaved Sally Hemmings. How about that for a hostile workplace environment? They all contributed to the advancement of society.
I am afraid I cannot include the present occupant of the White House among these notables. He is beyond redemption.
But, as I said, soon he will be gone.
Abba Eban, the Israeli statesman and legatee of Churchillean oratory said, "The American people will eventually get it right, after they have done everything else first."