Analysis, Commentary, Opinion
10.06.2018
Power
Frank
Herbert said: Power does not corrupt, it
merely attracts the corruptible.
He
wrote many insightful things about the human condition in his great collection
of Science Fiction, the Dune books,
and others. The first time I read those words they resonated with me, and I knew
he was right.
Like
moths to the flame, the corruptible are attracted to power, it is lamentable
that like moths, they do not burn up when the fly to close to it.
Frank
Herbert also said this:
Most people never participate. They
get by on little more than dumb persistence, reacting with anger and even
violence, at anything that might come along to disrupt their resentment filled
lives of mediocrity.
Look
at the American electorate, look at crowds of people who gather to listen to
the orange villain speak, listen to him channel their anger, watch it grow in
response to him, in its vile, vituperative, vicious feedback-loop.
T-Rump
in the exemplar, sine qua non, he is
the unparalleled archetype of the first piece of wisdom offered by the sage,
Frank Herbert.
This
ridiculous buffoon shot from his mother’s womb like a steaming pile of corrupt
filth, demonstrating throughout his life his obsessive need for congratulation,
and adulation and the love of the crowd that you have to wonder if he was ever
loved at all.
I
think his mother must have seen what he would become and rejected him from the
start, without realizing how her own neglect would shape him into the monster
that he has become.
Did
you read the report in the New York Times on the lifetime of corruption and
fraud he and his family have pursued, and lied about, the hundreds of millions
of dollars he squandered of his father’s fortune, finally, robbing his father
of it when he was disabled with dementia, by forcing him to sign a codicil to
his will.
We
have a fixed number of constitutionally appointed officers and office holder
outlined in our constitution. We have three branches of government and their
roles are fixed.
These
are the bright flames of power, that attract the corrupt people like T-Rump,
yes, his corruption is obvious, you can see it dripping from him as he
salivates when he throws his tantrums on the stage.
Let’s
talk about the corruption of people like Susan Collins the Senator from Maine.
She got in front of the camera yesterday and gave a speech about the nominee
for the Supreme Court, in which she pretended to be reasonable in her
acceptance of all the lies that the nominee told the senate, both this year,
and in past years when he had previously sought confirmation for a judicial appointment,
to the federal bench, and to the court of appeals.
The
man told bold face lies; about his role in the Bush administration in drafting
the legal rationale for torture, about his receipt and use of e-mails that had
been stolen from the opposition party in the senate, about his knowledge of the
sexual harassment and inappropriateness of a judge he clerked for, who resigned
his post over his behavior; he lied about his own habits, his drinking in high
school and in college, about the parties he attended, about the meaning of
passages written in his yearbook, about his nickname Bart, about his own sexual
conduct and misbehavior. He lied about when he knew about the allegations that came
from his second accuser, Debby Ramirez, telling the Judiciary Committee that he
learned about it when the story appeared in the paper, while at the same time
his former classmates were coming forward with texts messages from him and he
PR team, weeks before, pushing them to adopt a narrative to refute Debby
Ramirez’ claims.
He
lied, he ranted, he raved, he treated his nomination like it was an
entitlement, rather than the honor and the privilege it is.
Susan
Collins got up and in her speech, whitewashed the entire record. She asked the
American people to believe that she does not know when she is being lied to,
and to in turn accept her lies in asking us to believe it.
She
did what the rest of the Republicans in the Senate did, their colleagues in the
house, the President and all their supporters did; they foisted a con on the
American people, a scam, they screamed and whined, and they told us the most
obvious lies, all of it pouring out of their mouth like vomit, from the corrupt
place inside of them where all of their self-loathing lies.
They
did not do this for love of country. They did not do this because they think
this will make America a better country to live in, a more descent country to
live in, a more hopeful country to live in, or more just.
They
did it because they think and believe in their collective rotten-heart that
this vote today, this vote for Kavanaugh, is the path for them to retain the
power that they covet.
On
the campaign trail, the MAGA voter, the T-Rump sycophants, they eat it up,
proving the latter thesis offered by the wise Frank Herbert.
They
give no thought to what it means to let such a man onto the highest court in
the land; a political partisan, an ideologue, a hack; a man who perjured
himself to get confirmed, a man who once assaulted a fifteen year-old girl, and
who could not find it in his hear to apologize, seek forgiveness and move on.
The
MAGA voter only wants to see their Dear Leader win, to experience his victory vicariously,
even while he pushes them down, stands on their backs, to bask in their applause.
T-Rump
has taken to vilifying the survivors of sexual assault, of rape, to mock them
and ridicule while his crowds cheer. He has brought the country low, and he
seeks to bring it lower still, counting on the anger of his followers, their
rage and their violence to keep it there.
We
must resist
It
is one month until the election, we must resist.
