It’s about time. My beloved country will get over Trump’s threat to our democracy.
I have such confidence in the soundness of our democratic foundations that I never lamented; but I certainly felt anger and anxiety along the way.
A sense of surreality and a sense of humor helped a lot; you don’t spend decades teaching modernist literature without knowing that the world can turn kafkaesque, and that the absurd is as comic as it is tragic. But you’re never entirely prepared for a truly wild turn of events.
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And what is left to say about The Genius of the Carpathians, America’s Père Ubu? Only that I hope his behavior over the last two weeks has begun to unsettle some of the people who follow him out of a desire for an authoritarian government. I hope they come to realize how grotesque that desire is; I hope they begin to perceive how grotesque he – like all authoritarians – is. Especially grotesque on American soil.
I understand how America made the conman; I’ll admit to having a hell of a time understanding how America made the conman president. Biden’s strong showing vindicates the belief I’ve held throughout these last months: America has always been under there — under the cruelty, ignorance, and arrogance. Virtually all Americans recognize that when a White House is represented by Rudolph Giuliani and Sidney Powell there is absolutely nothing to recognize; we are fundamentally a sane rational earnest practical people, and when our government degenerates into curdled cynicism and idiot fanaticism, we know, most of us, that we have entirely lost our way.
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And now Mary’s uncle settles into a new persona: Sideshow Bob, eternally popping up to try to vanquish Joe Biden.
November 24th, 2020 at 1:51PM
“Curdled cynicism and idiot fanaticism,” throwing down soon in the House Democratic caucus?
November 24th, 2020 at 3:17PM
Stephen: They ain’t THAT bad.
November 24th, 2020 at 4:37PM
You’re right, Diane Feinstein giving way to Dick Durbin is right up there with the third world kiddie corps in the House, which, last time I checked, is down at least one fellow-traveller in the form of Donna Shalala.