Some thoughts on what the future might hold, after the jump ….
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Recently in this space, I noted my personal hope: that while 2017 is shaping-up to be a fulfillment of the horrors that 2016 portended — starting with the arrival of you-know-who tomorrow — that it might also be a turning point:
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The ending of the book Fear Strikes Out by the baseball player Jimmy Piersall — who had a nervous breakdown during the 1952 season, following his arrival at spring training — has always stayed with me, as he met an airline flight attendant who remembered him during that fateful year (but he didn’t recall her).
“I don’t remember anything — 1952 was a bad year for me”.
“You mean because you were sick, Jimmy?”
“Yes.”
“But wasn’t that also the year that you were cured?”
“Yes, it was.”
“Well, then I’d say 1952 was a good year — the best of your life”.
I guess maybe she was right, at that.
If so, perhaps 2017 is a year we can look back on fondly? I realize that may not be enough to go on …. and so, I’d like to look at an essay written by one of the old DK writer alumni.
David Atkins (old pen name, thereisnospoon) is an alternate-weekend blogger at Washington Monthly, where Ed Kilgore used to reign. And he had an interesting take last month on an observation that many have made: that the GOP is a nervous party, seeking to hold onto power every which way due to fear.
The Republican approach to power dynamics here more resembles asymmetric warfare than traditional political conflict: parties that expect to regain power once they have lost it don’t typically behave this way, because they know that bad behavior can become a precedent used against them that will make it difficult for them to govern when they return to power. The Republican strategy here only makes sense if they expect never to regain power once they have lost it.
There is a precedent for this sort of political desperation: apartheid South Africa. South African whites knew that to allow true democracy in the colonial nation would mean their permanent disempowerment. Their reaction was to violate international norms and become a pariah in order to hold onto power that, once lost, would never return. Political factions with a legitimate claim on power and a reasonable argument for the majority of the public know they can temporarily give up control in a democracy and win the next time around.
For those of us at-or-north of age 60, this may be of cold comfort: we want to see our government working for everyone (and not just the “real” Americans) now. And who knows what the next few years will bring.
Still, it is quite unlikely that the low unemployment and inflation achieved on President Obama’s watch will continue: the corporate titans he listens to would prefer to see something like a corporate state as shown by Sam Brownback in Kansas. The unregulated capitalism that is sure to follow will, very likely, result in another financial scandal.
And so for young people: hopefully, your long-range future will be a brighter one than what we can expect in the near future.
As we approach tomorrow — a day I never thought we’d ever have to face — I would welcome your thoughts.
First, though — a 1972 tune by the British blues saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith … the opening track to his solo album A Story Ended is ….... The Future Song.
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Now, on to Top Comments:
Nothing from the field this evening.
And from Ed Tracey, your faithful correspondent this evening ........
In the diary by Walter Einenkel about the sarcasm directed the Trumpster’s way about his photo supposedly writing his inauguration speech — elwior suggests some key words to look for (as far as authenticity is concerned). And, in the diary by Leslie Salzillo about Nancy Sinatra’s riposte about Trump’s decision to use the Paul Anka-written song “My Way” at his inauguration ball (oblivious to the song’s opening line) … koosah begins a robust discussion of how right-wingers often do not read the lyrics of songs they champion.And lastly: yesterday's Top Mojo - mega-mojo to the intrepid mik ...... who rescued this feature from oblivion:
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