When you write nearly 800 of these deals in less than three years, and when you’ve got memories going back nearly 70 years, it’s not always easy to avoid repeating repeating repeating myself.
See what I mean?
I certainly write about politics quite often.
To be honest, it has gotten very tiring. Once was the time I was a Democrat who occasionally voted for good Republicans, and while I lived in California, I voted Republican at least once for Congress, the Senate, governor and others, although my only vote for a GOP presidential candidate was in the primaries 23 years ago.
I wasn’t a Clinton Democrat, looking for the Third Way. I think Howard Dean came up with the term that described me best. I’m from the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party.
But once the other guys became all about Grover Norquist, Wayne LaPierre and Rush Limbaugh, being a Democrat was more like being Horatius at the bridge, defending America from the Etruscans, er, Republicans.
Surprisingly, those guys almost look good when you stand them next to Donald Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert. And of course there’s the newly indicted George Santos.
“But, but, but … Hunter Biden’s laptop!”
If one thing truly disgusts me, it’s that the media allows Trump and other MAGA types to set the rules for how they will play the game. When Trump appeared on a CNN town hall in New Hampshire the other night, the entire audience was made up of people who either support him strongly or lean that way.
And of course, the entire GOP with a few exceptions is terrified of Trump and his followers. It actually puts them in a terrible position. They can’t win elections without his minions, but they can’t win elections with only them. Add to that the complication of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision and the sleaziness surrounding Justice Clarence Thomas and it will be an uphill battle for Republicans in 2024.
The biggest problem for Democrats is that the media is obsessing on Joe Biden’s age. Along with some of the minor conservative voices like Michael Reagan sniping at Vice President Kamala Harris, the media has been swinging to the right.
If there’s one possible scary scenario for Democrats, it’s one in which something prevents Trump from being the Republican nominee. I have a hard time thinking it will be Ron DeSantis — he just isn’t all that likeable — but someone who could combine charisma with about 20 years of youth on Biden could be a problem.
Biden should benefit from the GOP overreaching on the debt limit. Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s tiny majority puts him at the mercy of the Lunatic Caucus, and it’s extremely difficult to imagine Greene, Boebert and the other lunatics cutting him any slack, especially when Trump says they should want the default.
Ain’t politicas grand?