Everything Else

On the way back I was met by the flashing lights of a sheriff's car.  The sheriff said someone had called in a report of an old guy hobbling across the bridge.  I hadn't seen anyone like that, and I thanked the sheriff for his concern.

 We celebrated our 54th at Scalo's, an Italian restaurant on Central Av.  in Albuquerque.

 Since I am still making photographs with film it probably is not surprising that I am also still watching over-the-air television broadcasts.  That becomes problematic during the Summer when all the series go on hold until the Fall and there are only reruns to see.  That seems a little puzzling at first glance because the network's decision to go to reruns must cause the loss of some viewers for the duration and presumably some income as well.

Giving some thought to the rerun phenomenon I speculate that the production costs are lowered, while at the same time many viewers are driven to cable offerings which are costly.  That likely does little damage to the broadcasters' bottom line if they are also owners of the cable networks, which seems highly likely.  So that is my economic conspiracy theory for the day.  I welcome opposing speculation.

In any case, Americans are clearly very tolerant of reruns.  Just look at this year's election, which is a rerun of 2020.  And, it is not unlikely as well that we will see a rerun of the Trump presidency.

My answer to the rerun conundrum on Wednesday night was to retreat to my computer to troll through my link list of web sites featuring political commentary.  When I got to the blog of Yanis Varoufakis I found a link to an hour-long conversation video between Varoufakis and Naomi Klein.  Both talked about their recently published books which take a close look at the current world-wide swing toward neo-fascism and its historical origins.  They also spent some time examining Klein's jewish cultural roots and the task of coming to grips with the Holocaust and genocide in Gaza.

While the topics have the potential for a descent into despair, the sparkling conversation between two such charming and articulate historians and activists really made for an enjoyable and instructive hour.  Their out-of-the-box thinking brought a good amount of clarity to the the current state of politics here and around the world.

Varoufakis pointed out that there is a subtle misapprehension is linking Trump to Hitler's rise in the 1930s and '40s.  He said that it was much more worthwhile to look at the writings of Joseph Goebbels in the 1920s well before he became the minister of propaganda for the German Third Reich.  At that point in time, the Nazi party was still struggling to gain a firm foothold, but Goebbels cleverly identified the real economic angst of those difficult years and coupled them to lies about causes, including a malign influence of Jewish migration to western Europe.  Fast-forward to 2024 and Trump's comments about migrants corrupting the blood of the country.

Another topic central to the conversation was the similarities between the policies of Trump and Biden.  Both cater to the gut feelings of their constituents while offering no reforms of substance that would lead to an alteration of the fundamental economic inequalities which are quite accurately identified by both ends of the political spectrum.

Perhaps the highlight of the conversation was the observation that Biden and Trump each owe a lot to the other.  Trump would not have gained his initial moment in the Sun without the country's experience with the Obama-Biden team.  Biden quite likely would not have made it to the Presidency without the presence of Trump in 2020 and, given his abysmal approval ratings now, he certainly would not have topped the 2024 primaries without the threat of another Trump win.

In a final gesture toward optimism Klein pointed out that movements toward substantive reforms have only came about in the past in the midst of moments of great peril.  The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl caused immense suffering and were followed by World War, but the U.S. eventually got to things like rural electrification and Social Security.  No guarantees then or now, but the message is that it is still worth staying in the fight.

 Biden's second round of Covid suggests the possibility for an early, graceful exit from the Presidency.  Once the mid-terms are over he could just announce that his health adds too much uncertainty to his continuation in office.  That opens the way to an orderly Constitutional transition to the Vice-President's ascension to power. Kamala Harris would then have the chance to show what her real capabilities are to govern.  Even if she does pretty well over the following two years there would likely be some stiff competition in the primaries for 2024, but there seems no more danger in that for Democrats than if Joe were going for a second term.

"As a 76-year-old let me say: Joe Biden is too old to run again"
Robert Reich

Given Reich's credentials it seems that Joe's continuation into a second term is nearly unimaginable, or that anyone in the Party leadership would seriously try to refute Reich's proposition as put forth in his latest Guardian column.

I hope Reich will take the next logical step and share some ideas in subsequent columns about what characteristics a candidate for the Presidency should have beyond youth.

At this stage of the game, with the election two years down the road, specific names are probably inappropriate. It is not too early, though, for a vigorous national conversation about what kind of character is demanded by the country's highest office and what goals and policies will point us toward a desirable future for our children.