Monday, February 17, 2025

Mad King Watch (Take I): Flood The Zone With People (It's The Oligarchy, Stupid)


<YouTube capture>

"Batman, you poor devil! You really thought 
I'd overplayed my hand, right?"

The Riddler (Frank Gorshin) prepares
to dunk on the Caped Crusader,
in "Batman"'s first episode (1966)

<i.>
Well, seems like that time again, where you find yourself thinking, "I'm so sick and tired of events moving at the speed of light." In 2020, that meant COVID-19; in 2025, it's the Trump restoration, and all the nightmarish boxes that it ticks: gross abuses of power (check), overweening autocratic inclinations (double-check), trampling of guard rails (triple-check). 

Now that the storm after the calm rattles our bones, it's time to document whatever aspects seem worth discussing, from a local standpoint, anyway. "My Corona Diary" marked the last major time that we followed such logic, chronicling the chaos and confusion of the COVID-19 era. But given how fast events on the ground are moving, we're starting a new series, and proceeding accordingly.

We're not rehashing what's recently happened -- the mass firings at the FBI, and the Justice Department; the various sackings of Democratic-appointed members or managers from assorted agencies (the CFPB, FAA, FDA, FEC, SEC, and so on); the shuttering of USAID; and, most worrying, uber-tech bro Elon Musk's capture of the U.S. Treasury payment system, one that's ringing like a five-alarm fire in millions of ears.

Or, as countless wags online are suggesting, now, how does it feel, knowing the world's Nazi fascist can access the most intimate aspects of your life? You can almost hear Colonel Klink's metallic accent rattling your ears: "Papers, let me see your papers. Name, rank, and Social Security number, if you please!" 

Not to worry, though, the current leadership responds. If they run across any conflicts, they'll sort it out among themselves. There! That settles things, doesn't it? And if you believe that...I'll you finish the sentence, and let your mind supply whatever blanks of worry are already lurking there. 


<YouTube capture>

<"Holy wrecking ball, Batman! 
They'll have dismantled the whole government, 
by the time these lawsuits wind down!"

"Yes, Robin, you have a point. 
This situation is getting rather sticky...">


<ii.>
If you grew up like I did, you know the drill. Somewhere in Nowheresville, USA, you'd find "Batman" -- that is, his '60s TV counterpart -- romping across your screen. Local stations like mine often ran it at 3:30 or 4:30 p.m., though I also remember catching it on Saturday afternoons, and even Sunday mornings (God forbid), around my neck of the woods.

And, if you had any powers of discernment, it didn't take long to work out the formula. The shows opened with the Spectal Guest Villain doing something outrageous -- an exploding device here, a whiff of knockout gas there -- leaving poor Commissioner Gordon to put in a panic-stricken SOS to the Caped Crusader, and his trusty sidekick, Robin.

After a preliminary skirmish or two, the Dynamic Duo would zip off to the villain's lair, only to stumble into some Bat-Trap, or other -- which they'd invariably wriggle out of -- followed by the climactic Batfight. ZAP! POW! Roll credits, and see you next week ("Same Bat-Time, same Bat-Channel," as the omnipotent announcer -- voiced by producer Bill Dozier -- would intone).

That's how most episodes went, though not always. More often than not, Batman would counsel a different course, once he'd worked out the Special Guest Villain's latest cryptic threat: "Let's let the Joker/Riddler/Penguin/Catowman overplay his/her hand." Invariably, Robin would object ("But why, Batman? The Joker's just bought the deed to Gotham City!"), to which the Caped Crusader would furrow his brow, and sagely intone, "He/she will get overconfident -- then we'll swoop down, and they won't know what hit them!" 

Robin would then smack his forehead, or his gloved fists together, and sigh, "Gosh, Batman, you're right! Why didn't I think of that?" To which my sister and myself would chuckle aloud, and say, "Because I'm the Caped Crusader! That's why I get the big bucks around here, kiddo!" 

Or we'd come up with some other smart aleck, snarky counterpoint, as part of our running commentary -- which was as much as fun, if not more so, than the proceedings onscreen. Every time I watch those shows now, I can't help but contrast the fun we had with the bigger things that preoccupied the adults -- cost of living, mass layoffs, and terrorism, playing over and over, in some unholy loop -- and the inevitable consensus that they'd reach.  

Dictators might come and go, you'd hear them say, but heck, that couldn't happen here, right? We're the big bad USA. We're above such maneuverings. And that's where the matter rested, for nearly 50-some years, anyway.



<What we DON'T want to see happen anymore:
https://www.downwithtyranny.com/>

<iii.>
Looking back on those shows, you might be forgiven for writing off Batman as the most passive aggressive crimefighter on the planet, even if the scriptwriters ensured he'd prevail, week in, week out. Looking at the Democratic Party's initially muddled response to the Trump/Musk's axis hostile takeover of federal agencies -- eliminating this here, gutting that one there -- you might be forgiven for thinking likewise.

You know something strange is going on when Democratic Senators Chris Murphy (CT) and Brian Schatz (HW) have emerged as the early faces of resistance -- the former, because he's often been dismissed as another squishy centrist; the latter, because, well, it's hard to get national press in representing a home state that's been a donkey party bellwether for decades.

Even so, both of them are modeling how an opposition should sound, especially Murphy, whose response to that "Batman"-style counseling ("Let Trump and Musk overplay their hand") is worth quoting in full. But I'll let this two-paragraph nugget suffice, for now (see the link for the rest):

"Change requires building power -- and no, we do not have ten years. But in the face of a crisis like this, I don't believe it will require ten years. But the level of opposition required to stop Trump and Musk's constitutional crisis can't be built overnight. They believe they are invincible and a cult of Republican Senators who privately disagree are publicly allowing themselves to be steamrolled and humiliated.

"The only way that changes is if enough of us come together to be as loud and visible as possible. We cannot be silent as Trump and Musk seize control of government. I'm doing everything I can to lead that effort -- including putting significant resources from my campaign into building this movement, and being ready for whatever Elon Musk and his corporate and billionaire friends throw at me."

There you have it -- simple, succinct, and to the point. It sounds better than this jaw-dropping, tepid response from Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, as the Muskrats' smash-and-grab raid on federal data began to unfold: "It is very clear that, if there is a middle of all of this hot mess of division, Americans want us to work together when we can, and find common ground."

When I saw that quote, I thought it was a headline from The Onion. In fairness, though, the next statement got lost in the resulting backlash ("When they start violating the law and firing inspectors general without following the law, when they start illegally cutting off funding for home heating and other things that people need to live, we are going to stand our ground"); suffice to say, the order of those statements should have been reversed, since this isn't 2012 anymore. We'll leave it there for now.

Schatz, on the other hand, has taken an equally effective tack, in slapping a hold on Trump's State Department nominees, until USAID's situation is resolved, however it's resolved. No business, no show, as they say. No USAID, no votes. If Mitch McConnell can do it, so can his nemeses, right? As Indivisible's co-founders stated, shortly after the November debacle, resistance to fascism begins and ends in a single word: NO!


<Trapped in a world we never made, 
or what might have been? You choose:
https://www.downwithtyranny.com/

<iv.>
Still, it's important to remember, all resistance is a work in progress, and our current malaise is no different. Though Democrats and their constituents have regrouped, to a degree, there's plenty more work to do, starting with a pushback against the "Trump mandate" narrative. By and large, the national media continues to cast the situation as just another partisan squabble -- one driven apparently, by sore loser Democrats, especially with another government shutdown looming around the corner (March 14).

But it's worth remembering how we got stuck with Trump 2.0, as Indivisible pointedly states in its Resource Guide to fighting the whole phenomenon: "Trump wants to govern as a dictator, but he has the slimmest possible congressional majority and a grossly unpopular agenda. Winning an election with 49.9% of the vote (of those who voted) does not make him a Dictator for Life and does not make Project 2025 the law of the land."

It's an important point, one all the more important to drive home, as the reference to the "November drubbing" in Salon.com's story (see below) makes plain! I don't know how you define such a thing, but 49.9% of a population does not a drubbing make, especially after we realize that Trump's preferred Senate candidates lost in four crucial swing states that he carried (AZ, MI, NV, and PA).

Democrats must keep making that case, while highlighting the real world harm being inflicted on the federal workforce -- whether it's the USAID employees left stranded in the countries they served, or the veteran with disabilities fired via a terse mail, without even a "Thank you for your service." Democrats need to pound that rock like a gong, because -- whatever you've heard about those "golden handcuffs" -- government employees aren't rich!

Democrats need to avoid ticking off overly technical boxes, though, against Trump's authoritarianism -- what we call "The Management Argument," which surfaced during the second Iraq War ("Shock and awe on a beer budget? Why, that's un-American!"). Progressives don't want to hear that deportations cost too much money, for instance, or earnest vows to somehow "work with Trump," when rationality allows, as if those options ever graced the menu. They weren't, they aren't, and it's time to stop pretending otherwise. 

Getting that message across won't be easy, since there's no Democratic version of the far right noise machine, the same brimming with 24-7 misinformation, ever ready to "Flood the zone with shit," as Trump's Rasputin-ish couriter, Steve Bannon, so notoriously labeled it. Ceding that media space to the far right, without firing a shot, was the dumbest thing that the American Left ever did. 

What once seemed like a noble case of "not stooping to the same level," or that hoary old chestnut, "When they go low, we'll go high," now seems like the usual self-defeating donkey party exercise in unilateral disarmament -- unless you count your favorite Senator or Representative appearing on cable news shows that hardly anyone but uber-political junkies bother to watch.

So what will it take to turn this equation around? Simply stated -- flood the zone  with people. if it means resurrecting updated version of the Clinton-era "war room (It's the oligarchy, stupid"), so be it. If it means cranking up the constitutent phone calls, all the better. 

If it means getting a different Democratic Senator or Representative on TV, find the best speakers available, and go from there. if it means sending them on the road, then do that (as Senator Bernie Sanders has just announced, with town halls in Omaha and Iowa City this week, for instance).

Until progressives develop their own answer to Fox News, this type of shoe leather will have to suffice. The good news, though, is that it offers ways to make genuine connections that seem less and less likely in the increasingly toxic world of social media -- on which the consultant class, particularly, has grown too dependent. 

In the long run, Democrats will be all the better for it, as they seek to reclaim an occasion today (President's Day) that, right now, seems like another cruel joke. Because, in the long run, people and shoe leather are way more important than shit, any time -- however much the right likes to rub your nose right in it. Don't  let them forget it, the next time they try to break your spirit. --The Reckoner




Links To Go: Hurry. Hurry
(Before We Slide Into Autocracy):
Indivisible.org: Homepage:

Indivisible.org: A Practical Guide To Democracy On The Brink:
https://indivisible.org/resource/guide


Salon: "There Is No Common Ground With Fascists":

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Sunday, January 19, 2025

An Alternative Inaugural Wish For 2025

<"Buyer's  Remorse Sunk In Yet?"/The Reckoner>

The less said about the Devil's Festival, AKA Donald Trump's Inauguration, the better. The less said about those obeying him in advance -- Jeff Bezos, John Fetterman, Carrie Underwood, Mark Zuckerberg, and too many others to name -- the better. The less said about those tithing themselves to the Dear Leader, the better (see US News & World Report link below).

The less said about Trump's junk drawer Cabinet picks, the better. For all the ink lavished on the freakish likes of Pete Hegseth -- whose tattoo-plastered upper body suggests some unholy collision of a Sharpie, and a bottle of Scotch, force-fed via some nickel and dime Henry Rollins-style angst -- it's easy to forget that he'll join 13 billionaires in the most plutocratic Cabinet seen since the Roaring '20s.

The less said about those sticking their heads in the sand -- imagine Husker Du retitling Zen Arcade's side four curtain raiser, "Turn Off The News" -- the better. The less said about those who didn't vote -- apparently, for lack of an ultra-ideal alternative, like someone who drinks milk all day, and hangs out with Donny Osmond, for instance -- the better. 

The less said about those who voted against their own interests -- from the suburban women who shrugged off the post-Dobbs world of abortion restrictions, to the Blacks and Latinos who rationalized Trump's bigoted outbursts ("He doesn't mean us"), and Arab Americans who cashed in their righteous moral anger over the slaughter in Gaza, with Israel's fullest-throated supporter -- the better.

The less said about those milking their ride on the Trump Train, the better. That includes the likes of Nick Johnson, one of countless YouTubers churning out pro-Trump content at an industrial place (full attention spans have no relevance in dopamine-driven culture, after all). 

The less said about Trump's loyal subjects -- such as the Black female proprietor of a pro-Trump merchandise store, proudly displaying her latest offering, a Confederate-styled flag bathing suit -- the better. If you can find a better snapshot of the contradictory doublethink that underpins the Trump movement, we'd like to see. (Hey, it's heritage, not hate, right? Wink-wink, nudge-nudge.)

The less said about the political deathbed conversions of our outgoing President -- who warned us, in his farewell address, “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead' -- the better. Like his Democratic predecessors, Joe Biden left a fair imprint on the nation; yet, like Clinton and Obama before him, he also departs, having failed to fully appreciate, let alone master, the far right's continuing assault against our democratic system. If America sleepwalks into autocracy, that failure will cast the longest of shadows.

The less said about any, or all of these things, the better. Seeing Biden finally, belatedly, embracing some of the reforms that might have earned him another term -- notably, reforming the character and transparency of the Supreme Court, one dominated by Republican appointees, who seemed hellbent on kneecapping his presidency -- marks one of our most painful milestones, coming as it did, on the eve of his enforced departure from the race, and the end of his 50-year political career. 

We can only imagine how Biden might have fared, had he launched his 2024 Presidential campaign, with the above-mentioned words of warning, or these, perhaps: "And in a democracy, there's another danger to the concentration of power and wealth. It erodes a sense of unity and common purpose. It causes distrust and division. Participating in our democracy becomes exhausting and even disillusioning, and people don't feel like they have a fair shot." 

How much farther Biden (or Harris) would have gotten, and how much better would their party would have fared, if only they'd rallied around these forceful words? We'll never know, of course. It's the sort of cognitive dissonance that has driven progressives crazy, over the long run, and one that will surely haunt them, in the short one.

Our hope is that progressives do not linger over such parlor games for long. In many ways, they offer an energy-draining dance of diversion, and distraction, one that is temporarily useful, in venting frustration, yet no substitute for a long-term strategy. There is a great deal of truth in Martin Luther King Jr.'s suggestion that "right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant," and his oft-quoted aphorism: "If you can't fly, then run. If you can't run, then walk. If you can't walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward."

We have already outlined some potential responses in our previous message ("The Real Project 2025"), which we need not rehash here. For now, it's sufficient to state our biggest wish, as we begin the likes of 2025 -- a year that seems destined to rival George Orwell's year (1984) in the pop culture infamy sweepstakes. That wish, simply stated, is to get up, and get moving.

Already, various counterintuitive narratives -- some promoted by the far right and its enablers, some not -- are beginning to take shape. Trump won a decisive mandate to remake America in his image. The various prosecutions against him represented partisan "lawfare" that cemented his re-election. Perhaps we can find ways of working with Trump, whatever we think of his worst tendencies, or his ghoulish cheering section.

Pushing back against these narratives is certainly an important step, in changing it for the better; it's the reason that the Clash placed a graphic on their breakthrough album, Combat Rock (1982), which reads, "Know your rights. The future is unwritten." In the spirit of self-defense, we offer a guide to finding a demonstration near you (see link below), for today.

And if you do, let these words from The New Republic ring in your ears: "In his second term, it should be the task of liberals to force Trump to swallow a daily spoonful of the very real job stress that Obama struggled so mightily to endure." That seems like a good start, especially as Trump and his allies gear up, and prepare us for four years of plutocratic minority rule. 

Let them plot, let them plan; let them laugh, and let them lick their chops; let them stand up and shout, let them stomp and scream and celebrate. Let them do any or all of these things, for today. What matters is tomorrow, one that will arrive sooner, rather than later -- one that we can take back, if we only put our minds to it -- and when that moment comes, we're ready to meet it. --The Reckoner


Associated Press: Progressives Are Frustrated
By Biden's Final-Days Warning Of Billionaire Influence:
https://apnews.com/article/biden-oligarchy-democrats-progressives-criticism-420ad7e81a692f0444f84d41654faae1


Paste Magazine: The Fake News Pipeline:
How A Small-Time Clickbait Farmer Is Spreading the Gospel of Big Oil:
https://www.pastemagazine.com/politics/bayou-bridge-pipeline/the-fake-news-pipeline-how-two-small-time-clickbait

People's March: Find A Demonstration Near You:
https://map.peoplesmarch.com/local?link_id=2&can_id=4e6c8046819e1ba183f676fa03eddc7a&source=email-take-a-stand-at-the-peoples-march-this-inauguration-weekend&email_referrer=email_2587221&email_subject=take-a-stand-at-the-peoples-march-this-inauguration-weekend

The New Republic: Shove The Presidency Down Trump's Throat:
https://newrepublic.com/post/190337/trump-second-term-democrats-respond

US News & World Report:
Trump Ushers In The Oligarchy Biden Is Warning Us About:
https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2025-01-16/trump-biden-oligarchs-billionaires-treasury-secretary

White House: President Biden's Farewell Address (Text):
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2025/01/15/remarks-by-president-biden-in-a-farewell-address-to-the-nation/

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Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Here's To The REAL Project 2025: Snuff The Stench Of Advance Obedience


A vision of the future?
The Sorrow And The Pity (1969): Movie poster

<i.>
The stench of advance obedience is hanging in the air, and so is the whiff of white-gloved propriety. Those are my main thoughts, as 2024 fades into 2025 -- the year we heard so much about on the campaign trail. Not that any of it mattered, mind you, when so many chose to stay home, throw up their hands, or vote against their own interests. 

The Donald Trump restoration is just over three weeks away, and as we've already seen, many entities have wasted no time falling in line. Start with the so-called legacy media, such as the billionaire-owned Los Angeles Times, and Washington Post, who declined to make any presidential endorsements, for fear of cramping their style at the box office. 

ABC News presumably followed the same logic in abruptly settling Trump's  $15 million defamation lawsuit. This, despite many experts suggesting that ABC had ample grounds for continuing the fight, since the suit focused on a question posed to U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC). 

Star correspondent George Stephanopoulous asked how Mace, who's spoken about being raped as a teenager, could support the same man (Trump) found "liable for rape" in a 2023 civil suit (see link below). Seems like a fair question deserving of a fair answer, doesn't it? Not in a Trump restoration, apparently.

While we're at it, let's not forget "Morning Joe"s main anchor team, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, who outdid their cohorts in making the requisite pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago. Just in a case anybody thought they were "the enemy within," right? To coin a phrase from Margaret Thatcher, even if Trump thinks he came up with it first.

Finally, don't forget TIME making Trump its "Man Of The Year," just in time for his return. Yes, Virginia, it's not an official endorsement, but does anyone with an IQ above room temperature really believe it's not an unofficial one, of sorts? And that  narcissists like Trump, who crave unlimited adoration, money, and power, don't see such designations as the righteous validation of that lifelong mission? 

All could do with the advice dished out by Carole Cadwalladr, of The Guardian, via The Power, her new Substack venture: "Do not bend to power. Power will come to you, anyway. Don't make it easy. Not everyone can stand and fight. But nobody needs to bend the knee until there's an actual memo to that effect. WAIT FOR THE MEMO."



<https://www.downwithtyranny.com/>

<ii.>
The legacy media certainly has a lot to answer for, but they're hardly the only profiles (lacking) in courage. Let's not forget those mainstream Democrats, never the most resolute bunch, some floating trial balloons of running as independents (see Politico. com link below). Chief among these apostles is Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who expressed his reasoning thusly:

“I reached the conclusion that if you call yourself a Democrat, all the Republicans automatically line up against it. You call yourself a Republican, all the Democrats automatically line up against it. And I really don’t think there’s a path forward for this state if you don’t get the reasonable folks in both parties to work together.”

Alas, Mayor Mike's reasoning is seriously flawed, starting with the last sentence. Who does he mean by "reasonable," exactly? The notorious election denier Matt DiPerno, a man so politically radioactive, he swore off running for the Michigan Supreme Court? Or perhaps his like-minded cohort, Kristina Karamo, who unsuccessfully sought Michigan's highest elections office, Secretary of State?

Or could he mean Andrew Fink, a graduate of Hillsdale College, one of the nation's most extreme institutions? Or maybe Fink's ideological twin, Patrick O'Grady, who called himself a proud Christian, and staunch textualist, and promised to rigorously apply both principles, if they'd won their Michigan Supreme Court bids? (Thankfully, they didn't.)

Yes, those examples don't describe all Republicans, but they do describe who commands the center of gravity within their party. And until that situation changes, we should proceed accordingly. Mayor Mike may mean well, but he suffers from a malady called "Both Sides-Ism," which conflates both major parties into one seamless entity ("They both suck").

But let's take that last premise at face value, shall we? Given the yearning for common ground, what's the upside in posting bounties on women who seek abortions, or filing lawsuits, once they do? Where's the boon in banning books, or giving school districts vaguely defined, sweeping new powers to do it?

Who benefits most from maneuvers like those seen in North Carolina, where Republicans jammed through a bill stripping key powers from the Governor, and the Attorney General, as retribution for losing their veto-proof supermajority (see link below)? As of late, the answer seems to be, "The GOP, more often than not." Sadly, some prominent Democrats seem unable to learn this lesson, or worse, hellbent on disregarding it.

One of the more glaring examples is Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, who's joined Trump's website (Truth Social), as he counsels his colleagues to "stop freaking out." I wonder how long his advice will hold, or what good it will do, if Republicans finally succeed in shredding the national safety net -- or who will bother to listen, once the inevitable buyer's remorse finally begins to sink in.



             <https://downwithtyranny.com/>

<iii.>
While we're on the subject of advance obedience, and who helped in bringing it about, let's not leave the public out of our discussion. I find it to feel hard moved by the likes of MSNBC's exhortations against feeling "schadenfreude" for Trump voters, particularly in light of sentences like these:

"The common denominator is an ongoing refusal to take Trump’s own words at face value. Throughout the 2024 presidential campaign, it became clear that many of his supporters only believed what they wanted to believe and with a wave of their hand dismissed the most brutal or authoritarian of his promises."

The article cites a Georgian family, who seems to think their undocumented relative will somehow escape Trump's mass deportation threats, and farmers worried about how their livelihoods will fare, amid a severe absence of migrant workers. Such examples beg the question -- what emotions should we feel for people who vote against their own interests, and end up risking everybody's rights, in doing so?

Shouldn't be there some measure of social accountability, especially when we remember the consistent "sanewashing" of Trump's unhinged outbursts during the campaign, by cleaning them up for mass consumption? Because, at some point, the Trump circus will finally grind to an end, somehow, somewhere, some day, some weay, in our lifetimes -- and that's when the real fun will begin, once those who got caught up in the whirlwind, or made their peace with it, struggle to explain themselves.

It may, one suspects, sound uncomfortably similar to the German collaborators of World War II, like Leni Reifenstahl, in defending films like Triumph Of The Will, essentially one of several infomercials that she made, on behalf of Nazism: “I don’t know what I should apologize for. All my films won the top prize.” In short: "Hey, I was just making a movie around here. What was the harm?"

Or, perhaps, the lower-level local collaborator, who might have sworn, "Hey, I just helped out here and there. I didn't personally know anybody who disappeared." For a deeper dive into this particular phenomenon, and the social consequences it unleashes, see The Sorrow And The Pity (1969), which provides an important and necessary counterweight to films like Riefenstahl's. It's also four and a half hours long, having been made for TV, so plan to eat in, whatever night you choose to see it (popcorn: optional).



"Just a few uber-rich bros...meanin' you plenty of harm...":
(With apologies to the "Dukes of Hazzard" theme's composer!)
<https://broligarchy.substack.com/>

<iv.>
So where does this dark picture leave us, exactly? Not in a good place, obviously, but we're hardly as powerless as they want us to feel. We definitely have entered a sinister new phase, as the recent MAGA food fight over H-1B visas should demonstrate -- one that abruptly halted, once Trump sided with Elon Musk, who seems to be emerging as some type of co-president. That emergence, presumably, came with the $277 million that Musk reportedly splurged to re-elect Trump.

This is where I go back to the A-word again (accountability). Trump supporters already feel betrayed, apparently, by the elevation of Musk's money over their nativist beliefs; if you get into a conversation with them, it might be fair to ask, "When you voted for him, did you realize that you were casting a ballot for Musk, who wasn't even on the ballot?" The reaction will tell you what you need to know.

Then I'd revisit Carole Cadwalladr's list (via The Power), which offers an excellent starting point for the mindset we'll need to navigate this forthcoming era of chaos, darkness, and confusion. If we can be so bold, let us add a few pertinent observations of our own:

A better world won't happen overnight, but unless we imagine what it looks like, we'll never get one.  For too long, we've centered our politics on what we don't want, which throttles the discussion of what we do want. Why does Bernie Sanders publishing op-eds, all brimming with proposals that may or may not ever become law? Because jump-starting the discussion, he realizes, is the first step toward making changes that make people markedly better off. 

Be honest about what challenges you can take on, and what issues you can work. Everyone has to decide their own acceptable level of risk, the constraints involved, and how we navigate them. Suffice to say, the second Trump era will offer as many challenges as the first one, in making those calculations.

Consistency is not the hobgoblin of small minds, so don't be shy about demanding it.  Allowing bad actors to hijack notions of "cool" is neither savvy nor strategic, because that's how they grab enough air cover for doing decidedly "uncool" deeds. Questioning those lapses isn't some demand for "ideological purity," but a sign that you're paying attention! Don't forget, Obama's Justice Department approved the LiveNation/Ticketmaster merger that remains the bane of concertgoers' wallets to this day  -- just ask Bruce Springsteen.

Drop the power of perspective like a hammer. Wherever possible, challenge hype-driven assumptions, like the "devastating losses" inferred by the Politco article's subhead. How devastating is it, though, when Trump won by a mere 1.5 percent margin, and four of his five candidates fell short in their US Senate races? Raising these issues is more than some academic exercise. Doing so forces people to question self-serving corporate narratives designed to reinforce our learned helplessness.

Embrace the need for some disruption. The reality of many mass movements is that victory often follows action in the streets, rather than some black-robed savior striking a gavel out of sympathy for their interests. It is hard to imagine, for instance, what Parisian students would have gained, without the famous mass protests of 1968.

Follow your pushback, wherever it leads. Sometimes, a pointed question is all it takes to puncture a deeply-held assumption, as I learned during the election. I remember one such moment on Facebook, when someone asked if I was urging readers to abandon papers like the Washington Post. "No, but we have a right to demand better than the product they're putting out," I responded. "If we don't demand it, how are we ever going to get it?" You get the idea.

Get used to flipping the script. When we do, we win. As Indivisible co-founder Ezra Levin suggests, resistance to fascism begins and ends in a complete sentence: "No!" Don't forget how much worse the first Trump presidency would have been, without the mass  marches and rallies -- such as in 2017, when Republicans tried to overturn the Affordable Care Act. Those tempted to ignore such developments should feel the heat under their seat; "Me, too" is the last thing we should hear from anyone claiming to fall in opposition.

Hold our allies as accountable as our opponents. The surest sign of a politico feeling too big for their boots is when someone like Fetterman begins to insist, "I'm just fine without you." That's the time to clear our throat, and remind them forcefully otherwise. Those who want to follow the likes of Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema into the Sellout Hall of Shame should understand what the price of occupancy means.

In the end, remember: failure isn't always final. Like many autocrats, Mexican President Luis Echevarria thought that repression bought relief from domestic troubles. Yet his failure to punish the perpetrators of the 1971 Corpus Thursday massacre -- in which 120 protestors died, including a 14-year-old boy -- stuck to him like flypaper. In 2006, he just escaped being placed under house arrest -- he was 84 at the time --  and, even in death (2022), regularly tops lists as Mexico's worst president. When he launched his political career in the 1940s, it's safe to say that he probably envisioned a slightly different outcome.

Just remember, last, but not least: don't worry about "how long" it might take. History rarely follows a straight, predictable line, and even MLK's celebrated "long arc" sometimes takes its own sweet time bending in the relevant direction. While there are some exceptions -- the last three presidential elections, for example, all following the same "lesser of two evils" script -- it takes time to undo the excesses of entrenched power.

After all, why else did Marc Bolan sing, "Change is a monster/Changing is hard," on "Dandy In The Underworld?" Because it just is; don't worry so much about how, or why, or what. It goes with the territory. Every minute counts, for sure. But "how long" we take matters less than the day we finally get there, so dig in. And plan accordingly. --The Reckoner


Links To Go 
MSNBC: Why It's So Hard to Have
Schadenfreude For Trump Voters:
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-voter-support-regret-policies-rcna185466

Museum Of The Moving Image:
The Sorrow And The Pity:
https://reverseshot.org/reviews/entry/3040/sorrow_pity

NBC News: NC Republicans Vote To Strip...:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/north-carolina-gop-lawmakers-vote-strip-powers-incoming-democrats-rcna181032

New York Times: ABC To Pay $15 Million...:

Politco.com: Is The Democratic Brand Toxic?:
https://archive.ph/KU2qy

The Power: How To Survive The Broligarchy:
https://broligarchy.substack.com/p/how-to-survive-the-broligarchy



"And, as the world stands on the brink with its superpower seemingly on the way to becoming an authoritarian state, 
it’s notable that two of the most powerful and influential men in it - Elon Musk and Peter Thiel - were shaped by a childhood spent under apartheid."

<"All The President's Men"
https://broligarchy.substack.com/p/all-the-presidents-men>

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Tuesday, December 31, 2024

The Highwayman Returns...With A New Cartoon Series: "Vergogna!" (Takes I-IV)

<Take I>
 
It's been awhile since our favorite cartoonist, The Highwayman, has been heard from around these parts...but when he sent these over flying over the transom, here at Ramen Noodle Nation, I figured, we had to get on our hands on them, and run them! 

This series of cartoons, of course, refers to the scandal that surfaced around Supreme/Extreme Court "Justice" Sam Alito and Martha-Ann, his combative, rabidly pro-Trump spouse, who couldn't keep those instincts in check -- as she sparred with her neighbor's rainbow-friendly flag, hence, her freewheeling use of the Italian word for "shame". Which, as you'll see, means something a bit different in this context, right?

<Take II>

When I asked The Highwayman, "But isn't this old news by now?", he responded: "Not if you care about what happens when power gets wrapped up in a politically toxic cocktail of naked self-interest.

"What made the whole business notable, for me -- aside from Martha Alito's comically pugilistic streak, which is extreme, even for that bunch -- is the sheer thin-skinned nature of these high-profile, powerful people, who always seem to want it both ways.

"They want us to relentlessly adore them, and preserve them in amber from any sort of criticism, even as they see nothing wrong with injecting their real attitudes into rulings that seem designed to strip people of more and more rights.


<Take III>

For good measure, the Highwayman added: "It's an ethic of subordination and domination, one that their so-called 'originalist' view has no problem unleashing -- to which I respond with Abraham Lincoln's celebrated truism: 'Public sentiment is everything.' One way or another...our time is coming!"

To which I could only respond: "Fair enough!" And so, here comes this latest salvo. Ponder the images, read the links, and ask yourselves the relevant questions, starting with the million dollar one: "Should be people who hold so much power be allowed to mix personal business and pleasure, to such a self-aggrandizing extent?" 

And, last but not least, this question from Lauren Windsor (see Politico link): Is it a bigger ethics problem for me to pretend like I’m a fangirl, or is it a bigger ethics problem for them to accept millions of dollars of undisclosed gifts from GOP donors? Obviously this is what I believe, but maybe the media and others — instead of pearl-clutching — should be trying to get more answers from the court and more accountability."

Food for thought, as they say, isn't it?--The Reckoner

<Take IV>


Links To Go (For Shame -- Indeed:)

CNN: Hear Secret Recording 
Of Martha Alito Discussing Flag Controversy:

Politico.com: Alito's Wife Shocked 
Even The Activist Who Secretly Recorded Her:
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/06/11/alito-recording-undercover-interview-00162808

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Wednesday, December 18, 2024

United Healthcare Wants Feedback: No Prior Authorization Needed! (UPDATED: 1/8/25)


<What they don't say is important
than what they admit. Right?
Courtesy: Reckoner's inbox>

<i.>
Of all the oddities that wash up in my inbox, this image (above) ranks among the oddest -- in light of what's happened, with the Brian Thompson shooting, and outpouring of support for his killer, Luigi Mangione. Judging by the latest twists in the case -- $94,000 raised on his behalf, and his enlistment of a high-powered attorney -- a plea bargain seems out of the question, presumably.

What all this uproar will actually produce, once the courts deal with the defendant, is anybody's guess. Any high-profile killing typically results in a major ramp up of the security state, one that already needs little excuse to impose itself in our lives -- making executive murder a less than ideal solution, for those seeking meaningful changes to our freeze-dried status quo.

Anyhow, United Healthcare (UHC) allegedly wants my feedback. They're even willing to give me a toothbrush for my time, though -- as someone whose sidelines include surveys for cash -- a little incentive payment might work a bit better.

Still, the wording and the timing are particularly unfortunate, since United hasn't exactly earned a reputation for generosity towards its (captive) customer base -- to put it most tactfully -- nor a particular willingness to go the last mile, in giving them what they need.

Quite the opposite, in fact. Media reports suggest that United denies claims at rates -- up to one-third, according to the Forbes link archive below -- that exceed the norm, even for its industry, leading to tensions with customers, hospitals, and physicians. 

At the same time, United ranks first among insurers, with an estimated market share of $215 million, fueled by the most expensive premiums nationwide ($631 per month). Are these developments related? United executives and PR flacks will likely deflect blame, or plead ignorance. As for me, I'll go with the word from my good TV friend, Saul Goodman: "I'm gonna out on a limb here, and say that it's been known to happen."


<A sampling of the response to the Thompson shooting:
https://www.downwithtyranny.com/>

<ii.>
Given how miserable the system is designed to make people, is it surprising that a high-profile CEO finally tastes the tip of a bullet? Not particularly. The real surprise is that it didn't happen long ago, since -- the Obama era's signature health law aside -- much of the reek underlying the whole rotten structure remains untouched.

Hence, the same endless arguments -- who should pay, how much, for what, and so on -- rage on, as freely as they ever dud. Decades of well-intentioned platitudes have barely made a dent in them. This includes the unfortunate Mr. Thompson, incidentally, who solemnly agreed, at an investors meeting: "Healthcare should be easier for people."

The bigger surprise is that -- amid the politicians, trotting out all their usual boilerplate condolences -- some people are still struggling to understand the depth of anger directed at the likes of Mr. Thompson, and the industry whose interests he served so loyally, and for so long. 

And just who was Mr. Thompson, exactly? So far, the handful of stories that have trickled out paint a mixed picture. Small town Iowa boy, fierce protectionist made good, yet one apparently riven by the stresses of life that plague the excessively advantaged. He had racked up an impaired driving conviction in 2017, for which he was placed on probation (naturally); he'd also bought a home in 2018, and had begun living apart from his wife, and two boys (predictably).

Such are the stresses of the overprivileged. Yet the handful of quotes I've seen attributed to him (“He understood that the public was frustrated with what they perceived the company’s actions to be") suggest someone who seemed less bothered about the inequities baked into the system, than the potential for public resentment to cramp his style -- and, that of his colleagues -- at the box office.

For all the angst attributed to him posthumously, Thompson had been dogged by accusations of insider trading, and United's practices had been the focus of negative reports by the Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S.Senate. Whatever concerned Thompson privately -- and we only have his colleagues' word for that, frankly -- continued to happen publicly. As Saul Goodman would have say -- "It's been known to happen."

The graphic below is only a mild sampling of what I've seen, from deep diving the Internet; I'm sure you've seen plenty of your own examples, ranging from the merely black ("Prior authorization required, before thoughts and prayers"), to the truly scabrous, like this dark nugget, served up by "The Daily Show"'s Ronny Chieng: 

“But now, the cops just need to narrow down their list of suspects to anyone in America who hates their health-care plan and has access to guns. Should be solved in no time.”


<More popular rage, served sunny side down:
https://www.downwithtyranny.com/>

<iii.>
I, too, have experienced the frustration of "deny, depose, defend," only from a different direction -- when I took a job with a federal agency, only to discover that bills demanding full payment, typically in triple-digit sums, kept landing on my door mat. Almost $1,700, in fact, once I totaled them up -- eight claims, in all.

When I gently inquired as to why, I discovered that this particular agency chose to self-fund its particular insurance plan. Unfortunately, such plans aren't considered insurance, according to the Affordable Care Act, one of many "get out" clauses that the industry carved out for itself, as part of its eternal crusade to futureproof against the few reforms our political class seems willing to allow us.

This, despite a cover page phrased along these lines: "Want to better understand your healthcare program?" This, despite a dizzying two-page list of exclusions -- nearly three dozen of them, ranging from abortion and drug treatment, to dental, hospice and hospital care, physicals, skilled nursing care, transportation, and vision. All of which begs the obvious question, "Well, then, what do you cover, exactly?" Not much, apparently.

In the end, I wound up enlisting my state representative, plus the Attorney General, and state insurance office, to press the faux insurer for action, having heard nothing about my appeal. Eventually, they suggested that more documentation was needed to fully evaluate my case, though they did refund $247 on one claim, and reduced another from $475, to zero. 

So, in that sense, some justice has been done, though I have yet to hear what's happened with the other half dozen claims -- whether we're talking about the original appeal, or further complaints and follow-ups that I filed. There have been no other developments on that score, since last summer; maybe that's just as well.

My "Insurance Pie Fight" folder, as I've labeled it, is already a quarter-inch think; at this point, I'm not looking for anymore additions. Of course, as someone who remains uninsured, stress is likely to come from other directions. This week, I'll have to visit my doctor at the community health clinic -- for the fourth time, I believe -- for a viral infection that's taken its time to fade, since it first flared up in June.

I currently owe $100, which is a bargain, even on the sliding scale system that determines the amount. However, due to all the other unwelcome financial surprises I've weathered, I have yet to pay on it; last time around, the receptionist got fairly aggressive about the matter, to which I had to grit my teeth, and assure her, "I just sent a check out. I'm sure they haven't gotten it yet."

I doubt if the gatekeeper at the desk bought my excuse; I honestly didn't care either way. At a certain level, it's all a giant game of, "Don't ask, don't tell." All that's left is for both parties to play their roles, mouth the words they don't believe, and move on.

In other words, for those still wondering why so few are grieving Mr. Thompson's demise -- and the rage against the machine he represented is boiling and bubbling, at volcanic levels -- they might do well remember another well-worn saying: "Walk a mile in my shoes." And, while we're at it, this one: "There, but for the grace of God, go you and I."

Alas, Andrew Witty, the CEO who took the knocks publicly -- and to whom Thompson was grateful for the shield it afforded him, privately -- doesn't get the memo, as this quote from his recent New York Times op-ed piece suggests: "“Together with employers, governments and others who pay for care, we need to improve how we explain what insurance covers and how decisions are made."

In other words? Stay calm, folks. Nothing to see here. There's nothing wrong with the system that's driving a screw through the middle of your spinal column. It's just a matter of some technical adjustments, and all will be good again.

He's off to a flying start, eh? I don't think so. And neither, I suspect, will the millions whose anger remains set on boil, not stun.

Until we can somehow force the insurance industry and its enablers to start from this premise, as the first step toward seriously reforming the system -- instead of papering the cracks, or tinkering around the edges -- it's doubtful that the popular rage will cool off, any time soon. 

Oh, and just for the record? I'm giving the survey a miss. Besides, I already have two toothbrushes, and don't need anymore. --The Reckoner




Links To Go (Hurry, Hurry,
Before They Deny Your Claim -- Again):

Down With Tyranny: The Bizarre Media Treatment
Of The Mangione Case:
https://www.downwithtyranny.com/post/the-bizarre-media-treatment-of-the-mangione-case  
[Included for good song by Jesse Wells -- scroll to the end to hear it!]

Forbes: The Rage And Glee
That Followed A CEO's Killing Should Ring All Alarms:
https://archive.ph/DsVqZ

The Independent:
The Daily Show Divides Viewers...:
https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/news/the-daily-show-united-healthcare-ceo-murder-b2660091.html

Yahoo News/Washington Post:
Before Shooting, Brian Thompson
Worried About UnitedHealth's Negative Image:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/shooting-brian-thompson-worried-unitedhealth-205448649.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&segment_id=DY_VTO_ADS_T1&ncid=crm_19908-1475736-20241216-0&bt_user_id=GcF%2B9E2au5JSjvHLHE7dhab%2F0Jf2USx61LWvC3r6Lgy6FwK7bGSUO8MbCi%2FEGzea&bt_ts=1734367256416


PS: UPDATE #1 (12/31/24): Evidently, United -- or, at least, their chatbots who keep sending me this virtual gruel -- haven't given up on me yet. Here's what their latest inducement, that slithered into my inbox a couple days before Christmas, looks like:


Sorry, lads. The language certainly sounds enticing -- well, assuming that some human hands ever touched the keyboard -- but I'm afraid that my original reply still stands. Nothing personal, but...in light of your well-documented track record, I'll have to give this project a miss.

UPDATE (1/8/25): And still, they persisted... Thought they'd finished with the likes of me, but no such luck! This unsolicited invite slithered through my inobx on New Year's Day, of all days. Just how I want to start my year off, with the nation's most notorious health entity, right?

Not sure what sort of reasoning is going on here, exactly, unless it's along the lines of some great white shark, always swimming, swimming, swimming...starting silently ahead...savoring the prey it's just devoured, fixing its gleaming pinpoint gaze straight ahead...always staring, staring, staring, straight ahead...at the scents 'n' sounds of the prey that's yet to come. Maybe you, this time? 

Or, perhaps...maybe not. I didn't respond to this one, either, so hopefully, that's the end of it. Even if I can't stop seeing those sharks in the water, or those snakes, sunning themselves in the Garden of Eden, when come-ons like these arrive, always uninvited. At any rate...I hope that we've (finally) reached the end of this particular string.


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