The Cartoon Kingpin

 “The cohort aged between thirty and forty was shocked into a strangely hapless political sentience by the September 11 attacks and the fraudulent war of aggression fought by the Republican administration against Iraq. Even as this cohort recognizes the immense civic and representational value of Barack Obama’s presidency, it has little experience of the Democratic Party implementing a Democratic agenda.” Joseph O’Neill, New York Review of Books

I caught short takes of the Democratic Party’s virtual convention -- clips of Michelle Obama’s speech, Kamala Harris’s acceptance, Barack’s indictment of Trump -- and large parts of Biden’s speech. The bar has fallen so far in the Age of Trump that Biden was given high marks for getting through his speech without committing any major gaffes. When Biden said, at the close of his speech, “May God protect our troops” I was reminded of the role he has played for nearly twenty years at the top echelons of our government, a time when our country has been continuously engaged in armed conflict with someone, somewhere on the planet; a time when our government stalled, deferred and ignored the accelerating climate crisis; a time when our capitalist-centered government legislated massive transfers of wealth from the many to the few.  

Biden closed with that for many reasons -- to reassure people that he won’t become soft on national security or that he has any intention of seriously challenging the military-intelligence-surveillance complex -- but also because ours is a country trapped and stunted by our addiction to war. 

The power brokers in the Democratic Party still refuse to acknowledge that the future lies on the left, not the right. Until Bill and Hillary Clinton are dead and buried, they will be rolled out every four years to dispense wisdom and remind us of the glory years. Barack and Michelle will play similar roles, defending the center-right and assisting in silencing, or dismissing, voices of people who have a different vision for the party, like AOC and Ilhan Omar. The old guard never relinquishes power without a struggle. Not Pelosi. Not McConnell. 

A  few questions rolled around my brain this week, such as, will the GOP go the way of the Whigs? How does the country learn from the colossal failure, ineptitude and corruption of Donald J. Trump and the criminal hordes who surround him? Why did the Democrats feel it necessary to give Michael Bloomberg a place in their virtual convention? 

Will the indictment of Steve Bannon for fraud end with his long overdue comeuppance? Doubtful. But it was somehow reassuring to see Bannon under arrest, and I hope to see similar scenes repeated with William Barr, Jared Kushner, Ivanka, Mike Pompeo, and the cartoon kingpin himself, Donald J. Trump.

Has it ever been more clear that the stock market and the real economy have almost nothing in common? 

Consider this amazing feat: the intellectually and morally bankrupt GOP has succeeded in repudiating both Lincoln and Reagan. 

Last I checked more than 500 wildfires were burning in California, multiple small blazes, and three or four big ones that are burning thousands of acres, destroying homes, and forcing residents to flee. Here in Santa Barbara it has been oppressively hot for the past few days, 90 degrees as I write this, and the sky is hazy from fires burning to the north and southeast. I can’t help but think we’re witnessing a glimpse of our future, an endless series of climate calamities. 

The Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Paris St. Germain should be epic. Bayern is a ruthless and relentless bunch, a steamroller of a side, while PSG relies on the creativity and flamboyance of Mbappe and Neymar. I think PSG can trouble Bayern, but I think the German club will lift the trophy. 

Israel is bombing Gaza again. The world yawns, as usual. How much of the equipment and ordnance landing on Gaza was made in America or funded by American taxpayers in the form of military aid? Israel can only get away with its war against the Palestinians because it enjoys the unequivocal support of the United States.