OCTOBER 13, 2022 – Today I’d intended to watch the January 6 House Select Committee hearing in its entirety. Before Liz Cheney had completed her opening statement, however, I decided that to stay glued to the TV would be akin to watching The Godfather for the umpteenth time, except with key scenes screened in slow motion. No matter what new and disturbing evidence was to be publicly exposed by the hearing, it was unlikely to change a single vote on November 8. The hearing certainly wouldn’t have changed my vote—even had I not already voted.
Nevertheless, every one of us should be well informed of the Subcommittee’s version of The Godfather if we care at all about the basic operating principles of our democracy . . . er, republic . . . no, democracy . . . let’s just call it “a society based on majority rule, yet with protection of minority rights, and the rule of law—and the unwritten rules of truth, trust, and decency.”
Watching The Godfather to its conclusion—a voice vote approving a resolution to subpoena the Don—sparked in my poor brain, three points of fear:
FIRST: To this day a mafioso capable of catastrophic misdeeds and influence is still the de facto head of a political party . . . strike that; call it more precisely, “personality cult party” . . . that might well control both houses of Congress come January 3—depending largely on the price gasoline on November 8. (The word limit of this post can’t accommodate the larger issue here, namely, our continuing dependence on fossil fuels.) If the Godfather Party takes control of Congress and follows through on the Party’s many threats, the country will be in for some very rough sledding—starting early this winter.
SECOND: Even if the Godfather Party doesn’t win House and Senate, the Don, his sycophants, and blind followers will launch another insane episode of “Stop the Steal,” whereupon, all hell will break loose across this fine land of ours.
THIRD: Most disturbing is the fact that the Godfather Party still commands more than a fringe of the participating electorate. In 2020, the mafioso won 74 million votes—74 million people is more than the entire population of the United Kingdom. What besides fluoride is in the public drinking water that would cause so many people to forget, ignore, or be unschooled in our basic operating principles and “unwritten rules” of truth, trust, and decency?
Whatever inanity and foolishness might reside inside the Democratic Party, that broad-spectrum tent doesn’t harbor a personality cult or baseless conspiracy theories. And no mob incited by a Democratic Don took baseball bats (or flag pole bearing American flags) to Capitol glass in an attempt to murder the rule of law.
After catching the end of today’s hearing, I went for a long walk in falling temperatures and a stiff northwest wind. It was the perfect antidote to the “three fears” induced by my return to “civilization” after five magical days at the Red Cabin. This afternoon’s outing was a comforting reminder of my many woodland walks and restorative exposure to nature’s majesty—a reality that transcends . . . The Godfather.
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© 2022 by Eric Nilsson
1 Comment
Eric: Well said. My theory is that the collective IQs of all of us is going DOWN, hence the attractiveness of the GOP. Why is that? Good question, possibly the technological revolution we are experiencing is just too fast for human evolution. I realize that’s a pessimistic view, but I too am able to shake off the negativity by engaging nature and what remains of the natural world. Glad yo hear you are so engaged, Paul
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