Many writers have repurposed T.S. Elliot’s phrase, “April is the cruelest month.” I won’t be the last when I say American election months are the cruelest season. In deep-blue California, the airwaves have been still relatively wavey except for the nonstop shady opposition to Prop 29. In competitive states and districts, though, the waves can resemble tsunamis. September’s news diversion to cover the death of the only English monarch many have ever known, seems almost quaint by comparison to recent headlines.
Her death was followed by the topic trio of 1) Mar-a-Lago, 2) Florida governor Ron DeSantis’ shipments of legal immigrants to northern states, and 3) Hurricane Ian that made the news All Florida/All The Time. We are still digesting (and re-digesting on the cable news channels) material from the last public meeting of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
Right now, we have close elections at almost every level that hinge – if you believe pundits – on your vote. If you haven’t already voted by mail (too convenient, I know), now is the time (November 8) to march to your local polling place and exercise the right upon which all our democratic (small “d”) principles are based: Suffrage!
And then there is the elephant. The saying used to be “the elephant in the room,” but it’s no longer confined to the room; it’s everywhere you turn. Known in general parlance as Donald Trump, he is often abbreviated in social media as TFG – the former guy.
DSM-5 312.32 (F63.3). If you recognize that abbreviation, you know what comes next. It is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, containing “the most up-to-date criteria for diagnosing mental disorders, along with extensive descriptive text.” It suggests TFG is a classic kleptomaniac with uncontrollable urges to take things. Collections of souvenirs, classified documents and other items he says are “mine” might be diagnostic.
He is sick. See if this quote from the DSM fits: “The objects are stolen despite the fact that they are typically of little value to the individual, who could have afforded to pay for them and often gives them away or discards them. Occasionally the individual may hoard the stolen objects or surreptitiously return them. In case you’re keeping track, those 11,000 documents seized in the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago were fabricated by trump lawyers to include 200,000 pages! That would be 400 reams of paper which, if stacked up, would be more than 66 feet tall. Later documented by the Dept of Justice, they contain only 21,792 pages, stacking up to a mere 7 feet 3 inches.
Why is the un-president relevant in this election cycle? I remain a believer in one regard: he is forever a candidate until he says otherwise, and probably after that as well. His aroma permeates all republican candidates at every level these days. The ousted wannabe dictator is on the ballot through his surrogates. That includes all republican California Congressional candidates. Yes, we have republican Congresspeople representing Oroville, Elk Grove, Big Bear Lake, Hanford, Tulare, Bakersfield, Santa Clarita, La Habra, Corona, Surfside, and San Diego. If you have friends in those places, please ask them to vote carefully.
If the other guys control the House after the midterm elections – as expected and supported by history – it will be a cold two years following. It will offer a sharp contrast between the specificity of the long list Democratic accomplishments during our two years, against the ethereal vagueness of republican ideas. There is no “there” there. Apologies to Gertrude Stein and Oakland.
Even the republican phony “Commitment to America” is full of rigid apple pie aspirations like “repeal 87,000 IRS agents.” Hey, Kevin McCarthy, you mean the auditors and staff who will catch the tax cheats? You mean the new hires to replace the over 50,000 who will normally retire in just the next 5 years?
As a recap, repuglican firm goals and actions include
- Abolishing abortion rights, some even in cases of rape or incest.
- Banning books from public and school libraries.
- Using taxpayer money to ship legal immigrants out of border states.
- Opening new investigations into any and all things Biden. Last time Rs were in charge, we heard “Benghazi!” so often, it became a verb. Expect some version of “Hunter Biden’s Laptop!” to become an expletive.
- Halting Congressional inquiry into the January 6 insurrection events and perpe-trators (emphasis on the “traitors” part).
Fortunately, the current House Committee’s January 6 report is public. Americans cannot unsee what has already been laid out and the Justice Department cannot ignore legitimate Congressional referrals. A GOP House cannot stop any ongoing Justice investigations, including the FBI’s document seizure from Mar-a-Lago for violations of the Presidential Records Act.
Further, incoming Congressional proceedings have no influence on non-federal actions against the deposed ex-pres, like the New York state attorney general’s investigation for tax evasion. There’s a curious historic similarity to the conviction of gangster Al Capone on October 17, 1931. He wasn’t nabbed for racketeering or mob activity; it was for tax evasion. Hmmm. Elliott’s “cruelest month” may continue after the election.