The Emperor's Parade

The two largest groups, the Left and the Right, are irreparably severed from what was a common society. Anything left of the original Body Politic shrivels up and the flotsam migrates Right or Left. Good and evil become clearly separated by an unbridgeable void. One side will win. And one side will lose. The victor will recreate a society that will prevail for generations.

Brutal, often violently physical controversies are intrinsic to democracies: an honor of free speech, an inspiration to the oppressed and suppressed, and the hallmark of hope. But fair and finally peaceful resolution – especially as viewed in sufficient retrospect – is the soul of democracy. We democrats cherish vigorous opposition, because we remember the many times we conceded our positions to contribute to a fair bargain. And life went on, happily. And step by step a consensus over time and generations produced a mostly fair society. We study history to remind us of this and to garner techniques for lasting peace.

The above strikes me as so fundamental to a democratic society that to claim it no longer applies isn’t just personally traumatic, but suggests that it isn’t a definition of a fair and just society at all, but just the chimerical convictions of do-gooders and moralists.

That’s how I feel. I’ve been tricked by my own life experience, nearly eight decades of happiness and prosperity. Because despite all the controversies and near catastrophes in my life, politically or otherwise, everything ultimately worked out.

That’s the ignis fatuus: “everything ultimately worked out” .... for me. Am I an ordinary Joe? Does my life reflect the line worker at the Davenport sausage factory? Or for that matter, the life-time foreman who still lives in a decrepit, over-priced apartment, or the factory manager who still drives a beat-up Dodge Ram, or the residents of the unexpected new RV park in the ground cuts of Hurricane Helene, or .... I’m of the elite. I voted for Headstart, but neither I or any of my relatives or friends or I bet even friends of friends ever used it. I supported expanding Medicaid, but I never used it and even confused it from time to time with Medicare.

Ordinary Joes started this revolt some time ago. It took them a long time to get our attention. The Selma march seemed to work out; so they did the Charlotte march. Rocket Receivables repossessed their cars for missing a payment or two, but the government debt skyrocketed just to insult them! So they voted in T-Party guys who promised to punish the government if it dared overspend!

It’s so darned confusing, thank god The Emperor’s parade has begun.

I watched my TV’s images of the Zelensky/Trump meeting and saw Trump and Vance viciously ambush an hero by spotlighting the moment when he either conceded security guarantees or pressed for them. Trump cultists, billionaire courtiers, Republican equivocators and Right-wing morally bankrupt couch potatoes saw Zelensky disrespecting America.

Ordinary Joes aren’t necessarily Trump cultists, Republican equivocators or Right-wing morally bankrupt couch potatoes. They’re certainly not among the billionaire courtiers. I hope many Ordinary Joes saw Zelensky as the hero, Trump & Vance as the thugs.

The Emperor’s parade continues over potholes which have killed a lot of old Dodge Rams. It’s terribly bumpy. Our good side swerves and bumps all over the place until we accept retribution for promising to fill the 67 potholes on the parade route four years ago without a paver or backhauler yet in sight! And now there are 114 potholes on the parade route! The deranged hit their heads on the top of the car and blame us for lying. I hope Ordinary Joes see it the way I see it and accept my apologies for the delay.

Our irreparable division is not easily known, yet. The tear is unmistakably irreparable, and Trump and Vance are at least the figureheads of the Right. But who marches with them into self-destruction and who scrambles into the Truth is just now settling out.

And when it does there will be a clear Good Side and a clear Bad Side. The Good Side will be an uncomfortable mix of radically different folks with a multitude of competing needs that far surpasses the resources to address them. It will be an overwhelmingly confusing cauldron of truth and pain. But a single, simple, crystal clear promise will hold the mess together: We won’t do it like we did before! Somehow, by some Muskian algorithm if necessary, if we promise to fill in a pothole, it will be filled in before the next season makes them worse.

Nothing complicated about the Bad Side: they’ll remain a bunch of cultists, billionaire courtiers, Republican equivocators and right-wing morally bankrupt couch potatoes with no purpose or mission other than to follow The Leader. Their sycophancy will be terrifyingly powerful.

I hear trumpets down my street. I get goose bumps running outside to watch. But I won’t be watching the marching bands. I’ll be watching the spectators.