12/24/24

 Tuesday, December 24, 2024

D+49

1865 Several Confederate veterans formed the Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski, Tennesse

1939 Pope Pius XII made a Christmas Eve appeal for peace during World War II

1992 US President George H. W. Bush pardoned former National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane and former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger for their roles in the Iran-contra affair

2001 "Time Magazine" named New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani 'Person of the Year', for leadership after the 9/11 attacks

In bed at 9,, awake at 2, and up at 2:30.  Lights out at 4:30 but no-go, back on again at 5:30.  

Prednisone, day 224, 7.5 mg., day 39.  Prednisone at 4:30 with banana bread.  Other meds at 5:30.  

The beginnings of tonight's dessert, Geri's homemade crust for her lemon meringue pie, following Nikki's lasagna.

    

Nikki's sauce for her lasagna in a perfect simmer

Democracy in America.  Democracy is everyone's second choice.  Our first choice would be to have the government and the compendium of laws and regulations that he wants, that he thinks is best, 'me-ocracy.'  Because we can't always get what we want (pace Mick Jagger), we settle for democracy that at least provides a chance to get some of what we want some of the time.  Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump claimed to be running to protect democracy in America.  Their supporters believed that their opponents (now considered not merely adversaries, but enemies) were out to destroy democracy.  All of them were operating under the delusion that America is at bottom a real democracy, rather than an oligarchy or plutocracy, "the best government money can buy."   We think that because we have a system in which we are allowed to vote for Candidate A beholden to the moneyed interests of America or Candidate B beholden to the moneyed interests of America that this constitutes Democracy. The great anarchist Emma Goldman trutfully said "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal."  If those who voted for Trump in the last election believed that the Biden/Harris ticket represented Democracy, it was Democracy that has produced the political and economic system that has so very many Americans unhappy with the system, with their lives within it.  We are told that we get to select our leaders in 'free and fair elections', but only for leaders who appear on a ballot.  To appear on a ballot in an American election, one must normally prevail in two primary elections,  The second is the one in which ordinary citizens may vote.  The first and more important is the donor primary, the one in which one solicits the financial support necessary to participate meaningfully in the second unless that is a candidate is wealthy enough to self-finance his or her campaign.  Only rarely do we see a politician like Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, a bartender who was able to successfully challenge a long-term Democratic congressman.  Incumbent members of the House seeking re-election are all but assured re-election. The re-election rate among all 435 members of the House has been as high as 98 percent in modern history, and it's rarely dipped below 90 percent.  Gerrymandered congressional districts largely eliminate competition in general elections.  With wide name recognition, and usually an insurmountable advantage in campaign cash, House incumbents typically have little trouble holding onto their seats against a primary challenger.  The major key to getting elected to political office in the U. S. is money and the people and institutions that have the most money have the most influence.  Hence, America's Golden Rule: He who has the gold makes the rules.  So much for Democracy in America.  Thus, Elon Musk with his personal fortune of $400,000,000,000 was able to cow virtually every Republican congressman last week into rejecting the bipartisan budget bill pushed by their leaders simply by threatening to fund primary opponents for any congressman who didn't vote against the bill.  Did DeTocqueville foresee this?  From Wikipedia:

Noting the rise of the industrial sector in the American economy, Tocqueville, some scholars have argued, also correctly predicted that an industrial aristocracy would rise from the ownership of labor. He warned that 'friends of democracy must keep an anxious eye peeled in this direction at all times', observing that the route of industry was the gate by which a newfound wealthy class might potentially dominate . . .

     -- Alteration --

You thought growing older

   would be more of the same, 

going a little slower, 

   walking a little lame. 

But you knew, or you were a fool, 

   that alteration is what we keep; 

tonight will not be the equal 

   of last night, even in sleep. 

     -- Hayden Carruth

18 Questions, 40 Israeli Thinkers, 18Forty.   I've been watching episodes of this series for the last few days and hope to see more.  The persons interviewed are asked the same questions and have different answers. "As an Israeli and a Jew, how are you feeling at this moment in Israeli history?". "What has been Israel's greatest success and greatest mistake in the current war against Hamas?",  "Which is more important, Judaism or democracy?" "What do you look for in deciding which Knesset party to vote for?", "Should Israel treat its Jewish and non-Jewish citizens the same?" "Now that Israel exists, what is the purpose of Zionism?", "Is anti-Zionism anti-semitism?", "Is the IDF the world's most moral army?", "What do you think is the most legitimate criticism leveled against Israel today?", "Do you think peace between the Israeli and the Palestinian communities will happen in your lifetime?", "What should happen with Gaza after the war?", "Where do you read news about Israel?", and "Do you have more hope or more fear for Israel and the Jewish people?"