A Topsy-Turvy World — By John Reed
A Topsy-Turvy World
Legend has it that General Cornwallis’ field band played the British ballad “The World Turned Upside Down” when he surrendered after the siege of Yorktown, effectively ending the Revolutionary War. Interestingly, the tune itself was an anti-government protest song written in the 1640’s to comment on Parliament’s efforts to crack down on popular Christmas traditions.
We once again live in an upside down world. Democrats who applauded Obama’s deportations of illegal immigrants and detentions at the border now decry Republicans who favor the same thing. The GOP, on the other hand, has long been in favor of states’ rights, raise the alarm when certain states refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
Again: Democrats have long been in the lead on the issue of personal privacy. Yet now they want to force personal tax and financial records open for anyone to see…not to mention deliberately leaking phone records and other personal information, just as part of the political circus in Washington.
Democrats claim to be the party against billionaires and big corporations. And yet their two fastest-rising candidates, Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg, are both multibillionaires. The so-called party of inclusion is in the process of running off their minority candidates [unless you consider Pete’s orientation a minority].
Across a broad range of issues, the Right and Left have seemingly swapped places. Is it any wonder the average citizen has lost confidence in the government? No matter how things work out in the next few months, the public trust has been badly damaged. Gerald Ford was the perfect man to rebuild that trust after Watergate; who will it be this time?
Let’s look at the possible scenarios, in order of likelihood. 1: Trump gets removed from office [least likely]. Mike Pence assumes the presidency, and the vast majority of the current policies continue, albeit more quietly. 2: Trump survives impeachment, but is so damaged he doesn’t win reelection. In that case, Republicans give the Democrats every single insult they’ve endured the last four years. 3: Trump survives and gets four more years, thanks to a weak Democratic candidate and a popular backlash against the Left.
Despite the Democrats’ best hopes, the math adds up for the latter scenario to be the most likely. If even 18 congressmen defy their party and don’t vote for impeachment, it’s dead in the House. The GOP majority in the Senate would require 20 Republican senators to vote for conviction. Ain’t gonna happen.
Finally, the haters and Trumpsters have already made up their minds how they’ll vote next November. The relatively few independents are the key to victory for either side, and polls show they are increasingly against impeachment. Meanwhile, we the people are either entertained or bored by the whole media circus.
I’m ready for the world to right itself.
