OPTICS

Yes, I’m back.  You might ask yourself, after seven years what could possibly bring Johnny Alamo back to the keyboard.  I mean the list of events that have happened over the past seven years that should have brought me back is long.

        ·         A presidential candidate that called half the country “Deplorables”

        ·         That same candidate purposefully destroying evidence under subpoena

    ·         The FBI investigating her and the director forgetting he is not the judiciary and declaring her  (just being silly)  

    ·         An administration doing something not attempted since Watergate and using the levers of  state to spy on a presidential candidate

        ·         The election of a reality TV star as president

    ·         The overwhelming outrage from the political class to that election that causes them to cast all semblance of a constitutional and legally bound republic to the side to unseat him  

    ·         Two (count them) Two impeachments 

    ·         An election that is so overwhelmingly questionable in which state bureaucrats violated their own constitutions to change rules of elections 

    ·         The overwhelming “election” of a man into office that was always so distasteful to democrats that he couldn’t get elected dog catcher anywhere but Delaware with more votes than ever were cast in history. 

 I can go on, but what “trumps” all that and drives me to pontificate on this slow-motion train wreck of American governance?  Well, it’s simply this….

      

I used to think that the political “handlers” who put together events and managed optics and messages were the only folks in DC that knew what they were doing.  I mean the folks running the country don’t have a clue, but the guys who drive the messaging and organize events and such are real geniuses right?  No, not so much…

 

Honestly, who thought recreating the famous scene of John Hurt in V for Vendetta as Adam Sutler the fascist leader was good optics prior to midterm elections?  

Whoever it was must have also had a hand in the speech because they also showed that they were impressed with the dystopian government depicted in that film.  Because the speech was even more horrifying than the images.  And the similarities to the film are telling.

 

From the movie speech by Adam Sutler.

“My fellow Englishmen: tonight our country, that which we stand for, and all we hold dear, faces a grave and terrible threat. This violent and unparalleled assault on our security will not go undefended… or unpunished. Our enemy is an insidious one, seeking to divide us and destroy the very foundation of our great nation. Tonight, we must remain steadfast. We must remain determined. But most of all, we must remain united.”

And some excerpts from our current demented POTUS during his horrifying speech the other night.

“Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”

“But there is no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven, and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans, and that is a threat to this country.”

“And here, in my view, is what is true: MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution.  They do not believe in the rule of law.  They do not recognize the will of the people.”

“MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards — backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love.”

“They promote authoritarian leaders, and they fan the flames of political violence that are a threat to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice, to the rule of law, to the very soul of this country.”

“And now America must choose: to move forward or to move backwards?  To build the future or obsess about the past?  To be a nation of hope and unity and optimism, or a nation of fear, division, and of darkness?
 
MAGA Republicans have made their choice.  They embrace anger.  They thrive on chaos.  They live not in the light of truth but in the shadow of lies.
 
But together — together, we can choose a different path.  We can choose a better path.  Forward, to the future.  A future of possibility.  A future to build and dream and hope.”

 

Do you want to make a Guy Fawkes?  Because this is how you create a Guy Fawkes.  He basically said that half of this country were enemies of the state.  Is it any wonder that after seeing the set up and reading the speech the network heads at NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox News refused to air it and instead opted for reruns and game shows.  

Presidents are often remembered for excerpts from speeches that define their presidencies.

 With that communist FDR it was “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”

With JFK it was "Ich bin ein Berliner" 

Jimmy Carter was a single word “Malaise”

Ronald Reagan was “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall”

Mr. Biden’s will be where he said all his political opponents are “Threats to the very foundations of our republic”

 

Scary times my friends.