This Was A Week That Was

Once upon a time, there was a show on the BBC that managed to make its way across the pond: THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS. It ran, albeit briefly, on NBC from January 1963 until May 1964. It was a hotbed of satire and screamingly funny, even to 11-year old me. And I may not have recognized the people on it then, but I sure do now: Henry Fonda and Henry Morgan were on the pilot, Mike Nichols and Elaine May were guests, and a really young Gene Hackman was there, too. Like SNL, there was a recurring cast that included David Frost, Henry Morgan, Buck Henry, Tom Bosley, and Alan Alda. Nancy Ames usually sang an opening news-satire song. Regular contributors included Gloria Steinem, William F. Brown, Tom Lehrer, and Calvin Trillin. How can you go wrong with a cast like that? I mean, TOM LEHRER!!!! The patron saint of satire who put his entire catalogue into the public domain!?! 

These people woulda had a heyday with this past week in America.

Three remarkable things have happened in the last 7 days: 

1. in South Africa, the A. N. C. lost its political monopoly for the first time in 30 years, 
2. in Mexico, a Jewish woman was elected president of that nation. 
3. Feckless Loser was convicted on all 34 charges in the hush money trial, 

None of these events were remotely obvious outcomes a year ago. 

In 2019, the A.N.C., the party that rose to prominence with Nelson Mandela, received about 60% of the national vote in South Africa; this year, it fell to about 40%. Sitting president Cyril Ramaphosa who once used his well-respected negotiating skills to help broker the end of apartheid is now under attack because of high unemployment, utility shortages, and rampant crime. His chief rival is Jacob Zuma, former president of South Africa and founder of a new political party, uMkhonto weSizwe, once the name of the armed part of the A.N.C. during the struggle against apartheid, won 15% of the vote, a highly unusual outcome for a newly created party. According to the New York Times:

Despite the astonishing outcome, Mr. Zuma — a scandal-plagued populist who thrives on grievance politics — discredited the election, saying his party had actually received two-thirds of the vote, but the results were rigged. Party officials say they have presented evidence to the electoral commission. But Mr. Zuma, who leads the party despite being barred from joining Parliament, did not make that evidence public. He warned the commission not to certify the election results on Sunday as scheduled.

 

“Nobody must declare tomorrow,” he said during a news conference at the headquarters in Johannesburg, where election officials were releasing the results. “If that happens, people will be provoking us. I’m hoping whoever is responsible is hearing what we are saying. Don’t start trouble, when there’s no trouble.”

Huh. Has a bit of a familiar ring to it, does it not? 

Down south of the border, the former mayor of Mexico city was elected president of Mexico. Now, one might not think this was a particularly unusual step for a politician, but this politician is just a tad different: her name is Claudia Sheinbaum, she's a climate scientist with a PhD in energy engineering, and yes, she is a Jewish woman. Her paternal side is Askenazi, her maternal side is Sephardic, and she is a secular Jew....which means she's not involved at all in the Jewish community of Mexico, and was once photographed wearing a rosary with a cross as a necklace. She was quoted about her heritage in the NYT:

“Of course I know where I come from, but my parents were atheists,” Ms. Sheinbaum told The New York Times in a 2020 interview. “I never belonged to the Jewish community. We grew up a little removed from that.”

Yeah, well, President Sheinbaum, that won't protect you from much. The article goes on to state:

But while Ms. Sheinbaum (pronounced SHANE-balm) has downplayed her ties to Judaism, her origins have not gone entirely unnoticed, revealing currents of xenophobia and antisemitism persisting beneath the surface in Mexican politics.

 

After emerging last year as a presidential contender, Ms. Sheinbaum faced “birther” attacks questioning whether she was born in Mexico or even Mexican. 

Among those leading the attacks against her was Vicente Fox, a conservative former president who called Ms. Sheinbaum a “Bulgarian Jew.” Ms. Sheinbaum responded by releasing a copy of her birth certificate detailing her place of birth as Mexico City. “I am 100 percent Mexican, the proud daughter of Mexican parents,” she said.

Regardless, the haters will hate, the antiSemites will attack, and she will find herself in the center of a firestorm she may not have completely expected. What makes it so sad is that it will impact her ability to serve the people of Mexico without ridiculous and unnecessary distraction. Whatever good she does, whatever progress she makes, there will always be that asterisk that she really wasn't Mexican, she was a Jew. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

And the last item on my thrilling list of events has to be the 34 counts of GUILTY delivered to Feckless Loser. I hope he stayed awake long enough to hear them all. Not that it matters. He's already decided it's all fake, fixed, and rigged. I'm sure he expects the Supreme Jokers to overturn the convictions. Maybe. Maybe not. Hard to predict at this point. But what we do know just by listening to him rant and rave, he is laying the groundwork for violence. His posturing is the same as it was for January 6th. He's relying on his cabal to get the subliminal messages he sent back then with stand back and stand by. 

Here's a link to the Washington Post's docket list for SCOTUS: The biggest 2024 Supreme Court rulings so far, and what’s still to come. It's worth a glance...if you don't mind being just a tad terrified. Oral arguments for prosecuting the rioters on January 6th will be heard on June 16th. Oral arguments for Feckless Loser's immunity from prosecution for his alleged efforts to overturn the election will be held on June 25th.

1861

But here's the thing: it doesn't matter. The kool-aid is drunk, the mob is gathering, and there will be some kind of revolt, probably violent, and definitely nationally divisive. And divide the country it will. The split in 1861 was much cleaner cut between free and slave states. This time the division won't be so obvious. Will the divisions be along economic lines? Religious lines, political lines? It's hard to predict right now. 

If all those MAGA folks threatening the Constitution, the Court, and even the presidency rise to overthrow, there will be a split. You don't think that will happen? I'm not convinced that pockets of insurrection won't exist and that will be the beginning of the deconstruction of the American Experiment. 

Below is all my opinion, conjecture, and observation. 

But if you want to look ahead to the possible, maybe keep in mind that California could conceivably be its own country; it has the 5th largest economy in the world. If it were to secede from the current US, it's likely it would take Oregon and Washington with it, both are "blue." It's not inconceivable that Hawaii, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado would join them. 

In the midwest, I can honestly imagine Minnesota applying to join Canada...but it's possible Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, and Ohio will figure out actually having an economy is better. A union with the northern states rather than the southern ones, and possibly joining the northeastern corridor would give them a shot at economic survival.

See, that's the biggest thing that will determine the outcome: a viable economy. Manufacturing and technology is not southern centric. Yeah, they have Texas and agriculture, but that's not gonna be enough you consider all that tax money generated by the blue states will suddenly stop flowing into the southern tier. Federal funding will disappear. All those aid programs, gone. FEMA, gone, Medicare, Social Security,  Medicaid, gone. Sure, those programs in the north will be impacted as well, but the tax base is much broader; the blue states are probably better positioned to adjust those programs as needed. All those small-government devotees will discover the fastest growing segment is the funeral industry.

In their first go 'round with secession, the South quickly learned economics were not easy. This time, the corridors of manufacturing will be compounded by research and development. Intellectual achievement is central to maintaining the edge. People might work from anywhere these days, but it the country splits, the competent people will go where the jobs are housed. It will be a matter or cyber security. 

But like I said above, this is all conjecture. I hope to hell I am totally and completely off-the-mark-wrong.  

The Wifely Persons's Tip o'the Week

My Grandpa Moishe's 45th yahrzeit is this weekend. 

He was dad's best friend and my best cohort in crime.

(Grandma Sarah insisted we were not to be trusted then together.)

If you have a grandparent, remember to hug them.

If you lost your grandparents, talk about them.

When you do that, they live on.