OCHLOCRACY!

A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I had to read A TALE OF TWO CITIES for a high school English class. I was lukewarm on Dickens, but my British grandmother and her son (who happened to be my dad) were nuts on the topic. Of course, ATOTC is about a guy named Sidney Carton, and my dad, Sidney, was a box-maker... folding cartons to be specific. Clearly, this was karma at work. There was no escape. Dad decided we would read ATOTC together. It turned out to be a terrific thing to do. I was already becoming a political junkie, and ATOTC just fed that habit. I was definitely a revolutionary.

The copy we had in the house was not a first edition, but it was pretty old and used the 1859 original Hablot Browne (aka Phiz) illustrations done for the weekly magazine serial version of the book. Those illustrations really worked for me...especially the one titled The Sea Rises. Phillip Allingham, a contributing editor for The Victorian Web wrote:

 ..."The Sea Rises" is a public panorama of anarchic natural forces that will sweep away innocent and guilty alike."

I was riveted by this illustration....specifically the three women at the center:

Their rage was palpable; the way the necks of the two women on the left are craned out and taut expressed tension in a way I'd never experienced as part of a book. I kept turning back to that page again and again. Those women could be me. 

There might have been a tangential reason for this: high school, for me, coincided with the Vietnam War, something I morally and politically opposed and as important for us, the persecution of Jews in the Soviet Union. I'd been in demonstrations where the anger and rage ran rampant. Standing in Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza on many cold nights demanding Jews be permitted to leave. Granted, we never stormed the UN, although lots of us wanted to, but being in an angry crowd, I know how close we came to being a mob. More than once. 

You lose yourself in a crowd and when it becomes a mob, it's easy to go along with it. Did you know there's a word for that? Ochlocracy...from the Greek ὀχλοκρατία (okhlokratía), from ὄχλος (ókhlos, "mass", "mob", or "common people") and κράτος (krátos, "rule") and bonus! it's considered a pejorative. Hmmm. I saw it up close and personal at Columbia University. I wrote about that back in April. 

Jan 6, 2021/Lev Radin/Pacific Press

We, the People, saw it up close and personal on January 6th, 2021. Through the magic of television, we watched a mob storm our Capitol and attempt to stop the ratification of our 2020 presidential election. People were hurt, people died, rioters were reported to have defecated and urinated in the halls and offices. Windows were broken, art defaced, walls and furnishings damaged. Smithsonian Magazine covered the testimony of Farar Elliott, a curator in the House of Representatives' Office of History and Preservation:

All told, Elliott said, eight artworks—six sculptures and two paintings—were vandalized in the attack. Chemicals present in fire extinguishers, pepper spray, bear repellants, tear gas and other irritants used by rioters caused the majority of the damage. (Per Blanton’s testimony, staffers raced to the roof of the building to reverse airflows and try to limit the damage inflicted by these chemicals.) House curators have requested $25,000 in emergency funding to cover the costs of restoration and repair.

It's just art, right? Culture? Part of our national collective memory? Something frivolous to cut from the budget, right?

The January 6th insurrection may not have succeeded, but it was not completely unsuccessful. 

Do not underestimate the lessons learned that day, not by us, but by the minions, militias, and fringe groups who favor fascism, racism, and isolationism over what we have. They lie in wait, listening intently for the moment the dog whistle goes aloud. They are well rehearsed, armed, and incredibly dangerous. 

I am less worried about Tuesday than I am about Wednesday. If Harris and Walz win, the election will just be contested, the first wave of violence will commence. As the votes are counted across each state, you will see more and more violent responses to a possible Harris presidency. We have every reason to believe that a civil war is already mapped out and the plans ready to execute. 

The really scary part of all this is that half the country will vote for a guy who lies at his rallies without apology, doubles-down on those lies, has no idea how the government actually works, and despite all that, they would give him the nuclear codes. Never mind he's a serial adulterer, hawks the bible like his NFT trading cards, and says disgusting things about all sorts of people. Would you want your son or daughter to marry this man? But you'll vote for him, right?

That terrifies me because if half the country backs that kind of behavior, there is no hope for this country whatsoever. 

If Feckless Loser manages to win, he insists on day one he will begin mass deportations. This means there will be sweeping arrest nets that will scoop up legal and illegal immigrants alike to be held in camps. Billions will be spent on this effort without concern about what that will cost the economy. It might be worth it to mention migrant workers and those who come into the US to harvest our crops. Will they be able to cross the border? With relatively cheap labor gone, the food chain will be massively and immediately impacted. 

Liz Cheney and others (including little 'ol inconsequential me) who defied Feckless Loser risk arrest and trial for sedition and treason...because that's what he says he's gonna do. Parts of the Constitution, if not all of it, will be suspended by presidential decree, especially if he controls both houses of Congress. There are already more guns than people in the US, so with the repeal of any sane gun laws, that number will grow exponentially. There will be more mass shootings just because of the sheer number of automatic weapons. 

Jews will be in the crosshairs because he has said so repeatedly...to Jewish groups. He will figure out the Arab world is way richer than the Jewish one, and we will be thrown, lock, stock, and country, under the bus. He wants to rule like Putin, Kim Jung Un, and Xi Jinping. You think he's gonna protect us? Fat chance. He will sell Israel out to whichever Ayatollah books the most hotel rooms. 

As for protecting women? Right into the kitchen with white caps, red robes, and no shoes. Children will be forced to bear children because a total ban on abortion will take over no matter what he says he's not gonna do. His medical concept? Women at home caring for kids and parents alike. Out of the workforce we go so men can work without having to compete with stupid, naive women. Welcome to Stepford.

Listen, folks, this guy has been telling us who he is for a long time. No matter who gets the vote tally, a peaceful transfer of power is not gonna happen. I imagine the military is prepared, one way of the other, for whatever happens. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

This election is a lose-lose. America is the biggest loser of all.

Still... make sure you get out there and

if you haven't already.