SCREECH! SCREECH!

If I felt I could do it without feeling terribly guilty, I would take a few weeks off at this point. I am so tired of doom overload, I feel like my motherly alter-ego, Screech. 

Yeah, my dad bestowed that little moniker upon me when he used me as a character in one of the books he wrote for his grandsons. Dad was magically creative and, using coloring books, box covers, and his own ability to draw, he combined Fraggles, Star Wars, He-Man, Muppets, and newly designed characters into these bizarre adventures for Gobo Fraggle and his friends. Junior Gorg and Dr. Strangepork had prominent roles. Screeech [with 3 e's] is Skeletor's falcon. He was a fun-killer.  Apparently, that was my job: to prevent anyone from having any fun whatsoever. Or so Zayde told my sons. 

This is a page from the actual book. Junior Gorg and Dr. Strangepork are sitting on a deck that looks remarkably like the one at my folks' house, Screech (that's me) swooping in, and some Fraggles are peering out from under the deck. And if that was not enough, my folks read each of the books on tape so the kids could have bedtime stories when we went home to Minnesota. You haven't heard anything until you've heard my mother snorting while not laughing every time my dad yelled, "Screech! Screech!"

And that's what I feel like right now. Only there's no snorting and no laughing. 

ALL THE KING'S MEN happens to be on while I'm writing this. It's all so terribly familiar for all the wrong reasons. 

Jack Burden, the journalist/aide to Governor Stark and narrator of the film, says this as articles of impeachment are being gathered:

The chips were down and Willie knew it. He was fighting for his life. He roared across the state making speech after speech and all of them adding up to the same thing. It's not me they're after, it's you. Willie hollered FOUL. Willie knew if you hollered long enough, hard enough, and loud enough, people begin to believe you. Just in case they didn't, he organized spontaneous demonstrations....In case anyone hollered back, he organized spontaneous slugging. Willie pulled every trick he ever knew - and added a few more...And always the trail led to one place, to Burden's Landing and the Judge.

But here's the thing, that movie is absolutely prescient. Not to mention scary. Scary because this politics of narcissism is not new; in fact it's as old as politics.

Right now, lots of people are filing suits attempting to prevent President Screeech from allowing the shadow president, Elon Musk, to gut the government while bypassing laws, the rules of law, settled law, and, shits and giggles, congress to make it happen. Enough federal judges are putting the brakes on, but will it be enough to save thousands of jobs and projects? Yes, the government needs slimming, but not at the expense of medical research, the environment, and human dignity. 

There's an interesting concept. The Preamble to the Constitution actually recognizes the need for dignity. I'm not going to talk about slavery or indigenous people in this paragraph, just the idea that the writers recognized, in their own, rudimentary way, the need for human dignity. Here's what it says:

The Preamble

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The general welfare: if you ask me, that's the phrase that pays. No matter how you feel about bloat, research, education, or food inspections, this Constitution recognizes that a government is about people first. A government is there to insure the people living within its borders are safe. Abraham Lincoln takes it a step further when he delivers the Gettysburg Address, saying:

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

I don't think he had oligarchs and narcissists in mind when he wrote that. Quite the opposite, frankly; he was stating that the  health and well-being of this nation rests in the hands of its population as a whole. When Elon Muskrat met with India's Prime Minister, the reason for the meeting...populated by the entire Muskrat family including small children (we'll talk about that in a moment)...was unclear. A reporter asked if the president knew why they were meeting, and his response was very problematic. He says, "They met. I assume he wants to do business in India."

 

This was a problem in the first term, but clearly, no one has bothered to look at the Emoluments Clause which applies to all federal employees from the president down. Wanna know what it says, in case you forgot? From the Constitution of the United States of America, Article I, Section 9, Clause 8:

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

If you're unsure about that very old-fashioned word emolument, it refers to a payment or stipend given to an individual. Basically, the clause is meant to prevent foreign influence applied to a member of the government which, in turn, might cause favorable treatment of the presenter. In short, it's there to keep government employees from taking bribes in various forms...like government contracts to their own firms, or favorable trading deals with foreign nations that are not available to other manufacturers, thereby giving a government worker an unfair advantage. In short, according to the Constitution you are not supposed to be lining your own pockets from governmental sources. 

I did want to talk for a moment about that meeting with Modi, Mrs. Muskrat and the little Muskrats. Who brings their children to a meeting like this? 

In case you don't know, or haven't read much about eastern hemisphere traditions, this was your basic attempt at dick-waving. Remember the king in The King and I telling Anna he had 67 children?

See all these kids? See how fertile I am? I have 12 kids...twins and triplets, too! I am a great man because I have impregnated many women! 

Really? 

Okay. That's enough. I know some of this is really petty nonsense, but like a snowball rolling down a hill, it accumulates more snow, picks up speed, and runs roughshod over anything in its way. Right now, that's our government. For me, the really scary part is that the men and women we elected to protect and defend the Constitution are not doing that part of their job. Thousands of workers will be entering the jobless market if the White House can carry out their plans. The dominos of food, shelter, and available medical care will fall. Inevitably, people will go hungry. Medication will be unavailable. Families will be unable to afford fuel and people will freeze, especially the older citizens who are on a fixed income. The draconian actions will have repercussions and no one seems to be planning for that. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Whenever I hear either of those two charming 40+ year old children muttering, 

"Screech! Screech!" I ignore them. 

 But I do smile.