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.

Minor Annoyances, Major Disappointments

You can see the little unfinished nubs

An informal survey of people buying Hanukkah candles this year, revealed I was not alone in feeling like the standard grocery story twisty candles were somehow defective. Turns out I wasn't alone in needing a nut pick, a metal implement that close resembles that thing your dentist uses to scrape off tartar, to get the candle remains outta the little cups so you can put a new candle in. And even then, you had to heat the bottom of the candle just enough to get it to stand up straight in the cup. This yielded a mess every night. 

In years past, the candles burned all the way down, leaving just a bit of wick in the cup. Each night the new candle went right into the cup, no problem. Of course, once you went through the torture of having to scrape out the damn cups every night, the candles still looked lovely as they burned. They do, if only for a little while, light up the room. I understand we observe Hanukkah in the winter in this hemisphere, and I know Hanukkah is a summer holiday in the southern hemisphere, but when the sun goes down at 4:30 in the afternoon in our half of the world, the glow of the candles is a welcome break from the long night ahead. 

As some of you already know, Hanukkah isn't really a religious holiday, so much as it is a civil holiday, a rare thing on the Jewish calendar. We celebrate the miracle of the oil, but did that really happen? I have my doubts. But we do celebrate the rather zealous family of Matthias Maccabee and his five sons, Judah included. These guys were your basic guerrilla warriors. There is no work prohibition as there is on other holy days, and even the story of the oil only appears in Talmud as an explanation as to why the holiday is important. 

The really important takeaway from the Maccabean revolt is that you fight for that which you believe. If your way of life is threatened, you don't wait for disaster, you get up and do something before the disaster arrives. One would think we learned that lesson in the last century, but alas....

But here's the really hard part: people disagree about what is important. There are lots of people out there who truly believe masking and vaccines are federal government overreach. They believe with all their hearts that the Constitution gives them the right to walk around locked and loaded. They believe with their entire being that federally provided healthcare is not a fundamental right. This might all seem to fly in the face of what seems to be survival or at least self-interest. Do these people not get doctor bills? Do they not see the danger of people being able to whip out a gun and shoot before asking questions? Do they not understand the danger of any pregnancy, let alone the result of rape or incest, to a young girl's body? Where is the moral compass?

Well, they believe they are acting according to their own moral compass. Now, do not get me wrong; I am not defending this behavior; I am merely saying that it exists and it has a firm hold on a large part of this country. Short of secession, these are voters who will continue to elect voices that differ dramatically from the ones you might be used to hearing. We listen to their words, wonder why they want to infect each other with a virus that kills while refusing to vaccinate themselves and their children. Sometimes, that reminds me of the stories about child sacrifice. Why would any parent offer a child up to death? It's not like they believe it's gonna appease the flu god. Yet they choose to expose themselves and their families to a disease that has empirically proven itself to be a killer. 

But let's set that aside for a moment. How about the part where parents, like the couple in Michigan, not only armed their son, they refused to recognize the kid had a problem when the school tried to warn them? Like their son, they are in jail on murder charges. Why weren't they the grown ups in the room for this kid?

Clearly, lots of people don't see a problem with parents arming children. Take Kentucky's 4th District Congressman: Thomas Massie. This guy has the most bizarre voting record ever. He and his wife not only armed their family, but they asked Santa for ammo.

What would Jesus say about that Christmas card? I have a pretty good idea what his mother woulda said. She was, when it's all said and done, a Jewish mother. 

If this is what We, the People, of any state are electing to represent us in Congress, is it really any mystery as to why this might be a problem? People: 76,400 other people liked that picture. Any possibility there's a cryptic message in there somewhere?

Here's the thing, though: guns are not an answer. Name calling is not an answer. The hateful rhetoric is nothing more than playground taunting that does no one any good whatsoever. There will never be useful discussion,  much less hope of any sort of middle ground, if the hate continues. We are heading into the midterms, and then the Presidential Debacle. If We, ALL The People, don't get a grip on the trash talk, we will lose this country. There WILL be a civil war. 

I am not saying don't debate the issues, but the trash talk in the streets, in public venues, in our homes, and most  of all, in our legislatures must stop. Save trash talking for the basketball court or the hockey rink. Don't sully the dignity of running a nation with garbage mouths. Be better than that.

Not like I'm gonna convince anyone or change any minds. I know enough people on the other side of the political spectrum who believe any time I say stuff like this I'm being a libtard. Yeah, you read that right. And that makes me really sad because that's exactly what I'm railing against yet the label is used and persists. It's okay to call me names, but accuse any one of them of promulgating hate speech and I'm the evil name caller. This is a classic example of how the chasm never closes. 

The separation is not diminishing; instead, it feeds directly into the chasm that will eventually split the nation into separate nations. Once upon a time, I thought that was a horrid and ridiculous notion. These days, I'm not so sure. Maybe if the US separated into two or three countries, we might have a fighting chance of having at least one socially responsible nation working toward the good and welfare of its population instead of a nation on the brink of social disaster. With the continuation of a two-party system there is no chance for any sort of coalition government and frankly, we are getting nowhere fast. 

Honestly, I'd be fine if Texas got the ball rolling with secession. 

Still, I can't help but continue to wonder why people who lack basic services like available health care and standard education requirements continue to fight against those things. I'm sure they have a reason, much like parents who refuse to vaccinate their kids have reasons, to stand firmly against any program that would improve their conditions. One might think after the spiraling death count of COVID-19 and its variants, including but not limited to Omicron, they might see the wisdom in being able to access health care. Or not. 

Whether we want to admit it or not, these here United States are falling farther and farther behind in caring for our own citizens within the concept of a social contract. This will eventually be that which splits the country. I'm certain of it because health care has become politics. As long as a significant portion of the population is okay with dying from purely preventable diseases, we have to respect that choice. Separation, the removal of those who refuse to vaccinate, and the closure or borders might be the only way to slow the next pandemic.

As Ziggy woulda said, "Think of it as evolution in action." 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

If you are unfamiliar with The Darwin Awards,

do yourself a favor and remedy that. 

You'll will have a much better scope on 

just how stupid humans can be.