A Modest Proposal (Part One)

                I try to be reasonable.  Most days I manage to at least look like I’m pulling it off.  Not today.  Today, I skipped my meds and am going to let you know how I really feel about all the political garbage I’ve been trying not to write about.  I can’t stand one more day of people thinking that simply electing a new president or congress will significantly change the course we’re on.  We keep watching the destruction of what is left of our country assuming that it will turn out all right in the end. Really?  Apparently, Mueller is about to end his long- awaited report.  Maybe it will blow the top off things, but it seems to me – after Barr finishes playing hide and seek with it – there is at least an equal chance it will end not with a bang but a whimper.  So here is my modest proposal – with all due apologies – or at least the first five things I think have to happen if we’re serious about turning things around.

1.        Disband the Republican Party and classify it as a terrorist organization:  Let’s stop pretending that the Republican Party is part of democratic society.  They nominated a candidate singularly unfit for the presidency and have obstructed every attempt to investigate and prosecute his wrong doing.  They are supporting and protecting a Russian asset who is destroying our alliances and will soon gut the economy.  They lack the basic civil decency to be ashamed of what they’ve done.  They should all be investigated as traitors and terrorists.

2.       Try Trump and McConnell for treason:  As bad as Trump is, Mitch may be worse.  It is his job to check Trump, and he refuses to do it.  He has violated the constitution in withholding a hearing for Obama’s Supreme Court nominee and has aided and abetted Trump at every step of the way.  Together they have created a crisis that has locked the government into a pattern of gridlock where nothing ever happens.  That means that the bad guys are winning.  If you want to add Ryan to this list for what he did as Speaker, that’s fine with me. 

3.       Nationalize the wealth of the richest 1000 people in the country:  The idea that they have accumulated this wealth legally and with merit is absurd.  They rob the system in countless ways.  The own more than the rest of us combined.  They stole a trillion dollars in 08 and came back last year in the tax bill and stole a trillion more.  Think of that the next time you drive down a pothole invested freeway.  They can keep some arbitrary sum – maybe 100 million.  If they complain they should be sent to ‘reeducation camps’ where they watch videos of guillotines in action.

4.       Vacate every judgeship filled by Trump and McConnell:  All of these judges were appointed by a president who was elected illegally.  A president who is an asset of our greatest enemy.  They have no right to serve, and if left in place will erode the faith in the justice system and hamper real efforts at reform.  This is the most insidious thing Mitch has done.  They need to be removed now and filled by a new president and congress.

5.       Double down on the Green New Deal:  We have to start making a serious move on climate change.  This policy is a good start.  The real question is not “can we afford it?”  The real question is how can we not afford it.  Decentralizing energy will open up the economy and the society in ways that could profoundly change the way we live.

There’s more, but they are coaxing me into a quite room to take my meds.