Multicolored and whimsical clown cars twirl about, zigging and zagging pounding the walls inside my skull; piped in between my ears, circus music swirls around, skimming across the fast becoming smoother ridges of the glob of goo that once was my gray matter. My addled brain only gets addleder the more I observe the farce that is the race to see who will be the 2016 Republican candidate for President of these here U-nited States.
Smackin? frackin?!
It’s early on, so the 50 percent of eligible Americans who will bother to vote, still have over a year to keep their heads clearly covered before the November 2016 election. It’s gonna be a long, long year.
Oh, happy days!
Can somebody transport me into the future, to say, the day after the Republican convention has ended? It’s only September 2015 and already I am tired of listening to stupid one-liners and clearly moronic statements by Elephants in business suits. With such a large list of potential nominees (What is it up to now, 10 million or so people running for the same position, minus the Gov. of Wisconsin?) only Carly Fiorina seems to have a clear, rational voice.
As the Republicans slice and dice their chances of electing a president and their party’s chances of surviving out the 21st century, I was reminded of Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing on The Campaign Trail, ?72. I just listened to the audio-book version last month and, by god, what Thompson wrote about the campaign trail about what the cast of Democrats, fits pretty nicely, 43 years later, with the Republican cast. (If you have never read the book, or if it has been a while since you did, get the audio version, it is a total blast!)
From December of 1971 through 1972 Presidential Election, Thompson filed reports as the Rolling Stone man following hopeful Democrats. Full of swear words, hairpin turns and tangents, the Gonzo journalist provided an interesting perspective. He even ranted the only hope for Dem party was that it implode on itself.
Griminey! I have those feelings today about the Republican ticket and if I see another candidate carry, quote, pet or kiss a Bible, or evoke the hallowed name Ronald Reagan, my head will explode. I swear it will, so for the next 13 months don’t stand too close to me with out wearing a rain slicker or some other protective outer wear.
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Here are some quotes from that book ? tell me Thompson’s words are not as relevant today as they were when first published!
‘Jesus! Where will it end? How low do you have to stoop in this country to be President??
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‘How many more of these stinking, double-downer sideshows will we have to go through before we can get ourselves straight enough to put together some kind of national election that will give me and the at least 20 million people I tend to agree with a chance to vote FOR something, instead of always being faced with that old familiar choice between the lesser of two evils??
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‘Liberalism itself has failed, and for a pretty good reason. It has been too often compromised by the people who represented it.?
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‘A lot of blood has gone under the bridge since then, and we have all learned a hell of a lot about the realities of Politics in America. Even the politicians have learned ? but, as usual, the politicians are much slower than the people they want to lead.?
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‘The whole framework of the presidency is getting out of hand. It’s come to the point where you almost can’t run unless you can cause people to salivate and whip on each other with big sticks. You almost have to be a rock star to get the kind of fever you need to survive in American politics.?
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‘The main problem in any democracy is that crowd-pleasers are generally brainless swine who can go out on a stage & whup their supporters into an orgiastic frenzy’then go back to the office & sell every one of the poor bastards down the tube for a nickel apiece.?
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Another book to check out is, One Nation Under God: How Corporate American Invented Christian America. What I find interesting, is how the Republican Party ? trying to figure out how to get back in the game after Franklin Roosevelt was winning election after election ? was enticed by BIG business. BIG business was trying to not be taxed out of existence. And, they turned to religion.
The rest, as they say, is history.