The Next Administration (Hopefully)
After the present Republican administration is out of office, and both Houses of Congress are controlled by Democrats, it will be time to look back and survey the damage done to the country by its Trump-fueled adventure into right-wing conservatism. That day will come, and the task before the nation will be a enormous one.
Ronald
Reagan once quipped that the nine most terrifying words in our language were
“I’m from the government and I am here to help.” Ronald Reagan was wrong. Dead wrong.
The help Americans receive from government programs such as Social
Security, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act, the various “safety net”
programs as well as the benefits Americans derive from the consumer protection
work done by agencies overseeing health care, drugs, medicines, the financial
marketplace, banking, working conditions, our environment, the nation’s infrastructure, etc. is
irreplaceable.
Reagan didn’t know what
he was talking about. Those who believe
that way today do not either.
The
silliness preached by Ayn Rand in her novels (The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged)
also stressed individualism and looked at government involvement as a
curse. Closely allied to her thoughts
was the libertarian movement which was about freedom from government. A lot of its malarkey has infused the
Republican Party, whose wheels were greased by the enormous resources of people
like the Koch brothers. They view the
cost of government as an intrusion into their wealth and hence, oppose it. The line between libertarianism (freedom from
government) and anarchy (no government) is a fuzzy one.
Americans
love to imagine themselves as rugged individuals, able to deal with problems
all by themselves (particularly if they are allowed to bear arms, as the Second
Amendment permits them to), in the celluloid images of Ronald Reagan, John
Wayne and of course, the Marlboro cigarette man, strong and silent, and
probably doomed to die of lung cancer.
But that’s not true about real Americans. The true Americans are hardworking, able to
save just a little, and looking to the Government to protect them from the
vicissitudes of an economy they cannot themselves control. Democrats care for these people. Republicans, who once did, no longer do.
So
once back in control, the Democrats must rebuild the government which Trump and
his Rasputin-like muse, Steve Bannon, have “deconstructed.” That will take at least a decade to fully accomplish. And the way Democrats must
start doing that is at the local level, clawing their way back into
governorships (N.J. and Virginia are good starts) and more importantly, into
control of state legislatures, where congressional district lines are
determined. This will be a tough job,
but believe it or not, it will be made easier by the bankruptcy of the
Republican Party, which will become evident to more and more Americans. The party which nominated and stands behind
an incompetent, unqualified President will ultimately be deserted by its
followers.
And
what will the Republican response to ideas like these be? I suppose they will blame the ills
perpetrated by the Trump administration and the Republican Congress on Barack
Obama and that supposed she-devil, Hillary Clinton. After their Trumpian episode, Republicans do
not, and never again will, deserve to govern.
And the people will recognize this and bury them along with the other
debris of political history.
Jack Lippman
One
of my favorite poems is Rudyard Kipling’s “Mandalay.” It succeeds as poetry and it isn’t bad as a
song either. Many, including Sinatra,
have sung it under the title of “On the Road to Mandalay.” But not all six verses, which follow. That’s
a task. It was written in 1890 back when
the sun never set on the British Empire.
Here it is, in full, with some commentary by me (in red.) I am available to read this in public if any
organization is crazy enough to want to sponsor me.
Mandalay
Where the Flying Fishes Play
Mandalay
Rudyard Kipling
1.
By the old Moulmein
Pagoda, lookin' eastward (To view the sea from
Moulmein, fourth largest city in Burma, now Myanmar, on must look westward, not
eastward!) to the sea,
There's a Burma girl
a-settin', and I know she thinks o' me;
For the wind is in the
palm-trees, and the temple-bells they say:
"Come you back, you
British soldier; come you back to Mandalay!"
Come you back to Mandalay,
Where the old Flotilla lay:
Can't you 'ear their paddles chunkin' from
Rangoon (now known as Yangon) to Mandalay?
On the road to Mandalay, (Mandalay was about 100 miles up the Irrawaddy
River in Burma from Rangoon, which was on the sea, as was Moulmein. The “road” referred to is not a paved road,
but a term for the water off of a port, Mandalay in this case, where boats
anchored.)
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer
China 'crost the Bay! (China wasn’t across
the Irrawaddy from Mandalay, but it was the general direction of what was known
as Indo-China … Siam (Thailand), Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, etc.)
2.
'Er petticoat was yaller
an' 'er little cap was green,
An' 'er name was
Supi-yaw-lat -- jes' the same as Theebaw's (Apparently a local politician at that time.) Queen,
An' I seed her first
a-smokin' of a whackin' white cheroot, (a cigar?)
An' a-wastin' Christian
kisses on an 'eathen idol's foot:
Bloomin' idol made o'mud --
Wot they called the Great Gawd Budd --
Plucky lot she cared for idols when I
kissed 'er where she stud!
On the road to Mandalay . . .
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer
China 'crost the Bay!
3.
When the mist was on the
rice-fields an' the sun was droppin' slow,
She'd git 'er little
banjo an' she'd sing "Kulla-lo-lo!" (Can’t translate that.)
With 'er arm upon my
shoulder an' 'er cheek agin' my cheek
We useter watch the
steamers an' the hathis pilin' teak.
Elephints a-pilin' teak (Kipling bothers to define “hathis” for his audience.)
In the sludgy, squdgy creek,
Where the silence 'ung that 'eavy you was
'arf afraid to speak!
On the road to Mandalay . . .
Where
the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer
China 'crost the Bay!
4.
But that's all shove
be'ind me -- long ago an' fur away,
An' there ain't no
'busses runnin' from the Bank (Bank
of England) to Mandalay;
An' I'm learnin' 'ere in
London what the ten-year soldier tells:
"If you've 'eard
the East a-callin', you won't never 'eed naught else."
No! you won't 'eed nothin' else
But them spicy garlic smells,
An' the sunshine an' the palm-trees an' the
tinkly temple-bells;
On the road to Mandalay . . .
Where
the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer
China 'crost the Bay!
5.
I am sick o' wastin'
leather on these gritty pavin'-stones,
An' the blasted Henglish
drizzle wakes the fever in my bones;
Tho' I walks with fifty
'ousemaids outer Chelsea to the Strand,
An' they talks a lot o'
lovin', but wot do they understand?
Beefy face an' grubby 'and --
Law! wot do they understand?
I've a neater, sweeter maiden (Even though she smokes cigars) in a cleaner,
greener land!
On the road to Mandalay . . .
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer
China 'crost the Bay!
6.
Ship me somewheres east
of Suez, (Bet he wouldn’t say
that today.) where the best is like
the worst,
Where there aren't no
Ten Commandments an' a man can raise a thirst;
For the temple-bells are
callin', an' it's there that I would be --
Moulmein Pagoda as it appears today
By the old Moulmein
Pagoda, looking lazy at the sea;
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the old Flotilla lay,
With our sick beneath the awnings when we
went to Mandalay! (Malaria, dysentery,
etc. killed more troops than an enemy did in those days.)
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer
China 'crost the Bay!
JL
The Party of Louts and Dunces
I
suspect that many of the followers of this blog also read "liberal"
columnists in the newspapers, but pass over those coming from the right.
An exception is conservative columnist Mona Charen, with whom I usually
disagree, but lately she has demonstrated a degree of intelligence unusual for
a conservative these days. You must read her recent syndicated column
about the party of Louts and Dunces, and friends, she ain't talking about
Democrats. Check it out by CLICKING RIGHT HERE.
It ties in nicely with the lead piece on this posting where I hint at
defections from the G.O.P. benefiting the Democrats.
JL
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