It’s the first day of a new week and the last day of an incredibly tedious month. Tomorrow we’ll start the last month of an astoundingly obnoxious year. And then, living in the future we might be, there’s no guarantee it will get less silly. We are in the Age of the Dumb, friends and neighbors, and we might as well learn to like it.
But for now, life goes. The madness of the previous year seems to have settled into a predictable pattern. Trump keeps claiming to have won the election and was denied his just victory by rampant, obvious fraud. Failing to actually show any evidence thereof, he keeps losing court cases, having states confirm Joe Biden’s victory, and generally embarrass himself, one after another.
As COVID-19 continues to ravage the population without slowing down, state governors consider doing the least they possibly can to slow the spread. It’s understandable, as there’s still a not-insignificant portion of the population convinced it’s nothing more than a light cold and will slit your throat if you suggest otherwise. The Administration’s official denial of the pandemic’s danger took something of a hit as embattled conspiracy monger Scott Atlas tended his resignation today.
Now, it should be noted, he had a 130-day window of how long he’d be part of the president’s advisory committee and that was coming to a close this week. So this really isn’t earth-shattering news. Still, it’s good to see the tail end of him. As Anthony Fauci and Deborah Brix lost more of Trump’s favor by not agreeing with everything he said, Atlas was a fairly reliable toady despite not having any background in the field. But when has that meant anything?
Speaking of knowing what you’re talking about, Biden continues to announce his cabinet. One announcement that’s lit some folks up was Neera Tanden for the Office of Management and Budget, which basically decides how money is spent where. Conservatives don’t like her because, well, they’re conservatives. The soi-disant left is up in arms as she’s clashed with Bernie Sanders in the past and that is the worst sin anyone can commit, though Sanders will more than likely support her nomination.
I feel it necessary to stake out Enon Holler Worldwide Production’s position on cabinet choices for Democratic presidents. Much like the head of the administration and the party, I feel a functioning cabinet for a Democratic administration wants to do little more than keep the ship of state afloat. That is, don’t shake the money tree too much but realize there has to be a little give so that the proles don’t rise up and feed them to their pets. That’s the amazing thing about American democracy. They’ve figured out a way to keep us from cutting off their heads.
The difference between them and a Republican cabinet is the GOP’s stance is they figure they have enough guns and soldiers to put down any revolution, plus they know there’s plenty of authoritarian bootlickers out there thirsting for a strong foot on their neck. In Tanden’s case, she’s run the Center for American Progress for the past couple of years and has been a Clinton ally for longer. So, your mileage may vary with that.
And long story short, I figure it’s outside my purview as a Taker of Notes, a mere observer, so I don’t feel comfortable taking one tact or another. She could be worse, in other words, and so far, most of Biden’s picks fall in that category. The GOP is never going to like them and the soi-disant left is never going to offer up anything better until they figure out a way to clone Sanders and maybe Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, though I think they’re cooling on her.
Dear Y'all 