O Captain! Any Captain?
Tell me, tell me, tell me...who?
Happy Tuesday.
Look SO much has been written about the debacle of last week’s Presidential Whatever To Congress, and that is fine. It was an international embarrassment, at minimum, and a real portrait of the divides that are eroding our will to engage. God we are tired.
Oh, you didn’t think people on the Democratic side looked cool or vigorous?? That’s fair, I take the point.
But what is the flip side? Are we then saying that all those drips in the GOP somehow, by contrast seemed…appealing? Because they can stand and clap for the firehose of bullshit spraying into their faces, and beg for more? HAHAHA I MEAN WHO HAS EVER EVEN HEARD OF LESOTHO HAHAAHAH??? Please Sir, may I have some more please, please don’t primary me Sir, like a bunch of Dobby’s begging for a tiny whiff of a dirty sock.
I get that the camera angles on Democrats and their dinky signs made them look grumbly and bitter, but the same cameras panning the spectrum of the leadership just kept alighting on people a) accused of sexual crimes and/or b) accused of financial crimes, so you tell me who loses in this scenario. Answer: all of us!
I wish that I felt for one second that the Democrats were poised to gather up all the loose wires of our democracy that have come untethered to make it whole again.
From the perspective of a very outside person looking in, what we need is a single voice to rise and tell us what to do.
We are all sort of doing things in a haphazard way, focusing on the things that we can focus on–and doing our best–but what would REALLY help, is to have one person speaking. A person we can all agree on as a great communicator and perhaps even the future of the party. Or not even. How about someone who we can all agree on as the communicator for TODAY, someone who beams right down the middle like a goddamn normal human being who wants good things for the largest number of people?
I wish it wasn’t this simple but it actually is. We are floating around and with no central command. The Republicans are rank and file behind King Donald, even if they say they aren't; they ARE.
Remember in 2016 when Representative John Lewis (at the time 76 years old) led a 26 hour sit-in over gun control? 168 House Democrats joined in and when then Speaker Paul Ryan shut off camera access, they turned to the cameras on their phones to broadcast. Was it ultimately successful in passing their desired gun control bill? No. Was it wildly entertaining/embarrassing to see elected officials fumbling with smartphone camera angles and trying to download Periscope (RIP) to live broadcast? Yes. Did I find myself sighing "at least they are trying to do something?" while watching this protest? YES.
To the 214 current House Dems, who's the Julie McCoy of this sinking ship?... too many raised hands; cruise director is not a committee position nor is it only organizing dances. There is no mechanism to create a central command, of course, and so I will happily go and flush my own head down a toilet.
I hate to say it, and everybody will be VERY MAD AT ME FOR SAYING THIS…but I am getting Occupy Wall Street vibes.
Remember that?
A purposefully leaderless movement that gave rise to the ideas that we talk about now, almost constantly, such as “income inequality” and “corporate malfeasance”--all things that are now illegal to talk about, in our budding kleptocracy. (Wait are we a kleptocracy or a kakistocracy? Somebody tell me which “ocracy” we are, I don’t know them all.)
On the ground at OWS, was a potent mix of GREAT ideas, bad ideas, impractical but important ideas to consider, drum circles, random stuff, HORRIBLE ideas, more great ideas, incredible activism and communally run kitchens, an inability to make the drum circle stop, fringe characters, and a whole bunch of people who very reasonably want the world to be more fair.
I liken this to where the democrats are currently stuck.
Leaderlessness does not work, and I believe this to my core.
People need a leader. We need a Pied Piper. We need a leader so badly that America now thinks goddamn DJT is its DADDY. OK? America has Daddy issues and so that means that someone has to stand up and take the reins, ok???? And I just don’t think Michelle Obama is all that interested. She is a PODCASTER now, she has NO TIME. Podcasting is the height of culture, as seen here and here, and happy listening.
In the meantime, I nominate Pete Buttegieg. SOMEBODY QUICKLY TELL HIM.
I am watching The Eastern Gate, a Polish spy show on MAX and it is SO EXCITING.
I’m also reading THIS, and loving it.
This is GORGEOUS and I’m very grateful to not have been born as a clam.
If you need motivation, accompaniment, or a friend on your weekly power walk (or menopausal journey), the recording of my new show How To Survive Menopause is available on Audible! It’s always great to hear the album before seeing any comedy concert, so come check out my tour for all the hits as well as some new perimenopause bangers - extra live tracks if you will. Find tour info here.
Finally. I must share what happened when I made ONE typo while searching for a macaron recipe … it led me on a journey, which you are now on too.
JK obviously Macron’s hand got stuck on that Tootsie Roll Trump was clutching and now he’s getting dragged away to watch the Rose Garden get paved over or some such thing.
Oh wait no.
They do this all the time.
See you next week!
Xoxo,
Sam
Yes! We need what in other countries is called a “leader of the opposition”. Doesnt/shouldnt have to be a congressional leader. We could do a “mini-primary”- remember that?- in a month and elect someone. Better late than never!
Agree totally that Buttegieg is a great choice for spokesperson in chief. His ability to communicate clearly and cut through the BS is brilliant. But let’s not forget AOC. Any who despairs for the future just needs a little dose of AOC. I’d like to think she is the future.