Cat Show. 1/8/2021

“Storming-the-Capitol” Edition.

VG Wow, what a crazy week. Had it all happened in Russia, we could have dismissed it as the result of people’s drinking and partying throughout their New Year and Christmas celebrations. But in the States, we were expected to get back to work and relative normalcy from January 2 on. Yet, there is this crazy event in Washington. The more you think about it, the less it makes sense. Of course, for poor souls, infected with TDS, and we are talking about the major news organizations, and the top echelons of Democrats here, things are pretty clear: The carnival in Congress is the result of four years of misrule; its final act, so to speak. Evil Trump and his band of fascists smashed the sacred place of American democracy. For a number of Trump supporters, the opposite is true, I imagine: patriots marched on Capitol to defend the republic from the evil socialists bent on corruption and deceit.

HOBBS: Carnival or assault, tragedy or farce? We need to look at the big picture first. We can’t be like Alice who sees the ugly faces of those Capitol looters, and hides in the basement, demanding Biden to declare martial law and arrest evil Trump and all the seventy million who voted for him. What kind of evil, fascist Trump we are talking about, if the guy can’t even put his comments on Twitter or FB? The guy who can’t control or organize proper control of elections, the dude who can’t even organize his own party; the person under siege throughout his presidency.

ALICE: Did I hear someone mentioning Alice? That’s a new low for you two. You can’t even let me speak, pretending to speak on my behalf.

HOBBS: We are simply doing what mass media does. They always speak on behalf of Trump and his millions of supporters, or find some spectacular loony who claims to do that.

VG: Ok, let’s give Alice a chance. Let’s hear what’s the latest spin on the events that NPR puts on display.

ALICE: I don’t need NPR to see what’s going on. All democracy loving Americans, all history loving Americans, all patriotic Americans are just shocked and speechless. We were not speechless when progressive forces protested, attacked, looted, invaded the seats of power, destroyed the monuments, and mocked the racist sexist traditions promoted by our country’s former rulers. We were not speechless when the White Helmets, Maidan rebels, or all other progressive forces all over the world, from Middle East to Far East to the heart of Europe, marched, stormed, and destroyed the seats of power in their countries. We were applauding, and supporting their actions, and sending them the wise advisors like Senator McCain, or Hunter Biden. We even went so far as to have a bake-out at State Department, and then entrusting the honorary job of hand delivering the cookies to our most brilliant diplomats be it Victoria Nuland, Marie Yovanovitch, or Michael McFaul. But now we are all shocked and speechless. Evil had shown its face. We’ve seen it. And it looks like Trump.

HOBBS: Oh, my God. It is I who is speechless here. What a masterfully concocted BS! You obviously, didn’t celebrate Orthodox Christmas yesterday, hiding somewhere and composing your pathetic diatribe.

VG: Hobbs, you can’t get personal. Let’s see what you have to say. How would you respond to Alice’s charge? The way I understand it, she is trying to say…

ALICE: Stop mansplaining me. I said what I said. Evil Trump has been planting evil feelings of hatred and racism and disrespect for our sacred institutions like press, Democratic Party, and the enlightened Democratic rule for years. And now we see what happens when fascism is not opposed. Next time, the dangerous demagogues like him should not be even allowed to participate in our system of governance, so much admired, respected and emulated all over the world. Twitter did the right thing. And so did FB. Anyone who criticizes anything that Democrats do has to be censored. They have to have masks glued to their faces, the masks that would prevent them from speaking. That’s the only way to protect our precious democracy.

HOBBS: Well, here we have it. Who benefits? Obviously, Alice, and all other drones of Democratic National Committee. Out enlightened elites have finally realized that democracy is such a little fragile thing that it can be crushed when exposed to warring elements. It needs a safe space.We have to keep it in the bunker somewhere in Delaware, and then install it in the White House and protect it by two most powerful instruments known to mankind: US military and US propaganda machine. That’s the only way to preserve our democracy and her even sicklier baby sister, Freedom, from the evil breath of Trumpists.

VG: Who benefits is a good question. And in our day and age, whoever claims to be a victim before anyone else, benefits. We saw it in Alice’ claim to be shocked and speechless. She is so shocked and speechless that she became even more eloquent that NPR pundits and opportunist politicians, who shed their crocodile tears on the ruins of American Democracy totally decimated by the 45, the evil incarnate. One can imagine that this sense of victimhood --we are under attack from evil Russians, evil Trumpists, evil Republicans-- will continue unabated for the next four years.

HOBBS. Ye, I see how it works. Ukrainian democracy is in danger, lets interfere. Human rights in Serbia are in danger, lets bomb. Dictatorship flourishes in Middle East and crushes democratic opposition. Let’s invade. US political process is in danger: lets impeach, declare incompetent, and whip people into frenzy of paranoia. Whoever has the fingers on these two buttons wins: A. victimhood. B. time for extraordinary measures.

VG: But that’s a Pyrrhic victory, mind you. It fails to come to terms with millions and millions who support Trump or Milosevic or Assad. These are regular people with their own vision of reality. They are not deplorables, they are not fascists who wave their confederate flags. They are real people with their own system of values. Failure to address their concerns would only bring further divisions and strife.

ALICE: Of course, these backward people have to be heard, and that’s what our glorious and free press always does. BBC gives voice to individuals (speaking decent English, of course) who offer an alternative view. And NPR always allows some brilliant academics to explain to us what drives people into the depth of deploredom. That’s should be enough. Do you really want to give a free reign to all those retrogrades? We’ve just seen what’s happens when you do. These militant ignoramuses would tear away their masks as they tore apart the building Congress. They would destroy environment with the same ease they destroy our sacred institutions.

VG: Sure, NPR has the truth, and all others simply lie. If people have legitimate questions about accuracy of the elections, or truthfulness and objectivity of the press, or honesty of their politicians, these are doubts, and not lies. We are doubting creatures by nature. That’s what got us that far. Our ability to question and doubt. The government that appropriates truth to itself falls on its face eventually, no matter how many pundits or authority figures parrot those truths.