Three Body Problem Body Two
Here’s another little Three Body Problem metaphor for you to start off today’s View.
Each one of us lives in our own body. And, our bodies live within our culture— our society— which is sometimes called “the body politic”. But that larger human body, civilization, itself lives entirely within the surrounding and supporting body of the living Earth. Understanding the problem of how those three bodies interact is, in some meta sense, the point of the point of view I’m exploring here on View from the Side. It’s a three body problem that has historically led from slavery to war and the conflict, poverty and despair we see all around. That problem has led to climate catastrophe, to the ongoing 6th great extinction, and even the looming shadow of possible human extinction.
Three body problems have no analytical solution, remember? And this one’s clearly not a solvable problem (like trying to say “solvable problem” three times fast) which, of course, is what makes trying fun. So that’s the nature of the three body problem I’ve set up for myself here in this journal of my views on the news of the times. My personal meta dilemma as I try to write these daily columns.
Oh, but that’s just a little taste test of a lot more meta I’ve got coming for you. Today we’re mainly staying focused on the decaying body politic of America, and in particular the state of the quickly aging-past-its-shelf-date geriocracy of the Democratic Party, (aka fookin’ old Blue Clowns doing the Dinosaur Disco). And what do we see, there in the center ring of PR Burn-em’s Two Party Circus? It’s another stale stalemate around the Trump Bunker. The Blue Clowns have now frozen in place, and simply stand there repeating repetitive phrases like Parakeets and waving their right hands in odd motions in the air just like Nancy Pelosi.
Holy moldy cheese, Batman, jeez loo-fookin’ wheeze! This poor lady needs more than a sip of water. Watch the vid if you want. Not one thing she says in answer to that first question about starting impeachment now that Trump has bragged about his crimes in public makes any sense at all. What, exactly, does “Hold him accountable” mean? When I typed that phrase into the handy P.R. Burn-em’s Circus Translator app I picked up on the way into the show, it comes out as “Empty Pelosi bullshite.” But that can’t be right, can it? Do you buy the “hold him accountable” thing? Then I can probably sell you this nice little bridge, too.
Notice that Pelosi’s contract with Trump must absolutely forbid her use of the “i-word”, impeachment. Her verbal gymnastics to avoid it are pretty skillful, really, for an old dame, though her pronunciation is wavering. But her hand jive, especially with that right hand, is especially groovy. It looks a bit like she is deadheading her begonias in her mind. It’s hypnotic, almost. I bet she had a wicked jab back in her boxing days, and wielded a wicked shears on her flowers, too. She’s sure got her Clown caucus cowed and afraid of her, covering up out of some kind of fear.
But is that good leadership during a constitutional crisis?
As pressure has mounted in recent weeks on House Democrats to move more aggressively against Trump, Pelosi has demonstrated the firm grip she wields over her caucus — quashing, at least for now, the push for impeachment. It is a command that colleagues say is drawn from a deep well of respect for the political wisdom of the most powerful woman in American politics — and fear that challenging her comes with the risk of grave cost to one’s career.
So Pelosi’s a mean old lady, as well as being frozen in the past like a Dinosaur Democrat. It happens that way, sometimes, you know. I’ve seen ‘em get like that.
Hey, want a few juicy details about just how mean Nancy is getting in her dotage? Oh, revenge is sweet, some real jerk once said a long time ago. But using one’s well-loved gavel for revenge does get in way of effective government by and for the people. What they used to call ‘democracy’, if you remember how that word was used before it became the name of a political party which doesn’t seem to believe in it.
In January, Pelosi blocked two ringleaders of the rebels who had tried to deny her the speakership from securing their preferred committee assignments — even though the peace pact she made to reclaim the gavel precluded retaliation. And veteran lawmakers keenly remember how she rebuffed former Democratic Congress members Jane Harman (Calif.) and John Dingell (Mich.), two occasional thorns in her side, in their quest for chairmanships, moves many viewed as revenge for challenging her vision or authority.
But Fox thinks the Pelosi ‘dam’ might break. I appreciate Fox News at least using scare quotes around the dam metaphor for Pelosi, but come on Fox, don’t be afraid of it. It’s a good metaphor and it’s free. Have a little fun. Y’all at Fox haven’t even had the journalistic training that makes real journalists avoid metaphors like ebola. It’s not like you can discredit yourselves anymore. You’re free from all those old journalistic guidelines. Jump into the Dam thing with all four hooves. Used freely, metaphors will free your minds, if you don’t mind getting confused along the way. Or they might just sound foolish and confusing, like mine.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nancy-pelosis-power-over-democrats-quells-demands-for-impeachmentfor-now
I’ve written about dams in this column before. I’ve compared their effect on ecosystems to the effect of clotted arteries that can kill the heart in a human body. Pelosi, now, is the dam, the blood clot, if you will, that is destroying the heart of our body politic, democracy. I say, let the waters rise, let the river flow, and push the damn Pelosi dam out of the way. Or maybe a stent could work.
Whatever metaphor you choose, it’s time to impeach, and if the Democrats have to let go of Pelosi to do that, so it goes.
Until that happens, more and more ingenious Dems will continue to figure out more and more ingenious ways to hold more disingenuous hearings and impotent investigations into Trump with no end in sight. The Blue Clowns must have run out of real subpoenas and confetti for their Clown Wars Cannons. Without impeachment all these investigations are just smoke and mirrors, folks. A bad stage magic act meant to distract the masses while all the set-up and elaborate rigging for the big final act gets erected back in the shadows. Um, why not actually impeach instead of pretend impeach? Oh, yeah, it’s that dam Pelosi.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/17/lewandowski-christie-manafort-witnesses-obstruction-investigation-1365814
And for even more distraction, the Blue Clown Primary Fashion Show shows off some new wrinkles: Mayor Pete likes Israel’s tone of blue, and will keep the US embassy in Jerusalem, if elected President. Good to know, I suppose. Do you all think that’s the best plan? It’s good to hear in the same interview that he is a staunch supporter of human rights, just like the government of Israel is. Right? Look for him to rock a Star of David accessory kit soon.
https://www.vox.com/2019/6/17/18681679/pete-buttigieg-israel-jerusalem-embassy
Free flowing rivers are one thing. Rising seas are something else again. The climate crisis isn’t far away anymore, in distance or in time. Climate change is hurting us in the USA, here and now. This video looks in detail at the effects of rising seas on Dorchester County, Maryland. Not too far from D.C., if you see what I mean.
But we can’t do much on climate until we get the Orange Tyrannosaurus tRumpus Rex out of the way. It’s a three body problem, all right, with Pelosi damming any progress on impeachment, and Trump damming any progress on the climate crisis, the greatest among his many, many crimes. Because it’s the bodies of individual people that will suffer the consequences of the breakdown of the other two bodies, political and earthly.
And from the last one, the body of the earth, there is no other side.
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