While surfing the Internet on January 6th, I stumbled upon a group which stood on the steps in front of the classic architecture of the people’s house…with beautiful yellow lanterns in hand. Being a hopeless opera lover, I immediately likened the scene to that of a tragic opera, my favorite art form.
Somehow, tragedy is beautiful on stage, but not in real life. Painful experiences about that day last January were recounted by members of that group who were directly involved with the violence of that day. Prayers were invoked. And dire warnings about the fragility of democracy were a common theme at that event and, of course, continue to be expressed on both sides of the aisle, the press, and just about everyone else. (But, Ms. Kamala Harris, your over-the-top claim that the White House insurrection is comparable to Pearl Harbor and 9/11?: I don’t think so.)
In a sense which is acquired by those of us who have been around for a very long time, there has been something of a reversal in the overall political image of the Republican and Democratic parties: the former Republican image is becoming ‘gentler,’ the Democratic image, ‘harsher.’
Two symbolic examples of those changes come to mind. One of them is the ritual march to the Senate by democrat senators delivering two impeachment articles to the Senate. I happened to watch that march. It smacked of Vatican Excommunication, just short of anathema. The other example is the operatic scene I describe above.
Hyperbole directed against political adversaries is par for the political course. But lately it has become a not-so-fine art. The over-the-top warnings about another Trump presidency and efforts to make it impossible for him to become a candidate for the presidency a second time are disingenuous at best.
The invective of political officials and celebrity commentators against Trump to preempt any possibility of his ever running again are the real ‘danger,’ not Mr. Trump himself. Alleging ‘reasons’ for barring him from becoming a candidate for the next general election is far more ‘dangerous’ than somehow legally deny him the right to run a second time. The voters should make that decision in the pre-election polls, let alone the voting box. Hyperbole should not be the basis for overriding law.
Quick Quip
Colon Kaepernick: “Football is like slavery.”
Me: “Tell that to Sparticus!”
Mr. Colin Kaepernick,
From a literal as well as figurative great distance, I got a glimpse of your home shown on the Internet. Very impressive…and at $39 million dollars, a bargain! But I don’t think slavery defines your life in any meaningful way.
Reflections and commentaries by the other Mario Martone 