Monthly Archives: November 2021

#430. Sense Check. When Will the 5th US Revolution Escalate?

27 Saturday Nov 2021

Posted by in Sense Check, Uncategorized

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Is a Revenge Revolution still likely?  The fall 2013 was the first entry in this blog. About every six or so months thereafter I’ve written a “sense check“ whether a 5th US revolution was possible, or just a statistical aberration.

One needs to be careful about believing everything one writes is somehow automatically true. Doing so might make one feel better, but a peer review and some objective measures are good guardrails.

The last sense-check was Entry #400, published January 1, 2021. The entry preceded the attack on the US Capitol January 6 and preceded numerous (and on-going) attempts by Trump to overturn the results of the presidential election. From a historical perspective, I think the attack on the Capitol will mark the beginning of the 5th US revolution, the Revenge Revolution.

While Trump has continued to make noise, file frivolous lawsuits, and bilk supporters out of hard-earned cash by claiming he’s going to run again (fat chance),  there have been other events recently that suggest the 5th US revolution is accelerating rather than slowing down as one might expect under a new, more rational Biden administration.

For example, in 2021 the Supreme Court seems to have decided to let the highly conservative Fifth Circuit do its dirty work by allowing the seemingly unconstitutional restrictive abortion law in Texas stand, thereby effectively overturning Roe v. Wade.

And yes, SCOTUS has decided that it supports those who question why the Federal government should have jurisdiction over states to protect its citizens against the pandemic.  Apparently the majority of SCOTUS thinks the current governors of such states as Florida and Texas are much more qualified than the world-class immunologist and virologist at CDC to make medical decisions.  Like SCOTUS, surely everyone knows that the Florida and Texas governors are the smartest people on the planet.

What may intensify the 5th Revolution, however, is the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Aside from a clearly biased judge, the verdict now allows someone to carry an assault weapon to an event, initiate trouble, kill people, and then claim he (or she) was being threatened by the people that he intimidated with the assault weapon.  As demonstrated in Kenosha, the killer in that situation can walk away without penalty.

Unfortunately, Republicans and the talking heads on Fox apparently are too stupid to understand the consequences of the Rittenhouse verdict. To demonstrate even more of their stupidity, Senators Cruz of Texas and Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida (under FBI investigation for sex trafficking) offered Rittenhouse an internship in their respective offices.  Doubtless Rittenhouse is as qualified for the position as Cruz and Gaetz are for Congress.

An equally large contributor to the 5th Revolution, although the effect will not be apparent until after the November 2022 mid-term election, is the effect of voter suppression, resulting from changes in state law and extensive gerrymandering. Once the Democrats and Independent voters realize how worthless their votes have become, they likely will become incensed.  But then it will be too late to change any outcome of the election.

How have Republicans been able to run roughshod over voting rights?  Again the US citizenry can thank Chief Justice John Roberts and, to a degree, Mitch McConnell for packing the Supreme Court with lackeys. Roberts led the charge to change the law when he wrote the majority opinion gutting the Voting Rights Act. 

Roberts’ method was subtle.  Rather than continuing to force proposed changes to voting rights in certain southern states to be approved by the Federal government before taking affect, Roberts allowed the states to make a law as restrictive as they wanted without Federal review.  Then, after the law took effect, aggrieved parties would need to sue and prove damages. 

While the voting-rights cases were slowly winding tgheir way through the courts, the restrictive laws would remain in effect and any elections would proceed.  Of course, if the restrictive laws were ever overturned, the plaintiffs had no method to rectify other laws implemented after the rigged elections. 

How will Roberts new “Rules of Order” for elections play out in 2022?  Republicans in such states North Carolina can gerrymander to their hearts content. North Carolina’s about evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. With recent changes to the redistricting maps, 10 of the 14 House seats are so gerrymandered as to guarantee a Republican victory.  Why wouldn’t anyone think that it’s fair for a state split about evenly between Republicans and Democrats, with Democrats holding a slight edge, to have 70% of the Federal House members guaranteed Republican?

One other event that is a positive for justice but may accelerate the Revenge Revolution is verdict in the Ahmaud Arbery case in Brunswick, GA.  Three men were convicted of murdering Mr. Arbery, who was unarmed and posed no threat.  The unfortunate aspect of the investigation is nothing was done to investigate the murder until a video was released, likely accidentally, of the three men chasing Mr. Arbery and murdering him.  Only after a public outcry was an investigation started.

The defense in the Arbery case used a defense similar to Rittenhouse.  It is OK to kill someone else, even if they are unarmed and pose no real threat.  Just claim the other person poses a threat.  The far right loves this logic and many Republicans seem to support or at least condone it.  Few, if any top Republicans commented publicly about the Arbery verdict, which was announced the day before Thanksgiving.  Must have been Republicans were more concerned about cooking the Thanksgiving turkey.    

When the Revenge Revolution ratchets up remains a question. How does anyone predict the point when a bubbling revolution boils over?   

What does seem almost assured, however, is when it boils over, the revolution will include a significant use of firearms and the killings of numerous higher-profile people. I wish the conclusion of the “sense check” were less onerous but I need to be honest about my assessment.  Let’s hope I’m wrong.

Other Topics. Interested in more info about climate change, what’s required to electrify a fleet of cars/trucks, what it was like to work day-to-day with Lee Iacocca and an array of other topics? Visit another page of this website, https://usrevolution5.com/jrd-thought-comments/

#429. Stupid Is as Stupid Does.

12 Friday Nov 2021

Posted by in Back Asswards Thinking, Post Trump Presidency, Societal Issues, Stupid Is as Stupid Does, Uncategorized

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Welcome to a discussion about the upcoming 5th Revolution in the US, which I’ve titled the “Revenge Revolution.” For more about the Revenge Revolution and the author, Entry #1.  Periodically I write a “sense check” to assess whether a revolution in the US is possible or whether the entire exercise is based on a statistical aberration — i.e., a roughly 50-year cycle between major upheavals in the US.  Entry #400 was the most recent “sense check.” 

ENTRY #429: The past couple of entries I’ve tried to move beyond the irrationality of certain members of Congress and irrationality of certain voters. Why bang your head against the wall trying to understand their logic?

Well, I’ve been unable to move on so one more entry addressing irrationality. This time, however, it’s not just members of Congress. We pretty much know where they stand, other than Senator Krysten Sinema (D, AZ).

What has baffled me the past week or so has been the “rationale” of voters in the Virginia gubernatorial election.  According to a number of interviews published in different media, voters in Virginia were frustrated with the Biden administration because not all promised legislation has been passed, gas prices have increased and there are some supply chain hiccups that might affect Christmas shopping. 

OK, so you’re frustrated. What’s the solution? Elect a Republican governor who is a former investment banker and who is supported by Trump. Forget that the underlying causes of most of your frustrations were not the fault of the Biden administration but occurred under Trump and even under some earlier administrations. 

For example, the shortage of truckers can be traced to efforts beginning during the Nixon administration to deregulate the trucking industry.  The shortage of long-haul truckers can be linked, in part, to consumers ordering more on line rather than buying at the store.  If you’re a long-haul trucker, why go on the road sometimes for weeks at a time when you can work regular hours delivering packages locally, make probably the same amount of money and be home at night? And, you’re surprised there’s a shortage of long-haul truckers?

And, Virginia voters, what about your frustration with you just electedthose products being produced overseas rather than the US?  Forget that many investment bankers, like the incoming governor, have encouraged companies to relocate manufacturing overseas, which exacerbated the supply-chain problem.

Just for reference, the voters frustrated with Biden need to ask themselves exactly what did the Republicans and Trump do for you and most voters during the four years in office? Well, the Trump administration’s biggest piece of legislation, the tax cut, transferred substantially more wealth to the already wealthy and reduced the amount of income tax corporations pay.   The net result of Trump’s major legislation?  Reduced revenue to the Federal government so the federal deficit ballooned.  And the other result was the tax cut transferred the responsibility for paying that debt to you, the other 98% of the population.  Good deal, huh?

Then Trump implemented trade policies that helped create the foundation for inflation. Remember those tariffs that Trump promoted?  Trump made sure that tariffs were put on many products, including those from our neighbors with whom we trade the most – Canada and Mexico.  Virginia voters who do think pays those tariffs?  The tariffs are not paid by the exporting country.  The tariffs are paid by the importers and then passed on to you, the consumer.  I guess the Trump administration never mentioned that.

The icing on that piece of “illogical cake” the Virginia voters ate was Trump publicly and emphatically proclaiming that Covid was not a problem.  Hey, only 15 people got sick and it’s just like the flu.  The “ala mode” for the cake was Trump and his minions claiming that climate change was a hoax.

You say, “Aside from all you just said, Biden has been in office long enough to solve all those problems.  He’s been in the White House almost 10 months.”

Let’s put 10 months in perspective.  When those criticizing Biden as taking too long are asked about fixing problems in other organizations, say rebuilding a college football team, the time horizon is quite different.  According to the Biden criticizers, to turn the fortunes of a football team is incredibly complicated and the head coach needs a minimum two years and usually 3-4 years.  Fans need to be patient.”  Mmm, I guess a football team is more difficult to manage than the Federal government. 

Another example of Republican back-asswards thinking occurred during the recent vote on the legislation to upgrade and repair significant portions of the US infrastructure.  Every state and likely every Congressional district will benefit from this legislation.  The legislation will make the US more competitive and address many of the frustrations expressed by Virginia voters.

The legislation passed the Senate a couple of months ago with strong bipartisan support.  Even Mitch McConnell voted for it.

So what was the reaction of House Republicans to the infrastructure legislation?  Don’t vote to help constituents!  Don’t vote to help make America more competitive internationally!  Don’t vote to create jobs! The legislation passed with 13 Republicans voting in favor and all but a handful of Democrats, who opposed the legislation to show support for the Build Back Better legislation.  

What was the response from Republican leadership in the House? Threatening to yank any committee assignments from Republicans who supported their constituents. Some Republicans who voted for the legislation were labeled as traitors.

Traitors to whom?  All elected representatives whether Republican, Democrat or independent take an oath to uphold the US Constitution.  Republicans please explain to me why voting for legislation that directly benefits the people you represent is being a traitor.   The logic displayed by Virginians voting for a Trump-supported Republican and the Republican leadership in the House punishing members for helping their constituents confirms the saying, “stupid is as stupid does.” 

Next entry I’ll try to move on to a different topic.  

Other Topics. Interested in more info about climate change, what’s required to electrify a fleet of cars/trucks, what it was like to work day-to-day with Lee Iacocca and an array of other topics? Visit another page of this website, https://usrevolution5.com/jrd-thought-comments/