Memories of the 28th Century

I was innocently clicking through the garbage of Facebook when I ran into photo that included the text “This campaign is about a future I believe in, not a future I think I can get.” And the image of a woman in Arab garb, who is is identified as Linda Sarsous, Executive Director of the Arab-American Association of New York. Clicking on the photo took me to another place in Cloud Cuckoo Land, where there is an alleged quote by Bernie Sanders
“Let me tell you something, sisters and brothers: there is nothing we have said in this campaign that is pie-in-the-sky, that is utopian. Nothing.

We are the wealthiest country in the history of the world, and we can create an economy where nobody who works 40 hours a week lives in poverty, where health care is a right for all Americans, and where kids of all backgrounds can go to college without crushing debt.”

Parts of that are pure opinion couched in the guise of fact, but it rankles me that anyone who expects to be taken seriously would assert that the U.S.A. is “the wealthiest country in the history of the world.” There might have been a time when that was true, but comparing wealth between times and places can be very tricky. I don’t know whether Bernie seriously meant that, or if was merely campaign bilge. If he believed it, then he was deluded.

But let me back up a little. Ms Sarsous was operating in a delusional manner by wasting her time working on a campaign that she claims is unwinnable. There have been similar presidential campaigns in the past McCarthy in ’68 and Mc Govern in ’72 especially come to mind, but there were others earlier, and the 1860 election was as utopian and foolish as this one is turning out to be. Actually, this one is a little worse. Politicians are infamous for lying to get votes, and the claims that Bernie made in that little comment there can be described as electioneering, but only partly excuses him. Well, it doesn’t excuse him at all, but it does provide a rationale.

I’m glad I didn’t run across a bit of campaign rhetoric from Clinton or Drumpf. While Bernie lies, Clinton and Trump don’t even know what the actual facts are. Clinton tells things that are remotely related to the facts, while Trump just makes things up. I shouldn’t complain; U.S. politics has always been the home of the big lie, little lie, and “I didn't think there was anything wrong with that” lie. Presidential candidates aren’t the only ones who have trouble figuring what may be actual fact; a lot of the people in Congress don’t even realize that there are things that are wrong; I’m thinking of Hastert here. Well, he isn’t in Congress any more, but he was for years, and he was busily paying hush money when he was in Congress.

I don’t expect people to be completely perfect, but I expect public officials to obey the law. If people in public positions feel compelled to do things that violate laws, then I wish they would do so in another country or, even better, off Earth.

But part of the fault lies with the press. Many reporters have no idea what is involved in complicated financial deals, so they ignore things that may indicate embezzling, receiving bribes, or contracts that are padded so the extra can be kicked back.

All this comes around to how much better things would be, if I became emperor. I would eliminate all elections, so there would be no more election lies. You would like that very much, wouldn’t you? Along with no election lies, there would be no election news coverage pre-empting entertainment on TV. And public officials wouldn’t take time off to try to be re-elected. Any public officials caught with a hand in the public till would be dealt with severely. Finding good people for public positions is quite easy, because the work appeals to intelligent people; they need to be paid adequately, and that includes elementary school teachers, in addition to administrators and other specialists.


https://www.facebook.com/berniesande...type=3&theater


Cloud Cuckoo Land
https://www.facebook.com/berniesande...type=3&theater