Indeed the parallels to Germany in 1933 are multiple. Regular people (those with a minimum of sanity and rationality) had the same sense of soon to be realized dread before Hitler’s National Socialist party was elected, and the manifesto (Mein Kampf) began to be turned into reality fast after the election. I recommend The Oppermanns by Lion Feuchtwanger, a novel written in 1933 (Die Geschwister Oppermann in German): you’ll have the thrill of recognition.
I remember your 2016 warnings Bob. Some of us were nodding along.
Riding the emotional roller coaster from despair to rage and back again -- rinse, lather, repeat, as the modern cliché declares. In my darker moments, I think there's no coming back from what's already arrived, much less what tRump's minions have planned. With AI on the march and teenaged tech-bros now entrusted with every American's personal financial data -- something I never dreamed might happen -- it's clear that this time the sky (or is that Skynet?) really is the limit. When the autonomous AI robo-dogs with machine guns mounted on their backs begin patrolling our streets, we'll know it's pretty much over. And of course, our Glorious Leader and his South African Quasimodo are not the least bit concered about our planet's escalating race toward the lip of the global warming abyss. Elmo used to care, or so we thought back when hawking electric cars was his one true passion, but that was then. Now, like some Bond villain or Marvel Universe antagonist, he just wants to rule over the future ruins of the world.
Then again, in my less dark moments I think of "now" as being a parallel to the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, which in this case was Nov. 5th. A period of relative quiet followed, then came the blitzkrieg (to thoroughly mix my WW 2 metaphors) of the last three weeks, with bombs falling every day, tRump's Project 2025 warriors on the march, and sentient America losing more ground with each passing minute. But ... and here's where foolish optimism enters the scene ... just as the allies took beating after beating in the opening salvos of WW 2, then stiffened, rallied, and began to push back the forces of evil, perhaps "the resistance" will coalesce and hold their ground before things are too far gone. In this happy scenario ("happy" given the alternatives) the 2026 midterms become our Battle of Midway, kicking off a comeback that might knock the fascist tRumpublicans back on their heels and -- be still my heart -- return non-crazy Dems to power in both bodies of Congress along with a young, strong, articulate Dem in the White House.
Yeah, I know ... as Debby Harry once sang "Dreamin' is free," and it's about all that's free nowadays. And so, expecting the worse while hoping for the best, we march onward into the mist.
Bob was right, and i knew it in realtime. Brooke means well, but apparently she had too much faith in her vision of our fractured nation.
BTW: OTM really #*%#$ up letting Mr. Bob go... the show has a glaring hole in it, still.
Indeed the parallels to Germany in 1933 are multiple. Regular people (those with a minimum of sanity and rationality) had the same sense of soon to be realized dread before Hitler’s National Socialist party was elected, and the manifesto (Mein Kampf) began to be turned into reality fast after the election. I recommend The Oppermanns by Lion Feuchtwanger, a novel written in 1933 (Die Geschwister Oppermann in German): you’ll have the thrill of recognition.
I remember your 2016 warnings Bob. Some of us were nodding along.
Riding the emotional roller coaster from despair to rage and back again -- rinse, lather, repeat, as the modern cliché declares. In my darker moments, I think there's no coming back from what's already arrived, much less what tRump's minions have planned. With AI on the march and teenaged tech-bros now entrusted with every American's personal financial data -- something I never dreamed might happen -- it's clear that this time the sky (or is that Skynet?) really is the limit. When the autonomous AI robo-dogs with machine guns mounted on their backs begin patrolling our streets, we'll know it's pretty much over. And of course, our Glorious Leader and his South African Quasimodo are not the least bit concered about our planet's escalating race toward the lip of the global warming abyss. Elmo used to care, or so we thought back when hawking electric cars was his one true passion, but that was then. Now, like some Bond villain or Marvel Universe antagonist, he just wants to rule over the future ruins of the world.
Then again, in my less dark moments I think of "now" as being a parallel to the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, which in this case was Nov. 5th. A period of relative quiet followed, then came the blitzkrieg (to thoroughly mix my WW 2 metaphors) of the last three weeks, with bombs falling every day, tRump's Project 2025 warriors on the march, and sentient America losing more ground with each passing minute. But ... and here's where foolish optimism enters the scene ... just as the allies took beating after beating in the opening salvos of WW 2, then stiffened, rallied, and began to push back the forces of evil, perhaps "the resistance" will coalesce and hold their ground before things are too far gone. In this happy scenario ("happy" given the alternatives) the 2026 midterms become our Battle of Midway, kicking off a comeback that might knock the fascist tRumpublicans back on their heels and -- be still my heart -- return non-crazy Dems to power in both bodies of Congress along with a young, strong, articulate Dem in the White House.
Yeah, I know ... as Debby Harry once sang "Dreamin' is free," and it's about all that's free nowadays. And so, expecting the worse while hoping for the best, we march onward into the mist.