America is at an inflection point. What happens in the next few months will have consequences as far as the mind can see. What kind of country are we going to be?
Will we descend into an authoritarian kleptocracy under permanent minority rule? Will we adequately address the great challenges facing us — inequality, racism, climate? Will we reform and reinforce democracy to ensure government of the people, by the people, and for the people? Will we stagger along until we finally fall over the cliff into the abyss of failed historical experiments?
Heavy stuff — let’s try some ‘easier’ questions first.
Q: Why did the Centrist Chicken cross the road?
A: Trick question — it didn’t. Crossing the road would mean going to extremes. It would mean rejecting one side for another, forcing a choice between the left and the right. It would be seen as delegitimizing one side over the other. The chicken doesn’t want to hurt the feelings of either side by showing a preference. There’s no difference between the two sides so why worry about it?
Q: Why would you throw a rope to a drowning man that only reaches half way?
A: You don’t want to make him dependent on ropes. It would make him lazy — he needs to make an effort to prove he’s worth it. Rescuing people who have made poor swimming choices just encourages others to make poor swimming choices. It would be unfair to all the people who nearly drowned and no one helped them, not to mention all those who did drown. Ropes are expensive; who is going to pay for a rope long enough to do the job?
Q: Why does Joe Manchin (and the media) believe he can make a deal with the party of Trump and Grim Reaper Mitch McConnell, and why does he think the best way to start is by demanding Democrats make pre-emptive concessions?
A: Why does Charlie Brown always let Lucy hold the football? Some questions have no answers. Or maybe Manchin and his GOP counterpart Capito are really negotiating with Democrats to extract a payoff for West Virginia, which seems to be the role model they grew up with.
Manchin is a crucial 50th vote for Democrats on Biden’s sweeping proposals. Capito is the lead Republican negotiator on an alternative.
Both are heirs to the political tradition of the late Senate leader Robert C. Byrd, who funneled so much federal investment back home that hardly a highway or civic structure dots the landscape without his name.
Or maybe it’s a learning problem...
What do you think?