On being of good cheer

[nancylebov]

When I just posted about an out(r)age, my tone was rather chipper, and there's a reason.

Earlier in the current administration (may its name be wiped out), it seemed as though a lot of my friends were despairing. America was on a vertical slide to dictatorship, though with some question of whether it would be mostly theocratic or mostly plutocratic. The country was in the hands of Rethuglicans, and membership in that party (past some date after which people Should Have Known Better) was proof of incorrigible evil.

After a while, it occurred to me that the country was showing signs of resiliance. Even a very bad administration isn't the whole story about a nation, and a political party is not completely defined by the people in charge of it. America has a lot of both individual and structural resistance to going completely bad. This was perceptible even before the balance in congress tipped.

So, while you can look at that news story and be primarily focused on how disgracefully the current administration is behaving, what I mostly see is that neither the public nor members of the administration's own party is putting up with it.

Comments

[regalpewter.livejournal.com]

Well Said, but don't forget there is precident for totaliarianism in our system. (Woodrow Wilson and his Asst Sec./Navy; FDRoosevelt.) When you read about what the Fabians and Progressives were pushing, there are many folks who would welcome it in this country. Sadly, with the current slate of candidates I fear we are going to live through the '70's again.
YIS,
WRI

[madfilkentist]

The 70's were a period of considerable distrust in government due to a really sleazy president, and resulted in some laws which made government more open, so that might not be altogether bad.