I don't know if the title statement is true when it comes to politics, but yesterday's news was depressing overall, with further government strongarming of universities; the United States Supreme Court strongly implying the independence of some Federal agencies explicitly set up by Congress as independent agencies might not, in fact, be all that free from Executive Branch meddling; Congress set to cut food assistance for poor families, Medicaid and Medicare; juvenile taunts from the Secretary of Homeland Security on social media over a serious court case; the President lending a ready ear (and a lovely dinner) to billionaire top buyers of his personal memecoin; on and on and on.... I want to look away but it's too worrisome to ignore.
Picking at it doesn't fix it quickly and it's not as if this stuff was not playing out in the headlines and on video almost everywhere you look. I understand that a certain percentage of my nominal peers still think it's all hilarious. President Lyndon Johnson explained to a young Bill Moyers, when the latter wondered why so many white Southerners were willing to vote against what Moyers thought were their own best interests, "If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you."
The key concept there is not so much race, though that's an easy handle for politicians to grab, but the last part: "Give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." Undocumented migrants, protesting students (especially if they're here on a visa) LGBTQ people (particularly if they stand out) and anyone who can be portrayed as a "DEI hire."* All seen as lesser by many Trumpists in office and in voting booths. All seen as people they can look down on, and there's nothing that makes a person feel tall like looking down.
Eventually it comes home to roost. Your unemployed cousin suddenly can't get food stamps, and shows up at your door with a new baby and three hungry toddlers. Grandma's out-of-pocket costs for medical treatment go way up. The Executive Branch pulls out the wrong Jenga piece and the economy takes a big tumble. And maybe a significant number of voters will reappraise their choices when that happens. On the other hand, maybe they'll decide all the things that have been happening simply haven't been enough, and doing more of the same, harder, is the cure.
Picking at it won't make it better, but it's already certain to leave a scar.
______________________
* I take that one personally. I had a boss -- not the one who hired me and certainly not my present boss -- who loved implying the only reason I had my job was to improve the Engineering department's demographics on EEO reports. In fact, I had been hired --- and they were glad to get me -- because the station couldn't keep its main transmitter on the air for more than week at a stretch and the 1950s backup transmitter was inoperable. It had been a long, difficult slog of years of repairs and learning to get them to where the main was reliable and the all-tubes backup did, at least, work, and I damned well resented a man who hadn't even worked for the station at the time claiming I was only there because I had tits. I still resent it.
Update
6 months ago
10 comments:
Problem with these "independent agencies" is where do they fit into the government under the Constitution? The Constitution specifies three branches of the government, executive, legislative and judicial. There is no fourth branch for an 'independent agency' created by Congress to be put into; so these 'independent agencies' have to be in the executive branch. This puts them under control of the President even though Congress is trying to make them independent of Presidential control. One of the many problems Congress has created by not following the Constitution and being afraid of even trying to pass amendments to allow what Congress has been doing.
Yep. Hit the bullseyes with this soft rant. Trash pulled another tariff Jenga piece this morning. Might well just collapse the whole pile (read as US economy tanks).
Men lash out at women when they feel threatened or afraid that any woman might be smarter or more competent. No doubt he found another job where he could continue his harassment. Sick and unacceptable.
Your mention of the President Johnson quote ties into what has always amazed me about the rednecks that support Trump. The number of women that support Trump REALLY amaze me, considering his record of treating females.
The open taunting is also sickening. I saw a new (to me) flag flying at a house that has flown pro-Trump flags in the past...it redefines LGBTQ to stand for Liberty, Guns, Beer, Trump and bar-b-Q.
I will fly my American flag as usual this weekend, proud of what the US has done in the past, but sad for what we currently are.
I am sorry you had to deal with such an asshole of a boss. Even back then, it wasn't easy to find people comfortable working about high-voltage RF, and even less so now.
Having read your output for some time, now, I get a giggle visualizing the Dummkopf who would think you lacked competence, let alone anyone voicing such an opinion. (I also got a giggle contemplating the "all-tubes backup". Would you like to pin a date on that?)
The backup was the original transmitter, installed in 1957. We took it out in 1989, after de-PCB-capacitoring the main transmitter; the insurance company was having conniptions over the size and number of PCB capacitors in the backup.
I held off on publishing your comment until I could look some things up.
First off, you're 138 years too late; that's how long Congress has been establishing independent agencies and commissions. The courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have gone along with it. It's not some magical new thing.
Second, you're welcome to your own interpretation of the Constitution, but it's just one guy's opinion -- as is the President's. The Supremes get to decide, and they have been known to change their minds.
Third, these entities are generally not so independent as all that; Presidents get to appoint members to fill vacancies, and in most cases to pick the Chairperson; and generally, Congress has set it up so the President's party gets a majority -- 3 of the 5 FCC Commissioners, for instance. They're supposed to be a shock absorber when changes are made (and a pool of expertise), not an inflexible barrier.
Fourth, your description hinges on the notion that the current Administration gives a flying flip about the Constitution. I have seen no evidence of this; in fact, the DHS Secretary thinks habeas corpus is "the President's Constitutional right to deport people who are here illegally." I don't think we'd better trust them with upending the way the Fed.gov has been running for longer than any of us have been alive, based on novel theories pushed by theocrats and video talking-head commentators.
For further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_agencies_of_the_United_States_federal_government# where you can read about things like the differences between independent executive agencies and independent regulatory agencies. Fascinating!
Our site changed tower sites in 1972, so the 1954 original was scrapped at the old site. The 1972 RCA box was PCB-clean by the time I arrived in 1994, and was suffering a bit, but we limped it along with the help of some used spare parts. It was replaced with solid-state in 1997. That transmitter was retired two days ago with a single rack air-cooled unit that I suspect will be the last transmitter ever purchased for this station.
Roberta X & grich: Thank you for the additional information.
Demagoguery not only provides someone to look down on, but also harnesses the anger at those who look down at you.
And that anger is a perpetual wellspring of resentment for all flavors of political ideologies, because the people in power are people, and subject to the same sorts of preferences & prejudices as all people are. They make mistakes, and those make people mad.
And that mad leads to demagogues who promise revenge for their followers...
My employer is just at that point. Nearly all of the components of a slightly-used two-rack air-cooled transmitter are sitting at our site, waiting on the remainder and a tech from the manufacturer to guide the installation. Barring a change to a more favorable RF channel, if it's not their last transmitter, it is likely to be my last, given the 20 to 25 year life of the previous transmitters and my age.
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