By Rick Boettger

We’ve invented a new political form–we democratically elect our own dictators!  Frankly, I’m excited.

As much as it sounds like I’ve been complaining about our ruined republic, the paralyzed bipartisan congress and our courts, it’s been great to me, and far better than, say, Communism, hereditary kings, Sharia Fundamentalism,whatever China is now, or the usual dictators, as in the ‘Stans and many African countries.  What we have left still works.

But not in the way our Founders intended.  Our Constitution got rickety, and Mitch McConnell, even more than Trump, crashed the former system of government by an elected legislature.  Congress has happily abdicated its lawmaking powers, and given them all to our Presidents, starting with Obama.   Now, the President can do whatever he likes, and his election is the only one that matters.

So in effect, we have a “dictator,” (need to get used to the charged term), but unlike other dictators, we get to elect them!  It’s easy to construct a better system, say starting with dumping the filibuster, but that will never happen.  The old system is as broken down as my 10-year-old iMac, fond of both as we may be.

This helps explain the actual functionality of what are otherwise puzzling political positions, like the Dems on the Iran war.  I’m reading various critiques of the Dems saying they should try to get along with some popular positions, move to the center, but now I understand why that is NOT a good move in a dictatorcy.  Our dictator doesn’t care about or need popular support for any position.  

All he needs is our vote, which, as I have explained at length, is now based on hate, not “affordability,” wars, health care, etc.  So the point of both parties (I hereby give up on getting us independents herded) is to get their guy elected, and not through love of his positions or charm, but by steadfast and fervid “Fuck Trump!”-type resistance, or as I call it, “hate.”

So that’s why the Dems have to continue to hate anything Trump does, even when they formerly supported, here, countering Iran.  Dear readers, this is easily the only good war we’ve had in my lifetime.  “No clear reason” for this war?  We’ve gone into ‘Nam, Iraq, Afghan, Ukraine with no threats from any.  Even for WW2, remember Germany never threatened us, and Japan attacked only Pearl because we had cut off 95% of their oil supplies, perversely due to our supporting China against them

There has been no clearer enemy of the U.S. EVER than Iran.  “Death to America” for 50 years.  A clear extended effort to make an A-bomb.  Support for terrorism against us.  Assassinations in our country, and attempts on even our leaders.  Threatening the entire world’s oil supplies.

Kamala saw this herself, as did most Dems.  But in the new Dictatorcy, the main point of our politics is to keep aroused the hostility to the other team’s dictator.  Nothing he does can be approved of.  In order to elect your own.

Who can then only accomplish anything by executive orders.  Even in the rare, I think final two years when one party had the Presidency and both houses, Trump has done most of his work by executive order–effectively acting as an old-fashioned dictator.  Any division, as soon will happen when the Dems take the House, makes any legislation impossible–so even a President elected who hates the idea of being a dictator, is forced to become one in order to get anything done, as Obama did.

Yes, the Courts seem to be a check–but note they are making partisan decisions, which take forever to effect and can get kicked up to the Supremes–which is stocked by winning the Presidential elections.

So our entire  system is based simply on the election of one dictator or the other.  Thus the perfervid passion driving the out group.  And it is indeed a vital right, our choice, that saves the grand American project.  

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