(This image was created as a template for a patch intended to commemorate the large annual military exercise in the Korean Republic. It was known as “Team Spirit,” and is still vigorously conducted, partly as a reasonable preparation and partly as a declaration of earnest will to the Current Kim to the north. The artist and other independent contributors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Socotra House Publications LLC and should not be relied upon for Foreign, Domestic, medical or financial advice. Stick with the pros for fiduciary safety!)

We had a picture we were going to run this morning. It reflects a visage from a half century ago, a glowering you fellow who appears to be eager to tear down that corner of a bustling Ann Arbor street- Washtenaw Avenue is what they call it even today. But the days when some of us lived on those streets naturally are long gone. We wanted to cover some of the newer news this morning, regardless of how improbable or unpalatable.

We will not attempt to account for the legal travails of a recent chief executive. It is complex and ongoing with one part of 90-odd alleged offenses cascading out. Part of it was the matter handed down yesterday in New York City, not the one with the loony litigants in Atlanta. The one with the $400 Million dollar judgement. You may recall the old adage about well-heeled politicians. They say it was an observation from Harry Truman, a politician who was not particularly wealthy. He noted if you saw someone doing particularly well in public service, you were probably dealing with a crook. The one in progress now involves a part time politician who had money before assuming office. He donated the pretty significant salary associated with the office- in toto- to the Treasury to help out a variety of worthy causes.

That is a fairly unusual occurrence in the political game as it is played here in Your Nation’s Capital. It appears to be a little different these days. The near complete confusion is part of it, and not a “bug” but a “feature.” Can you imagine a system in which the legislators responsible for creating new regulatory laws can invest in the companies likely to benefit from such passage? Long before the news is news?

That process- the funding of re-election campaigns part of it, anyway- has replaced the way our Constitutional Republic used to be run. We do not claim this is anything new, but rather a periodic outbreak of intensity in the way some of us live. Like this guy, a known Boomer. His look reflects the times that produced ours:

We have adopted a reasonable approach to the investigation of how we have arrived at this ambiguous social situation. We understand he lived just around the corner from the White Panther Party headquarters where Bill Ayres held court at the time. He had a plan to elect the right person to institute the correct policies, and he has had a pretty good run at it.

We were sitting on The Patio talking about what is going on. The half-trillion dollars in debt that is going to drop next year is just part of it, but we are not going to worry about it any more than the elected people across the river. It is sort of like 1876, you know?

That was as emotional as the one we are in now. President Grant decided to retire and not run for a third term. That was not illegal back then, but left the question of succession wide open. The story of that election includes some of the issues we have today, even if the stacks of money were a little shorter when Sam Tilden outpolled Rutherford B. Hayes. The Electoral College, the institution that represents the states rather than the popular vote, installed Hayes with some chicanery affecting a single significant Oregon elector.

We have seen some complaining since, but the nation has survived this and other irregularities in the electoral process. We have seen a fairly recent outbreak of that, and we hope to get back to something closer to normal for the next one. Or maybe we can just force everyone to lawyer-up and bankrupt us all.

It should be interesting, you know? After all, there could have been a President Sam Tilden!

Copyright 2024 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com