Get ready for another delightful and insightful issue of The Geshrey and remember, when I see you I will quiz you about it. Remember, into every life a little rain must fall.
Didja know that Pythagoras debunked astrology by pointing out that identical twins do not have the same future? (Christopher Hitchens in “god is not Great” [yes, the title has a small “g.”])
Do you know who said, “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time?” It was Abraham Lincoln. Do you know who said this, “you can fool all of my supporters all of the time?” You are right. It was Donald T-rump.
Today I want to add my “two cents worth” to the discussion in every newspaper and TV news show about yesterday’s Democratic debate.
As a rule I do not watch political debates because I expect them to be clown circuses, but yesterday Mayor Bloomberg was on the debate stage for the first time so I made an exception to my rule. I was not disappointed The debate was a clown circus. All I heard were insults and smarty-pants quips, yelling and interrupting. I could not listen to the whole debate.
Bloomberg interested me because I believed that anyone with $60 billion would have a strong voice and a commanding personality. I expected him to make short work of the other candidates. I was disappointed. Bloomberg was meek and quiet. He let the others run over him. He had no objection when they interrupted him. If he was not the target of so many barbs and insults he would have been almost invisible.
In short, he did not stand his ground or take command. Not a good sign.
However, Bloomberg did make a couple of important statements during the debate. His first was the recognition that the intense discussion between the candidates about the various health care plans they are promoting and socialism was enough to give T-rump a victory in November. His second was, “[W]e’re not going to throw out capitalism.” Most likely both statements went unnoticed.
Why is this important? Because most moderate Republicans and independents will not vote for a candidate with whom the word “socialism” is associated. These are the voters that are needed to make swing states vote blue. If the Democrats want to use any derivative of the word “socialism” they need to forcefully explain what they mean and what they don’t mean. Over and over and over.
I did not hear any of the candidates clarify that they are advocating universal health insurance, and by extension, universal health care, not a socialist economy. Not one person explained that Medicare is just an insurance plan and health care will still be delivered by private enterprise, just as it is now.
To add salt to the wound, Senator Sanders, who seems to be the pundits’ consensus favorite to win the nomination, described himself as a “social democrat.” (This was not the first time that he has described himself as a “social democrat” and I think he enjoys it when he is called a socialist.) I do admit that I am actually not sure if Sanders used the term “socialist democrat” or “social democrat” but for most people this is to subtle a difference to be appreciated or understood. A “socialist” wants a socialist economy. A “social democrat” wants social benefits like health care to be available to everyone, but he is not advocating a socialist economy.
I can only hope that irreversible damage has not already been done because T-rump and the Republicans do not care about semantics. They are painting all of the Democrats as socialists – implying that the Democrats favor socialism – because they know that Americans overwhelmingly hate the word “socialism.” I suspect that this will be a big part of the T-rump’s and all of the Republicans’ election campaigns.
In Issue 9 of The Geshrey I spoke to the idea that words do matter. T-rump knows that as well as anybody. The Democrats need to learn that.
Didja know what happens to unclaimed airline travel baggage? It goes to the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama, to be resold. The Unclaimed Baggage Center is the only store in America that buys and resells unclaimed baggage from the airline industry.
Ever wonder why phychics never win lotteries?
I went to the doctor the other day. I got the news. I will live long enough to pay the bill. I told the doctor to make the bill bigger.
And that is the end of my tale, said the monkey backing into the lawnmower.
Remember why we sleep with one eye open. T-rump is still President. And like every bogeyman he is coming for you.