Note to readers: Wessays ® knows nothing of the politics of particular tractor manufacturing companies and has picked the following sides at random:
Okay, folks, let’s have a tractor pull. A what? A tractor pull. That’s when farmer Smith and farmer Jones tie their John Deeres or Caterpillars back to back and see who can drag the other over the finish line. It’s like a tug-of-war but with heavy duty farm machinery.
In this corner, wearing John Deere Green and Yellow is the far right. In THIS corner, wearing bright yellow is Caterpillar.
This is what’s going on in American politics today.
Except today’s contenders don’t create anything. They are politicians of the left and right. And while they’re both often wrong, they are real. Historically, most of these tractor pull events end in a tie and the sides compromise their way out of paralysis. But we’ve recently forgotten compromise -- a key but unwritten characteristic of our constitution.
So get ready for a dose of “SUX,” or Succinylcholine Chloride, the drug you sometimes get on the operating table to paralyze you while they cut. Thing is, this drug doesn’t put you to sleep first. It just stops you from breathing and other muscle-dependent activities. It both acts and wears off quickly and they ventilate you to keep you alive. But if you’re given enough and fast enough it’s fatal.
So how much is pumped into the political system? Plenty.
With a tractor pull, sometimes there’s a winner. With this drug, you can count on destruction, at least with the politicians are involved.
The 2020 presidential election shouldn’t be first on our minds in the first quarter of 2019. But it is. Border “crises,” inflation worries, recession worries, an economy that’s like a half-frozen lake where you can walk until you reach the otherwise undetectable thin spot when you fall through and freezing and drowning compete for your vote.
And let’s not forget the Great Socialist Scare
And the Antisemites and people driving (or breathing) while black and minimumwageism and soaking the rich and Medicareforallism, freecollegeforallism.
There’s no wiggle room when you're frozen in amber or knocked out with SUX. And no one seems ready to agree on anything except the lame congressional act that says Hate Is Naughty, an idea that shouldn’t require legislation or even a second thought.
What we need is a regard for our allies and a wall against our enemies, not against a bunch of Latin Americans yearning to be free. Also: a decently paced economic plan that muscles evil doers out of the system while vaccinating the rest of us against relapse. And we need a president who doesn’t pick his advisers, cabinet members and other peoples not plucked from the ranks of unindicted conspirators.
And while we’re writing a wish list, a decent environmental policy that doesn’t consider climate change a hoax or a prank.
What we don’t need is an injection of political SUX.
I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®
Comments? Wesrichards@gmail.com
© WJR 2019
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