What's a Little Perjury Among Friends?

Knowing a lot about politics is kind of embarrassing, like how some bodybuilders have overdeveloped muscles that are just for show with little underlying strength. For one thing, the political figures in our current milieu are not worth much. It's not much different than following Taylor Swift or a soap opera.  It’s kind of silly for any of us to think we’re “represented” by bought-off politicians.  Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, a Harvard and current Colombian professor who is a “global leader in sustainable development” said “it has been said that after the Kennedy assassination, there has been no president. They have only been factotums of the system since then."  

I wasn’t really following the case against Judge Fani Willis until she had the audacity to perjure herself on the stand. Before that she was just some hack who was after Donald Trump. But it gets more interesting when she and her lover and their friend all get up on the stand and lie their asses off.  I thought this might be a decent test case to how our beleaguered justice system is going. And the judge in the case, McAfee, failed, naturally. He seemed not the least offended by folks coming into his courtroom and lying their asses off. He ended up “splitting the baby”, amazingly. He sanctioned the lover, but allows Fani to go forward with her case against Trump. It’s silly, but then he was a contributor to Fani’s campaign a few years ago so I’m not sure how I expected it to go otherwise. I just want to believe in the rule of law, naive as that sounds. Naturally it’ll be appealed but it’s sobering to think that perhaps the only dependable court in the land is the court of last resort, the Supreme Court. And that’s only as long as the conservatives on the court live. 

Some famous writer in the Roman Empire once said that Rome is falling, yes, but you can live well during a fall. That’s pretty much the goal now. Live well as the country rotteth. Steve Bannon said anyone under 35 is screwed, which seems about right. 

The only thing interesting about current politics is the upcoming presidential race because it's a fascinating experiment to see the limits of our democracy. Will the true powers allow Trump? Yes Trump got elected in ’16 but that still feels accidental somehow, like they weren’t prepared. It’s akin to how Rocky Balboa did well against Apollo Creed simply because Creed didn’t take him seriously, didn’t train hard for him. Or how if Ohio U. beat OSU and then OSU was highly motivated and prepared the second time. Of course, the bad guys already won in 2020 so there’s no reason to think they won’t in 2024. On the other hand, the poll numbers currently at least sure favor Trump and Biden has an abysmal record. It’s a titanic struggle, as Marty Brennaman used to say at the end of Reds games. The suspense is real.