Pragmatic Hopes

[TygrBright]

In my dreams, I am watching on a large-screen television, where a panel of grave-looking officials in formal business attire and eminent jurists in their robes of office are reading a long list of deeply serious crimes, pronouncing guilt, and passing sentences mostly in the 'many decades in a supermax Federal prison, no appeal and no parole for at least 25 years' range. Before them, sitting in a row, each with an alert Federal officer behind them, is a long array of criminals including [Redacted], Vance, Bondi, Lutnick, Musk, and a dozen other doyens of Project 2025 and architects of the devolution of the American Republic.

Sometimes the dream includes a pan across the new 13-member Supreme Court (one member for each Federal appellate circuit), highlighting the presence of Chief Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and a truly diverse array of other dedicated, qualified, experienced Justices.

Alas, these are but dreams. Beautiful, pleasant dreams, but I know they are as likely of achievement as my debut next year at the Metropolitan Opera in the role of Tosca.

The (not very) United States of America is a very complex political, social, and economic entity. Rarely, if ever, have we been able to achieve transformative change on a scale that would produce an immediate and lasting turnaround bringing to a decisive and complete end some situation of deep injustice and/or inequity.

I stand by this assertion. Do not bring up "the Civil War" until you have read the history of Reconstruction, Jim Crow and the KKK. Every momentary progressive triumph has been diluted in short order and then subject to piecemeal and often successful attempts to undo its progress via a corresponding backlash. The best we have EVER managed to achieve is along the lines of two steps forward to one step back.

But this is enough!

With this pragmatic reality in mind, what is the best I hope for America's future?

Realistically? The midterms place the House of Representatives in Democratic control, shaves Republican control of the Senate to a razor's margin (with at least one or two newly-minted 'moderates' scared witless by the narrowness of their victory,) tip the balance blue in some of the smaller 'purple' state administrations, and produce one "shock" flip in a previously-reliable red state.

What can we do with that?

Before you answer "stonewall the hell out of the [Redacted] administration and keep sending predictably popular, high-profile progressive legislation to die in the Senate and/or under the veto pen" consider this:

How did the GOP get where they are? Delivering real improvement to voters' lives, pocketbooks, futures? Oh, please...

They got where they are by 1) Becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of the most extreme predator capitalist fortunes; 2) Selling their souls to anyone who will bankroll their election victories, including foreign authoritarians, stateless oligarchs and outright enemies of America; and 3) Using those resources to build, deploy, maintain, and constantly improve the most effective Disinformation Machine in history.

And THAT is what we are up against. This machine is already recalibrating its targeting mechanisms to undercut and undermine every Democratic victory in the midterms, and inject enough poison into the process to sabotage the 2028 general election to result in weak administration and deeply divided legislative branch. It doesn't matter to the Masters of the Machine which party holds which fragments of the once-powerful government. As long as the 'winners' can sabotage each other and prevent us from rolling back the orgy of deregulation and corruption that's left an unelected oligarchy in effective control, that's all they need.

What, then, do we do with two years of the lower house, a precarious and unreliable brake in the upper house, and a growing momentum of states opposing federal overreach?

I would hope the answer has two main elements: The first is to focus on undermining and countering the great Disinformation Machine. The second is to be strategic in taking small but significant steps to impede the attempt to vitiate the general election of 2028. So... don't expect a lot of highly-visible, substantial change during the two years.

If we can accomplish that, and get legislative and executive control in 2028, what then?

Above all, avoid wantonly provoking heavy ideological backlash that the Masters of the Machine will be ready to exploit to derail things in 2030. Instead, focus on an economic transformation by developing a massive increase in employment across all aspects of the spectrum but particularly un- and semi-skilled work and trades/construction/transit jobs. This can be accomplished with a 'moon shot' level of focus, spending, and investment into infrastructure.

And that's all I got, so far. But if we succeed in that - pulling the fangs of the Disinformation Machine (and it won't be easy, because we actually DO believe in the First Amendment!) and pushing to completion a thirty-year plan to completely rebuild the utilities, communication, transit, supply line, housing, and, ultimately (gasp!) financial infrastructure, we may be able to maintain enough control to quietly clean up the worst of the authoritarian damage and take down the oligarchich stranglehold without major civil violence.

If we're lucky, determined, and persistent.

But I think it's do-able.

speculatively,
Bright