Monday, July 20, 2020

They're All Bozos On That Bus

There was a time, fifty years ago or so, when there was a comedy troupe called Firesign Theatre. They issued a greatest hits compilation in 1976 called Forward Into The Past. There are plenty of funny bits to recommend this record, but I found myself pondering the title. I thought about it in conjunction with remarks made recently by the "president." He was busy last week rolling back regulations. He boasted about “stopping the egregious abuse of the Clean Water Act." He felt he was giving he country back the water they deserved, dirty and polluted, but that must be what we deserve. He also bragged about bringing back the incandescent light bulb. Not that they were ever gone, but he did eliminate many of the energy efficiency standards that promoted the use of cheaper, longer-lasting LED lights. Still, he couldn't help himself: “I brought ’em back. They have two nice qualities: They’re cheaper and they’re better. They look better, they make you look so much better. That’s important to all of us.”
These remarks came on the same day that his press secretary, who insisted when she took the job that she would never lie to us, uttered what will become the legacy of this administration: "Science should not stand in the way." She was referencing the debate surrounding opening schools in the fall, but it could be viewed as the cornerstone of the past four years. This was the man who stood on the balcony of the White House and stared at a solar eclipse, after all. This is the man who insisted that windmills create noise that causes cancer.
Global warming is a hoax.
Science is a waste of money and time.
The "president" did not replace key CDC personnel in charge of pandemic response.
Well, guess what?
I don't need to tell you that science is the voice that is most frequently pushed to the back when anyone connected with the ballet of dunces steps up to tell us that everything is fine and we should be back to normal when the weather changes. Or some act of God. God is, apparently, a capitalist. Meanwhile, the man in this country who has more knowledge that any other on the subject has been degraded, ignored and ridiculed while the death express just picks up steam. Dr. Fauci has been linked to dozens of conspiracies, generated by those who would hold science down and kneel on its neck for as long as it takes to make it quiet.
Mike Pence, the "president's" chief wizard in charge of demonic possession and COVID-19, has the situation well in hand. Exorcisms will begin no later than December.

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