On January 8, 2021, I wrote a post about the events of January 6th of that year at the Capitol of our Great Republic, remarking that it represented the end of American Exceptionalism. That it surely did, and does, especially as it seems that that the hope of many of our especially craven politicians and pundits is that those events will be disregarded or forgotten, or even thought of fondly, like the antics of well-meaning but fractious children.
I don't refer to the self-infatuated blowhard who it seems has cancelled his plans to pontificate publically on the first anniversary of those events. This cancellation would seem wise even from a purely self-interested perspective (and what other perspective does he have?). What he would say is what he has said. Watching him say it again would be like watching a demented person repeat a story he's already repeated many times, in much the same way with much the same words. It wouldn't be a pretty sight even for his biggest fans. Because refraining from making a spectacle of himself once more would be wise, he may yet do so, but in a less open format.
I refer to people who've actually been Elected to office. That in itself doesn't speak well for them, as this may hardly be called a mark of distinction in these sad times. But for an elected official to be intentionally disingenuous about disgraceful conduct directed against a lawful Election is especially ignominious, as it implies that such an official is unconcerned with and indeed against lawful elections generally, concerned only that the result of an election is desirable. That is a view which would render representative democracy ineffective. If accepted, elections would merely be a show to those elected, the winner being the one who could most efficiently "fix" the outcome. That elected officials, and pundits and those who effect public opinion, could countenance this and even think it's desirable is shameful.
I suppose I should acknowledge that this is to assume that those seeking to disregard or justify what took place on January 6, 2021 don't believe that the 2020 election was stolen. In a way, this assumption credits them with more intelligence than they may have. But it's hard to believe that any reasonable person accepts what's being called "The Big Lie," a reasonable person being one who requires more than unproved allegations, shot down in court after court, to accept election fraud. It's true, though, that reasonableness isn't something we see much of in our Glorious Union right now. It's also true, unfortunately, that there are those in politics who will stop at nothing to assure that they will retain their position and power.
Perhaps it wasn't all that much different in the past. Perhaps instead we live in a time when those who are unreasonable, ignorant, prejudiced and intolerant are more able to make themselves known and noticed than ever before. I've speculated along those lines in this blog more than once.
Still, though, we may have come to the point in the U.S.'s decay when it no longer matters how the majority of people may vote. Instead, it may be more important what some people, regardless of whether they're a majority, believe is right. People who think they know what's right have found democratic government to be wanting--a kind of inconvenience--since at least the time of that pioneer of totalitarianism, Plato. Ironically, Plato feared that a democratic form of government would allow demagogues to sway people away from what is right and good (that being what Plato thought was right and good) thus impeding the march to perfection he sought to impose. Plato sought to change us. Now, though, demagogues serve to prevent change, change being an evil in the eyes of those who hold power and have privilege.
I fear, by the way, that I can't take credit for the felicitous phrase "self-infatuated blowhard." I've seen it applied to another favorite of many among us, Martin Heidegger. I just had to use it myself in another connection, and apply it to another ignominious figure.
