POLITICAL MAYHEM

Quick, Name A Country That Hasn’t Gone Completely Crazy . . .

Iceland, you say? Sweden?

Well, both might be slightly less crazy than the two countries I’ll get to in a minute . . . here’s a clue; one is led by an arrogant idiot with crazy blond hair, and the other was previously led by an arrogant idiot with crazy blond hair (dyed) and an orange face.) Still, Iceland and Sweden have had their moments too . . .

And although I live in France, I’m not letting it off the hook either.

So to answer my question, no I can’t name a country untouched by craziness. If you know of one, please tell me — I might consider relocating.

Let’s face it, the world has gone crazy — melting glaciers, rising sea levels, raging wildfires. Death and destruction across the globe. Crazy leaders, crazy governments and policies. Crazy, crazier and craziest.

Russia, as led by Putin, goes into a horrific and evil craziness class of its own.

There are degrees of craziness — crazy, crazier and sheer mind-numbing, gibbering, bang-your-head-against-the-wall craziness.

Take the United Kingdom’s prime minister Boris Johnson for instance.

Pleeese.

After lying, obfuscating, dithering, prevaricating and sending his hapless minions out to Sunday news shows to defend his lying and obfuscating, Boris just suffered a thumping political defeat in a couple of important by-elections. So now just about everyone — loyal voters who put him into office, loyal minions who gamely defended the indefensible — want to see the back of Boris. Britain’s in a mess — strikes, hunger, poverty, on and on. They’ve had enough.

The thing is, Boris hasn’t had enough.

It would be crazy for him to resign, he says, or to expect that he’ll undergo a ‘psychological transformation.’ Not going to do it. It will be business as usual.

Need a definition of hubris. Look no further.

Need a definition of insanity — doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Take a bow, Boris.

(I didn’t attribute the insanity quote to Einstein because there’s some question over whether he actually came up with it and I don’t want to spread misinformation and . . . you know, fake news.

Which leads me to the United States where the Supreme Court has overruled the 50-year old Roe v. Wade decision, thus eliminating the constitutional right to an abortion.

Excuse me while I bang my head against the wall.

In a country where children are more likely to die from gun violence than in almost any other part of the world and where politicians are unable or unwilling to do anything to stop the carnage — many of those same politicians are now thumping their collective chests and proudly proclaiming they’ve stopped the baby killing.

“Every human being, born and unborn, has a fundamental right to life, and it is our calling to guard and secure it.” former vice president, Mike Pence.

He’s not talking about kids being killed in classrooms, of course.

“This is an historic victory for the Constitution and for the most vulnerable in our society.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — who, throughout a decades-long career, has delayed, obstructed or prevented almost any form of gun control.

And then there’s Donald Trump — sorry if you’re eating as you read this — who by appointing three anti-abortion justices to the Supreme Court thus practically ensured the overturn of Roe. v.Wade. Naturally, he couldn’t resist a little chest-thumping following the decision. Privately though he’s reportedly raised concern that it ‘could be bad for Republicans.’

Can it get any crazier?

Well yes. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — whose wife allegedly worked with allies of Donald Trump to try to overturn the 2020 presidential election — wrote that the court should now reconsider its past rulings codifying rights to contraception access, same-sex relationships and same-sex marriage.

Remember 1991 when Anita Hill testified that then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her? Smutty language and descriptions of the pornographic films he liked to watch. He was chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and she worked there as an adviser to him.

Big deal, he was confirmed anyway. Just like then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, accused by several women of sexual misconduct and now ruling on abortion rights.

Ironic isn’t it how disrespectful to women some men can be and how righteous they are about the contents of women’s wombs? Let’s let comedian George Carlin have a word on this:

“Boy, these conservatives are something. . .they’re all in favor of the unborn. They will do anything for the unborn. But once you’re born, you’re on your own. Pro-life conservatives are obsessed with the fetus. From conception to nine months. After that, they don’t want to know about you. No neo-natal care, no school lunches, no nothing . . . ”

Crazy, crazy, crazy.

Forget the head banging, I need a drink.

I mostly write about living in France, but occasionally I can’t resist a dip in political waters;

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Merci!