Reasons Why the Democrats Will Lose in 2024

 
I am convinced that the Democrats will lose the White House in 2024.  Not everyone agrees with this pessimistic assessment.  But in this post I will go over some of the reasons why I think this is so.  

Of course "prediction is hard, especially about the future" and I could be wrong, and let there be no doubt that a second Trump administration would be the end of democracy in this country.  A right wing fascist society and a great victory for Putin.  Death to NATO and death to Ukraine.  The decline of America accelerated by an order of magnitude.  So Democrats will vote for Biden, right?  Maybe not.

Consider some of the fuckups of the last few years.  The Democratic Party controlled the White House and both houses of Congress but could not be bothered to fix the supreme court because ... because ... oh just because.  They could have passed an amendment to do something about the electoral college or keep the supreme court from throwing elections but they didnt because ... you know.  The Department of Justice threw away two full years to start the process to bring Trump to justice but they failed to even start until they were practically forced to and now its too late.  Trump will be reelected and that will be the end of that.  They knew something was up with the classified documents long before they acted.  They could have passed something to protect abortion rights but they didnt.  They could have reinforced voting rights but they didn't.  They could have started the ball rolling on repealing Citizens United but they didn't.  They could have passed legislation to help protect Europe from insanity by Republicans whether or not Trump gets reelected.  Those traitors are sure to be in the White House one day and Putin will be cheering.

Most of all they refused to listen to their base who begged them to do something, anything, and they refused to act.  So pick your favorite issue that they failed on and ask yourself why people should vote to continue this shitshow when the loyal Democratic base is ignored.  Some people will pick Israel (long before Gaza), some people will pick the Supreme Court, some people will pick the rule of law as it applies to rich people.  The point is, whatever you believe in, the Democrats let you down.  The Democratic Party elite is relying on the Democratic Party base to look beyond all that and keep on voting no matter what because ... well because Trump, and that is not a bad reason, but the fact is that we are tired of that.  How about our representatives do something for a change?  But they have failed to listen in the past, should we believe that will change going forward?  Why?

Poor little Democrat donkey doesnt know what hit it.  

Illustrations by MidJourney.

Why is REDHAT so Awful?

I am not a Debian weenie.  I have been using REDHAT more or less constantly for over a decade.  True, I have been using the Centos variety of REDHAT but nevertheless.  But why oh why does the Redhat site need to be such a bureaucratic mess?  Why so difficult to use?  Why is everything such a pain in the ass.  And good luck getting support.  ChatGPT would be a blessing over what they have now.

Illustrations courtesy of Midjourney.

"Strongmen" by Ben Ghiat

The following book by Ben-Ghiat is an excellent discussion of the history of several prominent autocracies since Mussolini.  In particular it goes over how the Trump administration and playbook resembles Gaddafi, Pinochet, Mussolini, Berlusconi, Putin and so forth.

America may think it is different than the others but this book argues otherwise.

https://www.amazon.com/Strongmen-Mussolini-Present-Ruth-Ben-Ghiat/dp/0393868419/ref=asc_df_0393868419/

LACMA Is Not as Bad as Expected

By all accounts the new LACMA is a train wreck.  We took a trip there and it is a mess but not quite as bad as expected.  Still, they should have done better.

There is no explanation anywhere of the work being done and when it can be expected.  Nothing that I saw.  The visitor is just exposed to a mess of construction with no guidance.  By happenstance we found a worker who would explain things to us.  

The new building is nowhere near done.  It wont be done in 2024, I doubt it will be done in 2025.   It does cross over Wilshire Blvd to make use of the space that LACMA owned across the street.  It looks interesting and contrary to what I was told it must have more exhibition space than the older buildings.  If it doesnt then that is a disaster.  Maybe it will have "better" exhibition space.   

The Bing theatre, site of so many happy memories, is gone and our guide explained there will be a new theatre in the basement of the new building.  That is nice, but no one would know this by inspecting the site.

The plaza is a wreck with no space to sit down not associated with the very pretentious but not very good restaurant.  Expensive.  What happened to the place you could sit down and get a salad or a simple hot entry?  All gone.  We ate outside because the inside smelled of grease.  The outside was subjected to jack hammers.  Not pleasant.

Two exhibition spaces were open.  One in the new building from 30 years ago, and the other in a building where the parking lot for the May Co used to be.  Of course the new old building was presentable and has some of the permanent exhibition.  We did not get to the parking lot building.

The Page Museum is still there and is entertaining for a few hours.  Lots of exhibits are out of order. The Bison is still there.  We did not go to the 3D theatre.  The internal rain forest or whatever it is seemed less interesting than I remembered but better than a stick in the eye. The shop is fun but no more Giant Sloth hand puppets.

The Japanese pavilion is closed and no one knows if it will be reopened.

The neighborhood is a wreck.  The businesses look like a tornado hit them.  The Folk and Craft Art museum is still there with a new paint job.  We did not go in.  "The Egg and Eye" is long gone.

We did not go to the Academy Museum.  After the expensive but unpleasant lunch I just wanted to get out of there.

I can see why people are upset but still it should be a suitable space when it is all done.  It did not make a great impression.

The Concept of the "Continuing Education PhD"

All the people who matter got their PhD at the correct time, in sequence, as approved by society.  Nobody who matters tries to get their PhD later in life as circumstances allowed.  Those people are scum, and are not permitted nor will they ever be respected or accepted.

But there are such people who feel that they need to try and get the information and training necessary to operate at the higher levels and who want the credential.  Of course these people are outsiders and of course these people will not be able to have an academic career and that is a given.  Nevertheless, this is what they see as an essential part of their life and no one can tell them otherwise.  

Since there is no path for such people in our society I propose that we make one.  Lets call it "Continuing Education PhD" which I think cuts to the chase.  Yes they will be treated with contempt but they are trying and society should allow for it.

Homeless person studying