I’m in the middle of reading A Game of Thrones, by George Martin. Some of you may be watching the HBO miniseries, though it’s a little early to see the plot development. Suffice it to say the book deals with a lot of Palace intrigue, plots, treasons and changing fortunes. Along the way, I realized that a lot of politics remain the same; for the players, it’s more about greed, ambition, and self service than it is for the good of the country.
It is evident these days that no matter the accomplishments of the Democrats, the Republicans will give no credit or quarter. The blood was not dry on the carpet before Rush and Hannity were coming up with absurd complaints and conspiracy theories about bin Laden. They were shouting about murder and complaining about not seeing the photos. They were whining about Bush not getting credit. “See, it was all possible by virtue of the fact that we tortured them.”
There is no honor any more. There are only lies that benefit their own ambitions. There is no country, only Party. The only way they will give in is if they perceive that they are the winners, or if they get monetary reward in record amounts. It’s all a game, and at stake is the Throne.
There’s no reason for the Republicans to attempt to dismantle Social Security or Medicare, unless you accept the fact that they do it to pander to the rich bastards who only want to contribute the least amount possible to the good of this country. The unbridled greed is not even logical, in that they are accepting relegating a large portion of society to poverty that would be unprecedented here in the United States. They know we have to invest in infrastructure. They know they can’t raid the treasury forever. They know that healthcare is unsustainable the way it is. They know these wars waste away our resources. Yet they continue to squander everything for temporary gains measured in nothing but silly talking points. Do they think this makes them look good? Was the Ryan Medicare plan really worth floating, in the hopes that people would be stupid enough to get behind it? Or are they that stupid?
No, I think its all part of the game. It’s a game that only benefits the winners, and the Republicans realize that they’ve been losing. They attempt anything they think will give them the upper hand, even to the detriment of society. And a lot of it centers on procuring the cash that will let them win, because they know that money is the key. They play the Game of Thrones well.
My question is will we ever move beyond the game. It seems to me that if we continue with the 2 party system, with the players entrenched in the rules as they are, we can only lose. Since Citizens United, CorpoCash is now flowing to the Republicans in such unequal amounts that they can afford to filibuster facts with propaganda in an unprecedented way. They no longer need to rely on reality or facts; they can just deny reality and make up their own facts. The incessant howling on hate radio produces a magic 30% or so of the electorate that will follow the Republicans like lemmings over a cliff. Making up the extra 21 % is easy. Just find wedge issues.
Can we survive this insanity? Is it time to start all over again? We have Lords and Princes, Kings and Queens, all dependent on the current system for their survival financially. They serve their time in the system and then leave to prey on the rest of society as consultants or lobbyists, or judge the rest of the players as “Supremes.” The whole thing is so rigged that change is impossible. Just look at health care. It seems a no brainer, but so much cash is involved that it just can’t be changed. The “Game of Thrones” has taken over, and we can’t do anything about it.