The chess players had grown weary of chess, so were now playing Chinese checkers in a booth in the back of the pub in Georgetown. The 2024 election was in the home stretch and causing the usually calm and sedate citizens to exhibit signs of mild psychosis and manic depression. This was particularly evident in the behavior of the pundits and analysts in the legacy media outlets.
“The New York Times,” the republican uttered between sips of brew, “has almost lost me as a subscriber. Besides raising their subscription rates they’ve increased their partisan slant on the news of late. They refuse to say anything good about my candidate, along with filling their pages with editorials by washed-up writers and ‘novelists’ who take pleasure in bad-mouthing anyone who doesn’t follow the party line. What is it that’s happening in America, my friend?”
The democrat responded, “I feel your pain acutely and also wonder where civility went in our society. Even my heroes seem to have fallen to cheap attacks on your guys. I was appalled to hear my former president give his speeches accusing the Don of only caring about himself and no one else. That was a cheap shot in my view. Whatever happened to debates about policy? I’m also just a bit concerned that my gal can’t seem to answer simple questions without embarking on wordy flights of fancy that always seem to end with smears of your guy. It’s uncalled for and destructive to the democratic process.”
“Indeed!” the republican agreed. “Both sides now are forecasting the demise of democracy if they don’t win the election. The voters are scared by talk like that, and a scared and frightened person doesn’t normally act reasonably. In this case they don’t vote rationally. Add to this that your average voter lacks the intelligence necessary for reasoned analysis of the issues, and you’ve got the mess that is American politics. There’s a reason the ancient and esteemed Greek philosophers rejected ‘Democracy’ as unwise. Also, the whole immigration debate is out of control. Four years ago your guy invited into the country millions of people from all over the world. Democratic process? He unilaterally forgave legally binding student loan debt for millions of borrowers. Democratic process? He gives taxpayer money, missiles, bombs and bullets, to peoples in other lands for the purpose of mass casualty events of their enemies. Democratic process? Says who? My guess is that if there is an Almighty, he’s pissed off right now!”
The democrat sipped his craft concoction and replied, “Maybe it’s a battle between good and evil. Though I question whether or not evil is real, sometimes when I hear your guy say nasty things about people, I think he’s possessed by some evil demon out for blood. Then I see him smiling and entertaining the hordes at his rallies, and I find myself wishing I could participate in the show. I’m actually quite confused by his very existence on the world’s stage. I read the New York Times also, and have noticed more and more talk of good vs evil.”
“My take on evil, my friend,” the republican answered, “is that evil is subtle and rarely overt. It’s insidious, sneaky, crafty, and very hard to pin down. Always shape-shifting, morphing, and using high intelligence in pursuit of it’s agenda. Sound like the progressive liberals to you? Conservatives sometimes seem bumbling and in your face. The Don is overt, offensive, all the while wielding a sledgehammer of rhetoric, while the Dems seem to employ subtle mechanisms in their pursuit of power. If the destruction of ‘Democracy’ is on the plate here, clearly your candidates and platform meets my definition of ‘evil’.”
The democrat opined, “I see your point. In olden times evil just rolled over the good people, until they wised up and countered with overwhelming force. Your point about the subtlety of evil these days will consume my thoughts in the coming days. Shall we toast to friendship and goodness? I must return home and catch the late-night show.”
CP Butchvarov 2024