Just Because It's Going Up Doesn't Mean It's Not A Doom Spiral

Well, good news/bad news we'll call it this week.

First of all, as expected, the UK general election resulted in an historic sidelining of the Conservative Party, which is looking like a spent political force at the moment. We take a small break from laughing in their stupid faces by noting that it wasn't all people running toward a new socialist dawn with Labour, it was also a smaller gravitational pull in the other direction from the formerly comical Faragists dipshits, now having taken a cue from the Le Pen racialist playbook and rebranded their movement as the "Reform Party," kitted out in an electric teal that seems appropriately immediately dated. It screams 1990s sports expansion franchise, but with none of the warm nostalgic appeal of the now-defunct outfits like the Vancouver Grizzlies or the Jacksonville Jaguars. Xenophobia and the Charlotte Bobcats are all things we're ready to move on from.

Speaking of France, it turns out sometimes they live up to the reputation they will incessantly insist they have of a next-level rational sophistication in food, philosophy, lifestyle, tongue kissing and politics. Strategic positioning and horse-trading among the left and left-leaning parties worked to keep the expected/feared right-wing wave from swamping Paris. The result has been these lefties who actually won now getting the crazy idea they should be able to do some governmentin', which is a headache if you're the president and these allies think you're a centrist squish. But if your list of problems does not include "fash-curious enemies in power," these all feel solvable.

Over here, of course, we do silliness the biggest possible way. What seemed like a one or two news-cycle freakout about Biden's debate performance has turned into a weeklong freakout that has people more and more loudly talking about switching horses midstream. Even George Clooney came out and suggested it was time for Grampy to be put out to pasture, and everyone knows, when you lose the worst Batman, how long before Aquaman chimes in? Next thing you know, the whole ocean is against you. I don't like where this is going.

But maybe the ocean would prove to be less automatically misogynist than Americans and we'd have a better chance. Because it looks like the alternative being floated is Vice President Kamala Harris stepping in for Biden before the convention and oh boy... I'd like to think with Biden out, we can all start paying attention to the insane old man shit Trump has been saying for four years straight, but I remember the Hillary Clinton campaign and I know there's one thing we haven't proven ourselves able to do as an electorate is support a woman as chief executive. The UK have had three women prime ministers (OK, not all the best examples) and I've so far only heard women's names as potential leaders of the Conservative Party, such as it is, to follow the smoking crater that is Rishi Sunak. But I'm not sure if that's a sign of progress or just sticking a woman with cleanup duty after some doofy man has set the living room on fire.

I'm not sure how I feel about all of it yet, honestly. As a Californian, I've voted for Kamala Harris a bunch of times, happily, and would do so again, without hesitation. But I don't see why they can't just prop Joe up and let him make non-Trump mouth sounds here and there. I've assume that's how government has worked for four years, why is it now a problem? Hell, they literally rolled out FDR and worked him like a puppet for at least his last term, if not more than that. What, don't we make decent ventriloquists in this country anymore? Maybe we really have lost something, as a civilization.