The Democrats' Historic Drubbing

"Fellas, I think I know a little bit about politics."  Fielding Mellish, "Bananas," laying it out for members of the San Marcos junta who have summoned him to dinner.

The Democrats' historic drubbing, of course, was preceded by the Republicans' historic drubbing in 2006, followed by the election of Barack Obama in 2008 and the retrenchment of the Democrats, who for two years controlled the White House and both houses of Congress.  Followed by the shellacking of the Democrats in 2010, when they lost control of the House and tenuously held on to the Senate. Followed by the next voting-booth coup d'etat yesterday where the Republicans extended their lead in the House and took over the Senate.

The schizophrenic electorate in those areas of the country where there are competitive races (where they are not overwhelmingly Blue or Red to begin with) follow a predictable pattern of throwing the bums in that they just threw out, then throwing those bums out and throwing some new bums back in, all bums designated with the (D) or (R) trademark of the oligarchy brand to which these candidates belong.

It is possible that the above employment chart sheds light on the reasons for the observed electoral thrashing around.  It's always important, when talking about the "jobs" added by any particular President, to talk about (a) what jobs?, and (b) who got them?  The chart above tends to demonstrate that a lot of old people went back to their old jobs, or began new careers as Wal-Mart Greeters, since the recession hit, and the nest egg that was going to fund their bocce-ball playing (the equity in the residence) disappeared.  It also demonstrates that the life blood of the economy, the energetic, creative sector of the economy, young people in the prime of life, cannot find work.

Please note that I do not blame President Barack Obama for this; that is a childish, reflexive, pointless exercise in distraction from the real issue.  As the brilliant Bill Clinton used to say, the real issue is that the Republicans, who more directly and openly support the interests of the uber-wealthy, "believe they have a congenital right to lead."  So imagine their frustration at their inability to topple Obama in 2012 with their candidate, the corporate takeover artist and shop-window mannequin, Mitt Romney.

Fortunately for the Republicans, there are plenty of morons among the booboisie in the Red states who exercise their franchise, come hell or high water.  In the Red states with heavily gerrymandered House districts (that is to say, all such states), electing (R) Representatives borders on the automatic and has for years and years.  The Republicans really have to screw up (say, by electing someone like George W. Bush) for the House to swing over to the Democratic side.  The Senate, that profoundly undemocratic institution which allocates two reps to each state regardless of population, can effectively stymie any initiative by the President all by itself.  There are enough Red states in a "swing year" like this (referring to "swing" in the same sense that there are manic and depressive "swings" in bipolar disease) that a mobilized populace can take over the Senate and defeat everything a Democratic President wants to do, even without the help of the House.  No judicial appointments, no treaties, nothing, if these corporate errand boys and girls don't want it.

The economy of the United States has been in the doldrums for a long time, as the chart above suggests.  The misery can be taken much farther back, of course.  The housing boom between 2000 and 2006 was an attempt to jolt the cooling cadaver of American society back to life with monetary defibrillation.  It will not get any better, and very likely will get worse, now that the Republicans are back in power.  The Republicans, in general, take the position that approaches such as "fiscal stimulus" (deficit financing of the government with money pushed into public works), Quantitative Easing (expansion of the Federal Reserve's monetary base by "asset purchases" of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities), are all "financial games," are evil, are even, as Governor Rick Perry said of Ben Bernanke, the Fed Chair at the time, capital offenses.

So what are the Republicans going to do? They don't have a plan, of course. They will "obstruct" President Obama, except where the president seems inclined to expand wars in the Middle East or blow up terrorists with drone strkes.  They will support his worst tendencies, blockade his best intentions (such as those involving "science"), and bide their time hoping they can take over the whole show in 2016 in order to completely run the country into the ground.  "Secular stagnation," as Mr. Krugman calls it, will continue, only worsen.  Old people will stay on the job, college graduates will live in their basements, and Chris Matthews will report on the next devastating attack on ISIS.