Now What, and Why?

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Hey, guess what?! A few weeks ago, the GDP dropped to a new low. Like, a low low. Like worse than the Great Depression low.

What's that? You did't hear about it? Well, I'm not surprised. See, the same day that report came out, Donald Trump first tweeted his suggestion that the election be postponed. A suggestion that, rightfully, took over the news cycle like Godzilla took over Tokyo.

This event lead us once again to the eternal question: do these media slights-of-hand reveal 45 to be a political genius, a puppet of diabolical handlers, or a very lucky idiot?

Personally I argue some combination of all three, the exact composition changing on a day-to-day basis. Although, I'd never accuse Trump of genius, per se. All political acumen requires a high degree of low animal cunning.

That day, the day of the GDP drop and the election mishigas, he was mostly a lucky idiot. Given the economy's  COVID-19-induced free fall, bad economic news is more or less a daily occurrence, so 45's suggestion was bound to coincide with something awful.

Actually, let's talk about that little idea of his, shall we? Because, Lordy, it was a doozy.

Postpone. The. Election. Jesus Dog, Trump has finally gone total tin-pot dictator. The Full Putin. The Whole Xi Jinping. Although, to be fair, most dictators actually embrace elections because they provide at least a thin veneer of legitimacy

The good news is that, as things stand, Trump can not postpone the election. Not without the cooperation of the House of Representatives, which he'll never get. (FYI, this is why it was so damn important that we flipped the House in 2018. Can you imagine the insanity if the GOP still controlled all three branches of government?) And it's not like the Army or any of the armed forces would follow him. Trump couldn't lead a military coup out of a wet paper bag. So, short of unforeseeable catastrophic developments (that's not a dare, 2020!), the whole idea of putting off the election has always been a non-starter.

So, if not to distract from the day's economic bad news, why float it in the first place?

First of all, it actually wasn't the first time 45 had mooted the idea about. Remember when he said that his term should be lengthened by the year and a half Robert Mueller's investigation "stole" from him? Oy.

Secondly, the ultimate answer is fairly simple: greed.

Greed is a terrible thing. Most of us know that, at least theoretically. But for some of us, "Greed is good." The rehabilitation of one of the original mortal sins happened in the 1980s, and Ivan Bosky, who first articulated the idea in a commencement address and upon whom Gordon Gekko was loosely based, has a lot to answer for.

Because what Bosky, and Gekko, and Asher Edelman, and Ken Lay, and Jeffrey Epstein didn't tell you is that greed is a constant, never-ending hunger for more: more money, more sex, more power, more everything. With apologies to Lin-Manuel Miranda, the person led by greed can never be satisfied. It's impossible--the constant cycle of wanting, getting, and then wanting more is, ultimately, a nightmarish perpetual motion machine of excess. The greedy are compelled, almost, but not quite, against their will to keep grasping for everything they can get, whether or not they even actually desire anything they're reaching for.

The ultimate product of the greed machine? Look no farther than the self-tanning cautionary tale that is our president.

Location: Baltimore, MD 21224, USA

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