Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it

A few days ago, Margaret Atwood put out a tweet (now it has 140,000 "likes") about how America turned itself into The Handmaid's Tail world because people couldn't get over high gas prices.

 And in response I posted one of the "But Her Emails" memes, this one based on McCarthy's post-apocalyptic nightmare The Road, because it struck me how similar these two concepts were, that people will vote against the important things if they get distracted by trivial issues.

pic.twitter.com/F6M0hdnO3c

— Cathie from Canada 🇨🇦 😷🏳️‍🌈 (@CathieCanada) June 30, 2022

And now my little tweet has about 800 "likes" which amazes me, and it also got a few comments of its own. 

But here's what surprised me: a number of the comments obviously did not understand the "but her emails" meme at all.

I had assumed everybody would remember the "but her emails" line came from 2016, when Republicans egged on the American media to make a big stupid hairy deal about Hillary Clinton using a personal email server for some of her Secretary of State emails. Because of this nonsensical "scandal", a few thousand voters decided her judgement was too risky so they just had to vote for Trump instead -- such a corrupt and incompetent man that America suddenly risked nuclear or climate destruction. Thus the "But Her Emails" meme was born.

But I realize now that some people have already forgotten all about this, so the "But her emails" line doesn't mean anything to them. 

Americans have a tendency to deify their presidents anyway, but when I hear people talking about how "Americans elected Trump" I want to remind them that only a few thousand votes swung the Electoral College and Hillary actually won overall by 3 million votes. (Of course, this works in reverse, too -- Biden also won overall by millions, but he needed a few thousand votes in key swing states that gave him the Electoral College win.) 

This is why I think Democrats are absolutely right to worry about America forgetting about the terrible January 6 Insurrection and how Trump was responsible for it -- this convenient amnesia happening already, or at least it was happening until the J6 Committee started holding their hearings in prime time and telling the Jan 6 story in such a clear and compelling way.

Because those who forget history are doomed to repeat it - and people need to remember what a terrible president Trump is, how the people around him are terrible also, but how easy it is to let trivialities affect the vote.

I am hoping that support for Trump is starting to crack:

So the defense of Trump is two-pronged: he’s fat and he’s dumb. Remarkable. pic.twitter.com/kWbUtD0Ojl

— Jort-Michel Connard 🐘 (@torriangray) June 30, 2022

But he knows it:

Are you maybe starting to understand why it's important to indict this fucking guy NOW?

If he declares his intention to run for another term, the DOJ will not prosecute him because it'll appear "politically motivated" and he will not only get away with it, he'll get reelected. https://t.co/Ssjts6052X

— Stonekettle (@Stonekettle) July 2, 2022

Today's News: Catching up

Sorry for missing posting yesterday - my computer was in the shop for a tune-up. 

So let's catch up with the news:

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— Margaret E. Atwood (@MargaretAtwood) June 30, 2022

Ottawa update:

Pierre Poilievre re-enacts the opening scene from 1977’s Saturday Night Fever, but this time with the Village People. pic.twitter.com/vgnOBuYuOn

— Barney Panofsky's Best Intentions (@mynamesnotgordy) June 30, 2022

As I watch these videos, every now and then someone yells "freedom" and it just echoes into the abyss:

🚨@PierrePoilievre Panders along with fringe and far right veteran James Topp and former Trump advisor Paul Alexander who are headed towards the war memorial in Ottawa. #FreedomConvoy https://t.co/XZRVrtVD6t pic.twitter.com/YS37mYXAZi

— Jaro Giesbrecht 🇨🇦🇸🇰 (@JaroGiesbrecht) June 30, 2022

Pierre Poilievre has the same judgment as a moth that just can’t stay away from a light bulb.

And we know how it ends for the moth.

— Dean from Winnipeg (@Dean_Winnipeg) July 1, 2022

Ottawa Police have tow trucks set up downtown, presumably to quickly remove any cars that don’t follow the no parking/stopping rules that are now in place for many streets in downtown Ottawa #cdnpoli #ottnews pic.twitter.com/rmlA2XewMo

— Mackenzie Gray (@Gray_Mackenzie) June 29, 2022

Rest of Canada, THIS is what Ottawans are dealing with. On our National War Memorial. https://t.co/lFZLepoFRH

— S.P. O’Sullivan (@sposullivan5) June 30, 2022

Yup. Sure looks like someone was caught assaulting and choking a police officer. Freeze frame at 2 secs of the vid.

This is very much an indictable offence. #OttawaPolice #Ottawa pic.twitter.com/VoieXo6P5L

— Ray Lai | 黎志滔 (@raylai_markham) July 1, 2022

Just a bunch of ‘good old boys’, peaceful protestors, law abiding citizens, though.

Poilievre’s people. https://t.co/CqyMTYh0bs

— Scribulatora (@Scribulatora) July 1, 2022

The big test comes tomorrow. There's a rally planned for the front gates of Parliament calling for the arrest and prosecution of Justin Trudeau for treason. Let's hope Topp's followers listen to his advice and stay positive.

— Justin Ling (@Justin_Ling) June 30, 2022