Poli-Sci-Fi

I love science fiction.  Take me to another world, another time, another set of life forms, a whole new array of technology and I am a happy camper.  It is for me like a vacation to a place I have never been before.  Much of the Sci-Fi I read or watch describes settings that I wish were true, some of it describes settings I am very thankful are not true.  I would love to be able to beam somewhere with Scotty, or watch a Jedi defeat the emperor, or watch Paul Atreides ride a spice worm.  Regardless, Sci-Fi takes me away.

But, I know the difference between science fiction and fact.  When I put the book down or the movie ends I return to reality, to the world I know, a world based on fact, not fiction, science, not sci-fi.  There are no such things as Jedi, or the emperor, or Klingons, or Vulcans, or Starfleet, or Yoda.  I know that. 

Political science is a serious field of study.  In this field one learns about our Constitution, how we pass laws, the three branches of our government, the checks and balances each branch has on the other, the appointment process, the impeachment process, the protection of civil liberties from those who would take them away, protection of the media, the separation of church and state and why that is such a wise thing to do.  One learns the advantages of a two-party system and the core values held by each party.  One learns what powers are left to the state governments and there are separate curricula designed to study those governments as well.  One learns about international trade and international politics and other forms of governments as well from the liberal democracy we enjoy to the extreme conservative totalitarian fascist state to the extreme liberal totalitarian communist state.  One learns the difference between free enterprise, free enterprise with regulation, socialism, and feudal totalitarianism backed by the military.  These are areas of real importance around which every American should be informed.  That is perhaps why a student may not graduate in Texas unless he or she has passed American Government and Economics.

Until very recently, political science and economics were grounded in fact, data, experience, eyewitnesses, and outcomes.  But we have entered a new era, evidently, and I missed the announcement.

There was Poli-Sci.  There was Sci-Fi.  Appears to me now that there is such a thing as political science fiction or poli-sci-fi.  There are wonderful fictional novels and movies regarding how governments are formed and operated and the people who experience such an operation prosper or die.  Watch “Running Man” and Alita, Battle Angel,” the Divergent series, the Hunger Game series, “Fahrenheit 451” and “The 100,” to name but a few.  But each of those pieces of media is fiction.  I should not have to say that, but I do.  There are some who confuse fiction with reality and for them, the clarification must be made clear.

There are, however, some current best-sellers in the poliscifi arena. 

“Trump Wins 2020 Election!” 

“Biden, Software Companies and State Officials Steal Trump Ballots, Claim Biden Wins!” 

“Random Group of AntiFa Members and Democrat Extremists Storm Capitol!” 

“The Secret Hand of the Deep State Revealed in 2020 Election” 

“Trump Will Never Concede an Election He Actually Won” 

“Trump Replaces George Washington as the President Who Will Not Tell a Lie,” 

“Trump’s Business Successes Continue to Accumulate” 

“Trump Would Never Assault a Woman” 

“Trump Not Guilty of Any Illegal Act” 

“No President Has Ever Been as Successful as Trump” 

“Trump Enjoyed Overwhelming Support of the People,” 

“Trump’s Impeachments Due to Democrat Conspiracies” 

“The COVID Vaccines Contain Microchip Implants and Will Steal Your DNA!”

“The Only Reason Biden Able to Slow the Virus is Trump’s Push to Find a Vaccine” 

“Only Trump Can Save the USA During These Challenging Times”

“Police Kill Black Suspects When and Only When They Do Not Obey Police” 

“The US Would Be Better Off If All Immigrants Left” 

“Voting Restrictions Must be Enforced Due to 2020 Election Fraud”

Do not be mistaken, the authors of these fictions prosper mightily any time some American citizen buys their fantasies.  But they are fantasies.  There is no truth to any of those themes.  None whatsoever.  People have offered rewards to anyone who can demonstrate proof of these lies and no one has claimed a reward yet. 

Trump lost the election, fair and square and there is no evidence of anything else.  Trump made 30,573 false and misleading statements while he was President.  He is a consummate liar and cannot get through a speech without lying.  There are 26 women pursuing charges of sexual assault against Trump.  He has made so many derogatory remarks regarding women and minorities they are not worth repeating here.  Trump called a meeting of his followers on January 6 at the White House and told them to march to the capitol building.  Trump called the meeting, on the day the votes were to be certified.  His followers used force to enter the building, they stole stuff, vandalized stuff and people died.  The building was the United States Capitol.  It was an insurrection by folks who did not like the outcome of the November election.  Trump could have sent them home, but he sent them down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the capitol.  And he will be held accountable for that as are his followers who were there are now discovering.

There is no Deep State.  No one has ever come forward and announced they are a former member of this so-called deep state.  Though people have come forward and announced they were former members of the KKK, White Supremacy groups, and even the Republican Party.  I figure if there was a Deep State we either would have never heard of it or it would by now be totally public.  What this lie is about is an effort to blame someone and to raise fear. 

My experiences talking with folks who have bought into the poli-sci-fi myths is extremely frustrating.  It is akin to having someone tell me they are Romulan when I can clearly see they are Borg or telling me that Captain Picard is leading a rebellion against Star Fleet, or that the Enterprise is really the Millennium Falcon.  There is no good way to argue with people who are wrong but sincerely believe they are right.

Fictions, and only fictions, continue to fuel these folks.  I celebrate the lawsuits brought by the software companies who were accused of converting Trump votes to Biden votes with no evidence at all.  I hope there will be public trials of Trump for tax evasion, misuse of power, violation of the emoluments clause, and obstruction of justice.  I have to believe that when the truth comes out our friends and relatives who currently subscribe to the poli-sci-fi will abandon those fictions and help restore the reality of the USA, grounded in the political science defined in the Constitution and not on right-wing talk shows.

We now know we can convert the carbon dioxide on Mars to oxygen.  We appear, however, to be unable to convert those who believe lies to those who know the truth. 

End Poli-Sci-Fi.