Time for entertainment amid moments of hopeful anxiety. Let’s start by getting our vocabulary straight. The least I can do is help you understand what you are worrying about with a little laughter.

Here is some amusement to bridge the gap to brighter days.

The Supremes: 

In the recent past, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court expressed concern over the Court’s loss of popularity among his fellow citizens. Mr. Roberts need only consult one of the Supremes’ greatest hits, “Where Did Our Love Go?

Diana Ross will explain it as we dance.

Electoral College:

Male virility and dominance of women are much discussed among those who believe the Bible requires godly designed inequality of the sexes. Some clergymen point to God creating a woman out of Adam’s rib as evidence.

When the plan leads to family wreckage, however, the supposedly superior gentlemen should be required to apply for admission at an electoral college or The University of Escape from Misguidedness.

The faculty is made up of women. Sadly, few testosterone-laden fellows pass their tests, despite needed education to pound home the idea that the fair sex is first class, not a group of runners-up.

Condominiums: Many parts of the country are short on affordable housing. Some poorly educated politicians, however, do not think more condos will solve the problem. They tell us we have plenty of condoms already, having mistaken condoms for condos.

House of Representatives:

A name change is in order: the House of ill Repute. The Speaker of the House’s primary interest appears to be ending workdays before he and his colleagues do any work.

Artificial Intelligence:

Yuval Harari — writer, historian, and public intellectual — believes we humans act stupid. He points to the human tendency to make mistakes despite warnings.

Take Artificial Intelligence. These talented, nonhuman agents are taking independent actions not programmed into them and risk causing far more damage unless put on a leash. Mary Shelly’s character, Dr. Victor Frankenstein — the man who made the monster — would understand.

The Scent of the Senate:

We search for wisdom, but often find bad sense or none at all in this hallowed hall. Many monied senators wear expensive if empty suits.

The Wizard of Oz did the casting. The scarecrow lacks a brain, the Tin Man searches for a heart, and the Cowardly Lion—well, you grasp his nature. Though he is short on courage, the beast sustains the bad habit of leaving his droppings all over the place. No wonder some think it stinks.

White Christmas Nationalism: 

Here is a remedy for those misguided enough to believe this country was founded by men who wanted white Christians at the top of all important lists.

Perhaps they can be persuaded to accept a less off-putting prize. Doubtless, those who ruined the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool can be engaged to spread fake snow to cover Washington, DC if the real thing doesn’t arrive on its own.

We do lack authenticity in lots of our leading politicians, don’t we? Will they fathom the difference between the fake and the real? I imagine it is all news to them.

A Little History:

The famous newsman for the Baltimore Evening Sun, H.L. Mencken, believed it to be difficult for a bright and decent man of the people to be elected to a worthy office. He thought of the average voter as a part of what he called “the mob.” The following comes from his column of July 26, 1920, over 106 years ago:

“The larger the mob, the harder the test. In small areas, before small electorates, a first-rate man occasionally fights his way through, carrying even the mob with him by force of his personality. But when the field is nationwide, and the fight must be waged chiefly at second and third hand, and the force of personality cannot so readily make itself felt, then all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most easily adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum.  

“The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

Might it be time to prove Mencken wrong?

“Live Long and Prosper”

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The black-and-white photo is of H.L. Mencken. It is sourced from the Library of Congress.