August is usually downtime in Washington. Congress is in recess, the heat and humidity contribute to the desire to escape town for cooler weather, the president is normally somewhere else and cable news is focused on shark attacks.
Not this August. Cable news, especially, along with some newspapers, seem to be fixated on the person Democrats will nominate for president in 2028.
We are eight months into President Trump’s second term and we are being forced to listen and read speculation about an election a political lifetime away.
Part of it can be blamed on former Vice President Kamala Harris who received headlines for announcing she is not running for governor of California and will not seek the presidency again. Harris told the soon-to-be canceled Stephen Colbert “Late Show” the reason she will not run again is because “the system is broken.” Funny how Democrats claim the system is broken only when they lose.
The larger part of the media’s pre-occupation with politics is that many “can’t stop thinking about tomorrow” instead of living in the present. For many, politics has become a false god. Like those ancient gods described in the Old Testament that could never deliver what the people claimed to want, the political “gods” are worshiped no matter how many times they fail to keep their promises.
If, as Harris claims, “the system” is broken, much of the reason is that we have asked the government to do what it was never created to do. Even as President Trump, however imperfectly, is trying to fix it, too many voters still put too much faith where it doesn’t belong.
It is here that C.S. Lewis offers valuable insight. In his classic book “The Screwtape Letters,” a demon in training named “Wormwood” is assigned by “Uncle Screwtape” (aka Satan) to distract his “patient” (aka us) from the plans of “the enemy” (aka God). Kamala Harris would do well to read this excerpt, since she blames a broken system for her loss and decision not to run again.
“Be sure that the patient remains completely fixated on politics. Arguments, political gossip, and obsessing on the faults of people they have never met serves as an excellent distraction from advancing in personal virtue, character, and the things the patient can control. Make sure to keep the patient in a constant state of angst, frustration, and general disdain towards the rest of the human race in order to avoid any kind of charity or inner peace from further developing. Ensure the patient continues to believe that the problem is ‘out there’ in the ‘broken system’ rather than recognizing there is a problem with himself.”
William Shakespeare had his own analysis of the human condition in many of his plays. Students may remember this comment by Cassius in “Julius Caesar,” Act 1, Scene 2: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.” It means that fate and destiny do not control us, but rather the good or bad choices we make are the result of our actions which are determined by the worldview to which we cling and believe.
Imagine if politicians began speaking like Lewis and the Bard, telling voters “I can’t do more for you than you can do for yourselves.” With so many addicted to politics and “the system” voters might quickly drive especially the career politicians from office and the ratings on cable news would drop like a stone.
Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (HumanixBooks).