What Goes Up

Power is a wicked intoxicant. Addictive as hell.

Some can wield it responsibly. Many can’t. One gets a taste and proceeds in moderation. Another gets hammered, instantly hooked. Most fall somewhere in between. It can be hard to tell how they’re handling it, until power is taken away.

America is presently cursed with a political party that’s deathly afraid of the future. It doesn’t like where we’re at in 2024, feels uneasy about what 2025 might hold, doesn’t even want to think about 2035 or 2045. It’s comfortable with 1955, wants to go back there in the worst way.

This party’s followers are accustomed to predominance, to a society that is a reflection of them. But they sense their grip is slipping. That unnerves them to no end.

Here in Wisconsin, the ruling party manipulated voting districts to stay in charge even after losing favor with voters, fashioning the nation’s most politically biased state legislative district maps. The scheme worked wonders, preserving and even growing the party’…