Still from “Paths of Glory.”
In “Paths of Glory”, Stanley Kubrick’s powerful depiction of the absolute absurdity and banality of World War I, Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas) is between an immovable rock and the densest of hard places. He knows full well his next mission is virtual suicide, but at the same time the devotion and loyalty he feels for his men won’t permit him to turn it down. He has been ordered to take the “anthill”: an insignificant pile of bomb- cratered mud , barbed wire and the carcasses of untold numbers of dead, decaying men. But at the same time it‘s taking will be a plum for the Generals: for them it will mean adulation and back-slapping, medals, untold riches and fame.
This was the image presented by the wildly self-congratulatory leading Democrats and their stooges in the MSM following this weeks midterm elections. How wonderful are we gushed Pelosi and Schumer and Feinstein! We won the House! Another insignificant pile of banality and decay.
Because just as Colonel Dax’s mission to take the anthill was about nothing substantive, or tangible or real so was the Democratic campaign to win the House. Like the bloated and corrupt French generals swilling champagne and medal pinning, the Democrats platform across the board was neither proactive nor the least bit positive. It was all just : well, at least we’re not Donald Trump.
Nothing will be done about universal healthcare, nothing on real job growth or a livable minimum wage, the tax structure, the Banks and Wall Street. Not a single word will be spoken against the Military- Security-Complex, little but platitudes will come about climate change. The House may move on infrastructure- but that will only be in lock- step with the Republicans. Infrastructure rebuilding will not resemble FDR’s New Deal in the least. Construction projects will be fully privatized and corporatized- so we don’t need a crystal ball to see the coming corruption, thievery and incompetence.
The Democratic Party is thrilled because controlling the House it can now constitutionally begin impeachment proceedings. That, after all, has been their entire agenda since 2016. And the nation will be forced to witness the insanity : as the nuclear doomsday clock ticks, as Manhattan-sized glaciers drift into warming seas, as yet more wealth floods to the military and to the 1 percent, the Democrats will sip Chablis and cheer: we took the Anthill!