Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

“…the more that changes, the more it's the same thing : the more things change, the more they stay the same —often shortened to plus ça change”

Like most of those in my generation - those who are left, not to be too maudlin about it, only realistic- are not exactly technology geniuses or Facebook aficionados. However, once in a while one can find bits of wisdom there that catch the eye, some of which are startlingly timely. This was one of them.

Of course, in this age of scams, spam and liars one must do proper due diligence to confirm the accuracy of items like this one as there is a lot of “creative” work at play on both Facebook and Twitter. My research confirms that this was indeed written by Judge Alber:

A recent share on social media points out the problem. It has been verified that retired California Superior Court Judge Keith M. Alber wrote a short opinion piece that asserts several steps to overturn a democracy. These steps purportedly came from a political science textbook that the judge was assigned to read in 1954. He does not recall the title or author of the text.

Reading that list, written during a time generally regarded as one of the calmer periods and one which preceded the totally insane 1960’s, causes one to have a surreal sense in that it almost precisely mirrors many of the major maladies facing us today. One would be excused for believing, as I did when I first read this piece, that it was just another piece of fiction created for amusement purposes. The scary part is that it is accurate and someone had the probably unintended prescience to predict what the Nation which has always stood as a shining beacon on a hill to the world has been assaulted by. Barbarians at the gate, tragically and literally.

Are we putting too much hope into November? I do not have the answer to that one but I do know what I feel about it - it’s our last stand.

God Bless America!