Viva la Muerte!

Does Joni Ernst Have a Death Wish?

U.S. Senator Ernst "apologizing."

All Joni Ernst did at her May 30 town hall was state the obvious in an inappropriate context. After all, it is true: "We all are going to die." Her interlocutors may have been inarticulate, but their meaning should have been clear to her. People who will die without their medicine would like to have their medicine. Ernst didn't want to address that issue, so she sought to shift the argument away from it and managed to pull off a gaffe that may end her career.

And then she put out an "apology" video that made matters even worse.

There are actually less attractive positions on this particular mine field. I don't think, for instance, that she's an actual death lover. Back in the Spanish Civil War, Franco's fascist troops used to shout Viva la muerte! Which means Long live death!

I don't think she's there. But I think she may be on nearby territory. In an old Ingmar Bergman movie, an attractive young woman says, "I often long for death." She said it in Swedish, but as I recall there were subtitles.

It happens. Some people have just seen too much. Others see a catastrophic failure in their immediate future, and would rather not go through it. "Shoot me now" was the semi-joke at one of my jobs.

It's possible that Ernst has seen too much and also has a clear view of the coming days. I wonder how many people like her are floating around in Trump World.

See also Just Another Picture, Message for the Mad King.