Panic In Year Zohran
A Box of Chocolates, the Body Politic, and Mamdani
Politics is a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get. But you know this: every box of chocolates contains a few nuts.
Esposito was a rebel leader in the 1971 Woody Allen movie, Bananas. After a successful coup, Esposito becomes the leader of his nation – and goes somewhat off the rails, declaring:
“From this day on, the official language of San Marcos will be Swedish. Silence. In addition to that, all citizens will be required to change their underwear every half-hour. Underwear will be worn on the outside so we can check. Furthermore, all children under 16 years old are now -- 16 years old.”
At that point, Fielding Mellish (Woody Allen) turns to a fellow rebel and asks, “What’s the Spanish word for straitjacket?”
Generalissimo Zohran Mamdani
The Washington Post editorial board is eager to dismiss New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani as a socialist version of Esposito. “A new era of class warfare has begun in New York,” they intoned, “and no one is more excited than Generalissimo Zohran Mamdani.”
“Exit polls showed that the New Yorkers most skeptical of these utopian promises are those who were born in the city and don’t have college degrees. Mamdani fared best among newcomers and people with advanced degrees. Apparently, living in New York for decades — and witnessing what does and doesn’t work when it comes to running a city — offers more wisdom than grad school,” added the members of the Editorial Board, presumably none of whom live in New York City.
The editorial is one voice in a chorus of Cassandras. Ryan Clancy, writing in The Hill before the election, predicted a dire future for Democrats. “If (Mamdani) wins in November and implements even half of what he is running on,” warned Clancy, “he will be the anchor that sinks New York City and the national electoral fortunes of Democrats.”
An editorial in the New York Post pleaded, “Get out and vote, New Yorkers — it’s the only way to prevent the Zohran Mamdani nightmare.” “To have any hope of stopping the looming Zohran Mamdani catastrophe,” it read, “New Yorkers need to get to the voting booth and cast their ballots against him.” A nightmare and a catastrophe. That’s some bitter chocolate.
Nicole Russell, writing in USA Today, also forecast disaster – and encouraged it. “But the more I’ve seen of Mamdani’s campaign,” she wrote, “the more I think a full-throated case for why New Yorkers should vote him in as mayor may be in order.” She wanted Mamdani elected because “I want New Yorkers to vote for Mamdani to be the dummy test for socialism.” “They’ll see how his policies fail,” she added. “They’re tough enough to handle it (or not), and it’s possible things will get so bad, they’ll have to make a 180-degree turn toward conservatism to right things again.”
The lady doth protest too much – as do her fellow Cassandras. They don’t fear Mamdani as much as they cringe at another possibility: that he will govern effectively and successfully. Just bite into that bonbon.
The Gift of Trump
Politicians aren’t products of a box of chocolates; they spring from the body politic. The “you never know what you’re gonna get” dilemma applies to both.
Nancy Pelosi was a relatively unknown housewife when she ran for Congress in 1987. She prevailed in a runoff and eventually became Speaker of the House. “You could argue she’s been the strongest speaker in history,” said former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Her career was myth-worthy, as though the body politic’s head split open and out sprang Pelosi, fully armed and formidable, the Democrats’ Athena.
It rarely works out that well. Recently, the body politic developed indigestion, then grunted and groaned and pushed out Donald Trump. You never know what you’re gonna get – and when you get it, you might not like it.
“For years, Republicans have disparaged their political rivals by describing them as socialists,” noted the Associated Press in an analysis of a recent Gallup Poll. “But that may not be the insult it once was for rank-and-file Democrats, who have warmed to socialism and increasingly see ‘capitalism’ as a barb.” The poll found that capitalism and big business have declined in popularity – especially big business.
Gallup focused on results, not causation. The poll does not even mention the factor most likely responsible for capitalism’s softening numbers and the rise of Mamdani: Donald J. Trump. Remember the movie, It’s a Wonderful Life? The President is the Henry F. Potter of 2025.
“President Donald Trump has attended his second extravagant party at Mar-a-Lago in a week,” reported The Independent, “as tens of thousands of federal employees go without pay, leaving some of them, and many more Americans, to turn to food banks amid the longest government shutdown in history.”
Trump, who has not flown commercially in decades and may never have shopped in a grocery store, cares nothing about the difficulties affecting those who do. When asked about affordability – the issue considered most relevant to recent Democratic party electoral victories – he replied, “I don’t want to hear about the affordability.” He derided it as a “con job by the Democrats.”
“Trump on Nov. 6 also claimed ‘we have virtually no inflation’ now” reported Chris Brennan in USA Today, adding, “Anyone who shops for anything knows that’s not true.”
Nothing feeds socialism like an unrepentant plutocrat. Trump’s cluelessness fuels Mamdani’s engine. While Mamdani is unlikely to be the anchor that sinks his party, Republicans have a gilded burden that is sinking theirs. Whatever transpires, we voters risk being caught in the undertow.
Chocolates, anyone?