Hearing the word ‘calculus,’ you’re maybe recalling studying math at school.
Or, maybe you’re hearing ‘calculus,’ preceded by the word ‘political,’ as in ‘political calculus.’
‘Calculus’ is “a particular method of calculation,” that’s one definition of the word. But it can also be defined differently, when ‘calculation’ — or ‘calculating’ — means “coldly scheming or conniving,” and this latter definition certainly can apply to politics, and to some of the people in politics.
Some political animals, so to speak – maybe a good number of them – very well may be conniving, every once in a while. And some seem to be getting rather wickedly clever at coldly scheming.
I’ve had dictators on my mind, and I’ve written articles, in the Daily Post, about dictators and their oppressive leadership style.
A little conniving in politics, out in Washington DC, and in state and municipal governments… we’ve come to know that occurs, and maybe we’ve gotten accustomed to some conniving, here and there, even if that’s kind of sad.
But even more sad, and increasingly scary, is coldly scheming behavior, in politics.
In a recent CNN story, written by veteran political reporter Stephen Collinson, January 6th, 2021, is described as “a day that will live in infamy.” That was the day when the electoral vote totals for the two presidential candidates, in the 2020 election, were to be certified at the nation’s Capitol.
And, who can forget what occurred that day, when, as noted in the article, a former president of the United States “watched the US Capitol come under attack by a mob incited by his plot to overturn a fair election.”
Going by all the recounts of ballots, in a number of states, and all the recounts of recounts, and going by all the judicial reviews and decisions by a number of judges – many of whom were Trump administration appointees – that confirmed the accuracy of voting results, it seems abundantly clear that the 2020 election was fair and square.
There shouldn’t be more to be said, but almost daily, more is being said.
The CNN article describes “Republican lawmakers,” who “bought into Trump’s personality cult, which shored up the twice-impeached President during multiple assaults on the Constitution while he was in office.”
Thinking back to the exhortations to the crowd that wound up storming the Capitol building, the exhortations by a number of people in politics – Mr. Trump and others – last January 6th, what kind of political calculus was going on?
Was it merely conniving? Or was the political calculus coldly scheming?
Harvey Radin is former senior vice president in charge of corporate communications and media relations, Bank of America Western Region. He makes his home in Redwood City, CA.