Why this is hell, nor are we out of it.’ — Christopher Marlowe

After watching the first presidential debate two weeks ago and the vice presidential debate last night this is how I felt — an inhabitant of a Surreal Hell.

Pablo Picasso’s Guernica, painted in 1937, is an appropriate image of hell that applies to today’s America — American politics in particular.

Picasso did the painting after the Basque village of Guernica in northern Spain was bombed by German and Italian warplanes during the Spanish Civil War.

Hold the Front Page

And this drawing by British artist Ralph Steadman reflects my impression of the media’s coverage of the debates and of U.S. politics in general.

This election year is a nightmare. As if the Covid wasn’t bad enough, politicians outdo themselves as lying, smirking, obnoxious vermin. At the end of last night’s debate there was little difference between a politician and the fly on Více President Pence’s head. 

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