For the first time since The Pacific’s founding, the editors endorse a candidate for president. The case for Cthulhu.
Editorial board, The Pacific | Reprinted with permission
In September of 1969, Frank “Seabass” Searles, the founding editor of The Pacific, warned in these pages about the how the thin veil of American democracy could easily be rent asunder if citizens were to become too fat and too dull to recognize their franchise is always under assault:
Listen, man, there are always sharks under the waves. You need to be alert. Float around like a fat seal and **CHOMP** they’re on you. That’s how this whole democracy deal works. The whole price of freedom is an eternal vigilance deal. And that’s what you gotta be. ‘Cause all the greedheads and fatcats want an “in” to the system and a way to lock the gates. You gotta stay informed and know who’s informing you. Tuning out is just grabbing an easy meal on the fishing line. That’s one less fish they have to worry about. And that’s a bummer for America.
The spark that brought this magazine to life was the disastrous 1968 Democratic convention. The violent suppression of dissent and the installation of the weak Hubert Humphrey by the political machines over Eugene McCarthy was as a harbinger of the capture of the political process from the citizenry. It was this realization that New Deal economics, civil rights equality and peace activism was persona non grata in the American political process — except in only the most superficial of forms — that our founders have steadfastly refused to endorse in any political race (save for the 1983 race for dog catcher in San Luvine, CA).
From there, the pulse of America continued to be clogged with fatcats as presidential administration after administration feasted on easy money. Carter dismantled the regulatory system in airlines, railroads and trucking. Reagan brought us voodoo economics. Bush I taught us about the New World Order. Clinton convinced Wall Street that Democrats could play ball better than the Republicans. Bush II brought us the bank bailouts. Obama is full steam ahead on a suite of free trade giveaways of not just our national treasure, but our very sovereignty.
We look at Hillary Rodham Clinton and see a vehicle into which has been poured billions of dollars and countless hours of political and social engineering not only through her political machinery, but her allies and investors in industry. Her paper thin resume nothing but a bullet point list of political deal-making. Her flaws are abundant (many of which are outright felonious). The best that can be said is that she is a team player who understands the true role of the president is to curate the nation for the deep state, not the citizens. A Clinton America is a mélange of the greatest literary dystopias.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, is a reality TV joke that got out of hand. He was supposed to make a quick splash pulling Jeb Bush’s nose hair, punching Ted Cruz’ eminently punchable face, and then cash out so the real candidates like Kasich and Rubio could move to the final round. Instead, his ludicrous roadshow got caught on a populist wave that it cannot shake no matter how outrageous, erratic, and phobic he gets. A Trump America is one of instability and idiocracy – an ignoble end to one of humanity’s great experiments.
For the first time since the magazine’s founding we are compelled to endorse a candidate for president. There is very little left of the great American democratic experiment that cannot be easily overwritten by the next lesser evil to roost in the White House. Our two-party system is finished.
We call on Cthulhu, from his crypt in the depths of the great Pacific, to hear our cries on election day.
Not to save us, but to devour us.
We have failed to govern ourselves, instead choosing to be distracted by celebrities and electronics.
We are too weak to break the cycle of man exploiting man, instead we rush headlong into chains prepared for us.
We have fattened ourselves on ignorance and happy meals, a ready dessert for the dark tenatacled lord.
This judgement is not something you’ll see in large, corporate publications. This is the culmination of what our founder saw so long ago, the sharks are banding together for the final kill. The establishments of the political parties are solidly behind one candidate, eschewing the propped up fall guy. Our media compatriots are manufacturing consent with a deluge of carbon copy exhortations telling Americans to do as they are told.
Our endorsement of Cthulhu is a surrender to the powers that be. The American people cannot be “woke” fast enough to counter this gambit. Though we surrender, we hope to ensure their victory will be pyrrhic – everyone goes down into the watery gravestone of R’lyeh at the hands of a demon overlord.
In its founding statement, The Pacific promised it would never be “the organ of any party, industry or cult conspiracy.” Our interest here is not to advance the malevolent designs of the Great Old Ones. Were this another incremental step of inverted totalitarianism, we would not have contemplated making this endorsement. We believe in true American democracy, in which all citizens, from every walk of life, are treated equally and intelligently under the rule of law. But this is not an election, but a Jigsaw Killer game of political extortion. Both Trump and Clinton are spectacularly unfit to administrate a healthy democracy, but they are incredibly fit to clog our nation’s arteries and break liberty’s heart.
Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn! Ph’nglui mglw’nfah Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn!
