Patria Votes 2022: SRM foiled again by Social Democrats, Chakra and Green Parties

 “Whose Patria? Our Patria?” But not quite the SRM’s Patria. While the Hindu right “Patria First” SRM won the most seats in the Fifty Second Congress, they ran into a progressive (but not woke) buzz-saw: the “Progress with a purpose” Social Democrats, “Bikes not cars” Greens and “Inquire Within” Chakra Party, who have enough combined seats for a simple (50%) majority in the House. For those bills, constitutional amendments and other resolutions that require a two-thirds majority, they will still need support from the minor parties, Jim Rome’s Jungle, National Unionists and at least a few SRMers. The election really did not change much of the power balance from the Social Democrat-Amrita-Chakra dominated Fifty First Congress, even if the SRM won 34 more seats than in 2018. Despite the demise of the Amrita Party, there will be four IAM – Independent Amrita Members – sitting in the new Congress, who were elected through write-in votes and the party remaining on the ballot in Caesarea. 

The law and order National Union campaigned hard on a “don’t be a pussy” platform, but equating manliness with owning a big dog and supporting the police right or wrong (aka Blue Lives Matter) seemed hardly worth it as they managed to win only one more seat than in 2018. Jim Rome’s Jungle Party finished down one seat from 2018, but at least they took some votes away from the NU, those votes being unemployed or minimally employed adult boys living in their mom and dad’s basement, spending most of the day playing video games. 

The SRM claims its “win” was in large part due to the demise of the Amrita Party. But the real winner was the Chakra Party, who scooped up 43 more seats than in 2018. Most of those votes would likely have gone to Amrita. 

A whopping 22 parties (including the remnants of the Amrita party, known as “IAM”) will be represented in the 52^nd Congress, though nine of those parties hold only a single seat each. Try doing that with first-past-the-post! Thanks to proportional representation, no vote in Patria is ever wasted or elects no one. Even write-ins can win a seat, though this was due to nostalgia for the defunct Amrita Party rather than proportional representation per se.

 Campaign 2022 final score:

 SRM – 90 (+34 from 2018)

Social Democrats – 84 (-12)

Chakra – 76 (+43)

National Union – 22 (+1)

Green – 17 (+1)

Jungle – 10 (-1)

Lilith – 8 (+2)

Libertarian – 5 (unchanged)

Independent (Amrita) – 4**

Chastity – 2 (-1)

Family Values – 2 (unchanged)

Peoples’ Party – 2

Reconstruction Party - 2

Others* – 9

*one seat each: Pottsylvanian Alliance, United Patriots of Pottsylvania, United Farmers of Antioch, Lazurian Independent Party, Patriots Union of Nova Columbia, Incels’ Rights, Victory and Peace, Freedom Party, Popular Front of Caesarea.

** Now-defunct Amrita Party, aka “IAM” (Independent Amrita Members).

Seats won by precinct: 

Fredonia (9)

Chakra – 2, Green – 1, Jungle – 1, NU – 1, SD – 2, SRM – 2

 Haldimania (12)

Chakra –2, Green – 1, Libertarian – 1, NU – 1, SD – 3, SRM – 4

 Pottsylvania (13)

Chakra – 3, Lilith – 1, NU – 1, SD – 3, SRM – 3, Pottsylvanian Alliance – 1, United Patriots of Pottsylvania – 1

 Mauretania (15)

Chakra – 3, Green – 1, Jungle – 1, Lilith – 1, NU – 1, SD – 4, SRM – 3, Peoples’ Party – 1

 Canardiere (16)

Chakra – 3, Green – 1, Libertarian – 1, SD – 6, SRM – 5

 Ambrosia (17)

Chakra – 4, Green – 1, Lilith – 1, NU – 1, SD – 5, SRM – 5

 Antioch (19)

Chakra – 5, Jungle – 1, NU – 1, SD – 5, SRM – 6, United Farmers of Antioch – 1

 Arboria (21)

Chakra – 4, Green – 1, Lilith – 1, NU – 2, SD – 6, SRM – 6, Independent (Amrita) – 1

 Aeolia (24)

Chakra – 5, Green – 2, Jungle – 1, Libertarian – 1, NU – 1, SD – 6, SRM – 8

 Centralia (25)

Chakra – 6, Green – 2, Jungle – 1, Lilith – 1, NU – 3, SD – 5, SRM – 7

 Lazuria (27)

Chakra – 7, Green – 1, Jungle – 1, NU – 1, SD – 8, SRM – 8, Lazurian Independent Party – 1

 Nova Columbia (36)

Chakra – 9, Chastity – 1, Green – 2, Jungle – 1, Lilith – 1, NU – 1, SD – 8, SRM – 9, Patriots’ Union of Nova Columbia (PUNC) – 1, Peoples’ Party – 1, Incels’ Rights – 1, Reconstruction Party – 1

 Federal District of Castoropolis (38)

Chakra – 10, Chastity – 1, Family Values – 1, Green – 2, Jungle – 1, Libertarian – 1, NU – 1, SD – 7, SRM – 10, Independent (Amrita) – 1, Victory and Peace Party – 1, Freedom Party – 1, Reconstruction Party – 1

 Caesarea (61)

Chakra – 13, Family Values – 1, Green – 2, Jungle – 2, Libertarian – 1, Lilith – 2, NU – 7, SD – 16, SRM – 14, Independent (Amrita) – 2, Popular Front of Caesarea (PFC) – 1

As Patria awaits the 52nd Congress Inauguration Day on June 30, a reminder that Patria is not a place for social conservative culture wars. The tired old horses such as modest dress for women and no same-sex marriage left the barn a long time ago.

Election Day 2022 and Hanuman Jayanti

 

Campaign 2022 is done. Now it's up to Patrienish citizens to elect the Fifty Second Congress. Election Day 2022 falls on Hanuman Jayanti. Vote early and sing the Hanuman Chalisa often!

Patria Post has been kept busy during Campaign 2022 with mail-in ballots, but they issued a stamp to celebrate Hanuman Jayanti.

Battleground Precincts as Campaign 2022 ends

Today is the last day of the race for Patria’s Fifty Second Congress. Tomorrow is Election Day. Just as there are battleground states in the US presidential election campaign, there are battleground or swing precincts in Patria as the SRM, Social Democrats, Chakra and other parties attempt to woo voters from the now-defunct Amrita Party. The following is a brief look at the precincts that could swing the 2022 election.

Arboria

As the home base of the Amrita Party and Amma’s adopted “home” since the party’s formation in 2002, Arboria is one of the leading battlegrounds thanks to the demise of the Amrita Party in late 2021. The Chakra Party and SRM have been battling tooth and nail for Arboria’s 21 seats, with the Social Democrats and Greens also strongly in the hunt. There are likely enough Amma devotees in Arboria longing for the now-defunct party to elect at least one independent Amrita member through write-in votes.

Centralia

Patria’s old de-industrialized Rust Belt. Amrita took 9 of its 25 seats in 2018 while the Social Democrats won 6. The Social Dems are fighting hard for Patria’s former industrial heartland, in an attempt to stave off frustrated, poverty-stricken voters going for the macho-tough National Union and the “Patria First” SRM.

Nova Columbia

Usually a breeding ground for fringe and nutbar single-seat parties such as the Patriots’ Union of Nova Columbia (PUNC), as well as minor parties such as the Lilith, Chastity and Libertarians. With 36 seats up for grabs, a fair chunk of the minor party representation in the 52^nd Congress could come from Nova Columbia.

Pottsylvania

Like Nova Columbia, another hotbed of fringe and nutbar parties. The Pottsylvanian Alliance, United Patriots of Pottsylvania or some other stupid party is likely to take one of Pottsylvania’s 13 seats.

Federal District of Castoropolis & Caesarea

With 99 seats in play – 38 in Castoropolis and 61 in Caesarea – Patria’s largest city and the Caesarean suburbs and exurbs that surround it are the major prize in the 2022 election cycle. Note that unlike the District of Columbia, Patria’s capital city enjoys full representation in Congress. Like most major macro-world cities, Castoropolis is chock-full of liberals and hard-leftists, who will split the vote between the Greens and Social Democrats. The proliferation of yoga studios will translate into votes for the Chakra Party. Minor fringe parties usually pick up a seat or two in the Federal District and Caesarea, and along with Arboria there are some hard-core Amrita supporters who could write in an independent Amrita member or two.

As in 2018, Social Dems are playing the Bernie card.

Typical SRM campaign poster seen all over Patria.

Chakra Party could hold balance of power between SD and SRM.

NU men are tough as nails.

Early voting in Fredonia: SRM, Chakra, Social Dems in dead heat

 The feisty little Precinct of Fredonia (“First in freedom, first to fight”) traditionally votes one week earlier than the rest of Patria (TROP). As Patria’s smallest precinct, Fredonia holds only nine seats in Congress. The SRM, Chakra Party and Social Democrats took two seats each, with almost the same percentage of popular votes. The National Union, Green Party and Jungle Party were awarded one seat each of Fredonia’s delegation in the Fifty Second Congress. Fredonia more often than not goes its own way. Its early election returns are a poor predictor of how TROP will vote on April 16, but the 52nd Congress election is still too close to call in Patria’s 12 other Precincts plus the Federal District of Castoropolis.

SRM took two seats in Fredonia's early voting.

Two seats for the Chakras and Social Dems in Fredonia.

As Fredonia’s Early Election Day is also Ram Navami, the traditional “birthday” of Lord Rama, Patria post issued a stamp depicting Ram and Sita together.

Six more weeks on campaign trail as Congress takes pre-election recess

Patria’s tenrec (the animal symbol of Patria, as proclaimed by Act of Congress in 2018) saw its shadow – or perhaps didn’t see its shadow – today, meaning there are six more weeks of campaigning until 52^nd Congress Election Day, April 16.

After a rare Saturday session that capped off days of marathon debates on tax reform and tax cuts for 2023, the Fourth Session of the 51^st Congress (4·LI 2021-22) adjourned for the traditional, though unwritten, pre-election recess in order to allow Congress members to hit the campaign trail in their home Precincts and districts. Congress will return a few days after the Election Day/Patriots’ Day weekend for the also traditional Lame Duck session, which will conclude a day or two before Inauguration Day.

Although supporters of the defunct Amrita Party tend to be parking their vote with the Social Democrats or Chakra Party, the SRM is fighting hard for their votes. The newest SRM campaign posters feature the goddess Kali and a new slogan “WHOSE PATRIA? OUR PATRIA!” along with the SRM's usual "Patria first".

Chakra Party: we love cats

While the National Union considers owning a dog (particularly a big one like a Pit Bull or Rottweiler) a test of manly character, the Chakra Party is appealing to cat owners. The party that bills itself as “Patria’s inner voice” says men who love cats are not pussies. Along with the Chakra Party’s usual posters and outdoor ads featuring, well...duhhhh, chakras, they’ve got a kitty poster girl – a Calico cat named Chandi, who you can follow on Facebook.

With the Beijing Winter Olympics underway, and as usual, micronations such as Patria shut out of the Games, the SRM is cranking up the “to hell with China” message another notch.

“Don’t be a pussy!” as NU plays the Law and Order card

To virtually no one’s surprise, the National Union is campaigning hard on a Law and Order platform that can be summarized as pro-cop and anti-cat. Even more than National Unionists despise soft-on-crime liberals, they detest men who don’t like dogs, are scared of dogs, or who own cats. In the NU’s macho world, dogs are equated with manliness, loyalty and obedience, while cats are useless and effeminate as no police force has ever employed a feline unit and no home has ever been protected by a guard cat. No police department in Patria is in danger of being defunded, violent crime is generally quite rare in Patria, and most cops in Patria do not carry guns while walking foot patrols (but like London Bobbies, they do have nightsticks and know how to use them!) but nonetheless the NU is playing the pro-cop Blue Lives Matter (#bluelivesmatter) card to the hilt.

The NU’s 2022 campaign slogan found on posters and broadcast ads: “Don’t be a pussy!” referring both to cats and the female genitalia.

Finally, a reminder that Omicron is a street in Patria’s capital city Castoropolis (Kashipura). A very pleasant street that passes through the campus of the University of Castoropolis to boot. Patria has never imposed mask mandates, lockdowns, school closures, vaccine passports, or any other COVID-19 restrictions, other than focused protection in nursing homes, long-term care centers and the like. No party contesting the 2022 election is in favor of such things.

SRM playing “To Hell with China” card hard again

 

Typical SRM campaign poster

Just as in 2018, the SRM is again campaigning hard on a PATRIA FIRST and TAKE BACK THE ECONOMY platform, rooted in the old concept of Swadeshi or total self-sufficiency in domestic production, rather than dependence on imported goods. 

Despite the “NO MORE CHINESE JUNK” and “BRING THE JOBS HOME” ranting in the SRM’s print and broadcast messages, the Party has not offered any substantial plan for how the manufacture of typically Chinese-made consumer goods – pretty much everything from computers and electronics to rupee-store crap – will be re-established in Patria (or for that matter in Canada, the US or any other First World macronation) without causing the price of those goods to skyrocket, assuming that the factories can even be built in Patria and enough workers can be found who are willing to accept even Patria’s generous minimum wage.

 

Needless to add, the SRM is also spewing out anti-China hate for unleashing COVID-19 on the world, likely through an accidental lab leak. The common Patrienish phrase for COVID is grippí Chínië – literally “Chinese flu”. 

In-your-face Hinduism plus Patria First economic nationalism! Does that sound like a winning combination, particularly when attempting to draw votes from the now-defunct Amrita Party?

Amrita Party dissolves for 2022

 

After making only a token effort thus far on the 2022 campaign trail, the Amrita Party has announced its permanent dissolution and will not be seeking seats in the 52^nd Congress. The Party released a communiqué full of COVID-19 cliché phrases such as “out of an abundance of caution”, “we’re all in this together” and “it is with a heavy heart that the Amrita Party is closing operations permanently”. Holding 78 seats, the Amrita Party was the second-largest caucus in the 51^st Congress, behind only the Social Democrats’ 96 seats.

The Amrita Party was established in 2001 as the voice of Amma’s Patrienish devotees with Amma as House leader in Congress, representing the Precinct of Arboria. The party was generally liberal-progressive, reflecting the political views of the vast majority of Amma’s western devotees in the macro-world (notwithstanding that conservatives, Republicans, and even die-hard supporters of Donald Trump go for Amma’s darshan too!). During its twenty years, the Amrita Party can boast of some major achievements in Patria that will continue the party’s legacy in 2022 and beyond:

• Inclusion of Amma's teachings and bhajans (devotional songs) in the curriculum of many of Patria's elementary schools.
• Opening of a branch of the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) hospital in Patria.
• Establishment of a campus of the Amrita University in Patria.
• Establishment of a permanent Amma ashram in Patria, in Karunanagar, Caesarea, easily accessible via the Caesarea Coast Line of the Castoropolis and Caesarea Railways (CCR).
• Addition of Amrita Television to all basic cable TV services in Patria.

Where does the Amrita Party’s demise leave the 78 members of the caucus? They will continue to hold their seats in Congress until their terms expire on June 30, 2022. Some will sit as independents for the remaining six months of the 51^st Congress term of office, while others will call themselves IAM – Independent Amrita Members – and hope for enough write-in votes or for the Amrita Party to remain printed on their precinct’s ballot so that they have a puncher’s chance of retaining a seat in the 52^nd Congress. But they shouldn’t count on many write-in votes. Most of the voters/devotees who cast ballots for Amrita in 2018 will gravitate to the Chakra Party, Greens or Social Democrats. But don’t assume that all Amrita voters are liberal, leftist or progressive (see reference to conservatives also going for Amma’s darshan). A fair number of Amrita voters will go for the SRM in 2022. 

The fact that Amma could not set foot outside her ashram in Kerala or hug her millions of devotees, let alone visit Patria because of COVID-19 is a convenient whipping boy for the Amrita Party’s demise. On the right-wing talk stations such as POKX-648, SRM’ers and National Unionists were gloating that Amrita had run its course, is now a spent force and the Amma gravy train (or hugging train) has come to a halt.

Not exactly the message from Amma that Patria hoped to hear.

Amrita Party missing in action on Campaign 2022 trail

 As the race for Patria's 52nd Congress heats up, amid the bevy of campaign posters and broadcast ads from the Social Democrats, SRM, Chakra Party, National Union, Green Party, Jungle Party, etc., the Amrita Party has been conspicuously absent from the Campaign 2022 trail. There are rumors that the Amrita Party will re-brand, re-name itself or even dissolve completely as due to COVID-19 the Party's namesake is unable to travel outside India or even set foot outside her hometown ashram in Kerala. Holding 78 seats, the Amrita Party is the second-largest caucus in the 51st Congress. If the party were to disappear, that would leave a lot of seats up for grabs and a lot of Amma devotees scrambling to find another party. Some will be attracted to the SRM's call for renewed Hindu Dharma. Others will find the Chakra Party's emphasis on government through yoga and meditation more to their liking. Some sitting Amrita Party members might try to run as independents, depending on whether their home Precinct allows write-in votes on the 2022 ballot.

2010 Amrita Party campaign poster. Will they campaign at all in 2022?

Notwithstanding Patria's Hindu identity in the three-plus decades since the Dharmic Revolution, Christmas in Patria is a public and government holiday. Patria tries as much as possible to avoid the excess over-commercialism and keep Christ in Christmas (old slogan "We keep Krishna in Janmashtami, you can keep Christ in Christmas"). Patria Post's 2021 Christmas stamp features original artwork by Georgetown, ON artist Eric "Magoo" Kohlfurst.

Neither left nor right: minor and fringe parties hold Patria’s balance of power

Thanks to proportional representation, minor parties play a key role in Patria and a vote for one of the pint-size parties is almost never a wasted vote. A coalition government, whether led by the Social Democrats, SRM or even the Chakra Party, usually can’t be cobbled together without the support of at least one such party. When a two-thirds majority is needed for ratification of many pieces of legislation, and even for the bills that can be passed with a simple 50% majority, one vote here and one vote there from a fringe or nutbar party can be crucial.

Patria’s Green Party and Libertarian party need no further explanation, as they share the policies and platforms with their macro-national Green and Libertarian counterparts.

The Lilith Party is a party of radical feminists, as hard-left as they come. Real “womyn” only, born with real vulvas and a full set of xx chromosomes. Trans women should steer clear of them. TERFs don’t come any more TERF than the Lilith Party.

There are a few single-issue parties, such as the Chastity Party and Family Values Party whose platforms are pretty much self-explanatory. They have no real raison d’être other than promoting socially conservative causes for the few who actually care about such things as advocating modest dress for women or banning public displays of affection. Local parties that appear on the ballot in only one precinct, such as the Pottsylvanian Alliance and Lazurian Independent Party, exist mainly to represent the interests of Pottsylvania and Lazuria respectively and try to get the precinct a better deal from Castoropolis. Like Canada, Patria’s version of federalism also includes transfer payments or economic subsidies from the federal government in order to help close the gap between the rich precincts such as Caesarea and the poorer ones such as Fredonia.

 

The fringiest of the fringe parties is arguably the Jungle Party, whose leader is the noted sports talk show host Jim Rome. The typical Jungle party voter is an unemployed or minimally employed 30-something male living in his parents’ basement, playing online games, eating leftovers or junk food, and with no girlfriend to speak of. But the party has apparently drawn men who might otherwise vote National Union.

Single-seat “parties of one” are not unusual in Patria’s Congress. In 2018 the Pottsylvanian Alliance, Lazurian Independent Party, Patriots’ Union of Nova Columbia (PUNC, usually pronounced as acronym), Peoples’ Party, Reconstruction Party and Popular Front of Caesarea took one seat each.

Patria’s Right: Hindu nationalism and Patria first

 

Patria’s rightists and conservatives, unlike their counterparts in the US, steer clear of tired old social conservative shibboleths such as banning abortion, advocating abstinence and pre-marital chastity, and keeping women in the kitchen (if not barefoot and pregnant). Even old-school Reagan-style economic conservatism (aka trickle-down theory) goes over like a lead balloon in Patria. Patria’s right is a dissident, populist right, not unlike their dissident, populist counterparts on the left (see previous blog entry). The platform of the SRM, Patria’s leading rightist party, could best be described as a combination of Narendra Modi and Donald Trump.

 Drawing from the concept of Hindutva, as propounded by Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the SRM campaigns hard for Patria’s identity as a Hindu micronation. Virtually all SRM campaign posters (see above) and television ads feature Hindu gods and goddesses. From Donald Trump, the SRM borrows the slogan “Make Patria Great Again” as it pushes for Patria First economic policies, particularly discouraging imports by imposing tariffs on imported goods, and encouraging manufacture of all consumer goods in Patria – the Swadeshi movement advocated by Gandhi in the fight for Indian independence.

Note that SRM is almost never spelled out in full. The party’s official Sanskrit name is Swadeshi Ramrajya Mahasabha. Originally known as the Spiritual Regeneration Movement, the SRM has its origins in the 1960s hippie counterculture heyday, borrowing the name from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s transcendental meditation organization, but didn’t become a mainstream party until Patria’s 1989-90 Dharmic Revolution, at which time it was a left-leaning, liberal party. After the 2006 election, Amma’s devotees merged the SRM into the Amrita Party. But by 2010 the SRM-Amrita coalition fell apart as economic conservative remnants of the old SRM bolted from Amrita (in large measure as a result of the 2008-09 economic meltdown), took a sharp turn to the right and revived the SRM with the initials standing for something new. 

Throwing in its lot with the SRM in any rightist coalition is the “big dogs, tough men” National Union. “Obedience and respect for authority”, “where a man belongs”, “testosterone in your balls, NU on your ballot”, the macho, populist, blue lives matter (“there’s no such thing as a bad cop”), law and order National Union has its roots dating from the mid-19th century as a small-c conservative party. National Unionists once dominated Patria in the 1950s and 60s as a bland, centrist party like Ontario’s Bill Davis-era Tories. They should have died of irrelevance post-Dharmic Revolution, but since the 1990s the NU recast itself to become the leader in the men’s rights movement, thumbed its nose at soft-on-crime liberals, equated owning a big dog such as a pit bull or Rottweiler with being a real man (“cats are for pussies”) and has pushed every right wing law and order issue such as bringing back public executions, broken windows policing and even racial profiling for public safety (“when black males stop committing a disproportionate number of crimes, police will stop profiling them”). They may win only a small number of seats – their 21 seats in 2018 was considered a good showing – but National Unionists always seem to make the most noise on the campaign trail, even if violent crime is not a serious issue in Patria, bringing back the death penalty would be unconstitutional, and a lot of strong macho men are cat owners. The National Union may as well be called “Patria’s Proud Boys”. Note that the real US-based Proud Boys organization does not exist in Patria and would not be welcome should they attempt to launch a made-in-Patria chapter.

A typical National Union campaign poster.

Patria's Left: for the worker, not the wokester

 

Friends of Patria know this, but as Election Day 2022 is less than six months away it bears repeating: Patria may be liberal or progressive, but PATRIA IS NOT WOKE! The Social Democrats (along with their leftist allies such as the Chakra Party and the Greens), who hold a plurality of seats in the 51st Congress and who hope to repeat that success in the 52nd Congress, focus primarily on improving the lot of working people, increasing union representation in the workplace, ensuring that the rich pay their fair share of taxes, supporting public broadcasting, re-building the infrastructure, and in general being the anti-establishment Old Left in the picture above, the one driving the 1971 VW bus.

Over the course of Campaign 2022, the Social Democrats will run on slogans such as "Progress not PC", "say NO to cancel culture" and "for the Worker, not the Wokester". The SDs steer clear of the so-called culture wars such as teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT) and "canceling" any dead, white Anglo-Saxon who did something which may have been acceptable in their lifetime but does not conform to today's politically correct orthodoxy, such as by removing their name from educational facilities or destroying their public statues and monuments. It should be noted that cancel culture  extends to living persons as well and is not even limited to Anglo-Saxons or White people (note that the Aunt Jemima brand of pancake mix and syrup is still available in Patria).

Virtually all parties represented on Patria's 2022 election ballot agree that CRT is a toxic indoctrination that does little except teach Blacks to hate Whites and Whites to hate themselves, and should never be taught in Patria's schools. The initials should stand only for Cathode Ray Tube.

The US Democratic Party would do well to follow Patria's Social Democrats rather than getting suckered by Republicans into fake culture wars.

Election Day in Canada, election season in Patria as Congress returns from summer recess

On the day that Canada holds its 44^th federal election since 1867, Patria’s Fifty First Congress returns from summer recess to begin the Fourth Session (4·LI 2021-22). Patria will not endorse any party in Canada’s election even if the Social Democrat House Leader and honorary Patrienish citizen Bernie Sanders has thrown his support to the NDP’s Jagmeet Singh.

Although some campaigning has already taken place, the opening of the Fourth Session marks the de facto start of the 2022 election cycle and the race for the Fifty Second Congress. Although perhaps not the front-runner with election day some seven months away on April 16, 2022 (with many Patirenish citizens voting via advance polls and mail-in ballots beginning in March or even February 2022, that date is actually the conclusion of  "election season"), the SRM is particularly out in front with election campaign posters, billboards and broadcast media ads, going hard on the slogans TAKE BACK THE ECONOMY, PATRIA FIRST and MAKE CHINA PAY (i.e. for the cost of the pandemic). The Chakra Party has also launched its campaign with the slogan “the Inner Voice of Patria”.

SRM are front-runners at least for campaign posters.

Chakra Party also out early with its 2022 slogan.

Near the top of the Fourth Session order paper is a renewed vow not to impose vaccine passports or mask mandates. Masks will be optional in Patria, though recommended to be worn in certain circumstances such as by those who are actually infected with COVID-19 when not in isolation. Vaccines are freely available and highly recommended, but getting a COVID jab and presenting paper or electronic proof of it in order to enter a gym, eat at a restaurant, attend a sports event, or gain entry to other public places will never be mandatory anywhere. Patria remains committed to achieving herd immunity, protecting those at high risk and learning to live with COVID like the seasonal flu.

With Navratri just around the corner, Patria Post issued a stamp depicting Devi Saraswati.

"Patria is not woke!" is the take-away as Congress adjourns

The Third Session of the Fifty First Congress (3·LI 2020-21) adjourned for the summer recess at 11:23 PM local time today. The Sergeant-at-Arms brought down the gavel immediately after the traditional Annual Message to Congress was delivered by the Speaker Pro Tem. The message ended with a reminder that despite being generally progressive and liberal on social issues and economic policy, with a plurality of seats held by Social Democrats, Patria is not "woke".

Following the the text of the Annual Message to Congress:

Mr. Sergeant-at-Arms, members of this House, fellow Citizens of Patria, on this day we rise to acknowledge that with the Divine Mother’s blessings, the Fifty First Congress has reached the three-quarter mark of its term.

 In keeping with Patria’s traditions and congressional protocol, the last act of the Third Session took place just moments ago – the ratification of Patria’s fiscal 2022 budget that – with support from all parties – will include almost a trillion rupees earmarked for keeping Patria’s transportation infrastructure in a state of good repair. 

And in keeping with a new 51^st Congress tradition, once again this final day’s sitting was paused for three hours in order to listen to Jungle Party House Leader Jim Rome’s Smack-Off XXVII, broadcast on PMBC-1152. Congratulations to Smack-Off winner Brad in Corona, his sixth Smack-Off title. 

One major legislative achievement of this session is the elimination of the gerontocracy, such as seen in the United States from Joe Biden to Nancy Pelosi. This House has ratified legislation imposing a mandatory retirement age of 75 for all public offices in Patria, from rat catcher to Speaker of the House. 

In this Session of Congress, as in the Second Session, Patria has considered the COVID-19 pandemic – or should we say “panic-demic” – little more than a bad flu season, like the Hong Kong Flu pandemic of 1968. Remind us again how long we had to wear masks in 1968. Remind us again how many small businesses were shuttered and how many social, sporting and other public events were canceled in 1968. Remind us again how long we had to forgo hugs and human contact in 1968. Remind us again how many cases of cancer and other deadly diseases went undetected and untreated in 1968. Remind us again how suicides, domestic violence, alcoholism, drug abuse, personal bankruptcies, obesity and depression spiked due to extended lockdowns in 1968. Patria has consistently said NO to government overreach and over-reaction, NO to unelected public health officers wielding dictatorial powers, imposing lockdowns, social restrictions and mask mandates. Alone against virtually the entire the macro-world and even the micro-world, who believed we could extra-constitutionally and unilaterally impose freedom-destroying restrictions and ultimately vaccinate our way out of COVID, Patria adopted herd immunity, put into practice the “Focused Protection” approach of the Great Barrington Declaration and allowed daily life for healthy citizens to continue almost unchanged even before a made-in-Patria version of the AstraZeneca vaccine became available, along with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. From grade school to graduate school, from ABCs to PhDs, schools in Patria have remained open. Not one day of in-person in-classroom instruction has been missed because of COVID. Not a single restaurant has been forced to limit itself to take-out because of COVID. Patria’s small family-owned businesses have not only stayed open during COVID, they continue to thwart the plans of Costco, Walmart and the other big-boxers to expand into Patria. Have there been, and are there still, cases of COVID in Patria? Yes, and the vast majority of these cases are mild, only slightly worse than a typical seasonal flu that can be treated by resting at home. Have there been hospitalizations because of COVID? Yes, and there is not a single emergency room or intensive care unit in Patria that has been overwhelmed beyond capacity due to COVID. Have citizens of Patria died because of COVID? Yes, unfortunately. But virtually all of these deaths occurred among elderly people living in nursing homes, long-term care homes and the like, as well as those already in poor health due to underlying medical issues or compromised immune systems. Only in a tiny handful of cases was COVID the primary cause of death. 

Patria rejects the privatization of the war on free speech, the downloading of government-mandated censorship and cancellation of politically incorrect and dissident online voices to private sector gatekeepers – particularly the tech giants, internet providers and social media major players such as Twitter and Facebook. Such private sector censorship or deplatforming is an end-run around the Constitutions of both the United States and Patria that enshrine freedom of speech – not limited to freedom of speech in ones home or in the pre-internet paper media and public square – as the most fundamental human right. 

For those snowflakes and SJWs who complain of micro-aggressions, oppression or so-called systemic racism (which, unlike real systemic racism such as Apartheid or Jim Crow, has never existed in Patria), whose feelings may be hurt by words and pictures, know this: government can protect its citizens only against physical harm. Not against hurt feelings. For protection against the latter, one must grow a pair of testicles or ovaries, and recall what your parents and caregivers taught you as a pre-schooler to respond to name-calling bullies: “sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me”. 

As the Fifty-Second Congress campaign begins in earnest this summer even before the opening of the Fourth Session, as Patria prepares to vote in April 2022, know this: from Social Democrats to SRM, all parties in Patria say NO to cancel culture. NO to the Thought Police enforcing extra-legal speech and thought codes from college campuses to corporate boardrooms. NO to the violent thugs of Antifa, an openly Marxist organization that neither speaks for the majority of the Black community in the United States or in Patria, nor in any way, shape or form, represents their best interests. NO to PC virtue signalling. NO to critical race theory, white guilt and “equity” over equality. YES to free speech, free thought, open debate and ALL LIVES MATTER, not only the black ones. As the summer recess begins, as Campaign 2022 rolls out, as the #Patriavotes2022 hashtag appears on Twitter, don’t be fooled by the number of seats held by Social Democrats in this House. Patria may be leftist or socialist in economic policy, Patria may be progressive in social and environmental policy, but Patria rejects Cultural Marxism and is NOT woke! 

And let us stay un-woke when this House meets again in September. 

Let us pause to remember the lives lost by suicide as a direct result of COVID-19 lockdowns in Canada, the US, UK and elsewhere in the macro-world, and the hundreds, if not thousands, of North American First Nations children who died of disease, hunger or abuse in residential schools and were buried in unmarked graves across Canada. 

Lokah samasthah sukhino bhavantu. 

Asato ma sad gamaya
Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya
Mrityor ma amritam gamaya.

Hari Om.  Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.

Under the power vested in me by the Constitution of Patria, I declare closed the Third Session of the 51^st Congress, and call this Congress to re-assemble here on Monday, 20 September 2021, to open the Fourth Session of the 51^st Congress

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Campaign 2022 posters are beginning to roll out across Patria.

Election Day in Patria is April 16, 2022. As in previous election campaigns, you can follow the race for Patria's 52nd Congress on Twitter, using the hashtag #patriavotes2022