Forgetting the President? The Labyrinth Index, by Charles Stross

 Just a quick one for today.  I'm a little behind in The Laundry Files series, by Charles Stross.  If you don't know the series, it is basically a cross between The X-Files, HP Lovecraft, and Dilbert.  A British government agency-- the Laundry-- is charged with managing supernatural threats, and it is overly-bureaucratized.  The supernatural, as it exists in the series, centers around Lovecraftian horror, but includes basically everything else too.  As with any long-running series, the books range in quality, hence the "OK, I guess I'll get to the next one," but whatever.  Book 9-- The Labyrinth Index-- came out in 2018, and I just got around to reading it.  I don't feel cheated, but I am at least sufficiently amused to make a couple of observations.

First, here's the basic plot.  Followers of Cthulu are taking over the United States, and here's their insane plot.  (Gaze upon an elder god and go mad, so of course their plot will be looney tunes, right?)  They want the country worshipping their god-emperor, which requires there to be a vacancy.  So, they cast a spell to make everyone forget the existence of the President, and indeed, Article II and everything associated, every time they go to sleep.  Plot holes ensue.  People can be reminded of the President, with difficulty, after they wake up, but then they forget again when they fall asleep.

So two quick comments.  First, in 2018, wouldn't you have wanted to forget about the president?  He wouldn't fucking let you.

Then, Stross has some fun with that sleep thing.  Awaken.  "Woke."  The President eventually goes on a mission to get as many people "woke" as possible, using that word.  Not in any racial way, but literally in reference to sleep, because when people fall asleep, they forget he exists.  It's just a fun play on words, but Stross has enough "woke" cred to do this because of what and how he writes.

Yet a lot of Americans at the end sort of say, oh fuck it, let me sleep.  And that's an interesting point, isn't it?

OK, Trump or Cthulu?  Returning to my question, wouldn't you have wanted to forget that asshole?  And if the cost had been that at some point in the future, the eldritch horror of Cthulu would be brought forth to destroy all of existence, well... at least in the meantime, you wouldn't have had to listen to Trump!  No Trump-tweets, no crazy Trump moments, no mornings checking the news with that special sense of dread that came from oh-fuck-what-has-that-asshole-done-now...

And best yet, Cthulu isn't racist!  (Lovecraft?  Racist as shit, but Cthulu?  Nope.)  Cthulu is completely egalitarian.  Cthulu will wipe out all of humanity.  Along... with... all of existence, and thereby end all racial inequality, and indeed all inequality!  Watch what happens to the GINI coefficient once Cthulu's economic plan goes into effect!  Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez, and the rest of that cadre must be totally in the tank for Cthulu!

But that's not my primary point.  My primary point is that Ibram X. Kendi must, logically, approve of Cthulu.  You see, since Cthulu would end all racial inequality by wiping out all of existence, Cthulu is not racist.  Therefore, Cthulu is the ultimate anti-racist.  Cthulu must logically get the Ibram X. Kendi stamp of approval.  Unless... unless Ibram X. Kendi is full of shit.

Regardless, Cthulu might have been better than Trump, right?  At least in the short term.

Anyway, here's some music.  Malcolm Holcombe, with a live performance of the title cut from Not Forgotten.