I thought I’d do another one of these somber pieces, since it’s the eve of the election.
This, my last take on this election before its close, is roughly the same as my other ones. This whole show still seems to me seems like the final gasp of a dying oligarchy.
Nothing seems different from the usual tonight, which could well mean doom for the establishment. This election was their last chance to change with the times; to adapt to the inevitable and pave the way to their own survival. In this task, it seems from here as though they failed. In the end, neither candidate was different. Trump isn’t much different than his GOP predecessors, and Hillary is only there because she’s Bill wife. Neither seems exceptional or admirable. Neither seems worthy of being President, and neither seems to know much at all about leadership.
If Hillary wins this one, I think she will be incapable of effective governance, since she will never be able to bridge the gap between her and Trump’s supporters, let alone those like me who think that Trump is just a standard-issue GOP politician. Half the country at least will never happily go along with her, no matter what she does. And, very crucially, that half will never respect her, either. To them, she really is only there because she married Bill. That mix- a wholehearted rejection of all of her ideas combined with a very palpable lack of respect for her, will be hell on her Presidency.
In many ways, Hillary will face a much more difficult battle than Obama, if elected. In Obama’s case, his election was such a wild card that even his harshest critics (like me) gave him a period of a couple years after his inauguration to wait and see what he was about. Hillary will be afforded no such leniency. Her critics have been preparing for her Presidency for decades now, and they’ve been waiting for years to cut loose on her. And, her critics really and truly do hate her personally, already. With Obama, that came with time. Yes, the racial angle with him caused friction at first, but the personal, visceral hatred of him came later, with this policies and attitudes. With Hillary, that personal hatred started over twenty years ago. IMHO, the venom they direct toward her now is nothing compared to what she will receive once in office, when she tries to actually implement her ideas into practice. And this will start on day 1 for her, and will likely intensify as her time in office drags on.
A Hillary win will bring horrific things. It may in fact be the spark that starts Civil War II, kind of like how Lincoln’s election guaranteed the first Civil War. Could happen; I don’t know. TBH, it might be worse over the long term for both sides if that doesn’t happen.
If Trump wins, I actually expect that he will be afforded some of the leeway that Obama got, before people saw him for who he really was. He is to most a wild card, too. Many people, even those who don’t like him, will wait and see a bit in his case.
It’s there, in that period, that his Presidency will sink or swim. If he can use that grace period to change things, and make a positive difference, than he will find a way into others’ hearts, even if only sideways. But- if he fails during this period, and can’t use his influence to help the citizenry here, than the people, both on the left and the right, will eat him alive.
All of the problems we have- the debt, the eight year depression, ISIS, the deficits, Obamacare, black violence, the immigration problems, etc., become his on Day 1. And he’ll need to fix them, and fix them fast, at least partly. Not an easy task. Maybe, not a doable task, by him or anyone else.
If he wins, I wish him well.
If he doesn’t, it will be because of 3 things, assuming that he actually wanted to win in the first place:
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1) He thought, mistakenly and like all of his GOP predecessors, that he could somehow make a successful “outreach” to the Black / Mexican / Asian “communities”.
Republicans, being liberals, don’t believe in the reality of race. Thus, they have this weird habit of thinking that it is possible to “reach” Black voters by campaigning differently. Thus, they campaign in different ways to try to realize this wholly impossible dream. Some, like Romney, bend over backwards in supplication. Others, like Trump, try to intimidate. Both approaches always fail, because THE GENETIC REALITY OF RACE CANNOT BE OVERCOME WITH CHANGES IN BEHAVIOR.
Blacks and Mexicans don’t vote Republican because of Republican behavior! They don’t vote Republican because they’re BLACK and MEXICAN. And thus, not White, and thus, not Republican. That’s just how it works.
Blacks will NEVER vote Republican. Ever. Because that’s how reality is.
Trump and his supporters, being liberals, don’t see this or perhaps even understand it.
And thus, at this he fails.
2) Trump, like all of his recent GOP predecessors, refused to represent his constituency.
Case in point – Trump refused, ardently, to speak up for Whites who have suffered under Black violence.
He also refused to speak up for Whites who have been the target of assaults by Mexicans. Yes, I know about the “Rapists” quote. But, where were the facts and figures? Where was the outline of his to ship ALL illegals back? Yes, all of them, and not the 2 million he mentioned on his “Manifesto”.
And why does he want to staff his cabinet with Goldman Sachs members, like those Presidents that he criticized earlier?
It was Trump’s refusal to stand up for his followers that made him such an easy target for the left. Because they knew he was soft. Because they knew that his followers weren’t represented by him, and thus wouldn’t have his back in a fight.
Trump, being a typical GOP politician, doesn’t seem to have the ability to see beyond the end of his nose.
3) Trump did not, or perhaps could not, separate himself from the other Oligarchs, and in particular his GOP friends.
Who, I ask, is Trump going to put in his cabinet, should he win? Guliani? Gingrich? Who knows? If Trump really is a genuine threat to the system, where are his friends that would help him realize that threat?
They’re nowhere to be found, because he didn’t try to make any.
This is perhaps the point that indicates that he never actually wanted to be elected. Trump’s campaign was all about himself. He had a wealth of opportunities to create ties with other people. I mean, he ran for President 16 years ago. 16 years is plenty of time to forge connections with other, like minded people who could serve as potential cabinet members and allies. 16 years is plenty of time to forge a positive connection with the common man that goes beyond “Vote for me because I’m not a Clinton”.
I’ve pointed this out before, but Trump should have taken a page out of me, and given some of his knowledge freely to others. Being a self-made Billionaire, he could have given the public a wealth of insight into business building and profit accumulation in bad times, and in this depressionary environment, such advice would have been enormously appreciated.
Shades of Ron Paul, here, too, and his years of writing articles on the Web and publishing them for free so that the public could learn from his vast knowledge of libertarian thought.
Such actions engender respect and loyalty. They prove intelligence and dedication to something.
Yes, I know of Trump’s books. But, most were published years ago, and have no practical relevance anymore, not in subject matter, or even in format. The only writing that counts now is what’s free and online.
I mean, why didn’t Trump simply give his books away for free, in PDF format?
Why the hell not? He’s already a Billionaire. What, does he want a few extra thousand? WTF?
This action, as small as it would have been, would have proven to others that he was truly with them.
Or, he could have done something else.
But, he chose not to.
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So- NOW what?
I don’t know.
But, I’m tired, and like everyone else, I just want this damn thing to be over with, one way or another.
Oh, and one more thing- before I close this out, I want to point out that whoever wins that election could well lose the war. These are not normal times, by any stretch. Big changes are coming, whether the establishment wants them or not.