You make some good points, but in the end, exit polling doesnβt reveal the amount of racial bias, homophobia, and misogyny baked into the electorate. Their mango messiah promised them their anti-liberal dreams would be realized. Combine that with a lot of ignorance about how the economy works, and you have the results weβve seen.
Remember that the writer said that we can write off that far right 30% so these excellent observations and suggestions are valid and well thought out for appealing to the remainder of the electorate including independents.
Letβs assume 30% is correct (I think itβs higher than that, TBH). Letβs also assume Dems failed to educate the other Trump voters sufficiently about the economic impact of years of artificially low interest rates after the Great Recession followed by the impact of a global pandemic. Then add to that the influence of price-gouging and collusion by big businesses after Covid, which further drove up prices. Finally, throw in the unexpected oversized influence by certain billionaires on public perception to protect their own self-interests. How does that translate to βletβs vote for the guy who overtly hates us and failed miserably the first time to make our lives better?β Or, forget womenβs right to bodily autonomy, the price of gas is too high, so letβs choose the clearly elderly mentally ill candidate over the younger, smarter, more experienced, and certainly more vibrant one. Voters had only one job, and they failed at that. Sadly, weβll all suffer.
WE, THE PEOPLE, must DEMAND a hand recount beginning in Pennsylvania--
It will reveal that all the numbers are OFF
Was it an undetectable Virus?
Of course this should be have been done automatically when we are up AGAINST the biggest techies on Earth.
They re-engineered the Blue Wave into a Red Wave
Please stop wasting this precious time focusing on analyzing false numbers and false trends!
All of it has been CORRUPTED!
Instead of all these long cerebral articles
MTN needs to focus on THE SOLUTION
which is everyone demanding a hand recount in Pennsylvania
I've been contacting governors, senators, reps offices, the White House and everyone I can for 2 days
If EVERYONE would do this together it would be a lot more helpful than BELIEVING this corruption! Begging MTN and all 3+ million followers to get on board with this solution
Its easy and I don't mean this in a patronizing way but you have to dumb down the explanation of complicated subjects like immigration and the economy. Both are highly technical things that don't fit well in a sound bite on IG or MUSX and that's what DonOLD did (not personally because no matter how many added IQ points journalists have given him post-election, his only talent is grifting). But a great spokesman like Pete could do it and though he's gay has enough street creds to counter that.
Its easy and I don't mean this in a patronizing way but you have to dumb down the explanation of complicated subjects like immigration and the economy. Both are highly technical things that don't fit well in a sound bite on IG or MUSX and that's what DonOLD did (not personally because no matter how many added IQ points journalists have given him post-election, his only talent is grifting). But a great spokesman like Pete could do it and though he's gay has enough street creds to counter that.
Its easy and I don't mean this in a patronizing way but you have to dumb down the explanation of complicated subjects like immigration and the economy. Both are highly technical things that don't fit well in a sound bite on IG or MUSX and that's what DonOLD did (not personally because no matter how many added IQ points journalists have given him post-election, his only talent is grifting). But a great spokesman like Pete could do it and though he's gay has enough street creds to counter that.
I beg to differ. Do you think anyone ignorant enough to vote for a racist, traitor, and rapist cares about all that? You are giving them way too much credit. Most voted for Trump because they are racists plain and simple. The others are just as corrupt and sick as the orange pig and they want to line their own pockets. Not one gives a damn about our democracy. Buckle up we are in for the fight of our lives.
They only care about money. I'm sick of people saying they can't afford things, but yet they can afford multiple $50 trump T-shirts and $30 trump hats; take videos of him on their $1,000 phones and follow his "campaign stops" like it's a Grateful Dead tour. My sister and her husband are the wealthiest people in the family and the only MAGAts. Greed begets greed. They are stealing from their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
I actually think non-ignorant people voted for a known racist, traitor, rapist because he said he would tear down status quo government. That simply was more important to them than anything else for their various personal reasons. I was super hurt that so many Americans voted for Trump, but I know some of them...and they aren't idiots. They had aches and pains that pro-democracy messaging failed to address. I have been super concerned with freedom and inclusiveness. They worried about how much the government was giving away to others (and not themselves). They worried about price of good now when we talked about our success in inflationary trends and number of jobs. And they wanted something about crime, but I don't fully understand that--they can't really want rough 'em up day or military tribunals.
Giving away to who? That mentality is completely emblematic of everything MAGA stands for and everything wrong with this country. People (historically and typically white) always think equality is a zero sum game. If black people and immigrants get rights or support, somehow that must mean that white people lose rights. It goes without saying that nothing could be farther from the truth. For people who are "not idiots," they don't appear to be very bright or have even a rudimentary understanding of how the economy works.
Giving away to who? I hear acquaintances--many who are minorities-- worried that American government is giving too much in aid to wars, people outside the country and to immigrants, when they have needs. I'm basically not in agreement with them, but I know government doesn't really educate the population on how much and why citizen hard earned dollars are going to other countries and non-citizens when they feel their support programs/money go unfunded. Can our pro-democracy message address this concern? I was in Chicago last month and people were complaining that one of the suburbs wanted to do something or other with migrants in the community center--this angered the community since the space wouldn't then be available for regular uses.
Easy, easy, take a breath, calm down, !! Probably or definitely true but my grandmother said you catch more flies with hone than with vinegar. And so you need to use DonOLDs only talent - grifting. He is the most successful snake-oil salesman of all time. How do I know. I've sold a few things. So, just draw the suckers in with some easy to understand concepts and some free stuff and this will all be over in 26. But stop all this vengeance and use that beautiful brain for more than a hat rack. It needs to be done while they are self-congratulating and the suckers are off-guard.
Daughter of Holocaust victims here. The oligarchy and autocracy has taken over. We live amongst the ignorant and the hateful. You said nothing about black, brown, or white girls & women dying because of rape or pregnancies. You said nothing about Putin interfering with our democracy. You said nothing about Ukraine not getting US help. You said nothing about how veterans will lose their monetary benefits, that old folks like me, will lose Medicare and Social Security.
I thought Kamala and Tim were brilliant. Yes, the Dems have always had shitty messaging but they didnβt. So stop pointing fingers. We are fucking doomed.
"Autocracy, Inc." won this election. Murdoch and Putin and Musk and Orban. And now throw Bezos in the club. The New World Aristocracy. The rest of us are serfs. See Anne Applebaum.
Youβre assuming there will be an election in 2028 and that democracy will prevail the next 4 years. Why? Everything Trump has promised doesnβt support that assumption.
Bingo, personally, I am making every effort to get out while I still can (and no, I don't have money, but I will try to flee to Mexico anyway, because it's only a few hour's drive), there is no coming back from this. Trump is unlikely to be around in four years, and unfortunately, his second is a very young man.
My son has accelerated his plans for a move to Costa Rica. Had I not the responsibilities I now have, I'd be right there with him. I see no promise in the future, only a father descent into the abyss of social and environmental dissolution.
Spain is the plan for my 27 year old daughter & me. Originally it was the plan for when I retire in 12-13 years but - we're fast tracking those plans & starting to make moves financially to be able to make it happen.
Agreed, and Iβve had just about enough of platitudes from politicians today as well. There IS no democracy now. There will be no more elections. The people leading us and informing us donβt understand what has happened as well as we do.
The blame game is not helpful, and was this post today. Half the dems in the senate and many in the house ought to have retired years ago, Biden has been one of the best presidents in my lifetime and according to this post, he is the problem. Trump will likely wipe out all the gains of the Biden administration in short order. Trump , Musk and likely the republicans have been running a shadow government since Trump left office. Who is/has/will ever talk about that. Once again it is a white male privilege issue that wins. Everyone else gets screwed
Biden will go down as one of the most transformative presidents in our lifetimes and I am so proud of what he accomplished, but the shortcomings regarding the actual lead up to Harris having to take over on such short notice can't be discounted. Mostly the Biden campaign brought a knife to a gun fight :(
I think president Biden bears more than a passing resemblance to John Adams. Our second president was a better man than Hamilton or Jefferson as he was graceful and sought to do the right thing. A far cry from today's politicians. Look up Dr Lindsay Chernisky's (spelling?) work on him.
I'm personally uncertain about the shadow government comment. That said, I see the oligarchs across the world seeming to team up. I don't really know what the means for me other than they have their eyes on wherever pools of money are. I wonder if Trump's money and the country's money will be more and more indistinguishable...kind of like how the RNC money moved to support basically Trump only.
While he was the president, Trump ran a shadow government. He refused to allow protocol of translators and other officials in the room when he met with dictators and autocrats. He has continued to be in contact with Orban and Putin, and instructed republicans in congress what to vote for and against. He shared documents he stole with people. What part of shadow government is unclear?
Sorry but I think youβre off base. This is not about policy or strategy. It is about the fact that (now) more than half the country believes a steaming pile of well-funded bullshit, and we have no interest in engaging with those morons. Itβs all part of the 50-year master plan that was well-described in David Sirotaβs excellent podcast. Worth a listen, even if just to understand why we lost this war.
Thanks, didn't know that existed, I've had the feeling that an *actual* "conspiracy" WAS afoot (and virtually EVERYBODY was in on it), for a long time, so I'll be checking it out, if only to confirm my suspicions.
It may take a bit longer in order to give Vance a shot at a 10-year term. That said, once Trump is in office, his cabinet and major positions filled, and P2025 has been optically started, the Master Plan Cabal can treat Trump like they did Reagan and keep him βhiddenβ from view with plausible deniability while Vance leads the effort to sell America to Corporate America and the oligarchs by reducing or eliminating all oversight and EPA like restrictions on everything, including eliminating FTC, and all of the health related agencies, etc., that function under the Chevron Doctrine. At about a year in they will have a sudden epiphany that Trump is deficient and Article 25 him into retirement. SCOTUS, of course, will weigh in and conclude he must go, but all of that will take about a year under the cover of darkness from all of the other P2025 matters dominating the news. In the end, Vance is the Master Plan Cabalβs lackey and will grow unimaginably wealthy from massive gratuities while the Cabal fleeces America and Americans with impunity. Not clear if another election will survive the chaos of a massive Corporate and oligarch feeding frenzy.
I sincerely hope someone has a workable counter plan.
The Master Planners have been implementing their strategy for more than 40 years and have been very successful so far. A few hundred billion dollars of corrupt money can do that, particularly when both political parties and the federal judiciary are on their gratuity payrolls.
Sorry Ron, but I'm not on board with laying this at Biden's feet. Not before and not today. Biden has been a quietly extraordinary president despite the hand he was dealt and everyone in the entire world seems to know it but most US voters. You are right that we can't sugar coat this. Biden's fatal flaws were he is older and not entertaining. We need to give the people what they want. They knowingly voted for a felonious rapist. To save a few pennies on gas? I think not. Trump has been selling anger, racism, xenophobia, homophobia and misogyny seasoned with a spoonful of sadism for the last nine years and, with plenty of assistance from Russia, the majority of US voters ate it up. Those are the hard truths we need to deal with.
Same here. We saw what he tried to do four years ago and he made every indication that he was going to do it again. The math isnβt adding up. He claimed there was cheating in PA and he was right. He didnβt mention that it was him doing it. This was a coup and a totally preventable one.
And how was he able to sit quietly all day long yesterday when he hasnβt been able to hold his tongue for five minutes heretofore? He could not even stop talking about his little secret. I smell a big fat Fing ORANGE RAT.
My money is on old Louis Dejoy, all those votes are probably in a mail bag somewhere. What am I to think of the ginormous Harris rallies, and big orange's tiny tiny, half empty rallies? I too smell a big fat orange rat, don't forget, for a while there he was telling them "I don't need your votes, I have enough", anyone think that might have a bearing on things? I sure do, and it was virtually a one off, so somebody in his campaign shut him up about it, not an easy feat, this will never look any more legit to me than any of the other crazy shit that happened, to that guy...
Actually we did not. Turnout was well reported to be below 2020. Voting was easier w the pandemic and mail in balloting. Lots of people did it for the first time at home. No, this is simple: there was no enthusiasm for a black woman with 100 days to try to win. This is not surprising. Whatβs surprising is that the country doesnβt care that its president is an adjudicated rapist, thief, bankrupt loser and felon. Iβm stunned that there are so many that think this is ok because they bought into a lie about the economy. Americans love their bread blood death and circuses, and Trump is ready made. Just add vitriol. We are an amoral selfish people. And our FAFO moment is here.
Joy, I'd like to say you're wrong, but I think you hit the nail on the head. And I'm sorry to say, 100 days or 300 days, it would have been the same. She ran a flawless campaign, but a woman, and a woman of color to boot? Not in this racist, misogynist country.
Will we have a vote in 2028? Trump says no. I worry about these next four years. Yes, they will be a shit show. But how much will be left to salvage? This is his revenge tour and he will try to burn it down when he should be in prison.
Ron, I have followed you (and Meidas) quite closely and find that we think very much in parallel. I am going to chew on this posting for a while and get it digested. Your hard truths comments area bit painful for those of us still hurting from the lack of unity shown by those supporting Kamala in this election. At this moment, I want to air my concerns with what you ended with.
First, I totally agree concerning the array of leadership talent present in the democratic party, especially among many of the governors and some cabinet members (Buttigieg for example). Your exhortation to basically "keep the faith" and prepare to gird loins for the next battle in 2028 assumes some facts/items not in evidence:
- while trump himself is soulless, totally without scruple, character, integrity or willingness to think through anything whatsoever, he is still now prepping to move forward on his clearly fascist approach to our US democratic institutions. He WILL institute outrageous initiatives that no one can intervene to prevent
- beginning in January, his previous effort to co-opt our judiciary will accelerate, with him appointing a proliferation of young, radicalized loyalists for federal judgeships with a pet Senate which will have no motivation to stop him (or block any of what will become a parade of "Federal Judge Cannons" from ascending to lifetime appointments to the bench.
- There is a high potential for the nomination of 4 replacement justices to the SCOTUS, already a highly-politicized institution that is rapidly moving toward irrelevance in protecting the nation's Constitutional continuity. IMO, the "Roberts Court" will go down in history as the last gasp of a Supreme Court which will have zero motivation to preserving what we once proudly bragged of being ... "a nation of laws." No doubt, trump's nominees for any of those vacancies will include the aforementioned Aileen Cannon ... an inexperienced and ineffectual politicized buffoon whose only characteristic is blind loyalty to the aforementioned trump.
- there is ample motivation for MAGAts and their ilk to enact outrageous laws in state and local jurisdictions that have the effect of victimizing citizens, as we've seen enacted in Texas and other states, attempting to codify the control of women and their bodily autonomy.
These items above are only a small example of the kinds of issues that will impede if not prevent any effective "democratic unity" to gain much of a foothold on the presidency and Congress in 2028 no matter how enraged this electorate may be at what will be a horrendous trumpian administration.
The fascist faction that has just been elected will do their utmost to disassemble the democratic institutions and guardrails that have been the foundational components of our governnance for the last nearly 250 years, and they'll do so for precisely the same reasons the fascists did so in Italy in the 1920s and the NSDAP did in Germany in the l930s ... all leading to the same tragic and preventable outcome.
My quibble with your well-intended urging folks to keep the faith and work toward change through the elections process (in the face of the hard-core fascist planning in Project 2025 and in the minds of trump's enablers) seems a little naive, especially for a long-term operative such as yourself. It sounds good, but having the objective fundamental and democratic means available to do that is a long-shot from my perspective.
Finally, I'm an old guy, stung by what I see as the fascist betrayal of our democracy by a lot of short-sighted, low-information American voters. I am not sure I'll live to see things turn around politically, and I'm absolutely certain that the fascists are going to do EVERYTHING in their power between now and the mid-terms, and then again until 2028 to prevent there being ANY sort of corrective actions available to their opposition. In my pessimistic view, I believe the court system will no longer function as objective arbiters of the law; the elections systems, even as well as they worked in this election, will be jury-rigged to benefit MAGAt candidates by a combination of gerrymandering and voter suppression; I am certain that America is moving not only toward fascism writ large, but also toward oligarchy claiming outsized power to direct national policy, not only endangering us domestically, but creating awful harm internationally ... to our adversaries and erstwhile supporters.
Platitudes about "getting organized and taking it back in 2028" aren't helpful. As my cynical self views things, I do not see a plan in your writing that would enable such a thing to take place.
Rant over with -- in sum, we do need to face hard truths about the democrats' approach to this election as well as the hard truths of the impact this incipient fascism will have on our nation before we can mount a legitimate and legal opposition. Also, keep up the good work -- I mean that. Just because I take a bit of issue with some points you've made I still like what you write!
So, don't believe anything we've seen, heard, witnessed, from news, rallies, podcasts, endorsements that she had a great chance of winning AND don't believe he hadn't been planning and scheming for months how to do a better job subverting legitimate votes with help from Putin and Republicans in many states to steal the election AND sit here today having watched him race past her to win the election, doing way better than 2020, in spite of showing nothing but endless, relentless hate and vitriol, and expect me to believe something is not seriously wrong with this election????!!!!! Way past outrageous! How to get a movement going to investigate this???? CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING TO HELP????????????
Sorry, I agree with most of your ideas, but in the long run, 51% of Americans voted for hate and fear over happiness. Biden screwed the American people by not realizing the strength needed to show Americans he was strong. Ukraine, he let them be only good enough for a tie! He could have closed the border situation and fought harder over the failed bill: Merrick Garland and his pathetic charging of Trump. The old-school friendship politics are gone, but he tries to stay with them. Although I believe that America is not coming back from the authoritarian/dictator, the democratic party is the one that is gone.
To be honest, the incessant need of the left to divide itself into smaller and smaller subgroups. It has become a self-defeating process. MAGA operated as a single entity. You could not attack part, of it. The left on the other hand, was divided into so many subgroups, each working for their own goals irrespective of the goals of others. Made them very easy to attack. Made it very easy for the right to pit them against each other. Now here we are, I spent the entire morning listening to various misandristic, misogynistic, and racist rants by left wingers about how some other group on the left let them down.
Maybe we should learn to work as a unit. Get our noses out of the air. And stop being elitist. But, I'm afraid that will never happen.
The leftist activists have shown themselves to be selfish, opinionated, egotistical, single cause vigilantes. That one cause is paramount and anyone who disagrees doesn't get their vote.
Ron and MT team, I ask you to please consider that when a majority of the electorate chooses to elect someone who has been openly hateful to immigrants, people of color, and women, there is little to no impetus as someone who falls into two of those categories, to understand and reason with those who don't find the aforementioned hateful attitude a disqualifying characteristic.
You make some good points, but in the end, exit polling doesnβt reveal the amount of racial bias, homophobia, and misogyny baked into the electorate. Their mango messiah promised them their anti-liberal dreams would be realized. Combine that with a lot of ignorance about how the economy works, and you have the results weβve seen.
Female, black, smart. How will we change that?
Naturally, we canβt. Nor can we un-bias the right wing. So weβre at an impasse. I have no idea to break it.
They have to hit rock bottom... Again.
As if the end of Trump Part 1 was not horrific enough.
Remember that the writer said that we can write off that far right 30% so these excellent observations and suggestions are valid and well thought out for appealing to the remainder of the electorate including independents.
Letβs assume 30% is correct (I think itβs higher than that, TBH). Letβs also assume Dems failed to educate the other Trump voters sufficiently about the economic impact of years of artificially low interest rates after the Great Recession followed by the impact of a global pandemic. Then add to that the influence of price-gouging and collusion by big businesses after Covid, which further drove up prices. Finally, throw in the unexpected oversized influence by certain billionaires on public perception to protect their own self-interests. How does that translate to βletβs vote for the guy who overtly hates us and failed miserably the first time to make our lives better?β Or, forget womenβs right to bodily autonomy, the price of gas is too high, so letβs choose the clearly elderly mentally ill candidate over the younger, smarter, more experienced, and certainly more vibrant one. Voters had only one job, and they failed at that. Sadly, weβll all suffer.
WE, THE PEOPLE, must DEMAND a hand recount beginning in Pennsylvania--
It will reveal that all the numbers are OFF
Was it an undetectable Virus?
Of course this should be have been done automatically when we are up AGAINST the biggest techies on Earth.
They re-engineered the Blue Wave into a Red Wave
Please stop wasting this precious time focusing on analyzing false numbers and false trends!
All of it has been CORRUPTED!
Instead of all these long cerebral articles
MTN needs to focus on THE SOLUTION
which is everyone demanding a hand recount in Pennsylvania
I've been contacting governors, senators, reps offices, the White House and everyone I can for 2 days
If EVERYONE would do this together it would be a lot more helpful than BELIEVING this corruption! Begging MTN and all 3+ million followers to get on board with this solution
With me.
Does anyone know how to start a petition?
Its easy and I don't mean this in a patronizing way but you have to dumb down the explanation of complicated subjects like immigration and the economy. Both are highly technical things that don't fit well in a sound bite on IG or MUSX and that's what DonOLD did (not personally because no matter how many added IQ points journalists have given him post-election, his only talent is grifting). But a great spokesman like Pete could do it and though he's gay has enough street creds to counter that.
Its easy and I don't mean this in a patronizing way but you have to dumb down the explanation of complicated subjects like immigration and the economy. Both are highly technical things that don't fit well in a sound bite on IG or MUSX and that's what DonOLD did (not personally because no matter how many added IQ points journalists have given him post-election, his only talent is grifting). But a great spokesman like Pete could do it and though he's gay has enough street creds to counter that.
Its easy and I don't mean this in a patronizing way but you have to dumb down the explanation of complicated subjects like immigration and the economy. Both are highly technical things that don't fit well in a sound bite on IG or MUSX and that's what DonOLD did (not personally because no matter how many added IQ points journalists have given him post-election, his only talent is grifting). But a great spokesman like Pete could do it and though he's gay has enough street creds to counter that.
I beg to differ. Do you think anyone ignorant enough to vote for a racist, traitor, and rapist cares about all that? You are giving them way too much credit. Most voted for Trump because they are racists plain and simple. The others are just as corrupt and sick as the orange pig and they want to line their own pockets. Not one gives a damn about our democracy. Buckle up we are in for the fight of our lives.
They only care about money. I'm sick of people saying they can't afford things, but yet they can afford multiple $50 trump T-shirts and $30 trump hats; take videos of him on their $1,000 phones and follow his "campaign stops" like it's a Grateful Dead tour. My sister and her husband are the wealthiest people in the family and the only MAGAts. Greed begets greed. They are stealing from their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
10000% agree.
I hate to say this, as it is a very sad commentary on the US population......but you are 100% bang on.
RIP, America.
I actually think non-ignorant people voted for a known racist, traitor, rapist because he said he would tear down status quo government. That simply was more important to them than anything else for their various personal reasons. I was super hurt that so many Americans voted for Trump, but I know some of them...and they aren't idiots. They had aches and pains that pro-democracy messaging failed to address. I have been super concerned with freedom and inclusiveness. They worried about how much the government was giving away to others (and not themselves). They worried about price of good now when we talked about our success in inflationary trends and number of jobs. And they wanted something about crime, but I don't fully understand that--they can't really want rough 'em up day or military tribunals.
Giving away to who? That mentality is completely emblematic of everything MAGA stands for and everything wrong with this country. People (historically and typically white) always think equality is a zero sum game. If black people and immigrants get rights or support, somehow that must mean that white people lose rights. It goes without saying that nothing could be farther from the truth. For people who are "not idiots," they don't appear to be very bright or have even a rudimentary understanding of how the economy works.
We all do better when we all do better.
Giving away to who? I hear acquaintances--many who are minorities-- worried that American government is giving too much in aid to wars, people outside the country and to immigrants, when they have needs. I'm basically not in agreement with them, but I know government doesn't really educate the population on how much and why citizen hard earned dollars are going to other countries and non-citizens when they feel their support programs/money go unfunded. Can our pro-democracy message address this concern? I was in Chicago last month and people were complaining that one of the suburbs wanted to do something or other with migrants in the community center--this angered the community since the space wouldn't then be available for regular uses.
We all do better when we all do better.
Easy, easy, take a breath, calm down, !! Probably or definitely true but my grandmother said you catch more flies with hone than with vinegar. And so you need to use DonOLDs only talent - grifting. He is the most successful snake-oil salesman of all time. How do I know. I've sold a few things. So, just draw the suckers in with some easy to understand concepts and some free stuff and this will all be over in 26. But stop all this vengeance and use that beautiful brain for more than a hat rack. It needs to be done while they are self-congratulating and the suckers are off-guard.
Daughter of Holocaust victims here. The oligarchy and autocracy has taken over. We live amongst the ignorant and the hateful. You said nothing about black, brown, or white girls & women dying because of rape or pregnancies. You said nothing about Putin interfering with our democracy. You said nothing about Ukraine not getting US help. You said nothing about how veterans will lose their monetary benefits, that old folks like me, will lose Medicare and Social Security.
I thought Kamala and Tim were brilliant. Yes, the Dems have always had shitty messaging but they didnβt. So stop pointing fingers. We are fucking doomed.
"Autocracy, Inc." won this election. Murdoch and Putin and Musk and Orban. And now throw Bezos in the club. The New World Aristocracy. The rest of us are serfs. See Anne Applebaum.
So true
Super good points and I agree with you
But it looks like you are!
Youβre assuming there will be an election in 2028 and that democracy will prevail the next 4 years. Why? Everything Trump has promised doesnβt support that assumption.
Bingo, personally, I am making every effort to get out while I still can (and no, I don't have money, but I will try to flee to Mexico anyway, because it's only a few hour's drive), there is no coming back from this. Trump is unlikely to be around in four years, and unfortunately, his second is a very young man.
My son has accelerated his plans for a move to Costa Rica. Had I not the responsibilities I now have, I'd be right there with him. I see no promise in the future, only a father descent into the abyss of social and environmental dissolution.
Spain is the plan for my 27 year old daughter & me. Originally it was the plan for when I retire in 12-13 years but - we're fast tracking those plans & starting to make moves financially to be able to make it happen.
Although I feel this way. Generally speaking, I know the grass is not usually greener on the other side; just green and brown in different areas.
True, and he did promise after his failed coup that he would be back to do it again and succeed.
I would bet no more elections as we know them. Thatβs an important point of Project 2025.
Agreed, and Iβve had just about enough of platitudes from politicians today as well. There IS no democracy now. There will be no more elections. The people leading us and informing us donβt understand what has happened as well as we do.
EXACTLY this.
I agree. I don't think there will be another "real" election. It will be a Russian style election.
The blame game is not helpful, and was this post today. Half the dems in the senate and many in the house ought to have retired years ago, Biden has been one of the best presidents in my lifetime and according to this post, he is the problem. Trump will likely wipe out all the gains of the Biden administration in short order. Trump , Musk and likely the republicans have been running a shadow government since Trump left office. Who is/has/will ever talk about that. Once again it is a white male privilege issue that wins. Everyone else gets screwed
Biden will go down as one of the most transformative presidents in our lifetimes and I am so proud of what he accomplished, but the shortcomings regarding the actual lead up to Harris having to take over on such short notice can't be discounted. Mostly the Biden campaign brought a knife to a gun fight :(
I think president Biden bears more than a passing resemblance to John Adams. Our second president was a better man than Hamilton or Jefferson as he was graceful and sought to do the right thing. A far cry from today's politicians. Look up Dr Lindsay Chernisky's (spelling?) work on him.
I'm personally uncertain about the shadow government comment. That said, I see the oligarchs across the world seeming to team up. I don't really know what the means for me other than they have their eyes on wherever pools of money are. I wonder if Trump's money and the country's money will be more and more indistinguishable...kind of like how the RNC money moved to support basically Trump only.
While he was the president, Trump ran a shadow government. He refused to allow protocol of translators and other officials in the room when he met with dictators and autocrats. He has continued to be in contact with Orban and Putin, and instructed republicans in congress what to vote for and against. He shared documents he stole with people. What part of shadow government is unclear?
Sorry but I think youβre off base. This is not about policy or strategy. It is about the fact that (now) more than half the country believes a steaming pile of well-funded bullshit, and we have no interest in engaging with those morons. Itβs all part of the 50-year master plan that was well-described in David Sirotaβs excellent podcast. Worth a listen, even if just to understand why we lost this war.
levernews.com/masterplan
Thanks, didn't know that existed, I've had the feeling that an *actual* "conspiracy" WAS afoot (and virtually EVERYBODY was in on it), for a long time, so I'll be checking it out, if only to confirm my suspicions.
I have no doubt, as well as a plan by Feb or March of invoking the 25th amendment to get the couch fucker in the big boysβ office.
It may take a bit longer in order to give Vance a shot at a 10-year term. That said, once Trump is in office, his cabinet and major positions filled, and P2025 has been optically started, the Master Plan Cabal can treat Trump like they did Reagan and keep him βhiddenβ from view with plausible deniability while Vance leads the effort to sell America to Corporate America and the oligarchs by reducing or eliminating all oversight and EPA like restrictions on everything, including eliminating FTC, and all of the health related agencies, etc., that function under the Chevron Doctrine. At about a year in they will have a sudden epiphany that Trump is deficient and Article 25 him into retirement. SCOTUS, of course, will weigh in and conclude he must go, but all of that will take about a year under the cover of darkness from all of the other P2025 matters dominating the news. In the end, Vance is the Master Plan Cabalβs lackey and will grow unimaginably wealthy from massive gratuities while the Cabal fleeces America and Americans with impunity. Not clear if another election will survive the chaos of a massive Corporate and oligarch feeding frenzy.
I sincerely hope someone has a workable counter plan.
The Master Planners have been implementing their strategy for more than 40 years and have been very successful so far. A few hundred billion dollars of corrupt money can do that, particularly when both political parties and the federal judiciary are on their gratuity payrolls.
Sorry Ron, but I'm not on board with laying this at Biden's feet. Not before and not today. Biden has been a quietly extraordinary president despite the hand he was dealt and everyone in the entire world seems to know it but most US voters. You are right that we can't sugar coat this. Biden's fatal flaws were he is older and not entertaining. We need to give the people what they want. They knowingly voted for a felonious rapist. To save a few pennies on gas? I think not. Trump has been selling anger, racism, xenophobia, homophobia and misogyny seasoned with a spoonful of sadism for the last nine years and, with plenty of assistance from Russia, the majority of US voters ate it up. Those are the hard truths we need to deal with.
The math just not mathing for me SMH
Same here. We saw what he tried to do four years ago and he made every indication that he was going to do it again. The math isnβt adding up. He claimed there was cheating in PA and he was right. He didnβt mention that it was him doing it. This was a coup and a totally preventable one.
And how was he able to sit quietly all day long yesterday when he hasnβt been able to hold his tongue for five minutes heretofore? He could not even stop talking about his little secret. I smell a big fat Fing ORANGE RAT.
Agreed. How do we make sense of fewer voters - primarily democrats- when voter registration soared?
Just because someone might have registered, doesn't mean they voted.
Trump got 71 Million votes, which is 3 MILLION LESS than he got in 2020.
Harris got 67 million votes - that's 14 MILLION less than Biden got in 2020 (he got 81 MILLION).
What happened to those voters?
My money is on old Louis Dejoy, all those votes are probably in a mail bag somewhere. What am I to think of the ginormous Harris rallies, and big orange's tiny tiny, half empty rallies? I too smell a big fat orange rat, don't forget, for a while there he was telling them "I don't need your votes, I have enough", anyone think that might have a bearing on things? I sure do, and it was virtually a one off, so somebody in his campaign shut him up about it, not an easy feat, this will never look any more legit to me than any of the other crazy shit that happened, to that guy...
O.M.G. DeJoy, of course! I guess we need to see how many ballots show up in Clerk's Offices in the next week; after they can no longer be counted!
My question as well.
Exactly! Reportedly we had record turnout so where are all the missing popular votes?
Actually we did not. Turnout was well reported to be below 2020. Voting was easier w the pandemic and mail in balloting. Lots of people did it for the first time at home. No, this is simple: there was no enthusiasm for a black woman with 100 days to try to win. This is not surprising. Whatβs surprising is that the country doesnβt care that its president is an adjudicated rapist, thief, bankrupt loser and felon. Iβm stunned that there are so many that think this is ok because they bought into a lie about the economy. Americans love their bread blood death and circuses, and Trump is ready made. Just add vitriol. We are an amoral selfish people. And our FAFO moment is here.
Joy, I'd like to say you're wrong, but I think you hit the nail on the head. And I'm sorry to say, 100 days or 300 days, it would have been the same. She ran a flawless campaign, but a woman, and a woman of color to boot? Not in this racist, misogynist country.
I like the line from a Roman Senator in "Gladiator" about Commodus and the Colliseum:
"He will bring them death-and they will love him for it"
They wonβt look for them, unfortunately.
Will we have a vote in 2028? Trump says no. I worry about these next four years. Yes, they will be a shit show. But how much will be left to salvage? This is his revenge tour and he will try to burn it down when he should be in prison.
Per Project 2025, There will be no more elections as we know them.
He won't last another four years, but no matter to the machinery of world domination, in which he has been a useful but by no means irreplaceable cog.
I don't believe there will be a Presidential election in 2028. If there is, opposition candidates may run at their own peril.
Ron, I have followed you (and Meidas) quite closely and find that we think very much in parallel. I am going to chew on this posting for a while and get it digested. Your hard truths comments area bit painful for those of us still hurting from the lack of unity shown by those supporting Kamala in this election. At this moment, I want to air my concerns with what you ended with.
First, I totally agree concerning the array of leadership talent present in the democratic party, especially among many of the governors and some cabinet members (Buttigieg for example). Your exhortation to basically "keep the faith" and prepare to gird loins for the next battle in 2028 assumes some facts/items not in evidence:
- while trump himself is soulless, totally without scruple, character, integrity or willingness to think through anything whatsoever, he is still now prepping to move forward on his clearly fascist approach to our US democratic institutions. He WILL institute outrageous initiatives that no one can intervene to prevent
- beginning in January, his previous effort to co-opt our judiciary will accelerate, with him appointing a proliferation of young, radicalized loyalists for federal judgeships with a pet Senate which will have no motivation to stop him (or block any of what will become a parade of "Federal Judge Cannons" from ascending to lifetime appointments to the bench.
- There is a high potential for the nomination of 4 replacement justices to the SCOTUS, already a highly-politicized institution that is rapidly moving toward irrelevance in protecting the nation's Constitutional continuity. IMO, the "Roberts Court" will go down in history as the last gasp of a Supreme Court which will have zero motivation to preserving what we once proudly bragged of being ... "a nation of laws." No doubt, trump's nominees for any of those vacancies will include the aforementioned Aileen Cannon ... an inexperienced and ineffectual politicized buffoon whose only characteristic is blind loyalty to the aforementioned trump.
- there is ample motivation for MAGAts and their ilk to enact outrageous laws in state and local jurisdictions that have the effect of victimizing citizens, as we've seen enacted in Texas and other states, attempting to codify the control of women and their bodily autonomy.
These items above are only a small example of the kinds of issues that will impede if not prevent any effective "democratic unity" to gain much of a foothold on the presidency and Congress in 2028 no matter how enraged this electorate may be at what will be a horrendous trumpian administration.
The fascist faction that has just been elected will do their utmost to disassemble the democratic institutions and guardrails that have been the foundational components of our governnance for the last nearly 250 years, and they'll do so for precisely the same reasons the fascists did so in Italy in the 1920s and the NSDAP did in Germany in the l930s ... all leading to the same tragic and preventable outcome.
My quibble with your well-intended urging folks to keep the faith and work toward change through the elections process (in the face of the hard-core fascist planning in Project 2025 and in the minds of trump's enablers) seems a little naive, especially for a long-term operative such as yourself. It sounds good, but having the objective fundamental and democratic means available to do that is a long-shot from my perspective.
Finally, I'm an old guy, stung by what I see as the fascist betrayal of our democracy by a lot of short-sighted, low-information American voters. I am not sure I'll live to see things turn around politically, and I'm absolutely certain that the fascists are going to do EVERYTHING in their power between now and the mid-terms, and then again until 2028 to prevent there being ANY sort of corrective actions available to their opposition. In my pessimistic view, I believe the court system will no longer function as objective arbiters of the law; the elections systems, even as well as they worked in this election, will be jury-rigged to benefit MAGAt candidates by a combination of gerrymandering and voter suppression; I am certain that America is moving not only toward fascism writ large, but also toward oligarchy claiming outsized power to direct national policy, not only endangering us domestically, but creating awful harm internationally ... to our adversaries and erstwhile supporters.
Platitudes about "getting organized and taking it back in 2028" aren't helpful. As my cynical self views things, I do not see a plan in your writing that would enable such a thing to take place.
Rant over with -- in sum, we do need to face hard truths about the democrats' approach to this election as well as the hard truths of the impact this incipient fascism will have on our nation before we can mount a legitimate and legal opposition. Also, keep up the good work -- I mean that. Just because I take a bit of issue with some points you've made I still like what you write!
randy hagan, Col, USAF Retired.
It doesn't matter what we do. Trump is going to be an authoritarian and we will not have the freedom to choose.
Or to challenge election results. If the Dems had any cojones at all, they'd be opening probes right now.
Trump's pushing 79, looks, sound feeble. How long can he be propped up?
So, don't believe anything we've seen, heard, witnessed, from news, rallies, podcasts, endorsements that she had a great chance of winning AND don't believe he hadn't been planning and scheming for months how to do a better job subverting legitimate votes with help from Putin and Republicans in many states to steal the election AND sit here today having watched him race past her to win the election, doing way better than 2020, in spite of showing nothing but endless, relentless hate and vitriol, and expect me to believe something is not seriously wrong with this election????!!!!! Way past outrageous! How to get a movement going to investigate this???? CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING TO HELP????????????
The problem is that our election results are true. We need to change.
"election results are true"?????!!!! are you kidding????
I'm with you Jo Ann, it's really REALLY hard to believe this was all above board....
Sorry, I agree with most of your ideas, but in the long run, 51% of Americans voted for hate and fear over happiness. Biden screwed the American people by not realizing the strength needed to show Americans he was strong. Ukraine, he let them be only good enough for a tie! He could have closed the border situation and fought harder over the failed bill: Merrick Garland and his pathetic charging of Trump. The old-school friendship politics are gone, but he tries to stay with them. Although I believe that America is not coming back from the authoritarian/dictator, the democratic party is the one that is gone.
To be honest, the incessant need of the left to divide itself into smaller and smaller subgroups. It has become a self-defeating process. MAGA operated as a single entity. You could not attack part, of it. The left on the other hand, was divided into so many subgroups, each working for their own goals irrespective of the goals of others. Made them very easy to attack. Made it very easy for the right to pit them against each other. Now here we are, I spent the entire morning listening to various misandristic, misogynistic, and racist rants by left wingers about how some other group on the left let them down.
Maybe we should learn to work as a unit. Get our noses out of the air. And stop being elitist. But, I'm afraid that will never happen.
The leftist activists have shown themselves to be selfish, opinionated, egotistical, single cause vigilantes. That one cause is paramount and anyone who disagrees doesn't get their vote.
Ron and MT team, I ask you to please consider that when a majority of the electorate chooses to elect someone who has been openly hateful to immigrants, people of color, and women, there is little to no impetus as someone who falls into two of those categories, to understand and reason with those who don't find the aforementioned hateful attitude a disqualifying characteristic.