System Failure for the Establishment

Democrats thought the political establishment and mainstream media would assure them victory as they brushed off Bernie Sanders and insisted on Hillary Clinton, ignoring the growing hatred of “the system,” notes Lawrence Davidson.

By Lawrence Davidson

On Election Day, Hillary Clinton, with all her data specialists and poll gurus, came up short. The morning after, they didn’t know what hit them – that is, the unexpected fact that statistical data and real life don’t always coincide. People often tell pollsters what they think the pollsters want to hear, or what media tells them is the expected answer, while clandestinely harboring different opinions that they share only with their family, friends and drinking buddies.

Hillary Clinton and the Democratic leadership, as well as their Republican Party counterparts, represent a well-entrenched political system. That system is responsive to lobbies or interest groups and not disgruntled citizens. What is more, none of the country’s political bosses can see beyond this system and how it relates to their own political needs.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaking with supporters at a campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona, March 21, 2016. (Photo by Gage Skidmore)

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaking with supporters at a campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona, March 21, 2016. (Photo by Gage Skidmore)

During the 2016 election campaign that near sightedness led to a fatal misinterpretation: that Trump represented only hooligans and “deplorable” people who could not themselves possibly add up to a “silent majority.” Thinking along these lines, Clinton and the overconfident Democratic establishment made a perhaps unconscious decision to let this apparent bozo Trump lose the election, rather than they, the Democrats, going out there and doing what was necessary to win it.

For instance, they apparently did not bother to design a message to compete for the votes of those listening to Trump. They did not take into consideration the historically observable fact that millions of Americans had, over the last 50 years, seemed to give up on politics because they saw the system as unresponsive. The Democrat establishment did not respond to this phenomenon. Indeed, they made sure Bernie Sanders, the only Democratic who was trying to respond, would fail.

A Deep Division

The truth is that the United States is a very deeply divided country, and has been since the 1960s. The division is multifaceted and involves cultural issues that touch on gender, race and lifestyle; and class issues such as job creation and trade treaties. Also, the city mouse/country mouse divide is very real and very deep.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confronts Sen. Bernie Sanders in Democratic presidential debate on Jan. 17, 2016.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confronts Sen. Bernie Sanders in Democratic presidential debate on Jan. 17, 2016.

Much of rural white America has various degrees of negative feelings toward African-Americans, Latinos, Asians and anyone else who does not look and talk like them. These are the same sort of people who once hated kids with long hair, afros, and a preference for marijuana over whiskey.

All of these disgruntled ones, like those millions of Christian Fundamentalists out there, have never gone away. They were just waiting – even if some of them didn’t know it. They were waiting for a “hero,” and when he appeared, they elected him president.

So the divisions are real and they are not new. And no one in the political establishment, Democrat or Republican, addressed them. That opened the door for Mr. Trump.

That means Trump’s victory should not properly be seen as a Republican Party victory. Trump just exploited the party label. In truth, he has destroyed the Republican Party as we traditionally knew it. Its future is very uncertain.

What Can We Expect?

Donald Trump has made a fetish out of being unpredictable, which, at the very least, is bad for the stock market. Inevitably, however, there will be signs that give a hint as to what might be expected.

The run-down PIX Theatre sign reads "Vote Trump" on Main Street in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota. July 15, 2016. (Photo by Tony Webster Flickr)

The run-down PIX Theatre sign reads “Vote Trump” on Main Street in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota. July 15, 2016. (Photo by Tony Webster Flickr)

For instance, Trump will have to name a cabinet. Interestingly enough, most of those who will be available, be they private-sector business people or right-wing goofballs like Sarah Palin and Chris Christie, are creatures of the standing political system. They have no real interest in reforming current ways of doing things as against profiting from them – which, of course, is a form of business as usual.

There will be tremendous pressure on Donald Trump to go along with and slot himself into the existing political system in Washington (as did President Obama). At every turn, in Congress and in the bureaucracies, there will be no one to deal with but systems people.

Beyond a limited number of exclusively executive functions, Trump needs standing political arrangements to operate. Thus, if he suddenly turns relatively conventional, no one should be too surprised. What about all that campaign rebel talk? Well, remember, he is unpredictable which, in his case, goes well with also being a consistent liar.

Trump promised a lot during the campaign. He was going to rebuild the inner cities, the military, all of the nation’s bridges, etc. And he would do so while simultaneously lowering taxes. Short of bankrupting the country, this is fiscally impossible.

He promised to remake foreign policy, which, being within the realm of executive power, may be more doable. Will he try to cancel international trade agreements? Will he pull out of NATO? Will he dump the Zionists and the Saudis? Will he ally with the Russians?

These are interesting questions. What about global warming, which he claims not to believe in? How about international law and our relationship to the United Nations? It’s all up for grabs, and that worries a lot of people – very few of whom voted for Trump.

Many of those who did vote for Donald Trump don’t care about any of this. They voted for him because he appeared to stand against the political system they hate. They want the country ethnically cleansed of Mexicans, the government downsized and, culturally, the clock turned back to the 1950s. If he does not do this, he will appear to have become part of that hateful system, and his fans may well end up hating him too.

Lawrence Davidson is a history professor at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. He is the author of Foreign Policy Inc.: Privatizing America’s National Interest; America’s Palestine: Popular and Official Perceptions from Balfour to Israeli Statehood; and Islamic Fundamentalism.

42 comments for “System Failure for the Establishment

  1. November 12, 2016 at 09:23

    Predicting what public opinion will be on election day seems as hard to predict as the weather – and we devote much less effort to do so, even though it is arguable that it is even more important. People do make decisions based on the polls.

    So I’d like to propose that a poll be conducted to determine how many votes went to Trump in the last election, in order to send a message but would have voted differently if they thought Trump might actually win.

  2. Joe Tedesky
    November 12, 2016 at 03:27

    I will admit it, I had this whole election campaign season all wrong. I thought that by Hillary having Rothschild’s and Rockefeller’s money, plus the voter machine savvy Bush family on board, that her candidacy was a win, win, win, for everything inside the Fortune 200 and then it’s time for our first Madam President to move her desk into the Oval Office. I mean, how could you miss with that kind of hand. Yet miss she did, although she had the popular vote one could ask how did not having the correct rhetoric and strategy to win the Rust Belt? Remember how Hillary went to West Virginia to announce the end of coal. By her doing that, why didn’t she go to Wall Street and tell them we are printing no more money? With this kind of strategy she could have told jokes at funerals, and kid herself to how she is loved. Talk about a bubble.

    Looking back on it, it was easy to see by just by talking to a Hillary voter (not supporter) that they’re voting for her showed no enthusiasm or excitement to correspond to they’re voting for her in their eyes. It was empty vessel pseudo Hillary voter just trying to avoid a Trump in the White House, or a Hillary supporter who just merely wanted to get more liberals on the Supreme Court. Don’t laugh at this, because the Fat Lady just entered the room, and the orchestra is tuning up at this very moment for her to begin with her opening song, so don’t laugh. Hillary supporters had no answers for the many claims, aka; Diania Johnstone’s ‘Queen of Chaos’, as they shrugged it off as a ‘they all do something’ kind of thing, and just hoped for the best.

    Hillary supporters, and Donald Trump supporters, had that one thing in common, and that is, they voted and then just went on hoping for the best. All supporters are people, and our politicians should listen to them. With this in mind, is it fair to wonder to if Trump did feel the temperature and the country’s pulse, better than all this past elections running politicians, plus the media? Is he that good with mass appeal, and the psychological impact that serves his best interest? Probably none of that, as so much is he just got lucky. I do remember him a year ago telling everyone how he would do a Rust Belt sweep. Pretty smart if you want to first nail down the Electoral College…I mean it’s a genius of a plan just because it’s simple, and affordable.

    The Trump voters I know are varied. Some are in their sixties and remember the plant closures which happened under Bill Clinton. The executive who worked at the plant, saw his or her dream shut down, as NAFTA send their job to Brazil or elsewhere. The laborer saw steady employment at a fair wage go out the window, and had to watch they’re healthcare go down the drain under the last Clinton who with a pen signed over they’re main income of survival. Retraining often leads to more let down, unless you find a busy industry which has a future. The executive may have by now worked through enough car dealerships to have retired, but his grandchildren are stuck in the mud for monies to pay they’re way through college at today’s prices, and grandpa is pissed. The laborer keep working with his hands and back to a point of finding some comfort, but his wife now after the kids moved out holds down now two jobs, but hey they still fly they’re American flag…don’t they? Most of these Trump voters I know get a kick out of how the Donald ticks off the media, and especially enjoy his naming politicians by they’re crookedly persona. They almost all say, what the hell do we have to lose, and they go about they’re way. Efficient indeed. No time to dwell about what Trump said, he just means to shake up and bring things down. And no Trump voters are not all racist.

    As a disclaimer I hope I’m not painting with to broad a brush. I don’t want to think in stereotype examples of any voter. Ironically Trump wins by that crazy Electoral College thing, and he deep down thinks how he got to do away with that college thing, because it truly sounds like something Donald wouldn’t like, but it’s there so use it. Hillary’s fall will be written about for a very longtime, and may probably more than not get held up against the Trump campaign of 2016, and political science professors will go GaGa for a very long time talking about the time a real estate billionaire defeated a career political dynasty, for this all is pretty amazing.

    For now we need a country less divided, and more working on the economic and prioritizing correctly how our tax dollars may be spend the most wisely. To work towards the equity of wealth fairness, such as in America 1954 60% of the wealt was found in the middle class. Trump better deliver the jobs, or he will be send packing along with the other ones who succeeded him. The people have spoken, now let’s see if the politicians are listening…we better yell.

    Lastly, for us who hate our propaganda media, it’s probably about to get worst before it gets better. Trump real war will be fought through the media…let’s see who wins.

    • Schoppy
      November 13, 2016 at 22:49

      Since the bias of the media is a known fact, their coming war against Trump will be ugly.
      If not careful that could work for Trump if he can put into action what he promised.
      Especially his promise to crank up the USA economy and re-employ their workers.

  3. Karl Kolchack
    November 11, 2016 at 21:36

    I grew up in a rust belt town where nearly all my friends were children of factory workers. Most of them are good people who just want their old jobs back–or failing that an adequate replacement. Neoliberals like the Clintons, Bushes and Obama destroyed the factory jobs while gutting social programs at the same time. Nice job, a-holes. Now America is on the precipice of turing to true fascism.

  4. Jeremy
    November 11, 2016 at 20:17

    Greek, I agree that Trump voters (which we need to distinguish from “Trump supporters”) should not be painted with the same broad brush. It is as if The Establishment cannot take the ego blow that comes with accepting that many were simply “voting for the lesser evil” when voting for Trump over The Queen of Chaos. And those who believe he is their savior, I agree with many before me that they are in for a rude awakening or as Davidson concluded “…he will appear to have become part of that hateful system, and his fans may well end up hating him too.”

    Poor is the new black, and by poor I mean “relatively poor,” in that to the 1% the other 99% might as well be barefoot and eating dirt. We will become less racist when the out of work white working class rural folk and the inner city poor black community realize that despite their cultural differences they now find themselves on the same side. The same goes for the middle level executive who has such disdain for all those on welfare, not realizing she is closer to poverty then to wealth. The 1% will never seek to heal our divisions because our divisions preserve the status quo, by keeping us fighting amongst ourselves. This is why the DNC did everything they could to make Bernie Sanders go away who was sincere in his desire to get money out of politics. So nobody will say this because it is not pc, but we are misdirected when we make fighting for racial justice the focus. Racial injustice is the result of whites being misdirected, blaming the victim while acquiesing to their wealthy oppressors. I bet if we followed the example of France, and funded everyone of our schools equally (or rather lopsided in favor of districts that have been financially starved for decades at least until they “catch up”), while teaching students in schools of the de-industrialized white America how to be free thinking members of a democracy rather then making the classroom a stifling place of rote memorization and preparation for a factory job that is no longer there, we would rapidly move toward a much less racist society. Blacks would overcome the educational deficit, and working class whites would find life after NAFTA, and the two groups would realize they had a common foe. This is why it was actually college educated whites that got Obama elected, they knew that our white privelege is a sickness and we must join with blacks to overcome it.

    Sorry Greek, it was not the working class whites, I know because I happen to be living in Western PA during the ’08 election, and the people had so much hatred for Obama, and you knew it was racism, but they insisted it was because he was a “socialist” “un-American” or even “a terrorist.” This was all code ofcourse and the second you called them on it they would erupt in a defensive fury saying “See! You can’t crticize Obama without being called a racist!” Then in the next breathe they would tell a racist joke.

    Giving every child an equal education (along with universal healthcare), raising children to be free thinking democratic citizens would be indication to me that we are headed in the right direction. To pay for it all we have to do is stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons, stop imperialist wars, subsidizing big oil, and big agri-business….as a start. ;)

    No matter what your issue, there will never be progress until money gets out of politics, i.e. overturning Citizens United. And to do that I believe we must abandone the two parties and as Chris Hedges recently said ” go out into the political wilderness.”

    • A Greek
      November 11, 2016 at 20:24

      To sum up my feelings for Sanders:

      “I like Sanders as a politician”

      I don’t like the crowds that he attracts”

      Regarding Trump, i also have that feeling that he will become one of them

      (After seeing our Greek “revolutionary” PM becoming the establishment that for so many years scolded)

      I hope that he shakes things up a bit cause this has crossed the line many years ago. Amazing and disheartening what power can do to a human….

  5. A Greek
    November 11, 2016 at 17:19

    So now we delete comments huh?

    And i thought you were different…..Seems that i was mistaken….

    Let me try again:)

    This is a very gross generalisation of Trump supporters in my honest opinion. The current article ignores the fact that many Latinos,ex democrats and African-Americans voted for him also.

    No, the rural America is not only made by wanabee “Yankees” speaking with the most redneckish accent. The rural areas also contain people who busted their asses working in the US industry that is now in ruins,in coal mines which have long been shut down. Quite a few of them voted for Obama in the 2 previous elections,so no, they are not just a bunch of ultra religious nutjobs.

    But i guess these facts dont fit well with the whole narrative.

    Jeez,i didn’t expect this from a university professor….

    • aquadraht
      November 11, 2016 at 18:31

      Ok, let us not overreact. Much you say is true. It is necessary to study the outcome carefully.

      Indeed, there was not so much of a trumpist movement. In fact, according to figures, up to 1.2million voters less voted for Trump than for Romney in 2012. So there was a movement away from Trump, though a slight one.

      Trump won the election due to a mass movement away from Hillary Rodham Clinton. More than 6 million voters ran away from her (screaming?) compared to Obama’s second term. And Obama had already lost about 4 million voters compared to his triumph in 2008. Personally, after having spoken to some friends and relatives in the US (I am from Germany), my impression was that many shunned Hillary, and even voted for Trump, grudgingly, due to the danger of nuclear war.

      Even more interesting: According to exit polls, the share of black and latino voters for Trump, compared to Romney, rose by 5% and 9%. That means a net gain in absolute voters from these groups. Maybe those people did not perceive Trump as racist and as evil as many left wing and liberal observers and activists.

      This reveals that the potential and base for a Trump revolution is obviously much lower and probably a misperception, as was the expectation that HRC would certainly be elected. Both camps shrunk, irrespectively of rally noises. So midterm elections, less than 2 years after inauguration, may prove how long the victory will last. Though HRC was a disgrace, Dems won at least a bit on Senate and House level. If they don’t miserably fail as an opposition, they have the potential of routing Republican majorities in both houses in 2018.

      Notably, this opinion is based on a more superficial view at the popular vote and the exit polls. It will need a thorough examination of state and county outcomes, and interviews, to assess the motives of the electorate. It is bit early to jump to conclusions.

      • A Greek
        November 11, 2016 at 19:56

        Funny thing really what you said regarding the fewer votes Trump took…

        Its interesting how both parties actually shrunk in votes compared to previous years. The Democrat side is down a whopping 10 million votes (less) than 2008 Obama Presidential election. Seems that many people are getting severely disconnected with the Democrat-Republican side, although the republican side is more stable at first sight.

        Still, the mid term election would be crucial to see the voter turnout-individual party support since the dust of the 2016 election would have settled by then.

        For some reason,i would be more upset if Hillary would have won the elections since the consequences of her “Hawk Policies in Libya” and the pressure he put on Obama regarding the Syrian intervention matter, had catastrophic consequences for my country, in the migration and “regional relations and stability” spectrum.

        Interesting years are ahead,that’s for sure:)

  6. Drew Hunkins
    November 11, 2016 at 15:42

    It’s all well and good to battle back against Trumpie’s regressive policies, but just as much avid and constructive engagement should go into either: 1.) building a Dem Party that’s totally and completely based on a strong and robust economic populism, OR 2.) scrapping the Dem Party and building a different party — perhaps the Greens — that’s totally and completely based on a strong and robust economic populism.

    Despite Trumpie’s faults, he does appear to have two things going for him, he never fell for the group think of incessantly demonizing Putin and Russia and he also professes to be against all the NAFTA/TPP baloney. Of course how wedded he is to these two fine attributes of his will be tested now that Paul Ryan, Pence, McConnell, the military industrial complex and the pro-Israel lobby will have his daily constant attention in Washington.

    • Bill Bodden
      November 11, 2016 at 16:39

      OR 2.) scrapping the Dem Party and building a different party

      Based on past and failed attempts at reform from within both parties there is much to be said for building a third party. Even if it only began with, say, 30 or 40 seats in the House and, maybe, ten in the Senate it could be very influential.

      In tandem, there also needs to be an improvement in the quality of the American people as this and past elections have shown.

      • Sam
        November 11, 2016 at 18:29

        Yes, improvement in public thinking and debate is essential to restoring good citizenship. Isolating mass media from all but limited individual donations is essential to providing truth and diversity of opinion to the public. They will make a lot of mistakes in learning but will look much better when they have some truth to work with, when mass media are unbiased.

  7. exiled off mainstreet
    November 11, 2016 at 15:02

    While I agree with much of this, I think the criticism of consortiumnews is unfair. I agree with most of the article, and was actually surprised Trump didn’t win by a greater amount. I suspect that tried and true shenanigans as documented by the OKeefe videos on Creamer and others reduced Trump’s vote, particularly in Pennsylvania which he still managed to win, in Virginia, which they probably put in Clinton’s column (the gov is Clinton crony McAuliffe) and Illinois, where they extended the natural Clinton lead. It is a fairer criticism of the other websites who probably took the soros shilling and went full-fascist. I also sort of agree with Sam above, and, as a Canadian retaining US nationality, did in fact vote for Trump because I saw the harpy as a serious threat for nuclear war and I saw the neoliberal “trade” pacts as the destruction of sovereignty based on their surrender of the rule of law to corporate-paid arbitration tribunals. This major factor made the harpy’s claims on global warming unbelievable. While Trump stated his view that global warming is not real, he can reverse himself because the government policies will not be appealable to corrupt extra-legal tribunals like they would be under the harpy’s plan. Trump seems like somebody who can be convinced by evidence where the Clintons seem like a mere pay to play corporate fraudster gang.

  8. Bill Bodden
    November 11, 2016 at 14:09

    Will he dump the Zionists…?

    Not likely: Biden speaks for Trump, assuring ‘anxious’ Jews of ‘no diminution’ in US support for Israel by Philip Weiss – http://mondoweiss.net/2016/11/assuring-anxious-diminution/

  9. Bill Bodden
    November 11, 2016 at 14:03

    Clinton and the overconfident Democratic establishment made a perhaps unconscious decision to let this apparent bozo Trump lose the election, rather than they, the Democrats, going out there and doing what was necessary to win it.

    I have to confess I had a similar thought when I said on an earlier thread that Trump’s mouth would do him in. Apparently, I gave the American people too much credit for character believing they would be turned off by Trump’s vile and odious comments. Obviously, more people saw more positives in Trump than many others. That said, we can at least console ourselves with not having to fear the Queen of Chaos wreaking havoc beyond the current areas of devastation.

    • Joe Tedesky
      November 11, 2016 at 15:32

      When it comes to the Clintons all I have to say is, those who live by they’re hubris die by they’re own hubris as well. You could replace the word hubris with cheating, and it all comes out the same. Besides that Trump managed to out campaign Hillary, and his secret was he listened to the the people’s discontent.

  10. Bill Bodden
    November 11, 2016 at 13:51

    Hillary Clinton and the Democratic leadership, as well as their Republican Party counterparts, represent a well-entrenched political system. That system is responsive to lobbies or interest groups and not disgruntled citizens. What is more, none of the country’s political bosses can see beyond this system and how it relates to their own political needs.

    Except for the reference to the Queen of Chaos, Walter Karp – http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Walter_Karp/Walter_Karp_page.html – said very much the same thing during the Reagan and Carter presidencies.

  11. Chet Roman
    November 11, 2016 at 13:13

    “Much of rural white America has various degrees of negative feelings toward African-Americans, Latinos, Asians and anyone else who does not look and talk like them”

    “They want the country ethnically cleansed of Mexicans”

    What rubbish! If white America is so racist why did they overwhelmingly vote for Obama? Instead of giving us some insight into why Hillary lost (that is how this election should be framed) he repeats the same tripe on the “deplorables”. Americans don’t want to ethnically cleanse anyone; they just want ILLEGAL immigration stopped (don’t we have enough unskilled labor already?). They want to stop globalization, which only benefits the wealthy, they want to stop the unending wars that both parties support (and only Trump was against) and stop the failed neoliberal economic policies.

    The Democrat party abandoned betrayed their base for at least the last 25 years. Remember Bill Clinton’s comment about the unions/working class, “They have nowhere else to go”, when referring to what party to vote for. Well Bill, they found somewhere else to go!

    Hillary is the most flawed Democrat candidate with the highest negatives and was chosen by a small cadre of Democrat elites because it was “her turn”. She deserved to lose, as did the corrupt Democrat party. Why is the Democrat party a minority party in the House, in the Senate, in most state political organizations? Politicians like Bill and Hillary (the New Democrats) have corrupted the party beyond repair and it’s time for the rise of a new third party.

    • Sam
      November 11, 2016 at 13:45

      Good points. A new third party will need more than weak and fashionable environmental and LGBT platitudes like the Greens. It must be based upon the self-interest of a socialist safety net with productivity incentives, plus restoration of democracy, plus a humanitarian foreign policy.

      But that cannot happen until a dark-horse president (like Trump but probably not Trump) takes executive emergency action to restore democracy, protecting the institutions of democracy from money. It may happen if a major depression coupled with a major military defeat causes a near revolution, not just a disgruntled class. That will take external containment and weakening of the US by Russia and China, perhaps 20 to 40 years from now. The sooner the better for everyone.

      • Brad Owen
        November 11, 2016 at 15:20

        Did you read the Green New Deal on Jill Stein’s website? I find it pretty impressive, enough to send the Greens ten bucks a month for as long as needed (my “Union Dues” to belong to a “Green Citizens’ Political Union”). Halving the Defense budget (to focus on defense of the Republic and relent upon the imperial wars of conquest for heavily invested interests that are not “We The People”); raising taxes on the rich and estates, and a Wall Street sales tax (ESPECIALLY Webster Tarpley’s 1% sales tax which raises a cool 1 trillion a year and stop high-velocity trading dead in its’ tracks), will provide the necessary monies. Also, Webster’s ideas of seizing/nationalizing the Fed and make it open a “Main Street” window to offer Low interest century bonds in trillion-dollar Tranches earmarked for infrastructure investment would smoothly do an end-run around the need for any increased taxes at all…call this bailing out to-big-to-fail Main Street USA. The Greens are far beyond the unicorns of environmental and LGBT platitudes, that are so 70’s Earth Day stuff. They refer to themselves as Eco-socialists, but I would call them eco-dirigists as they recognize the legitimacy of the existence of a private sector alongside a public sector as its’ SENIOR partner in the partnership.

        • Sam
          November 11, 2016 at 18:16

          I’ll look at the Green New Deal, thanks. I gave them cash but not a vote due to the need to dump Killary in the short term, and would consider a vote if they have enough support to matter.

          • Brad Owen
            November 12, 2016 at 08:18

            I’m actually glad Clinton lost too, canceling a nuked-up WWIII. I was behind Bernie, and when he threw in with the war monger, that was too much. I see the D-party as hopelessly corrupted, and a danger to the Republic (The R-party already is there too, and Trump will do a good job of destroying it from within). So I’ve gone Green. No “safe state” policy for me. I am seeking to destroy the D-party as a threat to the Republic. I hope to see the Greens entice any good and decent Ds to change party affiliation in-place, so the Green Party will have some sitting Congress people already in Congress. This will ALL depend on millions of citizens sending at least ten bucks a month to the Green Party U.S. so that they have a “war chest” of clean money to launch a series of ops when not actually running an election campaign. 20 million citizens times $10= 2.4 billion bucks a year. I don’t think even the billionaire class can compete with that. $20 a month raises $4.8 billion a year, nearly $20 billion every presidential cycle. This has to be ten times stronger than even the NRA. This is equivalent to the strength of the Labor Movement in its’ heyday. It all hinges on a vast number of people seeing the need to do this. This is real Solidarity.

    • bobzz
      November 11, 2016 at 16:15

      White America voted for black Obama because he came at just the right moment. Bush was so generally disliked that any Democrat would have won the 2008 election, and Obama barged in front of the heir apparent because he voted against the Iraq War II and Hillary was for it. If Obama had been running for the first time in any other year, he would have lost. Reported assassination threats doubled as soon as he was elected. The intensity of racism ratcheted up almost immediately. He was going to give the white man’s hard earned money to all those welfare queens (a la Rick Santorium’s ‘blah people’), but when the banks beat blacks out of 50% of their wealth, Obama did nothing. White fears were unrealized.

      • bobzz
        November 11, 2016 at 16:45

        Let me soften this a bit. I know good and well many Trumpers were/are/would be hard working people. In another post, I implied much of white angst is scapegoating, which differs from being INHERENTLY racist. That is, if Trumpers had good jobs, were able to support their family (feed, educate, clothe, etc) and had confidence in the future, much of that scapegoating would disappear. Yes, it is tough living in a place where jobs have moved overseas or the low wage South or Mexico and you can’t move elsewhere, and you have neither the money nor the youth to return to school to “raise your station”. They are angry and scared for good reason. But racism does exist, and generally speaking, people of color, blacks especially, have never gotten a break. We never reconciled from the days of slavery.

        • November 12, 2016 at 06:55

          because you BOBZZ never WANTED reconciled with other race….

          • bobzz
            November 12, 2016 at 23:37

            You do not know me and have no idea what you are talking about.

      • bobzz
        November 11, 2016 at 17:44

        An addendum: I recall that for a brief shining moment polls showed the opinion that America was on the right track for the first time in forever after Obama was elected. That changed as soon, however, as his cabinet was selected for him. It was back to the same ole, same ole.

        • backwardsevolution
          November 11, 2016 at 20:28

          bobzz – “That changed as soon, however, as his cabinet was selected for him.” That’s because Obama had ALREADY sold out to the elite. That’s why they backed him the way they did. Obama could have put his foot down. He could have been like that loud and obnoxious Trump (whom the elite hate) and taken to Twitter and screamed about how he was being railroaded, made to accept those that he did not want in his Cabinet, but he didn’t. He went right along. If he allowed his Cabinet to be picked for him, then the blame is on him and no one else. Shame on him for allowing this to happen. Shame on him for lying about “hope and faith”.

          • MEexpert
            November 12, 2016 at 03:49

            The same thing is happening to Donald Trump. All the names I have heard so far are all Beltway insiders. All professional politicians and neocons, namely, John Bolton, Newt Gingrich, Chris Christy, Rudy Giuliani, Sara Palin, Gen. Flynn, etc. John Bolton as secretary of state is the same as Hillary Clinton. He is a neocon-Zionist who is against Iran deal, Russia and Syria and would start more wars and regime changes than Clinton. Back to business as usual.

          • November 12, 2016 at 07:00

            honey he came there to enrich himself-btw- did you see how CHENNEY-look on him after swearing ceremony-killer look.He HBO probably GOT INSTRUCTION what he can/can not do……

          • bobzz
            November 12, 2016 at 23:39

            Did I not say that? “That changed as soon, however, as his cabinet was selected for him. It was back to the same ole, same ole”.

      • backwardsevolution
        November 11, 2016 at 20:19

        bobzz – the “intensity of racism ratcheted up” because Obama was a weak leader. He allowed the continuation of the free-for-all looting by the 1%; he did nothing to stop them. The only reason Obama got some heavy money put behind him is because he had already “sold out”. He let the elite know that he would play ball their way, and he did, and they showered him with good press and a ton of money and he got elected. The elite would NOT have backed Obama if he hadn’t already sold out. Their golden boy was not going to change a thing.

        Look what they did to Trump. The media, entertainers, Hollywood, talk shows, politicians, think tanks, pundits, professors, economists, you name it, vilified him. He got very little big money; he wasn’t going to be bought. This made the elite furious, and they went nuts on him, but to no avail. Obama didn’t win this way. He had already sold out to the elite prior to getting elected. He sold out the middle class and the poor, as did Bush and Clinton (Clinton was the worst of all).

        And the banks didn’t just beat the blacks out of their wealth; they beat a lot of whites out of their wealth too. Obama chose to bail out the bankers, the rest of us be damned. Such hope, and yet I’m afraid that he will go down as the worst president ever.

        • bobzz
          November 11, 2016 at 22:58

          Backwards, I know banks beat whites out of money and wealth too. My point was restricted to whites’ fear that Obama was going to transfer hard earned white money to lazy blacks, and Obama did not lift a finger to help them (or whites). I do maintain that racism ratcheted up as soon as Obama took office. Mitch McConnell immediately set the Senate against Congress against him, which had little to nothing to do with his sell out. That happened before they realized Obama was putty. As Ray McGovern once wrote: Obama was not JFK. We agree on that. I wonder if a gun was held to his head. That is quite possible.

    • backwardsevolution
      November 11, 2016 at 20:06

      Chet Roman – so well said! The “white trash” so-called racists apparently weren’t so racist because they turned around and voted for Obama, who then turned around and let both blacks and whites down by doing absolutely nothing. They bought his “hope and change”, they put their faith in him, and he did nothing. Useless.

      “Obama’s had the luck that he’s been able to hide the economic downfall on his watch behind a $10+ trillion increase in the Fed balance sheet and a multiple trillion, 50% increase in household debt.

      The next president won’t have any such gift thrown into their laps. The new president will have to empty the poisoned chalice.”

      • bobzz
        November 12, 2016 at 23:46

        Let us also remember blacks came out in droves to vote for Obama. Hillary could not pull them in like Obama and lost. This more than voting whites put him in for a second term. My problem with Obama was his policies, not his race. And on another point we touched on: yes whites were also hurt by the banks, but blacks were by far more affected. They lost fifty percent of their wealth. White loses were nowhere near that. Let’s face it; generally speaking blacks have never caught a break in this country. The exceptions do not overturn the rule.

  12. Drew Hunkins
    November 11, 2016 at 11:36

    A real simple 2020 policy: $20 minimum wage for ALL, period, amen! It’s real simple to remember and slap on a bumper sticker in some fashion: $20 min in 2020.

    This is a laughably cheap proposal in the richest, most resourceful and wealthiest state humankind has ever witnessed.

    The real tragedy is that far, far too many Americans are ignorant of just how much wealth that top fraction of one percent have hoarded away or frittered around on derivatives fun and games. This handful of multi-multi-billionaires who make up our Owning Class are who have been reaping all the gains the hard working and wildly productive working people of America have produced over the last four decades.

    Just think of the massive amount of capital that would immediately sluice into the U.S. economy from the Demand side.

    • Sam
      November 11, 2016 at 12:34

      Good idea, but you would have to subsidize that wage with taxes on the rich to avoid reducing employment in occupations that just can’t bring in that much. Moving speculation investments into productive domestic industry is the key.

      The necessary platform:
      A. Get money out of elections and mass media, to make Congress serve the people:
      1. Define mass media and turn them over to the universities (temporarily, with preparations) as RICO violators and saboteurs;
      2. Dismiss the Supreme Court judges who voted for Citizens United for violating the “good behavior” requirement of judges;
      3. Investigate Congress and the Judiciary and dismiss or jail those who took bribes from big business;
      4. Prohibit contributions to mass media or elections, in excess of the average day’s pay annually, only from individuals;
      5. Hold elections, and demand amendments from Congress to keep money out of elections and mass media;
      6. Repeat until Congress and the states pass those amendments.
      B. Now implement the progressive reforms needed by the people, and make the wealthy scammers pay every cent of that.
      C. Now make America great with humanitarian aid to the world’s most unfortunate.

  13. Sam
    November 11, 2016 at 08:51

    Actually Trump supporters voted against Killary’s wars for Israel, and against rich scammers who rob everyone to pay for those, “the political system they hate.” He also got antique Repubs of the usual prejudices, but that is incidental, not the major cause.

    The principal problem with the Dems is that they sold out to the zionists and big business, and they will stay that way. There will be no progress at all until money has no influence upon the mass media and elections. That will take a revolution, not a disgruntled class, and that will require another great depression (coming in 10-40 years) or a massive military defeat. The sooner the better.

    Let’s hope that Trump brings on that revolution, but not likely. Bread and circuses will work just fine. The Dems will continue to sheep-dog the rabble for them, and backstop their occasional miscalculations with a right wing identity candidate whose “turn” has come.

    • Jay
      November 11, 2016 at 11:47

      Right, Davidson is selling the simplistic “racists elected Trump” line in disguise.

      Racists weren’t going to vote Hillary. Why and how she said “frack everyone else” is the massive failure by Hillary and the DNC.

    • Tom
      November 11, 2016 at 11:55

      Sam you are absolutely right. I’m from Canada and have done quite a bit of research. I can tell you if I was an American, I would have voted for Trump for the very reason you listed.

    • November 12, 2016 at 06:48

      There is a massive defeat in military-see ME-and this is a not bread & circuses this time. Sam have you been on DJT rallies….

    • Peter Loeb
      November 12, 2016 at 08:22

      ISRAEL/AIPAC’S KEY ROLE

      “Sam” is on target.

      Israel chose HRC as an obedient hawk. Finances were never a serious
      problem for the HRC campaign. Democrats and many others are
      fearful of opposition of AIPAC. They are slaves to Israeli policies of
      oppression for their own political survival.

      This technique has often been used by AIPAC. (Remember Sen.William
      Fullbright, D-ARK, who when he began to questions Israel’s role
      in Congress was replaced? He was beaten in the primary and
      politically “liquidated”.)

      Israel owns Congress and much of the Executive branch as well.

      This time AIPAC lost. Big time.

      Why did Professor Davidson leave this out of his analysis?

      In addition, the innaccurate fantasy of wonderful
      years of FDR remain the staple of Democrats.(World War
      II solved the Great Depression, not the New Deal. (See Gabriel
      Kolko: MAIN CURRENTS OF MODERN AMERICAN HISTORY.)

      They cannot face the reality that Obama signified hope
      and action for many black and other minorities. These
      were false hopes. They fail to recognize the basic
      justice of #BLM, of the Rock Sioux Native American
      protest etc.

      Naturally they cannot criticize Israel for its crimes.
      Seige. Stockade. Murder. Dispossession. Walls.
      (iSRAEL controls their primary funding!!!)

      I think the Trump Administration may lessen the
      neocon hawk positions in some areas.

      I doubt he will rescue disappointed opponents
      who remain too frightened to rescue themselves.

      —Peter Loeb, Boston, MA, USA

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