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Let the Candidate Take the Blame
Nov. 9th, 2016 09:21 amPutin was the first person to call the President presumptive.
Canada’s immigration website crashed. Mexico has declared a national emergency. Dow futures were down 600 points when I finally fell asleep last night. Gold prices have shot back up.
They’re calling it “whitelash.”
Will President Trump’s first official act be to offer Assange political asylum? “Yo, Jules! Come on down! Grab all the pussy you want!”
The good new is that the biggest cottage industry in the Berkshires is about to become baking red velvet cupcakes with hashish frosting. And that I live a mere 40 miles away from the Massachusetts border.
###
I stayed awake till the bitter end. Woke up three hours later. B – who’d popped a Xanax at midnight and gone to sleep – was already up and checking the news feeds. His phone was tinkling off the hook – his network of buddies from around the nation and the world checking in, in shock, in horror. When did B develop a network of buddies around the nation and the world?
“Never underestimate the racism, sexism, and stupidity of the American electorate,” he said, handing me a cup of coffee.
“See, I don’t believe that’s why Trump won,” I said. “I think this is on the Democratic Party. They served up an extremely weak candidate and the media blitz that tried to convince us otherwise was like a marketing campaign for the Emperor’s new clothes –"
“Well, you’re just wrong,” B snapped.
And we proceeded to have a brief fight. Just as if we were still married!
###
President Trump is horrifying: One does not want someone with undiagnosed ADHD knowing nuclear codes. President Pence – whom I firmly believe is a mere six months away – is even more horrifying though in a different way.
There will be much post-game analysis. There will be much finger pointing:
Black voters stayed home..
Millennials voted third party.
Nationalism trumped globalism.
Sexist pigs refused to vote for a woman.
Trump channeled anger over political correctness and identity politics games.
Trump catalyzed those voters who are generally too apathetic to vote – Why bother? Nothing will change ¬– and gave them the opportunity to flip a giant middle finger at the political establishment.
There were too many voters like me who lean left politically but who, when it got right down to it, were unwilling to bite the bullet. (Although, had I lived in a swing state, I would have voted for her. And I definitely did not vote for him.)
###
I can see that in real life, I’m going to have to keep my mouth tightly shut in the weeks to come.
But this being my journal, I am free to write what I think.
And what I think is that HRC was a lousy candidate. Just as many people on the left were telling themselves, “Suck it up! Hold your nose and vote for her ‘cause Trump is worst;” so, many people on the right were thinking, “He’s horrible – but at least, he’s not Hillary.”
Many, many, many votes for Trump were protest votes against her. They were not necessarily votes for him – although, of course, since their votes elected him, that’s an academic distinction.
A Tammany Hall-like political process essentially intimidated any contender who might have wanted to challenge her except for one old firebrand, Bernie Sanders. His strong showing in the primaries really ought to have been a clue. No, I’m not saying that Bernie Sanders would have been a better candidate in the actual Presidential race – there’s no way a self-described “socialist” wins the Midwest in this country. But I think there were probably other candidates who could have won but who kept their heads down because they didn’t want to get flattened by the DNP political machinery.
The DNP shoved Hillary down the electorate’s throat as the inevitable candidate, the inevitable winner. They made a big fuss over her very dubious legacy when it's been pretty clear voters are thirsty for change.
Honestly? If progressives want to move on from here, it’s important to uncouple the blame for HRC’s loss from finger-pointing about racism and sexism. From pay-to-play to the Benghazi fuckup, we were looking at a candidate who was deeply flawed and who dragged the fault lines of the Clinton 90s like Jacob Marley’s chains. Let the candidate take the blame.
Focus on winning the 2018 midterm elections and the 2020 Presidential election. Keep calm and carry on.
Canada’s immigration website crashed. Mexico has declared a national emergency. Dow futures were down 600 points when I finally fell asleep last night. Gold prices have shot back up.
They’re calling it “whitelash.”
Will President Trump’s first official act be to offer Assange political asylum? “Yo, Jules! Come on down! Grab all the pussy you want!”
The good new is that the biggest cottage industry in the Berkshires is about to become baking red velvet cupcakes with hashish frosting. And that I live a mere 40 miles away from the Massachusetts border.
###
I stayed awake till the bitter end. Woke up three hours later. B – who’d popped a Xanax at midnight and gone to sleep – was already up and checking the news feeds. His phone was tinkling off the hook – his network of buddies from around the nation and the world checking in, in shock, in horror. When did B develop a network of buddies around the nation and the world?
“Never underestimate the racism, sexism, and stupidity of the American electorate,” he said, handing me a cup of coffee.
“See, I don’t believe that’s why Trump won,” I said. “I think this is on the Democratic Party. They served up an extremely weak candidate and the media blitz that tried to convince us otherwise was like a marketing campaign for the Emperor’s new clothes –"
“Well, you’re just wrong,” B snapped.
And we proceeded to have a brief fight. Just as if we were still married!
###
President Trump is horrifying: One does not want someone with undiagnosed ADHD knowing nuclear codes. President Pence – whom I firmly believe is a mere six months away – is even more horrifying though in a different way.
There will be much post-game analysis. There will be much finger pointing:
Black voters stayed home..
Millennials voted third party.
Nationalism trumped globalism.
Sexist pigs refused to vote for a woman.
Trump channeled anger over political correctness and identity politics games.
Trump catalyzed those voters who are generally too apathetic to vote – Why bother? Nothing will change ¬– and gave them the opportunity to flip a giant middle finger at the political establishment.
There were too many voters like me who lean left politically but who, when it got right down to it, were unwilling to bite the bullet. (Although, had I lived in a swing state, I would have voted for her. And I definitely did not vote for him.)
###
I can see that in real life, I’m going to have to keep my mouth tightly shut in the weeks to come.
But this being my journal, I am free to write what I think.
And what I think is that HRC was a lousy candidate. Just as many people on the left were telling themselves, “Suck it up! Hold your nose and vote for her ‘cause Trump is worst;” so, many people on the right were thinking, “He’s horrible – but at least, he’s not Hillary.”
Many, many, many votes for Trump were protest votes against her. They were not necessarily votes for him – although, of course, since their votes elected him, that’s an academic distinction.
A Tammany Hall-like political process essentially intimidated any contender who might have wanted to challenge her except for one old firebrand, Bernie Sanders. His strong showing in the primaries really ought to have been a clue. No, I’m not saying that Bernie Sanders would have been a better candidate in the actual Presidential race – there’s no way a self-described “socialist” wins the Midwest in this country. But I think there were probably other candidates who could have won but who kept their heads down because they didn’t want to get flattened by the DNP political machinery.
The DNP shoved Hillary down the electorate’s throat as the inevitable candidate, the inevitable winner. They made a big fuss over her very dubious legacy when it's been pretty clear voters are thirsty for change.
Honestly? If progressives want to move on from here, it’s important to uncouple the blame for HRC’s loss from finger-pointing about racism and sexism. From pay-to-play to the Benghazi fuckup, we were looking at a candidate who was deeply flawed and who dragged the fault lines of the Clinton 90s like Jacob Marley’s chains. Let the candidate take the blame.
Focus on winning the 2018 midterm elections and the 2020 Presidential election. Keep calm and carry on.
