What will voters do? Trump is almost irrelevant other than that he made a mess. The only reason he got this far is because so many don't like the Eastern Establishment, all those Yale graduates running the White House. For them, a vote for Trump is simply mud in your eye; who or what he represents doesn't matter. Think Rob Ford and Brexit. There are people everywhere who have been short changed by the Reagonomics phenomena and they are angry. Will Americans still vote for Trump? Or will they stay home?
I think calling a vote for Trump a protest vote lets the GOP off far too lightly. For 40 years the Republican Southern Strategy has seen the party actively court White supremacists and religious bigots. Decades of Conservative hate radio and Faux News have conditioned huge segments of the American population to believe in fictions and conspiracies, from UN black helicopters enforcing a New World Order, to chemtrails, to a Kenyan Muslim in the White House, to Obamacare death panels, to global warming being an elaborate hoax. No amount of objective evidence will persuade these people otherwise.
Donald Trump is the apotheosis of this strategy. He defeated 16 opponents to become the GOP's presidential candidate. He IS the face of the GOP. I spent much of this past weekend speaking with relatives who will gladly vote for Trump. I watched the second debate with people who cheered when Trump threatened to jail his opponent. Voting for him is more than mud in your eye. Make no mistake, Trump supporters want fascism!
Trump is going to win because he promises to: 1) tear up disastrous free-trade deals; 2) end war profiteering; and 3) prosecute bribe-taking politicians.
Hillary is going to lose because she: a) crapped all over the progressive wing of the Democratic party; b) is further alienating Democrats by courting neocons; and c) is campaigning on "biz as usual" when this is intolerable to the vast majority.
(Not sure how prosecuting bribe-taking politicians can be considered fascism. This kind of rhetoric is self-defeating because it's so obvious a hollow lie. The obverse of trying to put one over on people is earning their resentment.)
@ Anon 5:45 - sorry but it's reached the point now where championing Trump has become a reflection on the individual. In this case, that would be you. I hope that's just a reality you cannot grasp.
Not sure how prosecuting bribe-taking politicians can be considered fascism?! Ever heard of the German People's Court?
But allow me to quote from a couple of Republican lawyers who understand exactly where Trump is headed.
Here's Paul Charlton, former federal prosecutor under George W Bush: “For Donald Trump to say he will have a special prosecutor appointed and to have tried and convicted her already and say she’d go to jail is wholly inappropriate and the kind of talk more befitting a Third World country than it is our democracy. The Department of Justice isn’t a political tool and it ought not to be employed that way.”
Here's Marc Jimenez, a GOP lawyer who was on the Bush legal team in Bush v Gore and later a Bush-appointed U.S. attorney in Miami: “This statement demonstrates the clear and present danger that Trump presents to our justice system. For a president to ‘instruct’ an attorney general to commence any prosecution or take any particular action is abhorrent. If it occurred, it would be a politically motivated decision that would cheapen the Department of Justice and contradict the core principle that prosecutors should never consider political factors in their charging or other decisions.”
Who cares what bribe-taking neocons have to say? Of course, they're against any special prosecutor investigating corruption!
A special prosecutor means someone outside of the government with no partisan connections so that the outcome is impartial and not influenced by the government. That is the EXACT OPPOSITE OF FASCISM.
If Hillary did nothing wrong with her illegal server, destroying subpoenaed evidence, smashing smartphones with a hammer to destroy evidence, doing political favors for Clinton Foundation donors, lying to the FBI, she has nothing to worry about. If she gets reasonable doubt, she beats the charges. (OJ beat a double murder wrap. She has $100-million in bribe money to put towards her defense. Don't give up on your hero yet!)
But Trump certainly made his case in the court of public opinion during the debate that Hillary deserves to be in jail. As he pointed out, people have gone to prison for lesser offenses. Conrad Black got 6 years for destroying evidence. Martha Stewart got 5 months in jail for lying to the FBI. Chelsea Manning got 35 years for leaking low-level classified information.
"Sorry but it's reached the point now where championing Trump has become a reflection on the individual. In this case, that would be you. I hope that's just a reality you cannot grasp."
The obverse is this is that Hillary is a reflection of you. You're half right.
What will voters do? Trump is almost irrelevant other than that he made a mess. The only reason he got this far is because so many don't like the Eastern Establishment, all those Yale graduates running the White House. For them, a vote for Trump is simply mud in your eye; who or what he represents doesn't matter. Think Rob Ford and Brexit. There are people everywhere who have been short changed by the Reagonomics phenomena and they are angry. Will Americans still vote for Trump? Or will they stay home?
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteToby, I think you're entirely right. Voting Trump is their chance to shit in the parlour and that's all that matters.
I think calling a vote for Trump a protest vote lets the GOP off far too lightly. For 40 years the Republican Southern Strategy has seen the party actively court White supremacists and religious bigots. Decades of Conservative hate radio and Faux News have conditioned huge segments of the American population to believe in fictions and conspiracies, from UN black helicopters enforcing a New World Order, to chemtrails, to a Kenyan Muslim in the White House, to Obamacare death panels, to global warming being an elaborate hoax. No amount of objective evidence will persuade these people otherwise.
ReplyDeleteDonald Trump is the apotheosis of this strategy. He defeated 16 opponents to become the GOP's presidential candidate. He IS the face of the GOP. I spent much of this past weekend speaking with relatives who will gladly vote for Trump. I watched the second debate with people who cheered when Trump threatened to jail his opponent. Voting for him is more than mud in your eye. Make no mistake, Trump supporters want fascism!
Cap
Trump is going to win because he promises to: 1) tear up disastrous free-trade deals; 2) end war profiteering; and 3) prosecute bribe-taking politicians.
ReplyDeleteHillary is going to lose because she: a) crapped all over the progressive wing of the Democratic party; b) is further alienating Democrats by courting neocons; and c) is campaigning on "biz as usual" when this is intolerable to the vast majority.
(Not sure how prosecuting bribe-taking politicians can be considered fascism. This kind of rhetoric is self-defeating because it's so obvious a hollow lie. The obverse of trying to put one over on people is earning their resentment.)
ReplyDelete@ Anon 5:45 - sorry but it's reached the point now where championing Trump has become a reflection on the individual. In this case, that would be you. I hope that's just a reality you cannot grasp.
Not sure how prosecuting bribe-taking politicians can be considered fascism?! Ever heard of the German People's Court?
ReplyDeleteBut allow me to quote from a couple of Republican lawyers who understand exactly where Trump is headed.
Here's Paul Charlton, former federal prosecutor under George W Bush: “For Donald Trump to say he will have a special prosecutor appointed and to have tried and convicted her already and say she’d go to jail is wholly inappropriate and the kind of talk more befitting a Third World country than it is our democracy. The Department of Justice isn’t a political tool and it ought not to be employed that way.”
Here's Marc Jimenez, a GOP lawyer who was on the Bush legal team in Bush v Gore and later a Bush-appointed U.S. attorney in Miami: “This statement demonstrates the clear and present danger that Trump presents to our justice system. For a president to ‘instruct’ an attorney general to commence any prosecution or take any particular action is abhorrent. If it occurred, it would be a politically motivated decision that would cheapen the Department of Justice and contradict the core principle that prosecutors should never consider political factors in their charging or other decisions.”
Cap
Who cares what bribe-taking neocons have to say? Of course, they're against any special prosecutor investigating corruption!
ReplyDeleteA special prosecutor means someone outside of the government with no partisan connections so that the outcome is impartial and not influenced by the government. That is the EXACT OPPOSITE OF FASCISM.
If Hillary did nothing wrong with her illegal server, destroying subpoenaed evidence, smashing smartphones with a hammer to destroy evidence, doing political favors for Clinton Foundation donors, lying to the FBI, she has nothing to worry about. If she gets reasonable doubt, she beats the charges. (OJ beat a double murder wrap. She has $100-million in bribe money to put towards her defense. Don't give up on your hero yet!)
But Trump certainly made his case in the court of public opinion during the debate that Hillary deserves to be in jail. As he pointed out, people have gone to prison for lesser offenses. Conrad Black got 6 years for destroying evidence. Martha Stewart got 5 months in jail for lying to the FBI. Chelsea Manning got 35 years for leaking low-level classified information.
"Sorry but it's reached the point now where championing Trump has become a reflection on the individual. In this case, that would be you. I hope that's just a reality you cannot grasp."
ReplyDeleteThe obverse is this is that Hillary is a reflection of you. You're half right.
I think you need to get measured for a lovely brown shirt.
ReplyDelete