The Election of Donald Trump
The Election of Donald Trump
As a political liberal, a political junkie, a reader of history, and the founder in 1995 of this website, perhaps the oldest political blog in the world, I need to write my perspective on this election of Trump as president of the United States. I have watched and participated in political events my entire life, and even had the honor of shaking hands with John Kennedy at a political event in 1960. Some day, over the next four years, this site may be shut down by Trump, but until then, this will continue as a venue for citizen writers. At age 83, I want to write my perspective on our times.
“Adjust” was the word that came to my mind Tuesday night as reality slowly pushed out all optimistic thoughts. Watching the states falter one by one was chilling. Realizing that a majority of citizens in each of those states preferred Trump to Harris sank in slowly.
The American people knew the facts of their choice - and chose a big white man promising impossible dreams of comfort and a return to a past that never existed. The majority of people voted against their own best interests. The poor will probably suffer the most under his authoritarian rule.
Why? In a word, the Democratic Party turn to Neoliberalism by President Clinton - and sustained by President Obama and even President Biden. NAFTA, the WTO and the TPP impoverished hard working Americans and were signature deals made by Democratic presidents. The Democrats promised to help people but quietly worked with the bankers and mega corporations to water down those promises. The Democratic Party thought it could under-deliver to the American people and get away with it.
The result is that a majority of voters simply did not trust - did not believe - the promises that Kamala Harris made. I personally feel that she made them sincerely and that she would have reversed the Neoliberal practices of the Democrats; thus her promise to make “common sense” decisions. But, as she is vice president, she would not speak against Biden’s policies - and the Democratic Party hoped the American people would, again, buy their promises.
Biden ran and won in 2020 to save America from Trump. Once in office, he continued the Neoliberalism of Clinton and Obama, and ignored the concerns of poor Americans. He governed with outdated ideas and policies of 40 and 50 years ago; he was embedded in the past and could not see the realities of America. And he supported new wars.
Biden ignored the border crisis. Yes, he put Harris “in charge” but then prevented her from doing anything. He made all the decisions - in the old fashioned style of pretending to disperse power, but in reality keeping it all to himself.
Biden got us into the Ukrainian war. Really. He worked for years as vice president to sucker Putin into attacking Ukraine so we could then use Ukraine as a proxy to bleed the Russian military dry. He worked with the American military-industrial complex to get us into another war profitable to them. President Eisenhower’s warning was ignored. Trump has promised to end this war and a majority of voters believe him. The American people do not like foreign wars. Virtually every Trump supporter I have talked with since 2016 has pointed to the foreign wars as one of the main reasons for supporting Trump.
Biden has blindly supported Israel, feeding our military-industrial complex hundreds of billions more dollars. And Israel is systematically destroying all of Gaza and committing genocide. But we Americans cannot cast stones because we did the same to Iraq even though our leaders knew there were no nuclear weapons there and that Iraq had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks. We have become an aggressor nation feeding our weapon-makers and starving our domestic programs. While Biden and the Democrats said they wanted peace, they fed the war machine.
So Trump, who does not like wars, is probably going to stop the aid to these two countries.
If Kamala had been elected, I believe she would have made a serious effort to bring reforms, end the wars, and make decisions for the benefit of rural and poorer Americans. But I also believe the Democratic machine would have stopped her reforms.
I have special criticism for Chuck Shumer, the Senate Democratic Party leader. He refused to end the filibuster, allowed Congress to stall out, and let the minority Republicans control the agenda. As Republicans will now control the Senate, we will see the filibuster end and the Republican majority will rule. Shumer will, of course, be outraged. He is a fool.
Before ending this article of accusations, I want to include our liberal news media as also responsible for the rise and success of Trump. They stoked the embers of division in our country, gaining more viewers and readers and making more money by dividing us. They made news-watching a “must” for more and more people, by inflaming any differences they could find. They ignored important but unexciting issues in favor of “gotcha news casts.” They all did it: the New York Times, CBS, MSNBC, Fox, CNN, and yes, the Washington Post. In reality, we Americans all want pretty much the same things. The only issue that divides us is women’s rights - big as it is. The news media treated Trump as a normal politician and made him a rock star.
As a tree-hugging, bleeding-heart liberal, I am crushed by Trump’s victory. But I do think he may decide some good things—as painful as they might be. If we have another election in four years, we may find a credible liberal leader whom we can elect president and find our way to a better future. For now, adjust to a new reality is the word.
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