Real life: Despair but no surprise
Last year this time, I knew Trump would win.
There was precedent for how the media was acting, precedent that told me that the cultural elite was once again out of touch with the mainstream, once again underestimating the appeal of a candidate who spoke in simple terms, once again over-exposing that candidate for the sake of ratings. That precedent was George W. Bush, and 16 years ago, his entry onto the world stage was a lot like Trump's.
I supported Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary initially only on the principal of challenging Hillary Clinton's coronation as nominee, and then increasingly hopeful that he might be the nominee, or at least selected as her running mate. Those were the only circumstances underwhich I could envision the Democratic ticket winning.
But, no, media and the DNC went out of their way to make sure Hillary got the nomination. Now, I'm not saying that she isn't qualified, that she can't do the job. But it was apparent way back in 2008 that she couldn't be elected president. If anything, the US has become more reactionary in the 8 years of Obama's presidency, so I don't know why she thought she could do it this time around. Yes, I supported her after she was nominated, and I allowed myself to become hopeful, but I didn't really think she could pull it off. However, her base was unable to even consider for a moment that she wouldn't win. And I mean, yeah, people I know, who I spoke with, who looked at me uncomprehendlingly, much like a dog looks at algebra.
I'm not writing all this in order to gloat. I'm writing it because, even now, it's unlikely that the Democratic Party has learned any lessons. And I'm positive the media will forget inside of 2 weeks. But remembering is the only way to avoid repeating this mistake.
And here's the ugly truth. Gay rights, women's rights, human rights of all sorts, even the very Constitution and the Gospels are meaningless to angry people who feel betrayed. Those people will lash out at every scapegoat. Telling them not to attack scapegoats while failing to address their very real economic concerns and loss of pride can only ever result in not only continuing to ignore their problems, it also does nothing to protect the scapegoats.
So, what now? Now that we are saddled with a man who has openly revealed his authoritarianism? God help me if I know. If I was Hillary Clinton, I'd be moving to Canada, since he made her Scapegoat #1. As for the rest of us? I'm not sure. We're in uncharted waters, and the country has a hole in its ship of state.
(Oh, look, I'm not alone in my analysis)
There was precedent for how the media was acting, precedent that told me that the cultural elite was once again out of touch with the mainstream, once again underestimating the appeal of a candidate who spoke in simple terms, once again over-exposing that candidate for the sake of ratings. That precedent was George W. Bush, and 16 years ago, his entry onto the world stage was a lot like Trump's.
I supported Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary initially only on the principal of challenging Hillary Clinton's coronation as nominee, and then increasingly hopeful that he might be the nominee, or at least selected as her running mate. Those were the only circumstances underwhich I could envision the Democratic ticket winning.
But, no, media and the DNC went out of their way to make sure Hillary got the nomination. Now, I'm not saying that she isn't qualified, that she can't do the job. But it was apparent way back in 2008 that she couldn't be elected president. If anything, the US has become more reactionary in the 8 years of Obama's presidency, so I don't know why she thought she could do it this time around. Yes, I supported her after she was nominated, and I allowed myself to become hopeful, but I didn't really think she could pull it off. However, her base was unable to even consider for a moment that she wouldn't win. And I mean, yeah, people I know, who I spoke with, who looked at me uncomprehendlingly, much like a dog looks at algebra.
I'm not writing all this in order to gloat. I'm writing it because, even now, it's unlikely that the Democratic Party has learned any lessons. And I'm positive the media will forget inside of 2 weeks. But remembering is the only way to avoid repeating this mistake.
And here's the ugly truth. Gay rights, women's rights, human rights of all sorts, even the very Constitution and the Gospels are meaningless to angry people who feel betrayed. Those people will lash out at every scapegoat. Telling them not to attack scapegoats while failing to address their very real economic concerns and loss of pride can only ever result in not only continuing to ignore their problems, it also does nothing to protect the scapegoats.
So, what now? Now that we are saddled with a man who has openly revealed his authoritarianism? God help me if I know. If I was Hillary Clinton, I'd be moving to Canada, since he made her Scapegoat #1. As for the rest of us? I'm not sure. We're in uncharted waters, and the country has a hole in its ship of state.
(Oh, look, I'm not alone in my analysis)