JAZZMAN CHRONICLES: DISSEMINATE FREELY
DONNY DIAMOND & THE SILLY SEASON
PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS 2016
By Jack Random
The rage of the electorate on the far right of the political spectrum has extended the silly season far past its due date, enabling individuals completely unqualified for the presidency to pose as legitimate candidates. The only qualifications that matter during silly season are financial backing and notoriety.
The most notorious pretender this season is CEO and entrepreneur Donny Diamond, aka Donald Trump, who inherited vast wealth, built it into an empire and attempted to satisfy his insatiable ego by hosting a reality-based television show that captured a devoted fan base. It worked remarkably well but it was hardly enough for the Donald. He believes he can and should be anointed the next president of the United States and who’s to say he shouldn’t?
Despite his occasional forays into verboten policies like fair trade and unnecessary wars, he remains by and large the darling of rightwing radio. The Donald, Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage are made of the same stuff, feeding on conspiracy theory, inventing facts to attract an audience and justify their view of the world. The folks at FOX, mindful that Donny thrives on the attacks of his adversaries, practice neutrality and wait for his campaign to implode.
What will they do if the Diamond Jubilee continues into the primary season? Nobody knows for sure. My guess is the party players and power brokers will make a simple calculation: Can they work with him or not? The Donald would not be the first ignorant candidate with an ego the size of Texas that they placed in the Oval Office. The last one launched a couple of catastrophic wars and nearly blew up the global economy. Other than that it went just fine. The players made out like the bandits they in fact were. They made a fortune and squared it. Mission accomplished.
That said: No one in the power structure seriously wants an egomaniac in the most powerful office on earth. Say what you will, little George was always manageable. He did what he was told. If the train ran off the tracks, you can no more blame George than you can the public spokesperson for Halliburton or BP for the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. It wasn’t his job.
If they determine that the Donald is in fact unworkable, he will be eliminated. By hook or by crook, he will be eliminated. Donny Boy may think he’s king of the world but there are dozens if not hundreds richer and thousands if not millions brighter and more knowledgeable in the game he has chosen to engage. Donny either plays ball or he’s tarred, feathered and run out of town on a rail.
Donny plays ball. He’s said it all along: He’s a negotiator. Only on this table he is the apprentice and what the power players must determine is: Can they trust him? Four years is a long time for a loose cannon with nuclear missiles at his disposal. The amount of harm he could do is immeasurable and quite possibly irreversible.
Guided by the principle that it is better to deal with a known enemy than an unknown adversary, even if the Donald is allowed to grab the golden ring and captures the nomination of the Grand Old Party, the power brokers will cut their losses in the general election. Of course, the “known enemy” metaphor fails because the anointed one in the Democratic Party is neither an enemy nor an adversary. Hillary Clinton is a friend to Wall Street and any friend to Wall Street is in turn a friend to every big banking and big business concern on the planet.
The power brokers and their elite clients may prefer Republican policies but they are more than comfortable with a second coming of the Clinton administration.
Here’s where it gets tricky. To date there is only one serious challenger to Clinton in the Democratic Primaries and old Uncle Bernie is not acceptable to the power structure. That is why, of course, former Governor Martin O’Malley continues to hang on despite his low poll numbers. He sounds all the right chords for a progressive Democrat and faces none of the criticism the Sanders campaign confronts yet he fails to attract a significant following.
Push all the derision from the left aside, Bernie may not be the pureblood democratic socialist of the Howard Zinn mode, but he is far too progressive to be allowed anywhere near the White House. As president he would reopen the healthcare debate with Medicare for All front and center. He would strengthen rather than curtail Social Security. He would fight hard and long for meaningful Wall Street and banking reform. He would push to restructure the tax burden and resist the relentless call to perpetual war.
If for any reason (an email revelation, a scandal featuring the DNC data breach or some new and unforeseen debacle) the Clinton campaign stumbles and falls, the power brokers will not allow an Uncle Bernie versus The Donald showdown in the main event. It is an inconceivable outcome of a contrived and highly controlled process. It cannot and will not happen.
The power structure loves a fixed game. They like a game in which both sides serve their interests. From here on, the players that control the reins of power will protect Hillary Clinton at all costs and they will find a way to eliminate Donny Diamond from the playing field.
Mark it, post and save: The Donald is going down.
To paraphrase former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (in reference to the CIA coup that supplanted president Salvador Allende with dictator Augusto Pinochet in Chile, September 11, 1973): There is far too much at stake to allow our interests to be determined or indeed influenced by the will of the people.
Jazz.
JACK RANDOM IS THE AUTHOR OF GHOST DANCE INSURRECTION – JAZZMAN SERIES (DRY BONES PRESS), WASICHU: THE KILLING SPIRIT, NUMBER NINE: THE ADVENTURES OF JAKE JONES AND RUBY DAULTON, A PATRIOT DIRGE – JAZZMAN SERIES, PAWNS TO PLAYERS: THE STAIRWAY SCANDAL – CHESS SERIES, AND JAZZMAN CHRONICLES: VOLUMES I – X (CROW DOG PRESS). HIS WORKS ARE AVAILABLE AT AMAZON.
