ELECTION POSTMORTEM DIALOGUE

JACK RANDOM, JAKE BERRY, CHRIS MANSEL & JIM WIZ.

On Nov 9, 2016, at 2:15 AM, Jack wrote:

Jake:

Well, my friend, it seems we are all living in Alabama now. I look forward to seeing your take on this event.

It's late & I've had a bit to drink.

Peace & Good Morning in the new America!

Jack,

Good to hear from you on this darkest of November evenings. Like everyone else I believed the polls. They are just another example of how the media created this problem then failed to address it as anything more than spectacle. People responded to the spectacle, now we all have to deal with the reality of Donald Trump as President.

I want to hope that the bigoted rhetoric of the campaign was only to bring people into the system. I want to hope that he really does rebuild the infrastructure and put millions of Americans to work at decent wages doing it. I want to hope, but I see no reason to do so.

As someone who has lived in a state largely run by people like hose who so passionately supported Trump, I want to assure you that you can survive, even thrive, in an adversarial environment. Arlo Guthrie once said that if we lived in a perfect world we wouldn’t have anything to write about. It appears we’re going to have a flood of resources from which to draw inspiration.

And hey, pot is legal in California!

It may be a new America, but we’re still part of it, and we will continue to exercise the full freedoms of our birthrights as Americans and our occupations as children of boundless imagination.

Take your rest my brother. Tomorrow, like every other day, we have work to do.

Jack:

I went to breakfast at my usual redneck diner at 6 am, everyone was glum, then to the grocery store and stood in line with half a dozen old farts buying lotto tickets, then to the auto parts store followed by the lumber store. It was not until I got back to my studio where the Uzbekistan woman working for me announced the news. Amazing. I guessed wrong and I have to admit my heart sank for a while and the embarrassment for our [electoral] system has risen to a level that should not exist.

Hope you are well.

J:

I encountered a similar response at the local Raley's. Not that I didn't know. I did. We all did. But no one wanted to acknowledge what had happened. We still don't. The people on the streets have broken the silence. I don't know what happens next but I have a sense it ain't good. As Jake says, at least we have food for the creative appetite. Peace be with you brother.
Jack:
It could be that this is the turning point, the kick that finally sends the moderates out? The last man on the skyscraper to jump finally realizes there is a way and he was wrong all the time. Maybe we can realize that the focus needs to be not on the single mindedness of the campaign and realize that what Bernie Sanders grassroots idea was the way to go or like Francis Crick said, "It is the molecule that has the glamour, not the scientists."
Chris
Jack,

Thank you for yet another thoughtful, reasonable response to the debacle in which we live - the American empire. I hope others will read what you have to say and take it into consideration. It is a valuable addition to a conversation that is unfortunately as polarized as the election itself.

Hilary Clinton is a very capable leader, a canny politician and would have brought a wealth of experience to the job. What she apparently could not bring was any new ideas. We were likely to have four more years like the last eight - mostly stalemate. Though Clinton’s version would have been even more acrimonious on both sides. Roughly half of those that chose to vote (which was roughly half of those that could have voted) decided they’d had enough of that particular show and thought they’d give the clown a chance. Unsurprisingly, three days after the election he’s still acting the clown.

It occurred to me today that since 1992 the Democratic candidate has received the most votes in every presidential election except one (2004). More Americans prefer a Democratic president. The problem is that most of them live in the population centers. Obviously people who live in and near cities and those that live in small towns and rural areas have a different idea of what civilization is and how it should be governed.

Now we are left to observe Trump choosing a cabinet. Since no choices have been announced yet I am hopeful that he will choose people that do not have strong loyalties to either political party establishment. If he governed as an independent and forced both parties to restructure according to something closer to a reflection of the actual populace we might at least see some change in the way the work gets done in D.C. If he draws from the usual gang of supply-siders and neo-conservatives no one will gain anything - including the people who voted for him.

As you say, we will survive. Yes. And so will America the empire, unfortunately.

Have you seen the new Adam Curtis documentary, HyperNormalisation? Like his other docs, worth watching: https://youtu.be/-fny99f8amM

See you round the edges,
Jake

MOURNING IN TRUMPLANDIA: ELECTION POSTMORTEM

By Jack Random


Everyone who thought they knew anything about politics in America awakened Wednesday morning in an unfamiliar land. Through the rigged system known as the Electoral College, we have elected president a man who promised to build a wall that – if ever built – a future president will promise to tear down. We have elected a man who cynically and skillfully capitalized on bigotry, racism, sexism and fear to navigate his way through the electoral process. We have elected a man who was caught on tape admitting to serial sexual abuse of women. We have elected a man who scorns facts and holds science in contempt. We have elected a man whose understanding of complex issues is reduced to bumper sticker slogans.

It happened. The Cubs won the World Series and Donald J. Trump was elected president of the United States of America. Those who supported him must be accountable for what happens next and those who opposed him must resist his regressive policies. But before we deal with the implications of a Trump presidency, we need to understand how it happened. What follows is my contribution to that conversation. In my estimation, the election of Trump required a perfect storm. These are the factors that made it possible in order of importance.

1. THE COMEY EFFECT.

On Friday, October 28, FBI Director James Comey issued his infamous letter to congress, implying that the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails had been reopened. To that point Clinton was comfortably ahead in the polls, the daily news drumbeat was all about the women Trump had groped, and the momentum was all on Clinton’s side. Trump was dead in the water. It hardly matters that on a Sunday, two days before the election, he recanted his story. The damage was done. The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation inserted himself into a presidential election, reversed the polarity of the race, and attempted to cleanse his hands of the mess. It was an egregious affront to the democratic process. Director Comey should step down.

2. OBAMACARE PREMIUMS.

At the end of October a government report revealed that health insurance premiums under Obamacare would rise by an average of 25% in the coming year. The report highlighted what most Americans already knew: That the Affordable Care Act has failed in its most fundamental intent. It failed to make health insurance affordable. The Obama-Clinton response that there are good things about Obamacare, that 20 million people who didn’t have any insurance now do, that insurance companies can no longer disqualify a person with pre-existing conditions, was tone deaf. For years liberal Democrats have lamented that so many people vote against their own financial interest. Well, this issue hit us where we live. We didn’t need a government report to know that the cost of health insurance is out of control. How many of those 20 million people who now have insurance actually want it? We certainly don’t want it at any price. Sure, insurance companies can’t turn you down for a pre-existing condition but what prevents them from jacking up the rates until you bleed? There are in fact many reasons why the Affordable Care Act failed but the most fundamental is this: It retained the health insurance industry. If health care is a right, then Medicare for all is the solution. Bernie Sanders knew this. At one time Hillary Clinton knew it as well. If she didn’t she should now: It cost her the election.

3. TRADE POLICY.

There was a time when Free Trade was the hallmark of Republican economic policy. Bill Clinton changed that equation with the North American Free Trade Act. That act was the beginning of the end of American industry. It marked the beginning of the end of the working middle class and strong union representation. With the Free Trade mandate the Democratic Party ceased to be the party of labor. The new Clinton Democrats needed a new foundation and they looked to Wall Street to supply it. Though he never seemed to understand the premise of Fair Trade, Bernie Sanders understood what NAFTA and CAFTA had done to the workers of America. He understood that the Trans Pacific Partnership represented more of the same and he managed to pull Hillary Clinton to his side of the issue. But once the nomination was secured all talk of trade policy disappeared from the Clinton campaign speech. She was never credible on trade policy. She clearly represented Wall Street. So when Donald Trump went to Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan with a promise to bring American industry back, the voters were ready to listen. At least someone was willing to talk about it and his name was not Clinton.

4. IDENTITY POLITICS.

It is typical of political parties that they take a winning strategy and work it to its death. The famed Obama coalition that won two close presidential elections was supposed to be good for several more cycles – at least until the Republicans found a way to appeal to minority voters. Barrack Obama, perhaps the best politician we are ever likely to see, could get away with Wall Street sponsorship and the compromised policies that went along with it because he was the first black candidate and he advocated progress on social issues. Hillary Clinton picked up the banner and ran with it. She felt certain she could sidestep her close relationship with the elites of Wall Street because she would be the first woman president and she too would advance social issues.

The Democrats went to the well one too many times and the well went dry. The Black Congressional Caucus lined up to support Clinton and effectively eliminated Bernie Sanders from the competition but they could not get the African American community to show up at the polls in the numbers required for victory. The Hispanic vote was supposed to make up the difference but it too fell short. This time we needed more than the first woman president and social issues. We needed policies that spoke to us where we live. We needed someone committed to Fair Trade and universal healthcare. We needed someone who had a viable plan to bring back the middle class. We needed someone who cared for us more than for the fat cats on Wall Street.

No, Hillary, we really didn’t care about your damned emails. We just wanted someone we could believe in. The electorate did not reject you because you’re a woman. They rejected you because they did not believe you stood with them.

5. A RIGGED SYSTEM.

This one is dripping with irony. As I write these words, Hillary Clinton is winning the popular vote for president of the United States. Al Gore won the popular vote in the pivotal year 2000. Had Gore become president instead of George W. Bush we would certainly have a different nation and worldview today. Maybe Gore would not have brushed aside that daily briefing warning that Osama bin Laden was planning an attack on US soil. Maybe it would have happened anyway. Whatever his response to that terrorist attack, it would almost certainly not have included starting a war in Iraq that predictably became a never-ending clash of civilizations.

How many times can we observe this result and still defend the antiquated Electoral College System? The system is rigged in innumerable ways. It offers endless barriers to third party and independent candidates. It requires vast amounts of money to stage a viable campaign. The media is biased – not in favor of parties or candidates but in favor of the corporate entities that own them. Voter suppression is an accepted political strategy when it should be a crime. Nevertheless, the most obvious and egregious betrayal of our representative democracy is the Electoral College. Had we gone about the business of ending it in 2000, we’d still be counting meaningful votes today.

We have had bad presidents before. Franklin Pierce conducted séances in the White House and based policy decisions on Tarot readings. His presidency paved the way for the Civil War. Andrew Johnson did all he could to undermine the emancipation and mitigate the twelfth amendment, sealing the racial divide that persists to this day. Andrew Jackson defied the Supreme Court and relocated the Cherokee nation in what is known as the Trail of Tears. Warren G. Harding gave us the Teapot Dome scandal and a legacy of corruption. Herbert Hoover’s response to an economic crisis gave us the Great Depression. Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace. George W. Bush delegated his presidency to his twisted vice president and left a legacy of global economic collapse and perpetual war in the Middle East.

We survived them all and we will survive Donald J. Trump as well.

Jazz.

JACK RANDOM IS THE AUTHOR OF THE JAZZMAN CHRONICLES, NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES. HIS PUBLISHED WORKS ARE AVAILABLE ON AMAZON. HE HAS POSTED COMMENTARIES ON COUNTERPUNCH, DISSIDENT VOICE AND NUMEROUS OTHER WEBSITES.