First, please don't call him "president-elect." Maybe "presumed electoral appointee" or "Mister Trump." Thank you.
At
this point his newly appointed administration seems to be comprised of
beady-eyed little men, small in every sense of the word, and mean and
shrewish, power-hungry soulless women, all sworn destroyers of
lawful societal gains painfully acquired over the last 150 years. The
distorted campaign lies are over, and the disassembly of democracy
awaits January 20th to begin in earnest.
Media
talking heads, news anchors, and privately owned networks are all
sugar-coating the constant stream of ethical insults emanating from the fascist
revolutionaries - is there no honor in this new Amerikkka?
There
should be enough data to compare the 2012 vote to 2016, precinct by
precinct. Then run a formula to spot anomalies. If the Democratic vote
declines by (say) 10% in any jurisdiction - look for vote suppression -
go out to neighborhoods and interview, look for valid voters routed to
provisional ballots. Another possibility: look at the percentage of
Trump votes compared to the number of registered Republicans, calculate
the percentage of presumed crossover Dems and compare to historical
norms - if a precinct shows a higher than average crossover, look at
balloting procedures. Diebold machines preset to favor Trump, debit
Hillary? Poorly designed paper ballot? Alt-right volunteers
misreporting local results? What about more votes cast than the number
of registered voters?
But
there's no time - mere days until the "Electoral College" selects our
next president. There are multiple reasons to disfavor "the Donald" -
but what about the cadre he has aroused? The breadth and depth of middle
US rejection of federal power, the 60+ years of fifth column
propaganda from John Birch Society, Cato Institute, Koch Brothers,
Rupert Murdoch etc. resulting in a potential army of rednecks,
neo-Nazis, survivalists and racist cops who were poised to revolt if the pre-election
polls were correct and take the "lib-tards" to task if (shudder) a
Clinton should be elected again. They were readying to oppose, deny,
obstruct and commit atrocities if their guy didn't win. So having won the theoretical electoral vote (by minus
2.8 million popular votes) imagine the furor, hate, vitriol and
violence that would be unleashed if the present Pyrrhic victory is
snatched away December 19th!
The
opposed personality types and opposed philosophies involved in our
country's perpetual political seesaw have borne a smoldering resentment
toward each other since the first settlers hit the eastern shores of the
US. This deep, inherent tension flared into horrible violence with the
secession of the Confederated States. The defeat of the Southern
rebellion merely marked an end to armed conflict - the enmity continues.
Perhaps
God's gift of free will has doomed us to centuries of struggle -
autonomous individual versus communal consciousness: "I'll get mine, you
get yours" versus sharing and compassion. Planet-wide, unscrupulous
seekers of wealth and power connive to achieve their own elevation, play
upon our fears, create enemies that they alone are qualified to save us
from. And then, due to the nature of the human mind to seek
collaboration and find validation and easy answers, the manufactured
scapegoat becomes agreed upon, an object of hatred and derision.
And
there are other power seekers who would subvert the intentions of the
Good Samaritan - play upon the sympathies and dreams of their
constituency with the same goal: to control elements of destiny for
personal enrichment and aggrandizement. They have no need to demean
their opponents, merely shrug, condescend, suggest that if their critics
were capable of logic, reason, possession of factual information, they
would come around and see things differently.
The
aggressive and war-like personality against the peace-loving pacifist
type - ''twas ever thus." The Democrats are up against their own nature -
mustn't rock the boat, be careful of the precedent you might set - we
can't overturn the results of a certified election...
Well. (that's a Jack Benny "well!")
The
Democrats and the nation are damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Accept the tarnished folly of 2016's unprecedentedly puerile election
process, accept the subterfuge of innuendo, voter suppression, foreign
interference and disingenuous FBI complicity - or risk civil unrest,
perpetual legislative gridlock and a cementing of the divide between
conservative and liberal factions should enough "faithless electors" be
found.
Most
likely we will hand the keys to the corporate fascists. The new regime
will up the ante, betray us all, accelerate the transfer of wealth to
the few controlling families. And they will concentrate most of their
destructive power against their perceived enemies: those who are college
educated, liberated females, artists, people of color, those who won't
turn against familial and community mores to support the new orthodoxy. And there will be collateral
damage to the underprivileged who misread the import of the struggle
and voted for the red hat. When the jobs don't return, when their
friends and relatives lose their health care, can't afford to rent a
home, let alone buy, when interest rates go up, taxes increase, the
invisible rich will get invisibly richer and the right wing media will
convince the beleaguered masses that their increased woes are due to the
prior policies of the Clintons and Obamas.
And
there will be warfare, for war means money for munitions manufacturers
and purveyors of petrol - war will rally the populace to face external
problems and ignore the domestic transgressions of the new conservative
fascist ruling elite.
This
is such a tragic juncture. If we embrace the Trump governance our lot
may very well be a surveillance state, loss of personal liberties,
continued economic collapse of our households, and we will be sold
devastating popular wars in the guise of patriotism.
If
we manage to refute the machinations of the RNC - their vote
suppression and Koch inspired statistical analysis that led to
leveraging the electoral vote - if we convince the Electoral College to
bar the door against the demagogue in accord with Hamiltonian principles
and the original intent of the electoral college, then we risk revolt
and the possibility of a second Civil War.
Personally,
I have no appetite for war external or internal. But having been born
to this planet Earth I am forced to witness all manner of atrocity. And
having lived some 73 years at this writing - I can't speak for you - but
I know this for myself: when the end draws near, all one has left is
one's personal integrity. The weight of conscience dooming your
spirit/soul to rebirth, to do it all again and try to get it right the
next time - or the knowledge of living an honorable life, setting
oneself free to rejoin the pool of Godliness - unless you choose (for
some crazy reason, like too much altruism?) to come back and help those
in this sphere who remain ethically challenged - and there are many.
So,
no matter what lies ahead, do what you know is right. Speak when you
encounter ignorance. Refuse to accept that which is unfair or immoral.
Don't remain passive when learning of distant atrocities - it was the
silence of the "good Germans" that doomed those forced to wear the
Jewish star and the pink triangle.
The economic disasters of 2007-2008 have been somewhat mitigated and while we achieved a post-meltdown equilibrium that has
been less than idyllic - the stable economy and low interest rates of
the past four or five years are soon to become the "good old days."
While
"divine guidance" is an imperfect and human way of describing a
marvelous and righteous serendipity of events, that phrase was indeed
employed to describe the improbable victory of the Colonies in our war
of Independence, and the confluence of great ideas that came together in
the form of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. In the trying times
ahead it would do us all well to go back and study the writings and
philosophies that formed our great nation.
I
fear the effect of the dark forces latent in the American psyche, now
unleashed by the machinations of those who call themselves
"conservative." They seem hell-bent on destruction rather than
conservation. We are at an impasse with opposing points of view, both
sides seeking to educate - or punish - the other. The larger spectacle
will play out as it will. The forces are already in motion. At this
juncture all that is left for the individual is "to thine own self be
true."
And for God's sake - don't be silent. Federalist Paper no. 68
Posts
