Success has a thousand fathers, John F. Kennedy noted, but failure is an orphan.
Actually, in the case of Hillary Clinton's defeat a thousand reasons have been put forward by pundits and humble citizens alike.
Yes, the Russians brain washing Americans with fake news, and Hillary's failure to eat enough pork in Blue Wall states, gerrymandering, the electoral college, Citizens United and on and on, yada, yada.
But the fact is, if Blacks had voted in the numbers they turned out to vote for Obama, President Hillary.
Which is not to put the whole thing on Blacks, just to say, for understandable reasons, they voted with their feet by not turning out for the white lady.
Trump asked Blacks how much worse he would be for them than Hillary and they answered silently.
Maybe some regret it now. Maybe not.
But democracy's Achilles heel is the fact that a willful, united, orchestrated minority can defeat and rule a majority, simply by acting in a concerted way, while the millions scatter before them. This is the basis of all military forces--a few hundred thousand men following commands from a single leader toward a single purpose can defeat a population of millions. Numbers do not matter in conflict; organization matters.
For Democrats to win they need to pull Blacks, Hispanics, gays, liberals, all sorts of cats which resist herding together. All Republicans need is that vaunted base--the white supremacists, quiet racists who pull their oars at the same time.
In this country there are always a core constituency of lunatics who believe whites are facing genocide, Obama was born on Mars, the New World Order will be arriving in black helicopters to strip citizens of their guns and the global Jewish world conspiracy in cahoots with radical Islam is out to gut the Christian world. They will reliably vote Republican.
We get what we deserve.
Actually, in the case of Hillary Clinton's defeat a thousand reasons have been put forward by pundits and humble citizens alike.
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| Doesn't take many to herd |
Yes, the Russians brain washing Americans with fake news, and Hillary's failure to eat enough pork in Blue Wall states, gerrymandering, the electoral college, Citizens United and on and on, yada, yada.
But the fact is, if Blacks had voted in the numbers they turned out to vote for Obama, President Hillary.
Which is not to put the whole thing on Blacks, just to say, for understandable reasons, they voted with their feet by not turning out for the white lady.
Trump asked Blacks how much worse he would be for them than Hillary and they answered silently.
Maybe some regret it now. Maybe not.
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| Sheep to the slaughter |
But democracy's Achilles heel is the fact that a willful, united, orchestrated minority can defeat and rule a majority, simply by acting in a concerted way, while the millions scatter before them. This is the basis of all military forces--a few hundred thousand men following commands from a single leader toward a single purpose can defeat a population of millions. Numbers do not matter in conflict; organization matters.
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| People believe in trolls, and read them , too |
For Democrats to win they need to pull Blacks, Hispanics, gays, liberals, all sorts of cats which resist herding together. All Republicans need is that vaunted base--the white supremacists, quiet racists who pull their oars at the same time.
In this country there are always a core constituency of lunatics who believe whites are facing genocide, Obama was born on Mars, the New World Order will be arriving in black helicopters to strip citizens of their guns and the global Jewish world conspiracy in cahoots with radical Islam is out to gut the Christian world. They will reliably vote Republican.
We get what we deserve.
What you say is undoubtedly true but the bigger issue may be that our politics have become more "tribal" - with entrenched supporters on both extremes. If Bernie's supporters had supported Hilary she likely would have won as well. What we really need is a new party of "centrists" who go back to the old days when the idea was to work out acceptable compromises to move things forward in the most reasonable ways possible. Now people just want to stomp their feet and jump up and down to defend their positions. Is it any wonder the vast majority take such a dim view of politicians - Congress, the President, etc.? Most Americans are likely clustered around the center in their political thinking - they just need someone reasonable (and charismatic) to rally around. Hope to Hell we figure out who that is before it is too late!
ReplyDeleteAnon,
ReplyDeleteAs the guy on "House of Cards" said, "A third party is always in the future, just around the corner--and it stays there."
Since at least Reagan, we have been this divided--and that's for the past 37 years. People are always forgetting how bad the past was.
Trump is no worse than George W., just more inane.
The worry with him is he'll provoke the North Korean guy with the haircut or some Muslim with a stolen nuclear bomb.
Mad Dog