Last night, Donald Trump bloviated for an hour and 39 minutes. It was a campaign speech, it was a complaint, it was a brilliant example of verbal masturbation, Donald Trump-style. It wasn’t terribly surprising, and it wasn’t at all unifying.
It took him only eight minutes to get around to telling us that Joe Biden was “the worst president in American history.”
He gave a long list of programs he called “fraud”—which in Trump English seems to be a synonym for “programs I don’t like or disagree with”—including money for a program “in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of.” I’ve heard of it.
And he continued to threaten Panama and Greenland, saying “to enhance our national security, my administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal.” And that the canal was built for Americans, not others. He also encouraged Greenlanders to voluntarily associate with the United States, but then said “we need Greenland for international world security. And one way or another, we’re gonna get it.”
He rambled on about many other things, but frankly, there wasn’t enough new or interesting for me to bother reporting on it again.
One thought I did take away from the speech: whether he’s read the story or not, he seems to have completely embraced the idea in my story “The Necessary Enemy.” Specifically, that it takes a villain to make a hero, that we need an enemy in order to be the victor. Perhaps that’s why he’s always talking about enemies, and why he declared a variety of emergencies the day he was inaugurated. Perhaps that’s why he’s always struggling to “make America great again,” as if someone had somehow made America less. The only one making America less is Donald Trump, as he cedes our position of economic, political, and moral leadership on the world stage.
Ian Randal Strock is a political scientist and commentator (in addition to also being a science fiction author and publisher). Keep up with him at www.IanRandalStrock.com, or on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram.
This didn’t just happen. This was a long term plan by a coalition of financial and Christian conservatives to subvert our democracy.
Part of this is the natural progression of society—those in power will do everything they can to keep the power, and no rights are ever given to others freely. We make progress and then there is a blowback and we fight back, and, given history, we do eventually win. But it’s never easy.
In modern American history, this all started when Reagan was elected, and the conservatives suddenly realized that they could get away with a lot of shit. They sold arms to our enemies, and gave huge tax breaks to millionaires and made poor people pay takes on their Social Security. And the Overton Window got moved to the right.
When George Bush senior ran against Michael Dukakis, he called Dukakis a “liberal” as if it was an insult, and liberals stupidly rebranded themselves as “progressives” and ran away from the liberal label instead of embracing it. And we moved farther to the right, while the rest of the civilized world went left.
One of the ways conservatives get away with this is by filling the courts, which most people don’t pay attention to. So when Bush junior lost the election, he got the Supreme Court to ignore the voters and place him in power. And more conservative judges were put in.
And each time, the conservatives realized they could cheat and lie and get away with crap because they were playing hardball with politics while we liberals clutched our hankies and refused to get in the mud and fight back. And then Trump causes an insurrection, gets found liable for rape, gets convicted of numerous felonies, and gets away with it all. No wonder they think they can do whatever the fuck they want and no wonder Trump thinks he’s a king.
So let’s cut to the chase: What can we do now, with an idiot President who ignores the Constitution and a House, Senate and Supreme Court that cares little about “checks and balances” and allows all this to happen?
Obviously, the most important thing is (I know you hate to hear this) is to vote. They have spent decades doing everything they can to keep us from voting because they know when we all vote, they lose. And when you vote, only vote for Democrats. Some liberals are so “pure” they don’t understand that their protests votes for third party candidates or their refusal to vote at all is one of the reasons we are in this mess to being with. (Trump won in 2024 by less than 50%, mind you – if those third party people and those who refused to vote for stupid ideological reasons had voted for Harris, we wouldn’t be in this mess. You have my permission to blame these people in the same way you blame clueless Trump supporters.)
But what we really need to do is put pressure on our representatives. Call them constantly. Phone calls are more important than emails or letters. Don’t ignore those who support us—they need to be called too, to remind them that they need to do their job and to thank them when they fight back.
And here’s the thing some people miss: You need to call your state politicians as well. Your governor, state house members, even local city people. The fight can be at the state level. We need to encourage them to say no to the federal government. We need a non-violent civil war here, with civil disobedience, with local governments refusing to allow the feds to come in and cause their destruction. We need to throw monkey wrenches into every bit of the federal political machinery.
And of course you need to financially support groups like the ACLU and unions and other groups that are actively fighting in the judicial system for our rights.
There are more of us than there are of them. Every public survey shows that our vision of American is supported by the majority of the population. Trump lost the popular vote the first time he ran, never even reached a 50% approval rating the entire time he was president, lost the second popular vote by a bigger margin, and won this time with less than 50% of the vote (and he has an even lower approval rating in the polls than last time). He has never had the support of a majority of Americans, and we need to constantly remind our politicians of that. But none of that matters if we don’t get involved and especially if we don’t vote.
This is a letter to friends and loved ones traumatized by Tuesday’s harrowing election.
It’s directed, especially, to younger women who, quite justifiably, are terrified and deeply depressed about what may be in store for them in a post-Roe landscape, now energized by a party that’s secured the White House and is committed to ending their reproductive rights and women’s healthcare, on a national level.
The point of this letter is not to dismiss your fears or minimize the very real threat you, and we all, now face.
What just happened in this country is devastating. And its repercussions on our politics and culture, and the lives of innocent and vulnerable populations, will be felt for years to come. There’s no denying that we’re facing four years of a slow-motion disaster. And yet…
We can’t let ourselves live in a state of perpetual fear and dread. It’s not healthy. It’s not productive. And succumbing to those emotions will only make things worse, and ourselves miserable.
So, for that reason, I’m compelled to try and articulate a few important points in the hope that it can alleviate some of that fear and anxiety. And, hopefully, offer some helpful perspective on understanding what’s going on; to put it in some kind of context that lets us get on with our lives, despite the recurring waves of nausea we’re destined to feel, for the next 1,460 days, every time we hear him speak or see his face (don’t worry, it’ll go by faster than you think).
So, to start off, let me just say, WTF?!! How can it be that at least half the US citizenry decided that it was a good idea to entrust the fate of the country by handing the carkeys of government to a clownish, narcissistic bully that spouts endless abuse, celebrates and incites violence, and demonizes vulnerable populations?
And how the hell did this happen – again? And holy f^@%, what’s going to happen next? And, most concerning… how bad can it actually get?
(feeling better yet?)
I don’t profess to have any brilliant answers to those questions, but I do have a few observations that might, hopefully, provide some useful insight.
So, here goes…
[Note: if you’re someone who voted for the president-elect, instead of dismissing this missive, I invite you to exercise a tiny dash of empathy – difficult as that may be – and try to imagine how it must feel to a young person, raised to treat people with respect, not be a bully, not be a braggart, not lie incessantly, and not promote violence… who now faces a world ostensibly run by a man who personifies all of those repellant character flaws.]
HISTORY – It’s déjà vu all over again.
We’ve been here before. Our current crisis may be unique to this time but, as a country, we’ve faced cataclysmic troubles that threatened the fabric and stability of our way of life, before – right from the very beginning. I mean, it’s only in recent decades that people of color, or women of any race, or the gay community, enjoyed any rights at all.
And while it doesn’t lessen the danger of this moment, it’s important to remember that America has endured endless, seemingly existential political and social crises – and survived, indeed, gone on to thrive.
The pendulum always swings back (at least until some stray meteor slips stealthily by our non-existent SpaceForce defenses). In presidential politics, and elections in general, that’s par for the course. In the last 1/2 century it consistently swung…
from Nixon’s Vietnam, War on Drugs & Watergate to Carter’s Camp David Agreement and championing of human rights. (via Ford);
from Reagan’s union busting and trickle-down economics to Clinton’s balanced Federal budget with budget surplus (via Bush 41);
from Bush 43’s senseless Iraq War directly to 8 years of prosperity and sanity under Obama, featuring the Affordable Care Act i.e. Obamacare;
from DT’s Muslim ban and child separation policy and environmental assault to the decency and life-saving economic rescue and recovery, engineered by Biden.
That pendulum’s swing is just the nature of politics, especially in the rigid, tightly balanced, two-party system we have, here in America.
I’d also be remiss in not mentioning that sometimes the pendulum swings both ways, at once (it’s the rainbow effect ;-):
Despite the calamitous white house results, it’s significant that, for the first time in history, there are now two black women who’ve been elected to, and will serve concurrently in, the U.S. Senate. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland and Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware defied the supposed Republican wave, following in the footsteps of Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois, who was the very first and, of course, our current VP Kamala Harris.
But it’s not just here; the pendulum effect extends far beyond our own borders…
It was just a few months ago, despite insistent pronouncements of far-right trends, around the world, that my good friends in the United Kingdom elected a progressive Labor government, after 14 years of conservative, Tory rule; one replete with punishing austerity, belligerent xenophobia and polluted rivers and streams – not to mention the stupendous blunder known as Brexit (sorry my conservative fans – it’s been a disaster and everybody knows it). And only last month, our neighbor to the south, Mexico – a country that, in pop culture, easily serves as a caricature of the word ‘macho’ – elected their first female – and Jewish – President, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo. (Mazel Tov!)
And sure, sometimes it’s two steps ahead, one step back but, ultimately, we keep moving forward. (and, yeah, I know… sometimes it’s two or three steps back.)
So, if you’re frustrated as to why some of your elders appear less traumatized than you might expect, it’s not that they’re oblivious, or they don’t care – it’s that they’ve seen some version of this movie before. And they’ve seen the pendulum swing back, and forth – and back, again. It always does.
STATES’ RIGHTS – They have ’em!
The United States is a federal democratic republic – a union made up of fifty sovereign States – those twinkling stars on the flag. States’ Rights give individual States the right to pass and enforce laws and operate independently of, and with minimal interference by, the federal government.
The President doesn’t have absolute power – the States and local government have certain independent rights and control over their destiny, so long as those laws don’t violate the Constitution.
It’s true there’s an inevitable and ongoing tension between State and Federal law. In the past, States’ Rights were used as an excuse, in the south, to defend slavery; and subsequently to resist Civil Rights laws. More recently, that tension exists for hot-button topics such as gun control, cannabis and education.
The point is: States have real power to make laws and control their own destiny. Even if a federal abortion law were to pass next week – something that, at present, still remains highly unlikely, especially given the 2/3rds supermajority required – it would be extremely difficult to implement, given that a clear majority of the US population is in favor of those reproductive rights.
It’s worth noting that, since the over-ruling of Roe v. Wade, 21 States, plus the District of Columbia, have passed Abortion Rights Laws. And State Constitutional amendments to protect or expand abortion rights passed in seven of the 10 States, where they appeared on the ballot, in this past Tuesday, presidential election.
CALIFORNIA & NEW YORK – They’ve got the Benjamins! $$$$$$$$$$
The combined GDP of the two largest ‘blue’ States, California [$3.987 trillion] & New York [$2.226 trillion], is greater than the GDP of every country in the world, except the US and China.
United States – Country GDP $25.43 trillion China – Country GDP $14.72 trillion Japan – Country GDP $4.25 trillion Germany – Country GDP $3.85 trillion India – Country GDP $3.41 trillion United Kingdom – Country GDP $2.67 trillion France – Country GDP $2.63 trillion Russia – Country GDP $2.24 trillion
I make this point to stress the fact (especially to family and friends that are residents) that living in those powerful ‘blue’ States offers a significant measure of protection against any kind of Federal overreach.
IT WAS JUST ANOTHER ‘CHANGE’ ELECTION – American voters are fickle.
It’s not outrageous to suggest that Tuesday’s election represented an inherent, but unconscious, racial and gender bias in the hearts and minds of a vast swath of the electorate. Those may well be significant factors as to what just happened. But the same Kamala Harris was elected Vice President four years ago, a significant first. It’s more likely that this was just another ordinary, run-of-the-mill ‘change’ election. And those happen all the time. Despite Biden’s rescue of a battered economy, his taming of inflation, a very real (but under-appreciated) economic recovery, and generally terrific financial stats, middle and lower class households are still hurting – feeling it in their pocketbooks and their wallets. They were angry. They were worried. They were desperate for change. Clichéd as it may be, the Ragin’ Cajun famous quote, ‘It’s the economy, stupid’, still holds true.
And if that’s true, then maybe, just maybe, all those people who voted for the orange guy are not necessarily a bunch of vile racists, women-haters, homophobes, and mean-spirited bullies. Maybe they were just afraid they couldn’t pay their rent or keep the lights turned on, and hoping against hope that ‘changing the channel’ might offer them some relief.
Which brings me to the next important point…
Part 2
WHAT KIND OF CRAZY COUNTRY AM I LIVING IN? – And how could any sane, rational, decent person vote for such an obviously deranged excuse for a human being?
This is the toughest question to answer. Because it requires two incredibly difficult things: (1) honest self-reflection and (2) genuine empathy. (why on earth do they like him?)
What kind of country are we living in? Like people, countries are a complicated mix of both good and bad. Along with all of America’s real virtues – aspirations to equality, justice, liberty and freedom – we also possess negative traits that are difficult to admit to and impossible to deny. (bear with me) We’re especially adept at two things: killing and miraculous innovation. (each reinforcing the other in a strange feedback loop)
Those two talents – killing and innovation – are responsible for our still dominant (but gradually diminishing) position in the world. It’s how we settled this country in the first place, while slaughtering an indigenous population in the process. And it’s how we built a ‘New World’, or rather how we enslaved millions to build it for us.
The point is, our idyllic ‘way of life’ is contingent, almost solely contingent, on our ability to project military might (our talent for killing, enhanced by innovation) around the world, and in our own streets. That might is inextricably connected to our economic power. And the practical freedom that that economic power supplies is what makes it possible for us to innovate, invent, design, create. The internet, all media, all creative endeavors – science, music, art, writing, architecture, dance, cooking, sewing, every craft – they would still exist in a poor, peaceful country, but would all ultimately be subject to the whims of somebody else with more military power. Someone else like, oh, I don’t know… Russia?
What does this have to do with our latest election?
Simply that people who are struggling financially have a much more finely tuned sense of the bottom line – and where real power comes from – than people who are more comfortable (it’s also why they’re so fond of the the 2nd amendment, and their AK47’s). They’re scared and they hunger for protection, even if it’s from an odious asshole pretending to be a superhero. And they have a vague sense, a fuzzy recollection, that things seemed better at the beginning of his first term, prior to the pandemic – even if his results were tied to actions that made it easier to pollute the air, land and sea, and auction off our precious natural resources in return for short-term financial game.
HE’S THEIR SUPERHERO – he gets away with shit
That anger, fear and frustration, that’s spawned by difficult economic circumstances, makes people ripe for embracing a charismatic strongman.
And, of course, it’s not just economic. The same applies to folks who’ve suffered any type of hardship, trauma, or are feeling disenfranchised.
It’s doubly reinforced if that strongman has the innate sense to appeal to their feelings of being ignored, overlooked and disrespected.
And that’s the key to answering one of the most bewildering questions of this election: How is it possible that a population of millions of ordinary folks, anxious about their finances, can relate to – indeed, fall in love with – a spoiled, entitled virtual billionaire with a golden toilet seat, whose daddy gifted him hundreds of millions of dollars, over his lifetime?
It’s because he also feels disrespected. And they can see that. And they relate to it. They feel like ‘he gets them’.
Like Rodney Dangerfield, his recurring complaint is that he ‘gets no respect’. There are plenty of reasons for that, but I’d say the most fundamental is that, despite his boastful claims, he has no real education. To be clear, he’s not stupid – he’s just painfully uneducated – and insecure about it to boot. (Why else would he boast constantly, ad nauseum, about how great he is?)
Small wonder he loves the ‘uneducated’. They have no sense of history, or experience with critical thinking – or basic science, for that matter – and he’s well aware that if they buy his con-artist, 2nd rate comedian act, they’ll then be easily fooled by any other kind of inane nonsense he spouts.
And why not? Here I am blithely making supposedly informed pronouncements about a huge demographic segment of my fellow countrymen/women for merely lacking a higher education (something that holds questionable value, these days) – I’m sure they’d be thrilled to hear that. How could it not sound condescending? How would they not feel disrespected?
And, of course, if follows… why wouldn’t they relate to him? Aside from his money, he truly is one of them. Well, except for the fact that his money also lets him get away with almost any violation of the social order, criminal and civil law, and general civility without any real consequences. And what could be better? That’s a huge part of what makes him so appealing. He’s a hero because he, basically, gets away with anything; and that’s one of the things they love about him. Who wouldn’t want that power of unaccountability, of Supreme immunity?!
All of those character traits are supercharged exponentially by something as obvious as celebrity. (“When you’re a celebrity, they let you…”) After decades of TV and print, they feel like they really know him. Depressingly, we all do, now – whether we like it or not. It’s worth noting that the false intimacy of celebrity might very well be the single most important factor in determining this election. Kamala had four months. He had decades. If you’re skeptical of that idea – the sheer power of celebrity – ask former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, ask former Governor Jesse Ventura, ask the ghosts of former President Ronald Reagan and former Congressman Sonny Bono.
WE ALL HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF HYPOCRITE IN US – Even us liberals
Impossible, you say? Try this thought experiment.
On July 13th the news reported a failed assassination attempt on the Republican candidate for President. Did you think to yourself (a) damn, too bad they missed! One inch to the right and we could have avoided this god-awful mess; or (b) whew! good thing they missed, or we’d be facing an never-ending, escalating spiral of political violence in this country.
Go ahead, be honest – what were your initial thoughts?
I’ll tell you my initial reactions: frankly, my first thought was (a) and then, only after a several minutes of seriously contemplating the inevitable real-world consequences, I opted, reluctantly for (b).
If you were forthright enough to answer (a) or even toying with the idea of (a), then you’re admitting – like it or not – that you condone murder; that you’re not truly married to the cherished, democratic idea of a ‘peaceful transfer of power’, that you’re cool with ‘whatever it takes’ to achieve your political goals. And if that’s the case, how can you ever criticize any Republican for condoning the despicable behavior of their chosen candidate? Because, in truth, I would venture that a significant percentage of us share that instinct, would be willing to break any rule (or approve of someone else doing it), to spare our loved ones, our country, the risk of an unchecked, unrepentant demigod prone to the use of violence – even the peaceable among us. If you’re in denial about that, you just might be a hypocrite.
All I’m saying is we might like to think we’re better than them, we might even behave with more civility; but when the stakes are high, we all have the capacity to do what we think is necessary, when defending our tribe, our way of life. That’s how civil wars begin. And that’s why it’s necessary to be honest with ourselves about not only who they are, but who we are – in order to prevent that violence from actually happening.
It’s not easy trying to understand the other side, but in order to make any sense of the world today, we must at least try.
Honest self-reflection and empathy are entangled, because if we can’t admit our own failings, our own susceptibility to bias and misinformation, even our own capacity for self-delusion and violence, then we’ll be unable to recognize and forgive it in others. If we can achieve even a little of that, it will go a long way to making us feel better, slightly less horrified and more able to go on functioning day to day, while the world appears to be falling apart (even if it actually is ;-).
Which brings me to…
Part 3
THE NEWS – and the lying liars on both sides of the lying aisle (but mostly on theirs).
[Note: if after reading all the way to this point, you’re still wondering what the hell the point actually is, let me remind you that you won’t feel any better until you understand how profoundly your emotions were manipulated, even by the folks you love like, say, the wonderful and brilliant Rachel Maddow, one of my favorite news hosts and always informative commentators.]
I get most of my news from MSNBC, the New York Times and the Washington Post (shame on you Jeff Bezos for putting your dumb rocket ships above the integrity of your venerable newspaper). But I also make a concerted effort to occasionally dial in Fox News, and even Newsmax, to get the other side’s perspective, and get a glimpse of what sort of parallel information-universe they’re dwelling in.
Now, all news, today, is ultimately a commercial/entertainment venture. If they don’t get ratings, they don’t sell ads – and the screen goes dark. So, it’s expected that even the most dedicated news show is going to indulge in a bit of hyperbole – ‘if it bleeds it leads’ is a familiar axiom. But just to be clear, and in MSNBC’s and Rachel’s defense, MSNBC was never forced to pay a $787 million settlement for knowingly peddling false election information – FOX NEWS was! In other words, there’s no comparison between liberal and conservative media when it comes to veracity and honesty in reporting the news. Fox lies outright. MSNBC makes a concerted effort not to.
But here’s the painful truth. Every time liberal media reported on some apparent stumble, or ridiculous statement, or portrayed DT as an idiot, as stupid, as a bumbling fool, it made for an entertaining story – but it was a lie. As I wrote earlier, he’s nowhere near stupid – he’s simply woefully uneducated, but innately clever, with a fine-tuned instinct for what makes people react. The long-running problem is that by portraying him as a simpleton the news left us unprepared for how effectively he was able to manage what seemed an unlikely comeback.
Similarly, every time liberal media reported on some scandalous remark, offensive jibe or disgusting attack the implication was, ‘Oh my! How could any sane, decent person possibly support such abusive, abhorrent behavior in someone campaigning to be the leader of the free world?” Like a car crash it made headlines, got clicks, captured eyeballs – but it was a lie. The more accurate story should have been: he’s doing a 2nd rate, over-the-edge, stand-up comedy routine, and while we may find it repulsive, his core audience knows he’s mostly goofing around, being provocative, being ‘himself’ – and they love it! Again, by reporting and then portraying such aberrant behavior as ‘beyond the pale’ – i.e. outside the bounds of acceptable behavior, the news only served to (a) give him more undeserved airtime and (b) reinforced our own revulsion at his supporters delight in his antics – and, as a result, demonizing those supporters in our minds. Better yet, they could have elected not to show it at all. Just because something is provocative, doesn’t make it worthwhile news.
So, why does all of this matter? It matters because if we, you, all of us still hurting from the shock of this election had possessed a clearer more accurate understanding of the true dynamics at play, leading up to this election, we might have been better prepared, the shock would have had less impact, it would have been less wrenching, less traumatic.
Most of his supporters and cohorts are not monsters; though, admittedly, a very few may well be, and he definitely is – a broken, needy, destructive and vengeful miscreant, a bad actor who should have been stopped in his tracks, long ago. But we’re past that.
I few paragraphs ago, I raised the idea of forgiveness, which can only come with understanding, which is only possible with some measure of empathy. Though difficult, if achieved, even a little, it has the benefit of lessening the fracture, the sense that half the country has lost their minds and must be irredeemably racist, stubbornly misogynistic and, in extreme cases, inherently evil. Because if you’re able to conclude that that’s not entirely true, it can help to lesson your own terror at what seems inexplicable. It can help to dispel confusion and calm emotions.
This missive went on much longer than intended but I was hoping to suggest some hopefully helpful ideas, and a way of making sense of all this craziness in order to mitigate the fear and unease.
It doesn’t change the fact that we still have to find some way, over the next 1,460 days, to live healthy, happy, productive lives, in spite of the creaky wheel of history turning noisily in the background. It’s not just necessary – it’s crucial.
I’ll end with what I believe to be the most important and urgent appeal in light of all that I’ve described and all that’s transpired. And it’s one of the main things that motivated me to sit down and write this letter.
Over the past few days, since the election, I’ve heard from more than one person in my extended circle of family and friends, saying that they’ve spoken with a young person who, in reaction to the profoundly disturbing news of the election, has expressed a genuine and powerful reluctance to bring a child into this world, during these frightening times.
This pains me to hear, more than I can say. One, because it’s completely understandable. And two, because, to my mind, such a decision would be the most tragic consequence of an already tragic confluence of circumstances. It would also be tantamount to a complete and total surrender and submission to the hypocritical, far-right zealots who believe they have a god-given right to control women’s bodies, supposedly in the name of the unborn, while cheerfully supporting easy access to military grade weapons responsible for massacring hundreds of ‘living’ children a year in their homes and classrooms.
Life – however and whenever you choose to define it – is precious and, at the same time, the very act of living is filled with danger, and – surprise! surprise! – ultimately, deadly. What makes it bearable from beginning to end are those ineffable virtues: hope, faith and love (and apple cider donuts from Stuarts Farm). Without them, our time on Earth is doomed to be a dreary chore, absent any meaning, and devoid of happiness. Babies are a miracle and a blessing and, despite the political backdrop greeting their arrival, are inexplicably able to spread joy (and many sleepless nights) by their mere presence.
And forgive the calculated nature of the following, but from a strictly strategic political point of view, even as the overall birth-rate in our country (and around the world) continues to decline, it’s worth noting that Republicans have a slightly higher birth-rate than Democrats. Now, I’m not proposing Dems start popping out babies willy-nilly to win elections in the future but… well, come to think of it, maybe I am.
To get very real here (and to court an inevitably hostile reader response), one of the sources of conflict, today, in Israel, is the disproportionate control the extreme, fundamentalist religious-right enjoys in the government. Oct 7 was an indescribably horrific event – as is the, by now, too extreme and ultimately counterproductive and ineffective response to it. But there’s a reasonable case to be made that circumstances would never have gotten to that point, in the first place, were it not for the unholy alliance between Netanyahu and the ultra-orthodox parties. And one guess as to how they acquired all that political power?
Yeah, having lotsa babies. Lots and lots of babies! 😉
And, forgive me, but as strange as it might sound, that’s exactly the same strategy the extreme religious right, here in America, are actively engaged in. Just listen to them. They say it openly. And they’re not shy about it.
So, to any young families weighing the pros and cons of family planning, I would say this: don’t ever let Donald Trump and his religious allies tell you when you can, or can’t – or must – have a baby. And, for goodness sakes, don’t let him frighten you away from having one in the first place, if that’s something you choose to do.
Apologies if this complicated, but earnest, analysis only added to the confusion of the last few days. What I meant to say was this:
Trump is a once-in-a-lifetime aberration, most Americans, despite our shared history of violence, are good, decent people (even if they harbor unconscious racial and gender biases, and are fickle voters by nature), States have rights (especially NY & California), all news media engage in distorting reality to a degree (some way much more than others), and we’re all susceptible to it. And, finally, try to relax, take a long walk, breathe the air, play with your pets (please don’t eat ’em!), talk to your friends… those 1,460 days are going to fly by before you know it!
Then, all we’ll have to worry about is climate change, Artificial Intelligence, and what to finally do about Elon Musk. (My proposal: appoint him ambassador to Mars – make him King of Mars, if that’s what it takes – but bundle him onto one of his own rockets and get him off the planet ASAP!)
I’ll wrap this up with an appropriate quote – it’s a meme so I can’t give fair attribution to the author, but it makes a relevant point. The midterms are only two years away; so, if you’re troubled and disturbed by what’s just come to pass…
‘Grab ’em by the ballot box! When you’re a voter, they let you do it!’
Be well, everybody. Be safe and be hopeful.
Peace, Love and Understanding!
(nothin’ funny ’bout that – with due credit to Nick Lowe)
Dean Friedman is a multimedia artist/producer/author with numerous hit records to his credit – Ariel, Lucky Stars, Lydia, McDonald’s Girl, etc… He’s also developed Virtual Reality video games for Nickelodeon TV and Musical Playgrounds for children’s museums around the world. He also refuses to shut up, stop talking about politics, and just write songs. Visit his website www.DeanFriedman.com for his 2025 tour dates, and check out some of the songs posted in the article!
The last century was the century of democracy, especially after World War II. More and more countries became democratic, and things looked good. This century has given us the opposite, as the rich and powerful take over control of countries and, often through democracy, turn them into autocracies (Russia, Turkey, Belarus, Venezuela…). Looks like the United States is on that same path. Thanks to Putin and the world’s billionaires, democracy is on the decline.
With Republican control of the Congress and the Justice Department, and with the support of a Supreme Court that allows Trump to get away with anything, it will be tremendously difficult to hold back the corruption and destruction of our civil rights.
The polls were wrong again, as they have been for every Trump election. They undercount him by about 3% each time. I will leave why that is to the experts.
Trump is the Mule of American politics.* He breaks all the rules that those of us who studied political science learned. Any other candidate doing even 5% of what Trump has done would crash and burn long before a primary. It says something about America though that we don’t have royalty but we have celebrities, and for some reason, they can get away with stuff that would destroy any other career. It is the defintion of a cult, really.
And ironically, people are not holding Trump responsible for the things he has done. Abortion was on the ballot in many states, and a majority in those states voted to keep it legal while at the same time electing the guy who was the reason they had to place those things on the ballot in the first place.
Trump proved that fear and hatred and anger generate more votes than optimism, and that is something we Democrats don’t always get. We want to bring everyone together and stop fighting, but there is a core group of Americans that believe in division: That this world is “us” verses “them.” This small-minded tribalism is not new to the world. The distrust of the “other” who is not part of your group has destroyed many cultures and has led to many wars. Republicans rely on this to get elected, warning of immigrants, gays, the transgendered, atheists, non-whites, the “woke” — whoever holds views counter to theirs is not someone who should be tolerated. They’re not someone who can be reasoned with. They’re the “enemy within.” If you disagree with them, you’re not the loyal opposition. You’re the cause of all their problems. And this is not new. Politicians have screamed this crap for years in elections … because it often works.
Trump constantly claimed that he was the subject of a witch hunt and that all the criminal charges against him were politically motivated, and we should have paid attention, because even the pollsters were telling us that his support grew the more charges that were brought against him. I’m not saying they shouldn’t have been brought, but we shouldn’t have thought that arguing that he was a criminal would help us gain support.
Harris ran a great campaign. Don’t blame her. She did everything right, including building a strong ground game, raising money, and beating Trump at their only debate.
My thought was that Trump’s support had not risen since he lost to Biden so I expected Harris to do at least as well as Biden did. However, Trump gained support largely from Black and Latino men. You’d think that wouldn’t happen, given the racist things he has said over and over again, but maybe the real reason is that these macho men can’t stand the idea of a woman being President. I mean, I’m sure that hurt Hillary Clinton as well (yes, she had other problems) but if 3% of the men will never vote for a woman President — well, there’s the margin you need in swing states.
Everyone is nervous; the election seems so close. What are we going to do?
Well, I’m going to out on a limb and predict a blue wave. If I’m right, I get to brag about what a great Political Scientist I am and if I am wrong, I will act like every other person who makes wrong predictions about the election and pretend I never said this. (wink wink)
I have posted before about why I expect Harris to win, but let me add to that list and explain in a bit more detail. Here are my reasons:
Harris is more popular than Biden. I mean, c’mon, man (as Biden would say). Biden won handily over Trump and Trump’s support has not grown in four years. Oh sure, his cultists will absolutely come out for him, but there’s a finite amount of them. (More on this below.) Here, look at how Biden did four years ago. You think Harris is going to do worse? (She may also pick up North Carolina, which is very close.)
Also, let’s not forget that the vast majority of people who died of COVID in 2020 and beyond were Trump supporters who refused to get vaccinated or wear a mask. There just aren’t as many of them now as there were then. (And many of Trump’s supporters, like Fox viewers, are over 70 and, well, there are not a lot of young people replacing them as they die off.)
Yeah, the polls are close in some of these states, but they have constantly shown Harris ahead. If the polls went back and forth between the two, there may be more room to worry but here in Pennsylvania (for example), Harris has kept her lead pretty constantly.
Trump’s support isn’t as good as it seems. The man lost the popular vote the first time he ran, never even reached a 50% approval rating his entire time as President (unlike every other person who has been President), and lost his second election by an even larger amount. A majority of Americans don’t want him.
And a large percentage of Republicans don’t want him this time, either. As a semi-incumbent, he should have gotten the numbers that Biden got in the primaries, but instead, quite often, he was lucky to get more than 50% of the registered Republicans voting for him. Many old-school Republicans (the kind who aren’t part of the Trump cult) can’t stand him, see the harm he will cause, and while they may not vote for Harris, they aren’t going to vote for Trump, either. They’ll probably just stay home. Hell, the vast majority of people who worked for Trump in the White House are out campaigning for Harris.
Harris has enthusiasm. People are excited about her campaign in a way they never were about Biden. Plus, historically, “hope” and “joy” and “optimism” beats “anger” and “fear.” Polling just opened in Georgia and it has already broken records for the number of people voting. Here in Pennsylvania, early voting shows that Democrats are voting more than Republicans in record numbers, and the number of women voting is even higher than in 2020.
Her poll numbers among the young are excellent and way beyond Trump’s. Harris is energizing younger voters in a way Biden couldn’t, and these voters don’t answer polls so they’re not always counted. Their presence, along with people who want to vote for the first woman President, may make all the difference. (Keep in mind many Republican women won’t tell others that they’re voting for her, but in the privacy of the voting booth…)
Trump chose a terrible Vice President. Trump needed to win back those Republicans mentioned above who don’t like him, but instead, he got a guy who is even more extreme and who has a lot of former baggage, not the least of which is being anti-Trump in the past, calling him the “Republican Hitler.” He was right, of course, but that won’t help get more independent voters. There are only so many Trump cultists and the nomination of Vance was what the cultist wanted but it won’t attract others or widen his appeal beyond the cultists.
The Republican party doesn’t have a lot of money.People just aren’t contributing to them in the same way they are for the Democrats. There are stories all over the states where the local parties are going broke. Meanwhile, Harris has literally raised a billion dollars for her campaign, mostly from small donations. Money means ads, workers, mailings, and many other campaign expenses. It’s tremendously important.
Trump has taken over the party. The head of the party is now Eric Trump’s wife. You remember Eric, who took money meant for a children’s cancer charity? Do you know where that money is going? If you do, tell Republicans, because many are worried that it is all going to Trump’s pockets. It certainly isn’t being shared with other candidates (unlike what Harris is doing, to make sure we can win the House and Senate as well). It’s all about Trump, after all.
Moreso, these people have no real experience in running a campaign, and they fired all those who do. The campaign is doing stupid things, like having rallies in blue states that Trump will never win, and insulting the very places he is visiting in red states. (It’s actually fun to watch how incompetent they are.)
Trump’s legal worries may influence the undecided. The Trump cultists will never change, and as Trump once said, he can shoot someone on 5th Avenue and still have their support. It’s difficult to imagine how anyone can be undecided in this election, but apparently there are a lot of clueless folks out there who have no problem voting for a lying, cheating, raping idiot who wants to be a dictator, but perhaps the more Trump spends time in court, the more these undecideds may think that maybe they don’t want a criminal as President.
Trump is old. Hey, if they could spend all their time talking about how old Biden is, we can turn it around on them now and point out that he is the oldest person ever to run for President. He’s showing more and more dementia as he campaigns, he’s refused to do debates (even on Fox!) and his rallies have people leaving as he just stands there and rambles nonsense. There’s no way that will help him.
Everyone hates Project 2025. Republicans can’t run away from it. The more people learn about it, the more they hate it. Democrats are going to constantly remind everyone of what it is and how it is essentially the GOP Platform.
And, let’s face it, there are still some reasonable Republicans and moderates out there who may come out to vote because while they don’t agree with Democratic policies, they don’t want someone in there who has vowed to be a “dictator on day one.” Some patriots will put the country’s needs over the party’s.
Democrats have done better than expected in recent elections. This may be the most important indicator and why I am making this prediction. We’ve managed to win quite a few special elections over the past few years, and in those that we didn’t win (in very red areas) we did much better than expected and much better than the polls predicted. Some of that is because we’re angry, and that gets people to the polls.
And we’re tremendously angry about abortion rights. In red states where this was on the ballot, pundits were shocked to see that even conservative voters voted to keep abortion legal. Many states have the issue on the ballots in November, which should bring more Democrats out to vote to protect this right (and then they’ll vote for the Democrats running as well).
There are more of us than there are of them. Democrats have won the popular vote in every single election except one since Bill Clinton, and the only reason Republicans got into office was because of the electoral college. We can overcome that by showing up in huge numbers in the swing states where our votes are tremendously important, like we did when Obama was elected. A huge turnout will guarantee our victory.
If we lose, it will be because we stayed at home and didn’t vote, or wasted our vote on a third party candidate. And then we can scream and shout all we want as our country moves toward a Putin-friendly dictatorship, but it won’t do any good because it will be our fault.
And now, a caveat: The GOP knows all this, so they are using their secret weapon: cheating. They’ll do everything they can to make it harder for anyone to vote; they’ll use the judges they’ve appointed to throw out ballots whenever possible; they’ll lie in campaign ads and use connections in Russia and China whose goal it is to dismantle American power; and otherwise claim to have won if they lose despite all evidence to the contrary (just like they did last time).
During their debate, Trump said Harris was a Marxist and everyone knew it. One of the great things about the debate is that unlike Trump’s previous opponents, she refused to take him seriously, treated him with the disrespect he deserved, and laughed at all his crazy statements.
But let’s discuss that. Why did Trump say that when there is absolutely nothing in Harris’ resume or record to indicate Marxism?
Well, first, remember that one of the key attacks Republicans constantly do is to claim that all Democrats are socialists and Marxist and so on — an attack which works less and less these days as more and more people are saying “Socialism? You mean with national health care and child care leave and free public colleges? Yes, I’d like some socialism, please.”
But mostly, he is basing this on the fact that Harris’ father (who did not raise her) taught politics and economics, which includes a course on Marxism.
Because you can’t study economics and politics without learning about Marxism.
I took a course on Marxism when I was a Political science student, and among other things, we discussed why it didn’t work. Just because someone studied Marxism doesn’t make them a Marxist. I also took a course in Philosophy of Religion but no one would call me religious.
After a very exciting convention — one of the most enthusiastic ones I’ve seen in my lifetime — Democrats are fired up. Polls are moving in our direction, states that were once GOP locks are now within reach, and contributions are dwarfing the GOP numbers.
That doesn’t mean we will win. The swing states we need are still within that margin of error range. We have to organize, we have to work, and we have to vote.
But let’s celebrate while we can.
So here’s a collection of recent political cartoons about the convention to make you smile.
Besides the fact that the GOP is now running an angry, elderly felon against an optimistic, joyful woman, they face other challenges, such as finding a winnable issue. No, arguing over crowd sizes isn’t it, and many in the GOP are begging Trump to shut up about that. (Apparently Trump is losing his mind over the thought that he could lose to a black woman, two things he hates. This is not new. ) The two main issues the GOP raises often are, of course, lies.
The economy is doing terrible! Actually, unemployment is at its lowest, real wages have risen sharply, the world-wide inflation problem didn’t hit us as bad as the rest of the world (and is now very low), overall the stock market has boomed, mortgage rates have fallen… Sure, it’s not perfect, but it never is.
Illegal immigrants are destroying our country! Okay, let’s begin by pointing out that this is largely an appeal to racists who hate the idea that brown people are coming here, because they never object to immigrants from Western Europe. But the fact that these people are illegal is simply because we made them so, and we could easily make them legal just like it was for many immigrants last century. And many are refugees, legally arriving and asking legally to be let in. (Also illegal border crossings are much lower than they were under Trump.)
But the fact is that, unlike Trump claims, these immigrants commit less crime than citizens. They pay their taxes, they want to work, they’re coming here for a better life, and they’re nothing to be scared of unless you are a white supremacist who worries that in the future, you will be the minority in America and then the majority will treat you as terrible as you have been treating them for generations.
Democrats and Republicans worked on a bipartisan plan to help immigrants and to make sure they all come in legally, but Trump told his cult not to vote for it because he needed to blame Biden for not fixing the problem. So if illegal immigrants are destroying our country, we can blame Trump for ignoring a solution.
They are trying to hide their positions on abortion and gay rights and the other extreme things in their Project 2025 because they know their views on these issues are hated by a majority of Americans. Their plan was to win and then force all that on us against our will, like they have always done.
I’m more optimistic now that we will be able to hold these liars back, but it will require everyone to vote, because you know the MAGA cult always will.
Back in March, I posted an article where I explained why I thought Biden would win. Many of the same reasons apply, but now that Harris is the candidate (as I had hoped), I can add a few more.
Trump’s support isn’t as good as it seems. The man lost the popular vote the first time he ran, never even reached a 50% approval rating his entire time as President (unlike every other person who has been President), and lost his second election by an even larger amount. A majority of Americans don’t want him.
And a large percentage of Republicans don’t want him this time, either. As a semi-incumbent, he should have gotten the numbers that Biden got in the primaries, but instead, quite often, he was lucky to get more than 50% of the registered Republicans voting for him. Many old-school Republicans (the kind who aren’t part of the Trump cult) can’t stand him, see the harm he will cause, and while they may not vote for Harris, they aren’t going to vote for Trump, either. They’ll probably just stay home.
Trump chose a terrible Vice President. Trump needed to win back those Republicans mentioned above who don’t like him, but instead, he got a guy who is even more extreme and worse, and who has a lot of former baggage, not the least of which is being anti-Trump in the past, calling him the “Republican Hitler.” He was right, of course, but that won’t help get more independent voters. There are only so many Trump cultists and the nomination of Vance was what the cultist wanted but it won’t attract others.
The Republican party doesn’t have a lot of money.People just aren’t contributing to them in the same way they are for the Democrats. There are stories all over the states where the local parties are going broke. Meanwhile, since Harris was announced as the candidate, Democratic money has been pouring in. Money means ads, workers, mailings, and many other campaign expenses. It’s tremendously important.
Trump has taken over the party. The head of the party is now Eric Trump’s wife. You remember Eric, who took money meant for a children’s cancer charity? Well, you can bet that any money the party raises isn’t going to go to the campaign. It’s going to go to Trump (and probably his legal fees, assuming he pays them).
Moreso, these people have no real experience in running a campaign, and they fired all those who do.
Trump’s legal worries may influence the undecided. The Trump cultists will never change, and as Trump once said, he can shoot someone on 5th Avenue and still have their support. It’s difficult to imagine how anyone can be undecided in this election, but apparently there are a lot of clueless folks out there who have no problem voting for a lying, cheating, raping idiot who wants to be a dictator, but perhaps the more Trump spends time in court, the more these undecideds may think that maybe they don’t want a criminal as President.
Trump is old. Hey, if they could spend all their time talking about how old Biden is, we can turn it around on them now and point out that he is the oldest person ever to run for President.
Everyone hates Project 2025. Republicans can’t run away from it. The more people learn about it, the more they hate it. Democrats are going to constantly remind everyone of what it is and how it is essentially the GOP Platform.
Democrats have done better than expected in recent elections.We’ve managed to win quite a few special elections and in those that we didn’t win (in very red areas) we did much better than expected and much better than the polls predicted. Some of that is because we’re angry and pissed, and that gets people to the polls.
And we’re tremendously angry about abortion rights. In red states where this was on the ballot, pundits were shocked to see that even conservative voters voted to keep abortion legal. Many states are putting the issue on the ballots in November, which hopefully will bring more Democrats out to vote to protect this right (and then they’ll vote for the Democrats running as well.)
And, let’s face it, there are still some reasonable Republicans and moderates out there who may come out to vote because while they don’t agree with Democratic policies, they don’t want someone in there who has vowed to be a “dictator on day one.” Some patriots will put the country’s needs over the party’s.
Harris is exciting younger and newer voters. Her poll numbers among the young are excellent and way beyond Trump’s. Harris is energizing younger voters in a way Biden couldn’t, and these voters don’t answer polls so they’re not always counted. (Polls still rely heavily on landline phones — which may also be why we have done better than expected in recent elections). Their presence along with people who want to vote for the first woman President may make all the difference. (Keep in mind many Republican women won’t tell others that they’re voting for her, but in the privacy of the voting booth…)
All we have to do is hold the states we won last time. All over the country, purple states are becoming bluer all the time. It’s not that hard. We can lose Georgia, Arizona and Nevada and still win. I am hoping Harris will chose Governor Shapiro as her running mate, as that should help secure Pennsylvania, a state we have to win. (Seriously, without purple Pennsylvania, there’s no way a Democrat can win.)
There are more of us than there are of them. Democrats have won the popular vote in every single election except one since Bill Clinton, and the only reason Republicans got into office was because of the electoral college. We can overcome that by showing up in huge numbers in the swing states where our votes are tremendously important, like we did when Obama was elected. A huge turnout will guarantee our victory.
If we lose, it will be because we stayed at home and didn’t vote, or wasted our vote on a third party candidate. And then we can scream and shout all we want as our country moves toward a Putin-friendly dictatorship, but it won’t do any good because it will be our fault.
And now, a caveat: The GOP knows all this, so they plan to use their secret weapon: cheating. They’ll do everything they can to make it harder for anyone to vote; they’ll use the judges they’ve appointed to throw out ballots whenever possible; they’ll lie in campaign ads and use connections in Russia and China whose goal it is to dismantle American power; and otherwise claim to have won if they lose despite all evidence to the contrary (just like they did last time).
We all agree that Trump should be the one withdrawing from the race, but we also know the GOP will never ask him to do that.
I don’t quite understand how so many of my fellow Americans can support such a terrible man like Trump, but the fact is that they do, and we have to do everything we can to stop him.
We have the possibility of losing to this lying felon simply because people think Biden isn’t up physically and mentally to being President. And that has Democrats running scared. (And it has Republicans running a bit scared, too, because they want Biden to stay in the race. They don’t want him replaced.)
The problem with politics is that the skills needed for campaigning are not the same as the skills needed for governing. Biden may not be doing great in a debate, but that is not something that ever happens when you’re President, surrounded by advisors, and having time to make the right decisions — and I think Biden has done a find job as President. I am not questioning his ability to be President.
But we have to win and these are the cards we have been given. Polls are showing Biden losing in key states, and while polls at this stage are still kind of meaningless, they shouldn’t be ignored completely.
So I certainly understand how many Democrats are asking him to step aside. Our democracy will suffer greatly if Trump is allowed to get back into the White House and be a “dictator on day one.”
(Mind you, almost every registered Democrat will vote for a boiled potato over Trump — it’s the independents we can’t lose)
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