It is perfectly valid for the American public to express outrage over Trump’s declaration of victory, but the entire American media and political class forever lost all legitimacy to condemn a nation’s leader from illegitimately crowning themselves by backing the Venezuela coup.
❖
Watching Democrats’ inability to handily defeat a crazy reality TV host in two elections is like seeing someone pick a fight with a six-year-old girl and getting their ass kicked, then coming back with a bunch of their friends and watching them all get carried off on stretchers.
❖
All the hours of post-electoral analysis you’re about to hear are just mental gymnastics to avoid confronting one very simple fact: that the way the Democratic Party has been securing funding is incompatible with securing votes. That’s the only correct answer to the question of what went wrong for the Democrats this year. They court wealthy donors who in exchange demand policies which hurt ordinary Americans. Ignore all answers besides this one.
It’s not because of inadequate outreach to this or that demographic. It’s not because of racism. It’s not because of being too “woke.” It’s not because of the Electoral College or gerrymandering. It’s because Democratic donors advance interests which hurt the Democratic base, which naturally makes the base disinclined to vote for them.
People simply are not going to support a party which does not advance their interests. If the Democratic Party were obtaining material benefits for people, they would dominate the US government. But that would mean taking things away from the donor class, so it’s been a no-go. Meanwhile the donor class is never going to support a party which acts against its interests. Getting enough votes and getting the support of wealthy elites are therefore mutually exclusive endeavors. You cannot have both. Dems will keep struggling with votes until they figure this out.
❖
It is good that people are criticizing the Democrats’ garbage performance against a cartoon character opponent. But let’s not kid ourselves: as soon as they get Biden in the line is going to be, “We’re doing fine; nothing needs to change. Biden beat the socialist and then beat Trump. Where’s brunch?”
❖
Democrats ignored the left and courted Republicans instead under the mistaken belief that there are millions of Americans who want to coddle the rich, kill the poor, shit on disadvantaged groups and destroy the environment, but to do so with decency.
❖
Maybe there are a lot of liberals who are closet Trump voters. This dark, secret passion they can never admit to publicly, like how all conservatives secretly love gay sex.
❖
Presidents are just narrative management ops the US empire uses to explain to the public why it is doing the things it was always going to do. Like explaining death to children using puppets.
❖
If Biden somehow fails to get in, the elites who installed him as the nominee are responsible for that loss. If Biden secures the election, the elites who installed him are responsible for his administration’s evil actions. You don’t get to control everything and then duck responsibility for your outcomes.
❖
Ignore everyone who’s bitching about the Electoral College right now. They only ever complain about it during actual elections and then forget all about it until the next one.
❖
Leftists who voted Biden did it with the goal of hopefully later getting a chance to wake America up. Liberals who voted Biden did it so they can go back to sleep.
❖
Bush dropped more bombs than Clinton. Obama dropped more bombs than Bush. Trump dropped more bombs than Obama. This trend has much less to do with who’s president than with the nature of global metastatic imperialism. And it ain’t changing with Biden.
❖
The idea that everything will be fine once Trump’s gone is more dangerous than Trump.
❖
The more desperately aggressive and authoritarian the western empire becomes, the more the blue checkmarked commentariat who protect it are going to expose themselves for what they really are.
This is all you’re ever seeing with those liberals and fauxgressives who spend all their time on Twitter taking pot shots at anti-imperialists and finger wagging at people for being too far left. They’re just protecting an increasingly indefensible world order from its critics.
❖
“Antifascists” who support Biden should call themselves Arguably-Slightly-Less-Fascist.
❖
The dumbest thing about this presidential race has been the narrative that nations who will be targeted by the US no matter who wins have a really strong preference for one of the candidates.
❖
Beauty is just a word for the experience of having truly seen something.
Caitlin Johnstone is a Melbourne-based journalist who specialises in American politics, finance and foreign affairs. Her articles have been published in Inquisitr, Zero Hedge, New York Observer, MintPress News, The Real News, International Policy Digest and more. Caitlin is the author of Woke: A Field Guide For Utopia Preppers, an illustrated poetical guide to reclaiming the earth from the forces of death and destruction.
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Electoral musings: Notes from the Edge of the Narrative Matrix
Posted on November 6, 2020 by Caitlin Johnstone
It is perfectly valid for the American public to express outrage over Trump’s declaration of victory, but the entire American media and political class forever lost all legitimacy to condemn a nation’s leader from illegitimately crowning themselves by backing the Venezuela coup.
❖
Watching Democrats’ inability to handily defeat a crazy reality TV host in two elections is like seeing someone pick a fight with a six-year-old girl and getting their ass kicked, then coming back with a bunch of their friends and watching them all get carried off on stretchers.
❖
All the hours of post-electoral analysis you’re about to hear are just mental gymnastics to avoid confronting one very simple fact: that the way the Democratic Party has been securing funding is incompatible with securing votes. That’s the only correct answer to the question of what went wrong for the Democrats this year. They court wealthy donors who in exchange demand policies which hurt ordinary Americans. Ignore all answers besides this one.
It’s not because of inadequate outreach to this or that demographic. It’s not because of racism. It’s not because of being too “woke.” It’s not because of the Electoral College or gerrymandering. It’s because Democratic donors advance interests which hurt the Democratic base, which naturally makes the base disinclined to vote for them.
People simply are not going to support a party which does not advance their interests. If the Democratic Party were obtaining material benefits for people, they would dominate the US government. But that would mean taking things away from the donor class, so it’s been a no-go. Meanwhile the donor class is never going to support a party which acts against its interests. Getting enough votes and getting the support of wealthy elites are therefore mutually exclusive endeavors. You cannot have both. Dems will keep struggling with votes until they figure this out.
❖
It is good that people are criticizing the Democrats’ garbage performance against a cartoon character opponent. But let’s not kid ourselves: as soon as they get Biden in the line is going to be, “We’re doing fine; nothing needs to change. Biden beat the socialist and then beat Trump. Where’s brunch?”
❖
Democrats ignored the left and courted Republicans instead under the mistaken belief that there are millions of Americans who want to coddle the rich, kill the poor, shit on disadvantaged groups and destroy the environment, but to do so with decency.
❖
Maybe there are a lot of liberals who are closet Trump voters. This dark, secret passion they can never admit to publicly, like how all conservatives secretly love gay sex.
❖
Presidents are just narrative management ops the US empire uses to explain to the public why it is doing the things it was always going to do. Like explaining death to children using puppets.
❖
If Biden somehow fails to get in, the elites who installed him as the nominee are responsible for that loss. If Biden secures the election, the elites who installed him are responsible for his administration’s evil actions. You don’t get to control everything and then duck responsibility for your outcomes.
❖
Ignore everyone who’s bitching about the Electoral College right now. They only ever complain about it during actual elections and then forget all about it until the next one.
❖
Leftists who voted Biden did it with the goal of hopefully later getting a chance to wake America up. Liberals who voted Biden did it so they can go back to sleep.
❖
Bush dropped more bombs than Clinton. Obama dropped more bombs than Bush. Trump dropped more bombs than Obama. This trend has much less to do with who’s president than with the nature of global metastatic imperialism. And it ain’t changing with Biden.
❖
The idea that everything will be fine once Trump’s gone is more dangerous than Trump.
❖
The more desperately aggressive and authoritarian the western empire becomes, the more the blue checkmarked commentariat who protect it are going to expose themselves for what they really are.
This is all you’re ever seeing with those liberals and fauxgressives who spend all their time on Twitter taking pot shots at anti-imperialists and finger wagging at people for being too far left. They’re just protecting an increasingly indefensible world order from its critics.
❖
“Antifascists” who support Biden should call themselves Arguably-Slightly-Less-Fascist.
❖
The dumbest thing about this presidential race has been the narrative that nations who will be targeted by the US no matter who wins have a really strong preference for one of the candidates.
❖
Beauty is just a word for the experience of having truly seen something.
Caitlin Johnstone is a Melbourne-based journalist who specialises in American politics, finance and foreign affairs. Her articles have been published in Inquisitr, Zero Hedge, New York Observer, MintPress News, The Real News, International Policy Digest and more. Caitlin is the author of Woke: A Field Guide For Utopia Preppers, an illustrated poetical guide to reclaiming the earth from the forces of death and destruction.