By Mat Wahlstrom
Hunter S. Thompson famously raged at the impending outcome of the 1972 Presidential Election, where another crook looked to beat the better man. With a true patriot’s love of country, he lamented:
The tragedy of all this is that George McGovern, for all his mistakes and all his imprecise talk about ‘new politics’ and ‘honesty in government,’ is one of the few men who’ve run for President of the United States in this century who really understands what a fantastic monument to all the best instincts of the human race this country might have been, if we could have kept it out of the hands of greedy little hustlers like Richard Nixon.
But unlike back then, people could still believe that the system worked and could be counted on to ensure wrongs would eventually be righted. Now, I don’t see how there can be a Watergate to bring about accountability.
Because the country knowingly chose a convicted felon who bragged in 2016 that he “could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters.” And eight years later, he not only promised to shoot whole populations in the head: it got him even more voters.
And instead of a shining city on the hill, we chose a grim meat-hook future.
It wasn’t about the economy or from any legitimate concern that the majority of Americans voted they way they did. They did it from irrational fear, studied ignorance and imagined slights: from religious bigotry, racism, misogyny, xenophobia and homophobia. They had no nobler motive than spite to justify making a stochastic terrorist the most powerful person on the planet.
That the Democrats failed to do what was needed to meet this threat simply cleared their path.
Burke allegedly once said: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing.” Apparently, he never imagined the situation in America in 2024, where there are simply not enough good men left anymore.
Barring an act of God, there’s nothing to stop the rollout of Project 2025 and whatever unknown horrors await us.
I’ve never experienced such a national tragedy at such a personal level. What happened on 9/11 was done to us: we did this to ourselves. I don’t see how to get past that. And that breaks the heart.
Perhaps, it’s best that ALL bury the hachet. The hachet does nobody any good, it just continues the devision. Kamalaa said it well, it’s “Time to turn the page.”
SDS disappeared too.
I’d wager that if Harris had won, you’d be here alleging “election fraud.”
Both Kamala and Melania are fans of the OB Rag, Why wouldn’t they be?
Guaranteed Health Insurance for everyone was the only issue I ever cared about, And we got it. And is isn’t going away.
Thank you Matt Wahlstrom for this beautifully written commentary.
Perhaps it’s time for California, the world’s fifth largest economy, to start thinking about seceding from this new national fascist dictatorship.
Thank you, Donna. As tempting as it may be, I do not intend to either let the bastards keep my country or promote a war of secession.
Why the dourness? If D.C. was not its usual landslide, then fret. We all know that innovation and Republicans are an oxymoron
George Carlin said on elections. The 2nd skit is going to really sound familiar:
Why Don’t I Vote? I’ll Let George Carlin Explain It To You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X4Z1lLUMfw
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sealintheSelkirks
Perhaps, it could be helpful to read our elders:
1. “Democracy extends the sphere of individual freedom, socialism restricts it. Democracy attaches all possible value to each man; socialism makes each man a mere agent, a mere number. Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word: equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.”
? Alexis de Tocqueville
So I was right in seeing the lack of good faith in your claim to “bury the hatchet.” It appears you want to bury in the skulls of those you oppose.
But as far as this insipid regurgitation is concerned, I only need to point out two things:
1. You clearly are either unaware or uncaring that de Tocqueville considered capitalist oligarchy “the most revolting of all governments.” Try squaring that circle with your Trumpism.
2. Socialism never existed anywhere outside of isolated communities when he wrote that in 1848, in knee-jerk aristocratic horror at the Paris Commune. He never lived to see the century-plus success of the Nordic countries’ democratic socialist example.
Exit polls say people really care about the economy. Obviously, we shouldn’t ever vote for the monster that is Trump, but inflation hurt too many people (housing being too expensive is a major contributor). We are all now staring down at our rights being reduced (and as a gay man it really hurts). Can we please stop making it so hard to build housing? I am literally begging you.
Hey, congrats Jake! You win the Troll of the Year Award!
“Obviously, we shouldn’t ever vote for Trump” — which implies *you* did — “but inflation hurt too many people” — inflation that has been well documented as entirely induced to goose corporate profits, is slick!
But invoking the real and present danger to all LGBTQ+ persons as a cynical ploy to segue into your actual point of promoting the unchecked rampant speculative capitalist development espoused by Trump and your fellow YIMBY apparatchiks?
Chef’s kiss my ass.
I hate Trump with every fiber of me being (and Vance). I have voted against him in every election I have been old enough to vote (3).
Why is building housing so horrifying to you that you attack people in your community?
You need to read this and realize the WHY behind it is useless to keep saying ‘build more housing’ because that is not theissue, it’s the greed of the corporate oligarchs problem. It will NEVER be solved by destroying more neighborhoods building these ugly giant cube monstrosities in the pursuit of larger and larger profits that charge outrageous rents that 50% of the working population of the US can’t afford on top of everything else.
Just like oil companies. Just like corporations selling us groceries, insurance, and everything else since giant monopolistic corporations owned by the extreme wealthy are very much in control of our lives and don’t give a crap about you or anyone else.
Property Pirates: How Trump’s Billionaires Are Hijacking Affordable Housing
With every investment home they snatch, the dream of owning a house slips further away from you…
https://hartmannreport.com/p/property-pirates-how-billionaires-6bf
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sealintheSelkirks
Dems did not do themselves any favors embracing open immigration over taxpayers creating more demand over supply when it comes to affordable housing. So then the Cali elected power brokers jumped in to game the system more. Both sides are broken.
WOW…you sound like you need to grow up & grow a pair of Balls to stop your incessant whining.
Nobody controls your destiny nor future, whether that be the President, Governor or Mayor.
This isn’t some 3rd world Banana Dictatorship, it’s the USA, stop your freaking whining & go outside to smell what FREEDOM actually is.
It’s the fact you can Coexist in a world of your fellow Human Beings & as long as you don’t F*** Up, you should be able to do whatever the F*** you want.!!
Now and then, we post the ‘hate’ comments to show readers that they’re out there and everyday they try to post on the Rag.
A few replies haven’t gone through, am I blocked on top of moderated now, Frank?
only when you start spouting trumpian logic on immigration
Seriously, you don’t think housing cost or sheer unit numbers would be any different without the housing demand increase from immigration?
When you start sounding like the Republican mantra on immigration, you run into trouble. You sound like you’re saying, ‘Gee, when all the migrants are rounded up, me and my buddies will have plenty of units available.’
That was funny. Gave me a chuckle.
“This isn’t some 3rd world Banana Dictatorship” – YET.
The fact Republicans won both houses of Congress, Trump won the popular vote for Republicans for the first time in over twenty years and so many of the candidates and policies endorsed by this publication and the policies promoted by Matt Wahlstrom in his articles is the clearest indication the American electorate, for good or bad, has totally repudiated Progressive policies and the left wing of the Democratic Party and helped catapult Trump back into office.
Time for a reality check Matt instead of name calling those who disagree with you.
CZ – House races are too close to call, so Repubs have not won it.
Frank, I fear it’s a fait accompli but I pray I am wrong because the consequences are just too terrible to imagine
Wow, who knew this post would bring out so many sore winners and gloating “I’ve got mine, screw you on yours” greedheads!
Harris lost the way that institutional Democrats usually lose: by tacking to the center to win over the right. This neoliberal triangulation pleases their donors but turns off the people who are suffering that they purport to represent.
The problem isn’t “leftist wokism” — it’s expecting others to look out for us. Workers and tenants must band together in solidarity to look out for each other in order to end the rule of capital over people.
This election was simply proof of what Kahlil Gibran wrote: “Verily when good is hungry it seeks food even in dark caves, and when it thirsts it drinks even of dead waters.”
If you are referring to me, I am hardly a winner in any sense of the word. Although as for your propensity to rely on ad hominen attacks, I rest my case.
Oh, Carl — not everything is about you. But if you see yourself in my comment, that’s on you. One thing I will point regarding you in particular is your propensity to dismiss any criticisms of your positions as a personal attack.
Your being a retired attorney who owns multiple rental properties in Hillcrest (if not also in other places) is something you have mentioned many times in reference to what you’re commenting. To claim that bringing that up as an obvious bias isn’t attacking you as a person: it’s directly relevant to calling out your self-interest in defending a status quo that’s working just swell for you and your class.
It reminds me of the anecdote of the man arrested for killing his parents who protests to the judge, “But your honor — I’m an orphan!”
I own one parcel of real estate in Hillcrest. The one I reside in
She wasn’t left enough? Is that what I just read? Let’s just say if it were Newsome, I would have had more concern than Harris as the candidate.
A friend made a post on a SM thread that I wanted to quote and copy/paste it to here but the original post got deleted before I had a chance. The gist of it was something to the effect of how the Democratic party largely abandoned the working class non college educated middle America citizen, and that’s something that can’t be denied. Many feel they are often mocked for their lack of education, lifestyle/culture, financial struggles. Hell, I’ve attended a few “white trash” themed parties/events knowing full well I’m taking part in belittling citizens going through real hardships. Trump has a way of speaking to them in a way that resonates so here we are, a 2nd time.
Thanks for sharing, Chris. This sounds like he was quoting Bernie Sanders’ statement about the election, that was released after I wrote this article, but which I agree with wholeheartedly: https://tinyurl.com/Sanders-Election-Statement
Some I know argue it’s less of a Trump win and more of a Democrat loss.
If it had been close, maybe. But there’s no putting a shine on this turd.
I concur.
Chris Schultz: left Enough? Really? That’s freaking hilarious! Harris isn’t anywhere even close to being a Leftie. Hell, she has always been right of center, about what you’d expect of a Prosecutor-cop. I consider her a neoLiberal ‘Reagan Democrat’ in outlook at best.
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Mat: Yep, and who exactly were the people that deliberately killed Bernie Sanders presidential run? Hillary Clinton and the wealthy neoliberal Democrats that, in 1979, would have also been considered to be moderate corporate Republicans. Same thing with Ralph Nader’s Green Party run against Wbush and Al Gore in 2000, it was the Dems that hammered on him and then actually blamed him for Gore’s loss which was ridiculous because it was the GOP Supreme Court that put Wbush in power by illegally stopping the recounts because they KNEW bush lost. Another example of court corruption by Republican judges… Was it three independent recounts that proved Gore won, or four? I forget.
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As for the title of this thread, The Election Aftermath, this below is what the MAGA voters never understood and boy, are they not going to like what their lives are going to be like soon:
+ From a piece in The Economist on the consequences of GOP tax cuts since 2000: “America’s tax code no longer keeps up with the needs of its people. In 2000, the federal government raised roughly 20% of GDP in revenue annually. If the country still had its 2000-era tax code today, its national debt would be declining. But large tax cuts under Republican presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump slashed revenue to below 17% of GDP, a difference of nearly a trillion dollars a year. That has been a windfall for the wealthy, whose effective tax rates have fallen sharply in the last 25 years even as tax rates for the middle class have stayed roughly the same. But it has been a drag on the economy, as the erosion in revenue has cramped the government’s ability to make needed investments and forced it into more borrowing.”
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I talked to my brother on the coast down in NorCal (Ft. Bragg area) this morning on his morning beach & cliff walk, and he said he saw young 20-something white boys carrying signs celebrating the MAGA win on Wednesday in that small rural town. The different messages he remembers were MY CHOICE NOT YOURS, GO HOME, WHITE POWER, and they all think the economy is going to boom like it did between 2016-2020…when they were teenagers living with mommy. Excuse me but history of the wealthy as leaders proves exactly the opposite. 1890s, 1929, 2008, and Trump was killing the economy when Covid hit that first year.
Going to be a really rude wake-up-to-reality at some point for these boys, won’t it? But the racism and misogyny will continue to be even more in-your-face I’m assuming. I wonder how many of them will be picking strawberries for $5 a flat in the fields of Central Valley once the farm workers are rounded up?
Anybody else remember reading Pearl S. Buck’s ‘The Good Earth?’
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An Inupiat friend who is a stock market guy ranted and raved last night because he said that Wednesday the two biggest private prison corporations had a noticeably large stock price boost that morning. Being a native guy he’s no friend of Trump.
And no he doesn’t invest in Wall St that way, but he notices things. Somebody, though, is looking ahead, eh? The purge that Dr. Mary Trump warned about if he won perhaps?
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America Got What It Wanted And America Is Going To Get What It Deserves – Roland Martin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4XQhCmF1VQ
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Anybody laying bets on how long the bro-mance between Trump and Musk is going to last? Two monumental narcissistic egos like theirs clashing isn’t going to last very long I don’t think. I’m giving it less than 6 months after he’s sworn in to destroy the Constitution and end elections…
sealintheSelkirks
Always interesting to see the various perceptions of Harris. To hardcore right wingers, she’s a Marxist. To others, she’s a true hero that could have saved the world if elected. And yet to others she’s a neoliberal Zionist pro genocide monster who is giddy over innocent Palestinians being murdered. Real world trauma, as horrific as it is makes for great internet. Popcorn sales are up.
She wasn’t left enough was a reply to a Mat post alluding that’s why she lost.
So Joe Rogan’s podcast: So the voting and the election system ISN’T rigged, eh Joe? HAhahahaha he goes, it’s all so funny isn’t it? And the last four years of all the crap spewed that Trump LIED (isn’t that a surprise?) about it all is just fine, all forgotten.
Watch Joe Rogan Realize TRUMP WAS LYING THE WHOLE TIME!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeLNQYKPY2g
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So Trump’s 60% tariffs on China goods, which is the major supplier of goods for…Walmart and nearly all the rest of big box stores. And all the parts to keep what’s left of small manufacturing in the US operating because all their parts come from overseas (mostly China). Reports are already coming in about those small US companies trying to buy a year’s worth of parts before tariffs get enacted in January.
Crash program to start building US manufacturing plants making parts? Don’t think so. How much is the cost of living in the US and suddenly
6 bankruptcies 11 failed businesses. Yep, he’s a hell of a businessman all right!
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I think it’s about time I watched Idiocracy again. You know, that documentary about the US future?
sealintheSelkirks
Why did Democrats just freaking CAVE in 2000 to the illegal SCOTUS breaking the Florida Constitution by stopping the mandated recount?
Why aren’t the Democrats DEMAND a full recount when the Republican screamed for the last four years about vote fraud? Specifically Harris HAS TO BE THE ONE TO DEMAND IT.
Listen to this computer guy…
Data Scientist’s Shocking Call for Election Recount Raises Scary Questions!
w/ Stephen Spoonamore 11 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJR5uQpweko
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sealintheSelkirks
Investigative reporter Greg Palast takes on vote suppression tactics by the GOP extremists; specifically the group out of Texas funded with tens of millions in Dark right-wing corporate money to ‘challenge’ anyone. Which shouldn’t surprise anyone with a brain I guess.
Bluntly, can we just call these groups The South Shall Rise Again Slavers of America? Or maybe simplify to ‘Plantation Police’ like they used to be called in 1850s South Carolina?
“The Election Ain’t Over” Greg Palast: New Details on Ballots Thrown Out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3hXeEiFcJM
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The vote count is now 49.9 Trump, 48.3 Harris as of Friday evening, and counting is STILL going on. Harris may end up winning the popular vote. You know, the one that actually means democracy works not this slave-state crap of an ‘electoral college?’
We have suffered ANOTHER Republican coup, just like in 2000.
Just like in 1934 which didn’t work. Just like on Jan. 6 2021 which also didn’t work, but both of those times the perpetrators got clean away (and in 45 days all the soldiers of Jan 6th will be pardoned). One, Prescott Bush the Wall St. banker, even became a Senator after WWII, and both his son and his grandson became Presidents (which I’m sure we all remember was head of the coup in 2000.
Does there seems to be a reoccurring theme here? And a serious lack of general historical knowledge about our own country. Hey Geoff, sure are a lot of other reasons to be ashamed of being an American, isn’t there?
sealintheSelkirks
The corporate news is doing an enormous disservice to the country with them spewing lies from every orifice. But then it’s all owned by the wealthy isn’t it? This is what has been going on for 8 years, never ended Trump on all channels, and this is what the owners want?
CNN Host Drops SHOCKING Claim As Insane Ohio Nazi Video Blows Up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0GD8efxtns
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Thom Hartmann speaks:
Trump’s Oligarchy Is Temporary But What’s Coming Is Worse… Unless We Act Now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eK6mfyEt9I
**Note: Oligarchy has been in charge ever since Ronald Reagan. This is now more like a Mafia State I think…
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Trump Won Less Than 50 Percent. Why Is Everyone Calling It a Landslide?
Right and left have bought the narrative of a crushing triumph. They’re wrong.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/11/22/trump-win-popular-vote-below-50-percent-00190793
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sealintheSelkirks
Please, can somebody tell me why democrats take squirt bottles and water balloons to a freaking knife fight where your opponents are using 2 foot long Bowie knives and are trying to GUT you?
Rachel Maddow Just BLEW THE LID OFF A Massive New SCANDAL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f6N3_OH0l4
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Musk publicized the names of government employees he wants to cut. It’s terrifying federal workers.
Note: Cyber bullying experts refuse interviews to go on record because they are afraid of being attacked by Musk followers (as has happened before).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvrSIJi6cQQ
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The election was hacked? Expert Cyber IT Duncan Buell interviewed by this woman. Almost 1 hour:
LIVE: RECOUNT Update & Why I Left Meidastouch ? Lights On with Jessica Denson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrFb-rLVF10
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An explanation by Mary Trump on the economy:
WARNING: Trump’s Tariffs Will CRUSH Us | Prices About to EXPLODE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkDk6TYY5rg
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Hey San Diego! What’s the NAVY in town going to do now???
Trump SELLS OFF the Entire Navy to OLIGARCH DONOR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iFpQ-0wCQY
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OUCH! Trump Supporters Face BRUTAL Wake-Up Call
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvIYk63EqDg
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And to show this insanity is just a continuing stream of madness from the ‘wingers, here’s a knife thrust to the gut by TRUMP that happened in my area in 2020 as Covid was killing thousands daily because of Trump.
I was surrounded by wildfires, the sky was burning, and saw the destruction as it happened while choking on smoke even in the house when Trump denied my Governor’s plea for federal wildfire aid. Because he didn’t like him.
Compare that to why the GOP-run states who ALL VOTED AGAINST Biden’s Infrastructure Bill…but somehow it was they who received the majority of that federal aid money. Which generally comes from BLUE STATES taxes because the bloodsucker Red states never pay enough into the Federal pot and they get more back than they ever put in EVERY YEAR.
WTF corporate Democrats? What the HELL is wrong with all of you? This is exactly why I have refused to call myself a Democrat and have been registered Independent for years.
Something to think on: What if blue states refused to send ANY federal taxes to Trump? Why should we pay for our own destruction?
sealintheSelkirks
Twenty-one years ago Bernie Sanders spoke of what was coming:
Bernie Made An INSANE Prediction, Then It Came True!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIY0V540yUw
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If the right-wing Clinton Republicans/DNC hadn’t derailed Bernie’s primary bid with some decidedly underhanded behavior in 2016 (including FUNDING Trump and how stupid was that?), imagine what could have been…
sealintheSelkirks
Trump’s Fascist minions continue to twist the law:
Judge Cannon blocks release of Jack Smith’s final report on Trump investigation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZqTMpRA6GE
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And then there is the real monster:
Lies, Fear, & Dehumanization! How To Turn Normal Americans into Monsters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D03RcFrxQ9k
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sealintheSelkirks