Sunday, November 13, 2016

Post Mortem

WHINERS WHINING ABOUT WHINERS:
After the nastiest campaign I've ever seen, gloating over the outcome to shocked Hillary voters is not a way forward. Time and hopefully a successful Trump administration can go a long way toward healing. In the meantime, people are entitled to their feelings. Just because folks have serious concerns doesn't mean they're trying to be your buzzkill. On the other hand, immediately wishing every possible calamity on Trump and his voters is not the high road Michelle Obama talked about.   

ON THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA:
We got exactly what we asked for, with giant corporations controlling (in this case) information like other other big names dominate their respective industries. They tailored it all to their target demographics and didn't care about the common good. Big name blogs looking for hits are not much different from AM talk radio, cable news or anything infotainment with an agenda.  There are still journalists who believe in speaking truth to power, and please click on the fact checkers like Politico.com and Snopes.com!

WHAT HAPPENED TO "THE MOST QUALIFIED FOR THE JOB"?:
People just couldn't warm up to Hillary Clinton.  The enthusiasm wasn't there to overcome the perceptions of corruption even in the face of an outrageous, lying, authoritarian, mysoginistic narcissist.   The Democratic party is now totally rudderless as its establishment ignored its traditional base of white blue collar workers who went for Trump in the Midwest Rust Belt.   I don't think Bernie Sanders was "robbed" of the nomination; nor did he "sell out" to the establishment.  Millenials and working class folks concerned about their futures were receptive to Bernie's message with millions of modest contributions while Hillary and her GOP elite counterpart Jeb Bush came across as the past with their big corporate donations.  Yes, FBI Director Comey threw a wrench in the works at the and the Electoral College didn't square with the popular vote, but there should be no reason why this race had to be such a tight one. 

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE DEMS?:
Say what you want about whether Bernie's economic math adds up, his movement is the wave of the future for the Democratic party to survive.   They have to stop being the tool of Wall Street and big donors.   In other words, just being a kinder, gentler version of the Republican party is not cutting it.   Bernie and Trump shook up things with passionate people power.  Let's hope populism can be put to good use.