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Believe me now?

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These are two pieces I wrote in warning before the true outlines of Trump’s disastrous presidency became obvious.

The vitriol leveled at me for stating what was obvious to me, but to which most here were either oblivious or deliberately being obtuse about made me leave this site for months.

Here’s another unwelcome warning: there will be no “blue wave” in November unless and until the DNC discards the conservative Third Way approach and unabashedly accepts and supports genuine progressive policies that aggressively limit corporate power and control, provide better wealth distribution through higher minimum wages and higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy, better healthcare (single payer) and negotiated drug prices among others.

No more lip service to progress causes that are then lost to incrementalism!

Barring that, the “blue wave” will more resemble a blue ripple, and the failure will mean the end of the Democratic Party as force in American politics, victim of a takeover by moderate Republicans and a rejection of progressive policies.



This is a classic example of how a nation-state begins to seriously unravel: years of gridlock during which little actual governance occurs, and what little is accomplished generally doesn't do the nation as a whole much good, but rather focuses on narrow interests and power concentration. Now we have the spectacle of a party in power which was elected on the basis of distrust of and opposition to the idea of governance, a party dedicated to disrupting government, a party whose guiding principles seem to be anarchy, a party suddenly without even a titular leader, and no one intellectually or ideologically competent enough or together enough or trusted enough to provide a way out of the mess they've created. From my perspective, based on long and broad studies of history, this could get very, very much worse over the coming year or three. Even with the best of outcomes in 2016, say a Sanders presidency and a more balanced Congress, so much damage has been done already that it will take a generation of good government and impossibly great luck to turn things around. Bush unquestionably left a horrendous mess, but Obama's failures to lead, failures to uphold the rule of law and demand consequences for those who broke laws, violated the Constitution and lied to Congress (NSA, CIA, et al), broke the economy (banksters), and shamed us before the world (CIA kidnappers and torturers, military torturers) have only exacerbated the problems. His betrayal of the United States through attempting to foist the TPP on us in secret begs for impeachment for treason, for undermining democracy in favor of corporate power. Nothing about this should be cause for glee or amusement. Viewing it as just desserts, or somehow working to the partisan political advantage of Democrats is short-sighted and misses the overarching context. This is how nations begin to die.

If any of you think that Obama isn’t a weak leader, ask yourselves this...where is his leadership at this critical juncture in our history?

What has he said or done of note that anyone anywhere has paid attention to the last year?

How has he helped to define the choices facing us?

He’s now a lame duck, free to speak out, free to make impacts, yet all we hear are crickets.

It is yet another example of the paucity of vigor in the American political class, a lack of urgency, a lack of vision.

The electorate feels disenfranchised and stagnant, the country feels as if it is treading water just to survive, and the economy is going nowhere.

Serious change is critically needed, and the choices we’re being offered are no changes and unpredictable but most likely bad ones, while a chance for genuine change is being beaten down by party elites in favor of preserving their personal perks.

Like it or not, change is coming. How drastic that change will end up is anyone’s guess. But the nation is on the cusp of change. The social equilibrium has been perturbed, and it won’t return to its prior state. This is a dangerous time.

If you can’t see the downward spiral we’re in, then you really do need to exert yourself and do a little research on your own. Only if you teach yourself will you really comprehend the dangers we face.


I published the piece above before the election, and caught nothing but flack for it, but now it seems appropriate to remind you that someone saw what was happening and tried to warn you, but you refused to listen..

I hate being right about things like this.

I thought it time to add a bit to this since events have caught up with my fears.

The Republican Party has unraveled, yes, but to the dismay of nearly everyone, not in the manner gleefully hoped-for a few months ago. A demagogue has seized  control of the party, one with a good deal of experience in manipulating media, and one who is willing to say anything, do anything to win. A demagogue who actually might win the presidency.

On the Democratic side we have a party also in the process of disintegrating into two irreconcilable camps: establishment Democrats and progressive Democrats.

At this stage of the game, neither party is fit to rule, and not much good will come from this disastrous election. Whatever happens, few will be satisfied or happy with the outcome. Both parties have failed, and both are in need of serious leadership changes, but neither will actually do much to rectify the problems they face. The political class in this country has become lazy, incompetent, and dangerous to the nation.

Again, this is a classic example of how nations begin to fall apart.

To those of you who want to be spoon-fed examples I say: do your own research. Nothing I can quote at you replaces in-depth study. The examples are abundant from the long past to the near past, and the patterns are always the same: a small group of elites take over a country’s economy and political processes, and do well for both themselves and usually the country...at first. But as time passes and the elites, their children, and grandchildren grow ever more remote from the people, priorities and attentions change from national to insular, from fighting enemies abroad to fighting each other within and gradually effective governance decays into gridlock and stagnation.

I've been reading far too many comments and blogs expressing glee at the Republican disarray without having the slightest comprehension of exactly how dangerous this state of affairs really is.

It's really a pity more people don't read and understand history, or they wouldn't find this so amusing. Follow below for my reasoning.


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