;)
The Commentariat -- November 11, 2016
The AP has called Arizona for Trump. Michigan (leans Trump) & New Hampshire (leans Clinton) are outstanding:
Julie Davis of the New York Times: "President Obama and Donald J. Trump made a public show on Thursday of putting their bitter differences aside after a stunning election upset, during a once-unimaginable Oval Office meeting. It brought together a president who has darkly warned that Mr. Trump could not be trusted with the nuclear codes and a successor who rose to political prominence questioning Mr. Obama's birthplace and legitimacy.... It was an extraordinary show of cordiality and respect between two men who have been political enemies and are stylistic opposites...." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... David Nakamura & Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "In a sign of how tensions between the two politicians have not disappeared in the immediate aftermath of the election, the White House did not arrange for the traditional photo-op between the current first couple and the incoming one, a custom that George W. Bush and his wife Laura observed when the Obamas visited the White House in 2008. Melania Trump met separately with Michelle Obama.... [Donald] Trump later met with House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) at the Capitol and said they also would work together -- but on Republican goals that are opposed by Obama and his fellow Democrats." -- CW ...
... Paul Waldman: "This tableau, of Obama shaking the hand of the man who spent years in a despicable racist effort to convince the country that he wasn't really an American, just sickens me. You may not like President Obama's policies, but no one of any political stripe can argue that he didn't conduct himself in office with uncommon graciousness, thoughtfulness, and dignity. And now he's going to be succeeded by a guy millions of us use as a lesson for our children in how human beings shouldn't act." -- CW
... Kathleen Hennessey of the AP: "... Donald Trump on Thursday refused to let a group of journalists travel with him to cover his historic first meeting with President Barack Obama, breaking a long-standing practice intended to ensure the public has a watchful eye on the nation's leader. Trump flew from New York to Washington on his private jet without that 'pool' of reporters, photographers and television cameras that have traveled with presidents and presidents-elect. Trump's flouting of press access was one of his first public decisions since his election Tuesday." CW: So maybe not the most transparent presidency ever? ...
A Very Short-Lived Reprieve for Muslims. Jose DelReal of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump's campaign staff temporarily redirected the webpage detailing his controversial proposal to temporarily ban Muslim immigration into the United States, one of the most divisive and controversial policy ideas of his campaign, but swiftly sought to restore it after reporter inquiries Thursday." -- CW ...
... The Government the Gullible Deserve. Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump, who campaigned against the corrupt power of special interests, is filling his transition team with some of the very sort of people who he has complained have too much clout in Washington: corporate consultants and lobbyists. Jeffrey Eisenach, a consultant who has worked for years on behalf of Verizon and other telecommunications clients, is the head of the team that is helping to pick staff members at the Federal Communications Commission." And so forth. -- CW: Trump didn't wait a day before he started betraying his dimwitted voters (and the rest of us, of course, but we knew this would happen).
Comrade President Trumpskyev, Moscow on Line for You! Ivan Nechepurenko of the New York Times: "The Russian government maintained contacts with advisers to Donald J. Trump during the American presidential campaign, one of Russia's top diplomats said Thursday -- an assertion a Trump spokeswoman flatly denied. 'There were contacts,' Sergei A. Ryabkov, the deputy foreign minister, was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. 'We continue to do this and have been doing this work during the election campaign,' he said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Akhilleus: No wonder Putin was so happy Comrade Donaldavich won. Wonder how long after Trump gets his security briefing he gives BFF Vlad the inside dope on US national security secrets. And it's also no wonder Wikileaks never released anything hacked from the Trump campaign. Although I doubt a revelation like this would have done him any harm. The American right has quite a crush on the ex-KGB strongman.
Roxana Popescu & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "Attorneys for ... Donald Trump went to court Thursday to ask that a civil fraud suit against Trump scheduled to begin in less than three weeks be delayed, a reminder of the unusual complications facing Trump as he shifts from businessman to commander in chief. Trump's attorneys said he will be too busy with the presidential transition to participate in the Nov. 28 trial involving his defunct real estate seminar program, Trump University. They asked that the trial be postponed until February or March, after he has taken office. They made their request before Judge Gonzalo Curiel, the jurist Trump harshly criticized during the campaign as biased because of his Mexican heritage." -- CW ...
... Dan Levine & Karen Freifeld of Reuters: "The U.S. judge overseeing a lawsuit against ... Donald Trump and his Trump University told both sides they would be wise to settle the case 'given all else that's involved.' Lawyers for [Trump] ... are squaring off against students who claim they were they were lured by false promises to pay up to $35,000 to learn Trump's real estate investing 'secrets' from his 'hand-picked' instructors. Earlier on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel tentatively rejected a bid by Trump to keep a wide range of statements from the presidential campaign out of the fraud trial.... Trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 28, and Curiel told lawyers he was not inclined to delay the six-year-old case further." -- CW
Giuliani Interviews On-Air for AG Spot. Callum Borchers of the Washington Post: "... Rudy Giuliani ... used a CNN interview Thursday morning to tout his qualification to be attorney general. Giuliani initially indicated he would take the job if he couldn't point to three other lawyers who would be just as good." Luckily for Rudy, Trump watches a lot of TV. Maybe he caught the interview. -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Christopher Mele of the New York Times: "Thousands of demonstrators filled the streets in several cities across the country for a second night on Thursday in what were largely peaceful protests against the election of Donald J. Trump as president. In Portland, Ore., the police contended with what they described as an 'aggressive' crowd of about 4,000 protesters and widespread reports of vandalism, fires and broken windows. 'Due to extensive criminal and dangerous behavior, protest is now considered a riot,' the Portland Police Department said on Twitter." -- CW ...
... ** Masha Gessen in the New York Review of Books: "... Clinton's and Obama's very civil passages ... seemed to close off alternative responses to [Trump's] minority victory. (It was hard not to be reminded of Neville Chamberlain's statement, that 'We should seek by all means in our power to avoid war, by analyzing possible causes, by trying to remove them, by discussion in a spirit of collaboration and good will.') Both Clinton's and Obama's phrases about the peaceful transfer of power concealed the omission of a call to action. The protesters who took to the streets of New York, Los Angeles, and other American cities on Wednesday night did so not because of Clinton's speech but in spite of it. One of the falsehoods in the Clinton speech was the implied equivalency between civil resistance and insurgency. This is an autocrat's favorite con, the explanation for the violent suppression of peaceful protests the world over." Read on for Gessen's Rules for Survival in an Autocracy. -- CW
ISIS and Al Qaeada Thrilled About Trump. Laura Bult of the New York Daily News. "Islamic extremists are celebrating Donald Trump's shocking victory this week, claiming the election outcome proves half of Americans' anti-Muslim sentiment, according to a group monitoring jihadism. Islamic terrorist organizations including Al Qaeda, the Islamic State and the Taliban are touting Trump's stunning win as a signal of the country's downfall, according to reports in SITE Intelligence Group cited by USA Today. 'Pro #AQ (Al Qaeda) accounts: "On 9-11 US struck w disaster at the hands of AQ. On 11-9, US struck with disaster at the hands of their own voters,'" wrote SITE founder Rita Katz on Twitter." Akhilleus (Also linked yesterday.)
Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Michigan), in a Washington Post op-ed: "I said Clinton was in trouble with the voters I represent. Democrats didn't listen.... Much of the district is Democratic and those voters strongly supported Bernie Sanders in the primary. That result didn't surprise me, but it did infuriate me that Clinton and her team didn't show up until the weekend before the primary, when it suddenly became clear they had a problem.... They never stopped on a campus; never went to a union hall; never talked to the Arab American community. Sanders was in my district 10 times during the primary. How would any sane person not predict how this one would go? It was fixable for the general election." -- CW ...
... CW: Several reports have noted that Clinton narrowly won the popular vote, but something that gets far less attention is this from Dominico Mantanaro of NPR: Based on unofficial returns for 2016, President Obama got 65.9MM votes in 2012; Clinton won only 59.1MM, or 6.8MM fewer than Obama. Romney won 60.9MM votes in 2012; Trump got 59MM, or 1.9MM fewer than Romney. Contributor Patrick repeatedly pushed for GOTV; despite numerous reports touting Clinton's ground operation, obviously it was dismal.
Make America Hate Again. Heather Timmons of Quartz: "In his acceptance speech on Nov. 9, US president-elect Donald J. Trump made a pledge of unity, promising to be a leader for 'all Americans.' But some of his supporters have not heard that message. Even as Trump was speaking, one person in the audience yelled 'Hang Obama,' and online commentators spewed a steady stream of racist, sexist, and anti-Semitic messages on a YouTube livestream, directed to 'Anti-whites,' 'Killery,' and 'Jews in Congress.'" Read on for a sampling of the violence & expressions of hatred across the U.S., including one assault on a Trump supporter. CW: Actually, his supporters did hear the message. But to them & to Trump, "all Americans" means "all white Christian Americans, especially men." ...
... Make America White Again. Here's more from Sean O'Kane in Medium. -- CW
Tim Egan: "The strongest resistance [to Trump] should come from the white working class; they will soon find out that Trump will treat them the same way he treated the suckers who signed up for his fraudulent university. When steel mills fail to return to Youngstown, or when new trade deals produce no more magic than the old ones, these economic exiles will wonder how they got betrayed. Look to the euphoria of soon-to-be deregulated Wall Street bankers for your explanation. Finally, all of us in the American family should never trust anyone from the pollster industrial complex, including those at my own newspaper. Never. Read your horoscope; it's far more likely to be accurate." -- CW
Paul Krugman: "I’m not ready to accept that this is inevitable — because accepting it as inevitable would become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The road back to what America should be is going to be longer and harder than any of us expected, and we might not make it. But we have to try." -- CW
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, in a Washington Post op-ed: "Trump represents the last wisp of the rich white plantation owner holding on to the glories of the past.... How can we hope that this man understands or cares about us? Especially now that white America has rewarded his outrageous racism, misogyny, xenophobia and religious intolerance with a mandate to put those beliefs into policy. For African Americans, America just got a little more threatening, a little more claustrophobic, a lot less hopeful. We feel like disposable extras, the nameless bodies who are never part of the main cast.... People of color ... must mount a long-term offensive that includes relentlessly challenging every act of institutional racism in the country." -- CW
Sarah Jones in Politicus USA: "Since Donald Trump won his bid for the White House, the women of America have been suffering Trump Traumatic Stress Disorder. I wish I were kidding. But I'm not. This is real and it's serious.... Women shared these feelings with me on Twitter and Facebook and more and more notes poured in. The same story and the same symptoms: Sobbing, vomiting, can't sleep, nightmares.... It's about the fact that our beloved country decided to give the most powerful position in the world to a man who admitted sexually assaulting women.... It's about kicking women in the guts, electing a man we know is a dangerous, unstable predator." -- CW ...
... CW: Then there are women like me, who deal with TTSD by diverting my attention to other things. A friend sent TTSD friends a bunch of Cute Animal Pictures. Like this one:
And the Fox Lay Down with the Hare. (CW: Not sure how this worked out for the bunny when the fox awakened.)
David Brooks: "Trump's bigotry, dishonesty and promise-breaking will have to be denounced. We can't go morally numb. But he needs to be replaced with a program that addresses the problems that fueled his assent. After all, the guy will probably resign or be impeached within a year. The future is closer than you think." CW: Yippee! President pence.
** Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Digby in Salon: "The media's normalization of Trump is complete. The demonization of Clinton continues." -- CW
This is actually one of the untold stories of the 2016 campaign. I was not the only journalist to whom Trump offered gifts clearly meant to shape coverage. Many reporters have told me that Trump worked hard to offer them something fabulous -- from hotel rooms to rides on his 757. -- Megyn Kelly, in her memoir Settle for More ...
... Book Review. Jennifer Senior of the New York Times reviews Fox "News" anchor Megyn Kelly's memoir, Settle for More. In the book, Kelly relays how Donald Trump first tried to curry favor with her by offering her freebies to his resorts, then turned on her when he learned Kelly would question him in the first GOP primary debate about his attitudes toward women, then maybe he tried to poison her. Also, as reported earlier, Roger Ailes hit on her & threatened her career. CW: How come Trump made such a big deal about Clinton's team getting a heads-up for a debate question when he himself got a heads-up in his? Oh, yeah, it's the projection thing again.
Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. So Fox "News," in a print report by Bryan Llenas, asserted that the CEO of Grubhub, an online restaurant delivery service, "Tells Pro-Trump Employees to Resign." Oh, crap, the headline writer had to make a change. The new headline is "Boss says employees who agree with Trump's rhetoric should resign." That little change was because what Grubhub CEO Matt Maloney actually wrote to employees was that any employees who agree with Trump's "nationalist, anti-immigrant and hateful politics" should resign because Maloney won't abide workplace intolerance. They don't do nuance at Fox.
Jonathan Chait: "... in a Fox News interview with Bret Baier, [House Speaker Paul] Ryan said Medicare privatization is on.... Ryan tells Baier, 'Because of Obamacare, Medicare is going broke.' This is false. In fact, it's the complete opposite of the truth. The Medicare trust fund has been extended 11 years as a result of the passage of Obamacare, whose cost reforms have helped bring health care inflation to historic lows. It is also untrue that repealing Obamacare requires changing traditional Medicare." ...
... CW: Those old codgers who voted for Trump at the same time they want "the government to keep its hands off my Medicare" are in for a rude awakening. Whether Ryan can get away with further privatizing Medicare for those who are at or near the age of eligibility remains to be seen, but I can tell you that Medicare is already partially "privatized" (that is, upper-income recipients pay premiums), so he has a good chance of making it even more of a pay-go plan. ...
... Steve M.: "Everything bad in the next four years is going to be Obama's fault. They're going to call the next recession 'the Obama recession.' They're going to give massive new tax cuts to the rich and blame the skyrocketing deficits on Obama. Oh, and any terror attacks on President Trump's watch will be because Obama made America weaker, even if it's four years from now and the Homeland Security secretary is an self-promoting wingnut clown like Sheriff David Clarke or Joe Arpaio. And the average American won't know any better." -- CW
Mike DeBonis, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Senate's soon-to-be top Democrat told labor leaders Thursday that the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the trade deal at the center of President Obama's 'pivot' to strengthen ties with key Asian allies, will not be ratified by Congress. That remark from Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is expected to be the incoming Senate minority leader, came as good news to the AFL-CIO Executive Council, which met Thursday in Washington. Schumer relayed statements that Republican congressional leaders had made to him, according to an aide...." -- CW
Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "Jason Chaffetz, the Utah congressman finishing his first term leading the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee..., will continue to investigate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server as secretary of state." -- CW
Joe Davidson of the Washington Post: The Inspector General of Homeland Security found that the Secret Service's computer system "suffer[s] from neglect, ignorance and bad management.... The [IG] report ... is related to the agency's breach and leak of personal information belonging to Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) last year.... A 2015 OIG investigation found that 45 employees got into Chaffetz's 2003 Secret Service job application. Only four had a legitimate need, leaving the rest in violation of the Privacy Act and agency policies. The file snooping began minutes after Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, opened a hearing into allegations of agents' misconduct." -- CW
Beyond the Beltway
Surprise! Trump Victory Encourages Hatemongers. Allegra Kirkland of TPM: "In the wake of Donald Trump's upset presidential win, the small yet vocal cohort of white nationalists who supported his campaign are refocusing their efforts from trolling liberals online to running for elected office. Their reasoning: If a candidate who appealed to the tide of anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim sentiment surging on the country's right could win over voters, why not one who is openly 'pro-white'?.... Others are thinking in the short-term and training their eyes, perhaps more quixotically, on possible positions in a Trump administration." -- CW
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Reader Comments (38)
In a nutshell, Charles Pierce's lengthy piece: Trump Was Bold Enough to Be a "Public Racist" It Worked.
...and, yeah! "I advise everyone who has lurched from one simple explanation for Trumpism ("Those people be stooopid.")..."
And, Tim Egan: "This is a very dangerous man"
" And if the forgotten, the undereducated, the Rust Belt survivors think they are going to see a renaissance of their communities, consider this headline from Yahoo Finance on the day after the election: “Trump win is a ‘grand slam’ for Wall Street Bankers.” He will not betray his class.
When Reagan was elected, I thought he was a dolt.
Remember the Great Communicator! Pleeeze.
But, Trump IS a very dangerous man.
Will try to move on, but I'm skipping those politically correct, generous, gracious things to say and do. Screw it.
HE IS NOT MY PRESIDENT.
Throughout the Obama years my brother in Wisconsin would send me negative information about Obama, his polices, etc. Once Hillary put her hat in the ring I received bogus stuff about her. Every single thing my brother sent I immediately checked out and every single thing turned out to be a hoax. Yesterday a friend sent me something about Trump that supposedly had been featured in "People" magazine in 1994 accompanied by a picture of a young Donald. I sent it on to Marie thinking she may want to put it on the site. She responded that this was a hoax. A hoax? Not only was I surprised but I felt very foolish. Why didn't I check THIS out? Because it was aligned with my thinking about Trump. So when something adheres to your mindset it must be true?––you don't bother to check it out? Lesson learned here.
And sorry Marie that I bothered you with this.
The meeting yesterday with Obama and Trump was surreal. As expected Obama was gracious–––this man has a great capacity for graciousness–-but the wide grin was absent. Trump looked like humble pie sitting rather awkwardly, rather like someone who has just discovered he's become the leader of the free world and has no idea how that happened. David Brooks might be right––something might happen to prevent the reign of Trump, but the prospect of a Pence presidency makes me want to wallow in cute animal pictures for the next four years.
The Electoral College is hated by many (count me in that many) so why does it endure?
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/11/us/politics/the-electoral-college-is-hated-by-many-so-why-does-it-endure.html?_r=0
A Call to Action for Journalists covering President Trump:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/a-call-to-action-for-journalists-in-covering-president-trump/2016/11/09/a87d4946-a63e-11e6-8042-f4d111c862d1_story.html
Trump's comment about meeting Obama again (and again) was a perfect example of reality. After his first 90 min., Trump just got an idea of what his new job will be. My guess it scared the shit out of him.
And anti-Trump protests are the media's fault. It has nothing to do with Trump himself. Our new world will all be determined by Twitter at 3AM.
And speaking of protests, the biggest financial challenge facing America will be the Secret Service. I wonder if we will see a million or more in Washington for inauguration?
And if you happen to live near the Trump Tower in NYC, I suggest you move because your neighborhood is going to be a mess.
On Grubhub, CEO Maloney did not say that if an employee agrees with DJT's politics the employe should resign. What he wrote to his employees was:
"If you do not agree with this statement then please reply to this email with your resignation because you have no place here."
I never heard of Grubhub, but I like this Maloney fella. The Irish semi-equivalent of "what a mensch" is "he's your man."
@Marie re Cute Animal Pictures: That bunny is frozen in place with eyes wide open. I think the Mr. Fox polished off Flopsy and Mopsy first and has saved Peter Cottontail for dessert.
More in pictures: The BBC features five awkward images of the meeting between Obama and "F. vonClownstick".
Notice how FvC avoids eye contact and sits like an lump.
At first, I was disturbed by the hypocrisy of both Clinton's & Obama's speeches about the election. How can you say & believe for more than a year that Trump is unqualified to be president, then say, "Hey, let's give the guy a chance"?
But the problem is bigger than hypocrisy or even just "being polite to assholes," something we've probably all done. Radicals on the left and right who abhor "the system" have at least this much right: it turns its key members into suckers. Clinton & Obama are so embedded in political norms that they can't even see outside the Beltway Box, much less act outside its implied rules.
Under our Constitution, Clinton is required to concede; Obama is required to turn over the keys to the White House to a dangerous nitwit. But, unless Clinton & Obama are complete fakes, they also are required to stand up for the bigger goals & ideals we supposedly hold as a nation. That is the job with which we entrusted them when we voted for them.
In their concessions to Trump, they failed all Americans miserably. They treated him as if he were President-Elect Mitt Romney, someone with whom they strongly disagreed on policy but who wouldn't blow up the neat little world in which they are star players. Trump has promised to blow up that world; Clinton & Obama said, "Okay. Good luck." If you wonder why Americans don't trust "Washington," there's my reason right there.
Marie
@Patrick: I thought that's what I implied. I guess I'm no better than Maloney at getting my thoughts across.
Marie
On a bright note, for those wondering where new Democratic leadership might come from, here is an article from the Huffington Post that offers some hope: Kamala Harris
Our Miss Brooks, late to the dance as always (you know how much he hates rock n' roll--Pat Boone is more his style I'm guessing), informs us this morning that "Trump’s bigotry, dishonesty and promise-breaking will have to be denounced." Do tell. Well then, knock yourself out. How 'bout you take the first crack?
I know that Brooksie has not been a fan of Trump. Such bad manners. So unpolished. His toney club pals would never say anything so gauche as "grab 'em by the pussy", goodness no. They probably lean more to the "Hey, check out that one, woo-hoo. Bet she's a goer" sort of assessments.
But more importantly, it's nice that Miss Brooks has taken it upon himself to side with the forces of civility, decency, and reason, but where was that inclination over the last, oh....16 years? Where was the concern for civility, reason, and truth when The Decider and his pet shark were carving up the Middle East based on fairy tales? Where was his interest in truth, justice, and the American Way when his party was making it job one to stop the horrible nee-groe. Yeah, yeah, I could go on and on but what would be the point?
Brooks and his ilk who have countenanced the table setting for Trump the bigot, Trump the boor, Trump the liar, who sat back and cheered as extra large helpings of hate and misinformation, racism and misogyny were delivered to the kitchen door, can not now cry about what's on the menu. Sorry Dave, but you and those like you, pseudo high minded types who cheered on the Confederates in their grasping for power don't get to complain about the latest evolutionary step in that chain. Trump is not so much the missing link as he is the stake to which the rest of the chain is now attached.
So, when you sniff that "That awful Donald Trump needs to be denounced", you're about 20 years too late. But give it a shot. The rest of us are keen to observe the outcome (*yawn*).
Trump victory especially poignant and disturbing this Veteran's Day when we honor those who fought and died -- and still serve -- defending this great country and its ideals.
I live in the middle of no where. A good place to be sometimes.
Leonard Cohen took the easy way out~
I have to say that when Michael Moore came out with his "Trump Will Win" article, I avoided it like the plague. For a while there I didn't want any bad juju screwing things up. But now that my brother has sent it to me, I read it and I can see that he had a lot of good points.
Shit.
Regarding Cute Animal Pictures, they often are cute. But like many things in life, I think the one above is totally staged. Not a live thing in the photo.
@NJC. Thanks for remembering. I have been pondering what Veterans Day now means. My military service was by no means heroic, but it surely was instructive. We Americans now have a democracy where less than half of one percent of the population currently serve in the military. I have not yet seen any statistics on how veterans voted in the numbing, perplexing election just completed. But I did find the two articles below, the first on veteran voting trends in 2014 and the second on the way Republican members of Congress voted on a landmark veterans bill: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/11/11/veterans-are-voting-republican-and-thats-not-likely-to-change/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/h-a-goodman/republicans-va-funding_b_5395698.html
Because these articles suggest that veterans are voting against their own legitimate interests, I am genuinely puzzled as to how my fellow Americans, not simply veterans, think about their self-interest.
As @Marvin pointed out early on, all Americans, other than American Indians, are descendants of immigrants, most notably now, the President-elect, whose grandparents, mother, and wife were all at one time immigrants.
On this vital, fundamental issue of self-interest, I can still hear my hard working, clear thinking Irish-American father admonishing his children: “You kids stick up for anyone who is Jewish or black because the Irish are next on the list.”
My father's sensible parental wisdom was passed on to our children. His blunt and courageous advice still makes sense to me today, now more than ever.
@AK I had the same response when I saw a reference to Michael Moore's article and chose not to read it. Thanks for posting, I just read it and he did call it.
The Poet and the Punk
It's a tricky business to make much of coincidental events but some just beg for commentary. So, within a couple of days, we see the rise of a punk bastard, Donald Trump, to the seat of power followed by the demise of the great poet/songwriter of his age, Leonard Cohen. Vacuity versus vibrancy. Thuggish ignorance and immersive, deep, emotional intelligence. Selfish narcissism and a yearning for self awareness.
Cohen came out of the sixties, that period of vast sea changes, but he never really embodied that era, only its newly formed awareness of new possibilities. He is as relevant today as at any time in his career. Trump, on the other hand, embodies nothing of the sixties, nothing of the civil rights upheavals, of the questioning of authority and old ways, of the new possibilities. He is a monster of the Reagan era of gold plated greed, zero sum success at all costs no matter how it's achieved. I needn't dwell on Trump's ignorance and blank intolerance for nuance and understanding. A big part of his success is his ability to say anything and make his followers believe its truth, no matter how stupid or outrageous or patently false. What they believe, I think, is his self-assuredness, his brash unquestioning belief in himself, that if Trump says it, it's the truth. He is unable to accommodate the tiniest discrepancies or unknowns in his world view.
Cohen reveled in the unknown. He reveled in what it means to be human in all its glories and pitfalls. His sense that we are fallible, often lost creatures, makes for a compelling platform from which to build one's own world view, a world view that makes room for nuance, for gray areas, for the skepticism of those who claim, like Trump and the Confederates, to be infallible.
With his passing, there's been a lot of shared songs, mostly of his great work "Hallelujah".
I haven't really thought a lot about this song in a while, but when I first learned it, I was struck by the oddness, the oppositional nature of the words (and the appositive nature as well).
Now I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
At first I got a kick out of the not so hidden clues about the harmonic progression: The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift, which translates to F, G, Am (Am being the relative minor in C major) and back to F.
But there's also this weird thing going on, the singer (narrator) is obviously interested in--loves-- music, but then he says to his audience "but you don't really care for music, do ya?", so we have "I am enthralled by the power of music, but you don't really care for it, do you?" Then he says (presumably to Samson?) "your faith was strong but you needed proof" which is strange because strong faith, the essence of faith, doesn't require proof. I mean, that's why they call it faith, right? In another verse the singer says he's being criticized for taking a name in vain but says he doesn't even know the name, which pretty much invalidates the first claim. All of which points to a kind of back and forth, a sort of dialectic of the celebration of things (eternity, life, humanity?) that overtakes even if those things are a mess, are a mash of opposites ( the "broken hallelujah") in which we can't make heads or tails of the world but are at least pretty sure it's good to be alive. There are those who do and those who don't. And it's all okay. There's not just one way to be, unlike in the Gospel According to Trump where there are winners and losers and no in-between.
The best way to look at it, I suppose, is to recognize it as poetry. Not all poetry reveals itself as an immutable, obvious whole. Some of the best poetry I've read leaves a lot of room for interpretation, for the reader (or speaker, if you prefer your poetry out loud) to inject him or herself into the lines, to complete the sense, to flesh out the meaning.
Hallelujah (or, if you were brought up Catholic, Alleluia) can be both a recognition of the presence of the spark of life, for the wonders of existence, of being, or a praise that you're still alive in spite of all the shit thrown your way.
It's the secret chord.
And it's a chord never heard by Trump nor by those who voted for him. And if he reads any poetry, it's probably a collection of dirty limericks. The Trumps of the world make it their goal to turn out the lights of introspection, of creative life, of careful, critical thinking, lights that make clear their woeful and frightening inadequacies.
Lucky for us we have poets who are able to turn on the lights extinguished by the punks. Keep shinin' Leonard.
We are all heartsick or worse. But Obama did what he had to do and he did it with his usual grace, dignity and intelligence. As did Michelle. I am filled with pride and the greatest respect for them.
As I read the NYT and other attempts at evaluating the mystery of Trump economics, people totally miss the only relevant point. TRUMP. You want more steel produced in America, set up Trump Steel Co. You want more cloths made here, look for Trump Pants Co.
We are about to see a new meaning of the concept of conflict of interest.
Well, that didn't take long, did it?
Protests against the ascension of the Bigot in Chief are now considered "riots" to be put down hard by police. Authoritarianism, here we come. Oh, wait. We're already there. The Trump "Enemies who need to be fucked over" list grows by leaps and bounds every day.
He'll probably keep the New FBI (the Trump security arm) busy scanning video of any crowd protesting his wonderfulness using facial recognition software so he can pinpoint new enemies to be taken care of later.
And don't be fooled by Trumpado's mealy mouthed appearance at the White House. His true colors are never far down the mast. He can only run under a false flag for so long. Then the monster comes out.
This WaPo article speculates on DJT's list of potential high-level appointees.
Mostly older white guys.
It will be interesting to see some of these dudes get through the security clearance process, much less the ethics reviews. The Giuliani-FBI relationship, mixed with Moscow connections, in particular, should make interesting public kabuki.
It looks like frump is keeping one election promise - draining the swamp. All the slimy bottom dwellers are crawling out and into his cabinet. I'm not sure this is what his supporters thought he meant though.
3 days ago when an Obama said"When they go low, we go high" people cheered. Today they want the Obama message to be "when they go low, we go lower." In that respect Trump has already destroyed the legacy of a family with belief in the American system.
Maddow interviewed E. Warren last night. I like to think she was playing 11 level chess with her words, but I'm thinking not so much. She acknowledged that there was an element of bigotry among some - but she went back to the economic pain thing again. Not surprising, as that is her area of expertise. She's obviously correct about everybody that's not a 1% being screwed by Wallstreet, etc. Unfortunately, people are too dimwitted to follow a bread trail further than the end of their nose. I think her appeal is singular and too focused. We loved her ability to get under Trump's skin, but I'm not sure she's a winner in 2020 because she won't unite coalitions. I suspect she would get even less of the minority vote and probably less of the female vote than Clinton, who has a history with minorities and women. Its unlikely that we'll see another candidate with the charisma of Obama. Like I said yesterday, keep an eye on Kamala Harris.
I have listened to a few interviews post election with Democrats, Warren and Wyden (on NPR). The interviewers seem desperate for a "plan" on how the Dems, in particular the Senate Dems, are going to get the country out of this mess. Jeebus, R they stoopid. There's no magic wand, we're f-ked, well and truly.
Diane,
I fear you may be right about Warren. She's definitely the wonk's choice but, as we've seen, wonks don't go far without something else in their quiver.
And if there are no obvious choices in the apple barrel, perhaps we can go to the tree. The Castro brothers may have some appeal. Cory Booker is too....something....I dunno, maybe too contriving for my taste. A little bit too crafty. He seems like someone who could blow up in your face. But maybe Kamala Harris could be the one. I think we have to go younger rather than older at this point.
I see where Howard Dean is running for chair of the DNC and I'm not sure how I feel about that, but not because I don't trust the guy. I like Howard Dean. But this is a big decision. Democrats have got to get it together. And quickly. If Trump blows up in a couple of years (before he blows up the world, that is) he'll be ripe for the picking but you know that Cruz and half a dozen other scheming Confederate Nazibots will be waiting in the wings. We need someone to fend them off. We need A Plan.
I was thinking about Biden for DNC chair but then thought he might be a little tired and need a break for a while.
Masha Gessen in the NYRB on dealing with the prospective autocrat.
1-Believe what the autocrat says. Regardless of how unreal it seems.
2-Do not be fooled by small signs of normality.
3-Institutions will not save you.Forget the courts, the FBI, the
military, they are all corruptible.
4-Be outraged.
5-Do not make compromises.
6-Remember the future. Trump is not immortal. Another election in
2years.
I think Obama and Clinton are trying defuse the street demonstrations now taking place by being so magnanimous in defeat. Demonstrations will accomplish nothing and risk casualties.
What I really can't understand is how this army of Democrat volunteers did not sense the true sentiment of the electorate. Was there no way for the workers in the field to communicate with the DNC?
Even here some commenters noted the prevalence of red signs in their neighbourhood where 4 years ago it was a sea of blue. The DNC organization must be delusional and grossly incompetent.
Of course that begs the question of how they could have changed a decrepit draught horse into a Derby contender with a relevant platform in the time remaining.
Mourning in American.
Where have I heard that before?
Regarding the "riots."
Talked to a rightist town functionary yesterday. Not a stupid guy, he just thinks it's time we "tried something else," and he already had the party line down pat. The Seattle "riots" protesting Trump's election (something the R's would never do, he assured me), resulted in five shootings.
I suspected he didn't have the whole story, so checked. There was a shooting in the neighborhood of the protesters, but according to Reuters, unrelated to the election.
I didn't argue with the man because at the time I didn't have the facts.....and like would not have even had I had them at my fingertips because I would have known it wouldn't have done a whit of good.
What can one say to these people?
And since Tuesday, I look at people I don't know differently, a little fearfully, wondering if he or she is one of Them, one of the Trump People, a quiet terrorist in white skin.
Chrisco out.
So much for the famous Trump Loyalty. This guy throws off so many accurate signs, it's just incredible that people seem not to believe what he shows them. He says "Oh, I'm the most loyal person in the world." But he gives Christie the heave-ho the first chance he gets. Christie, who had his tongue so far up Trump's ass for months that is became a bodily appendage while other Confederates were still doing the Never Trump Tango (most of whom are now doing the "I'm a Confederate, Feed Me, Please, Oh Great and Powerful Trump" polka).
He says he's going to drain the swamp. First thing he does is select swamp residents in good standing who've lived there for decades.
Trump has lied with such temerity and frequency, but his supporters have chosen not to hear and see what he's showing them. It's all about Trump. They can all go fuck themselves now that, like Christie, their usefulness is at an end, at least until he needs them again.
And another lie? He's supposedly is putting his businesses in the hands of his rat bastard kids who will be keeping far away from politics. Supposedly. Guess what they're all doing now? They're all on the transition team helping to decide things like who will be overseeing the regulation enforcement for those businesses. Trump doesn't give a shit about ethics and even less for good government so what makes anyone think he'll keep his word about that?
He's a born liar.
I can't wait for all those who voted for him to realize that he's played them like the chumps they are. Just grist for the Trump Mill.
Thanks, suckers! Now get your ratty, hillbilly asses out of my White House. You're spitting tabacky juice on my gaudy Trump Rugs.
Jesus; Ken Winkes, you took the words right out of my mouth. I look
at people on the street on the way to the post office and think: he/she
has done this to us normal people. It's making me crazy and doing
stupid stuff, like yesterday, I made stuffed peppers for dinner. And
guess what. Forgot to put them in the oven to bake. Can't believe we
are going to endure this for 4 years.
Note to Forest and Ken: We are back to "The Body Snatchers"––is our mild mannered mailman with whom we've had such friendly conversations one of THOSE? Best not to find out––tip your hat to all and sundry, say hello and know if they are Trumpsters you will never want to know.
And Forrest––your stuffed peppers snafu made me laugh. Thank you.
Akhilleus. I concur with your queasy feeling about Booker. But his carnival barkery might be the edge that is needed. Julian and Juaquin Castro are unknowns and if one of them is to be groomed, the name recognition needs to start now.
Howard Dean was the author of the 50 state strategy and he successfully executed it. He has experience in public office and is clearly a smart guy. He also seems like somebody who has some grit in his gut. Ellison is a progressive, but I don't know anything about his skills. I'm also leaning toward a DCC chair that can devote his whole focus to the task at hand. Not so sure a sitting Congressman/ Senator is the best choice.
Mitch McConnell is already unsure if ending Obama's evil war on coal will rejuvenate the Kentucky coal industry. I think the reaching out should go the other way. Win or lose, it's always liberals' turn to wring our hands and agonise how we got it wrong, didn't understand, didn't listen. Rubbish. We do understand why the economy is not working for many and we can get it right when not obstructed by the lying liars on the side that lost the popular vote - again. The side that lost the popular vote should be indulging in some introspection and then some understanding of how we liberals are feeling about an election that was taken on a technicality and on lies, interference, lies, suppression, and did I mention, lies? Now that the coal (and this applies to the whole) economy can no longer be blamed on Dems, it's complex other factors that are causing the decline. As we have been saying all along. And frump's not even in office yet. The ACA is no longer quite as disasterous as it was yesterday, because, umm, they can no longer hide behind the black guy? This scenario will be rinsed, repeated and applied to every single one of their damned election promises, that if they didn't hurt so many people I would want to hold their slimy, clawed feet to. Build that wall, repeal ACA, slash financial, EPA, safety regulations, deport 11 million people, renege on Paris and Iran, impose tariffs, and on. I wish you could feel what kind of world that gives you, trumpoids. I wish you could see the con of the Cons. I'm happy with big tax cuts, I can afford to pay more for daily items, my heart aches, neither for me nor my neighbours, they're all like me, but for those who aren't my neighbours. I'm just a tad annoyed, I expected this but not on day -70.
One of HRC's major flaws was that she was too close to Wall St, but in the true IOKIYAR tradition, let's choose one or another Wall St banker for Sec of Treasury. Still annoyed.
Drifty is a Prince amongst men.
If you're on FB, you know exactly who supported trump; your coworkers, former coworkers, relatives and friends. They refused to see despite the evidence in front of their noses that this man is corrupt. They really really really hated Hillary with a passion. They really really really wanted to blow up the system. They refused to recognize that their lives are not and will not be improved by trump. I'm scared, I'm tired and I feel awful.