The Conversation -- November 7, 2024
Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "President Joe Biden walked into the Rose Garden on Thursday morning to concede his party's defeat, expressing confidence in the American electoral system and vowing to oversee a peaceful transfer of power. But underlying his remarks was a funereal mood, as cabinet members and staffers were escorted to their seats, exchanging hugs and sober glances before rising for a standing ovation when the president emerged.... Biden is now forced to welcome and legitimize a man he condemned, a man whose ouster -- as he has said repeatedly over the past five years -- was the entire reason he ran for president in the first place, and a man he has called a fascist and an existential threat to democracy. Biden is now pledging to honor and accept Trump in a way that Trump did not and would not do for him. Biden's fealty to democratic traditions requires him to courteously pave the way for a man who often dismisses them -- but whom the voters chose." ~~~
Guardian Editors: "This is an exceptionally bleak and frightening moment for the United States and the world. Donald Trump swept the electoral college and is on course to take the popular vote -- giving him not merely a victory, but a mandate.... Presented with a choice between electing the first black, female president on a promise of a sunnier future, and a racist, misogynist, twice-impeached convicted felon hawking hatred and retribution, [the voters] picked Mr Trump."
Rebecca Solnit of the Guardian: "Our mistake was to think we lived in a better country than we do. Our mistake was to see the joy, the extraordinary balance between idealism and pragmatism, the energy, the generosity, the coalition-building of the Kamala Harris campaign and think that it must triumph over the politics of lies and resentment. Our mistake was to think that racism and misogyny were not as bad as they are, whether it applied to who was willing to vote for a supremely qualified Black woman or who was willing to vote for an adjudicated rapist and convicted criminal who admires Hitler. Our mistake was to think we could row this boat across the acid lake before the acid dissolved it.... The principal problems that got us to this bleakest moment in American history are intertwined. They are the crisis of masculinity, the failure of the mainstream news media and the rise of Silicon Valley...." Read on.
Christopher Rugaber of the AP: "The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Thursday by a quarter-point in response to the steady decline in the once-high inflation that had angered Americans and helped drive Donald Trump's ... victory this week. The rate cut follows a larger half-point reduction in September, and it reflects the Fed's renewed focus on supporting the job market as well as fighting inflation, which now barely exceeds the central bank's 2% target. Thursday's move reduces the Fed's benchmark rate to about 4.6%, down from a four-decade high of 5.3% before September's meeting. The Fed had kept its rate that high for more than a year to fight the worst inflation streak in four decades. Annual inflation has since fallen from a 9.1% peak in mid-2022 to a 3 1/2-year low of 2.4% in September."
Anton Troianovski & Valerie Hopkins of the New York Times: ?President Vladimir V. Putin on Thursday congratulated and lavished praise on Mr. Trump in his first comments on the U.S. election result, a sign that the Kremlin would move quickly to try to capitalize on the president-elect's apparent fondness for Russia and its autocratic ruler. Mr. Putin, speaking at a conference in Sochi, Russia, said Mr. Trump acted 'like a man' after surviving the assassination attempt in Butler, Pa., last summer, adding that Mr. Trump's stated desires to improve ties with Russia and end the Ukraine war 'deserve attention.' And he suggested that he expected Mr. Trump to act more freely in his second term, signaling a hope that Mr. Trump would finally follow through on his Russia-friendly rhetoric." MB: But who will be president of the Dictators' Club?
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Marie: As a card-carrying member of "The Enemy Within" (or "the enemy from within," as Trump prefers to say), I fully expect Trump to do what he can to ruin my life, both generally with his anti-normal-people preferences, and personally, because of his hatred of those who oppose him. In the meantime, I think we all should figure out ways to minimize his disruption of our lives and well-being. So I'm taking suggestions.
Nicholas Nehemas & Erica Green of the New York Times: "Vice President Kamala Harris formally acknowledged her loss to ... Donald J. Trump on Wednesday in a defiant and emotional speech, defending her campaign as a fight for democracy that she would continue, even if not from the Oval Office. 'While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign,' Ms. Harris said. 'Hear me when I say, the light of America's promise will always burn bright,' she added. 'As long as we never give up. And as long as we keep fighting.'"
~~~ Washington Post Editors: "Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a crisp concession speech on Wednesday afternoon at Howard University. The 60-year-old acknowledged, with grace, dignity and a dash of hope, that she had lost the presidency to ... Donald Trump. She didn't make excuses. Instead, she set the tone for how Democrats can responsibly approach Mr. Trump in the coming four years -- defending their core values while cooperating for the best interests of the country." MB: In the wake of these editors' refusal to endorse Harris, I see no irony at all in their celebrating a concession speech made necessary, in some small part, by their own cowardice.
Michelle Stoddart of ABC News: "President Joe Biden spoke to ... Donald Trump on the phone Wednesday to congratulate him on winning the presidency, the White House said in a statement.... Biden invited Trump to meet with him at the White House, the statement said."
This appears to be the final Electoral College tally, based on the AP's projections: ~~~
Shane Goldmacher & Lisa Lerer of the New York Times: Trump's "win ushers in an era of uncertainty for the nation.... To roughly half the country, Mr. Trump's rise portends a dark turn for American democracy, whose future will now depend on a man who has openly talked about undermining the rule of law. Mr. Trump helped inspire an assault on the Capitol in 2021, has threatened to imprison political adversaries and was denounced as a fascist by former aides. But for his supporters, Mr. Trump's provocations became selling points rather than pitfalls.... Republicans also picked up at least three Senate seats, in Ohio, Montana and West Virginia, to give the party a majority in the Senate. Control of the House of Representatives was still too close to call.... His election raises questions about the future of N.A.T.O. and the American backing of Ukraine; Mr. Trump has long spoken glowingly about President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: This much is true: the POTUS* will no longer be A/K/A "the leader of the free world," because the U.S. will no longer be a part of what most people think of as "the free world"; that is, this country will no longer be a version of a liberal democracy.
Lisa Lerer of the New York Times: "Donald Trump told Americans exactly what he planned to do. He would use military force against his political opponents. He would fire thousands of career public servants. He would deport millions of immigrants in military-style roundups. He would crush the independence of the Department of Justice, use government to push public health conspiracies and abandon America's allies abroad. He would turn the government into a tool of his own grievances, a way to punish his critics and richly reward his supporters. He would be a 'dictator' -- if only on Day 1. And, when asked to give him the power to do all of that, the voters said yes. This was a conquering of the nation not by force but with a permission slip. Now, America stands on the precipice of an authoritarian style of governance never before seen in its 248-year history." Read on. (Also linked yesterday.)
New York Times Editors: "Over the next four years, Americans must be cleareyed about the threat to the nation and its laws that will come from its 47th president and be prepared to exercise their rights in defense of the country and the people, laws, institutions and values that have kept it strong.... Americans should now be wary of an incoming Trump administration that is likely to put a top priority on amassing unchecked power and punishing its perceived enemies, both of which Mr. Trump has repeatedly vowed to do. All Americans, regardless of their party or politics, should insist that the fundamental pillars of the nation's democracy -- including constitutional checks and balances, fair-minded federal prosecutors and judges, an impartial election system and basic civil rights -- be preserved against an assault that he has already begun and has said he would continue." (Also linked yesterday.)
Sarah Ellison of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump's return to the White House signals a significant breakdown of an already battered democracy, experts say. Almost as dangerous, they contend, much of the electorate sees him as democracy's savior.... It is not Trump's individual policy proposals that worry history and democracy scholars as much as his continued denial of reality that he lost the 2020 presidential election and his role in encouraging his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, who violently stormed the U.S. Capitol. The failure of the courts and Congress to hold him accountable for those actions signals an unofficial takeover of the levers of government by a charismatic, strongman figure who has remade the Republican Party in his image, these democracy scholars say. He is poised to start a second term with broad legal immunity, granted by a reshaped Supreme Court upon which he has exerted significant influence." MB: Ellison cram-packs quite a few sweeping ideas into a short space. A useful read.
This election was a CAT scan on the American people, and ... what it revealed, at least in part, is a frightening affinity for a man of borderless corruption. Donald Trump is no longer an aberration; he is normative. -- Peter H. Wehner, a former strategic adviser to President George W. Bush ~~~
~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: "No longer can the political establishment write off Mr. Trump as a temporary break from the long march of progress, a fluke who somehow sneaked into the White House in a quirky, one-off Electoral College win eight years ago. With his comeback victory to reclaim the presidency, Mr. Trump has now established himself as a transformational force reshaping the United States in his own image.... Mr. Trump's testosterone-driven campaign capitalized on resistance to electing the first woman president.... For the first time in history, Americans have elected a convicted criminal as president. They handed power back to a leader who tried to overturn a previous election, called for the 'termination' of the Constitution to reclaim his office, aspired to be a dictator on Day 1 and vowed to exact 'retribution' against his adversaries." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Baker goes on to complain that Biden & Harris "failed to unite the country." Oh, boo-hoo-hoo. I suppose one could argue that their sales pitch was wanting, but they more-or-less delivered on what they promised, and very few politicians do that. We live in a country full of whiney-babies who not only think they deserve to have riches bestowed upon them but also have no idea what government policies might help them get those riches. For all but those in the top one percent, it sure isn't Donald Trump who will feather their nests. Trump is through with the sheeples.
Adam Cancryn of Politico: "Democrats are directing their rage over losing the presidential race at Joe Biden, who they blame for setting up Kamala Harris for failure by not dropping out sooner.... They are livid that they were forced to embrace a candidate who voters had made clear they did not want -- and then stayed in the race long after it was clear he couldn't win.... By the time he decided to pass the torch, he had saddled Harris with too many challenges and far too little time to build a winning case for herself.... Any gains Harris made during her abridged campaign were swamped on Tuesday by the enduring backlash against the Biden administration over inflation and cost-of-living concerns -- and a president who proved incapable of selling the electorate on his accomplishments and whose apparent overconfidence kept him in the campaign despite growing signs that he wasn't up for the job." ~~~
~~~ Marie: As some of us have expressed here, Biden didn't pull out of the race too late. He never should have got in it in the first place. He implied back during the 2020 campaign that he would be a one-term president -- a "bridge" president to a new generation. He was a bridge all right -- from Trumpland to New Trumpland. I blame not only Joe Biden, but also the people around him, including his wife, who protected him when it must have been clear to them that he wasn't up to running both the country and a rigorous campaign against a dangerous megalomaniac. How is it possible that any intelligent, experienced adult thinks he is the only person capable of -- something? A responsible old guy who became a "bridge" president would spend part of nearly every work day grooming a stable of potential replacements, then letting them run a race for the job.
David Gilmour of Mediaite: "CNN contributor David Axelrod called on analysts to remain 'clear-eyed' about 'racism' and 'sexism' as one reason for Vice President Kamala Harris's defeat to .. Donald Trump in the presidential election.... 'There were appeals to racism in this campaign, and there is racial bias in this country and there is sexism in this country, and anybody who thinks that that did not in any way impact on the outcome of this race is wrong.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Erica Green & Maya King of the New York Times: Donald Trump's “affirmed the worst of what many Black women believed about their country: that it would rather choose a man who was convicted of 34 felonies, has spewed lies and falsehoods, disparaged women and people of color, and pledged to use the powers of the federal government to punish his political opponents than send a woman of color to the White House.... Nearly the entire country shifted sharply to the right as it returned him to power. Democrats watched as he won alarmingly high shares of the vote in blue states: 47 percent in Virginia and New Jersey. 44 percent in New York. 43 percent in Connecticut." The reporters are both Black women, so they know whereof they write. But they should know -- to the extent that we can be, we are all Black women now.
Marie: Quite a few post mortems in today's media are dedicated to "understanding" Trump's voters. Okay, yeah. Look 'em up yourself. IMO, Trump voters are either stupid, ignorant, hateful, cruel, violent, vengeful, careless, greedy, self-absorbed, disgruntled, xenophobic, racist, misogynistic, fascistic, and celebrity-obsessed or some combination thereof. You can probably think of a number of other appropriate adjective. Perhaps not enough attention has been paid to "celebrity-obsessed." When you think of the voters' choices since televisions came into most homes, they almost always chose the candidate who was the bigger celebrity or the more TV-ready: Kennedy v. Nixon, Reagan (a Hollywood B-movie start & TV personality) v. Mondale, Clinton v. Bush I, Obama v. McCain, Trump (also a teevee personality) v. Clinton the Female. In fact, the glaring exception has been Trump v. Biden.
David Gilmour of Mediaite: "Steve Bannon warned the federal government that it would 'pay the price for trying to destroy this country' and that as soon as President-elect Donald Trump takes office entire agencies will be 'swept out.'... [Bannon] was himself sent to federal prison over his refusal to cooperate with subpoenas from the congressional subcommittee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riots."
Tess Owen of Wired: "... the same far-right extremists emboldened by [Trump's] first administration are celebrating his win with violent memes and threats. Many of the social media posts reviewed by Wired reveled in fantasies of Trump locking up and even executing his political opponents in revenge. 'Build the gallows!!' urged a post on Gab, a social media platform that caters to the far right. 'There has to be as many traitors executed as he has days in office,' urged another Gab post. 'Build the gallows, restore the REPUBLIC.'" MB: I find this rather heartening. Of course Trump may extend his term of office if he isn't dead by 2029, but there are only 1,461 days in a 4-year term. So if the goal is to hang 1,461 "enemies within," I don't think they'll get to me, as there are surely 1,500 bigger fish to fry. Sure, I could end my days in a dank Trump "detention center" holding tank. But, hey, no noose!
Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "... I expect the next few months to be a period of mourning rather than defiance. My own instinct -- which conflicts with the demands of my job -- is to retreat into my family, to look for solace in time with friends, in theater and in novels, to block out the humiliating truth about what my country has decided to become.... But eventually, mourning either starts to fade or curdles into depression and despair. When and if it does, whatever resistance emerges to the new MAGA will differ from what came before. Gone will be the hope of vindicating the country from Trumpism, of rendering him an aberration. What's left is the more modest work of trying to ameliorate the suffering his government is going to visit on us.... The work of the next four years [will be] saving what we can and trying to imagine a tolerable future."
Perry Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: Trump's win "prompted special counsel Jack Smith to start discussing how to wind down the two federal prosecutions of the president-elect.... The possible slowing down of the federal cases -- which could in theory barrel forward until Inauguration Day -- could give Smith time to deliver a final report detailing the findings of his two probes to Attorney General Merrick Garland before Trump becomes the 47th president.... In New York, meanwhile, Trump's lawyers were expected to try to delay his upcoming sentencing in state court on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment to an adult-film actress." NPR's story is here. Politico's report is here. ~~~
⭐ ~~~ Ankush Khardori of Politico Magazine: "We have just witnessed the greatest failure of federal law enforcement in American history.... At the root of it all are the considerable and truly historic legal missteps by the Biden administration and Attorney General Merrick Garland, as well as a series of decisions by Republicans throughout the political and legal systems in recent years that effectively bailed Trump out when the risks for him were greatest.... It is now clearer than ever that Garland was a highly questionable choice to serve as attorney general from the start.... [Garland's reluctance to prosecute Trump, however, does not excuse] the Republican political and legal class for their role in all this as well. In fact, Trump could not have pulled it off without a great deal of help from them too. Start with Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans in 2021. They could -- and should -- have voted to convict Trump after his second impeachment, which would have prevented him from running again for the presidency.... Last but most certainly not least: The Republican appointees on the Supreme Court bailed Trump out this year -- in the heart of the general election campaign and when it mattered most." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Years ago, and maybe a few times since, Akhilleus predicted that there was no way Trump was ever going to jail. At time, I thought there was a glimmer of hope Akhilleus was wrong. You know, maybe six weeks at Rikers for the 34 felonies?? Something. I do think New York Justice Juan Merchan should order Trump to spend a few weekends in Rikers between now and January 20. I don't see how Trump's frittering his time away in a rat-invested shithole (so he could find out what a shithole really is) would hurt the nation any more than would his spending that same time at some Trump golf resort.
Charlie Warzel of the Atlantic, writing avant le déluge, asserts that what Elon Musk did to Twitter is the blueprint for what Trump will do to the federal government: "Fire everyone. Turn it into a personal political weapon. Let chaos reign." Warzel has evidence of the plan. If my link doesn't work, see yesterday's ("Presidential Race") Comments for the gift link from laura h. ~~~
~~~ Peter Baker & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "Over the course of the campaign, Mr. Trump outlined a set of policies for his second term that would be far more sweeping than what he enacted in his first. Without establishment Republicans and military veterans surrounding him to resist his more drastic ideas, Mr. Trump may find it easier to move ahead, particularly if his party completes its sweep by winning the House.... His version of ['saving our country'] involves an expansive agenda that would reshape government, foreign policy, national security, economics and domestic affairs as dramatically as any president in modern times.... Having promised to devote his next four years in office to 'retribution,' Mr. Trump plans to quickly shield himself from legal scrutiny, end criminal investigations against himself, pardon supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and turn the power of federal law enforcement against his adversaries.... Once Mr. Trump has ... curb[ed] the professional ranks of civil servants in government..., many other changes would in theory be that much easier to enact." They go on.
Maxine Joselow of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration moved Wednesday to narrow the scope of an oil-and-gas lease sale in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that was mandated under ... Donald Trump. The plan underscores how the Biden administration is racing to cement its environmental legacy mere hours after Trump secured a second term. Trump has vowed to boost oil drilling in the refuge, as part of broader plans to expand fossil fuel production on public lands across the country."
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New York Times reporters assess what Trump's 2nd presidency* may mean to some other countries around the world.
Continental Sclerosis. Steven Erlanger of the New York Times: "The victory of Donald J. Trump will test the ability of America's European allies to maintain solidarity, do more to build up their own militaries and defend their economic interests. In anticipation of a Trump victory, there have already been efforts to try to ensure continued support for Ukraine, continuity in NATO and to craft a response should Mr. Trump make good on his threat to apply blanket tariffs on goods imported into the United States. But the Europeans have a long way to go. A second Trump presidency could serve as a catalyst for Europe to fortify itself in the face of a more undependable America. But it is far from clear the continent is prepared to seize that moment. With both the French and German governments weakened by domestic politics, a strong European response may be difficult to construct. And even after one term of Mr. Trump and a war in Ukraine, Europeans have been slow to change." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Frankly, I don't see the developed democracies as our allies anymore. Trump spent most of his firm term denigrating NATO countries & cozying up to autocrats. We just became friends of Putin, Orban & Little Kim. I think the U.S. is about to become the most important piece of a newly-conceived "Axis of Evil."
Germany. Kate Brady of the Washington Post: "Germany's governing coalition collapsed Wednesday, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired his finance minister and announced a confidence vote that is widely expected to fail and to pave the way to early elections in the spring. The news from Europe's largest economy added a huge jolt of uncertainty on a day when much of the world's attention was focused on the outcome of the U.S. election. 'I would have liked to have spared you this difficult decision,' Scholz said at the chancellery Wednesday night. 'Especially in times like these, when uncertainty is growing.'"
Israel, Palestine, et al. Shira Rubin, et al., of the Washington Post: "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejoiced over Donald Trump's election victory, as he banked on resetting relations with Washington and following through on his maximalist aims in the country's multifront war.... 'It's time for total victory,' crowed Itamar Ben Gvir, Netanyahu's far-right national security minister, in an address to the Knesset on Wednesday.... Israel Ganz, head of a council representing Israeli settlers across the occupied West Bank, celebrated the moment as a historic 'opportunity for the settlement movement,' which has already made significant gains since Netanyahu returned to power in 2022."
Ukraine, et al. David Stern & Serhiy Morgunov of the Washington Post: "Ukrainian troops have clashed with North Korean forces for the first time, according to senior Ukrainian officials -- a development that would open a 'new page of instability in the world,' President Volodymyr Zelensky said.... Russian forces had provided the North Korean troops with 'training of a one-month period,' which is now being shortened, sometimes to one week, 'so that they can get engagement on the battlefield,' [Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem] Umerov said."
Marie: Thank you to everyone who sent birthday greetings. I truly was not fishing for them when I mentioned my birthday in connection with the election.
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