— Feature, Musings —11.16.2024 12:57 PM
My latest: the people aren’t always right
The people are always right, John Turner said.
It was the evening of September 4, 1984 when he said that. Turner’s Liberal Party had just been crushed by Brian Mulroney’s Conservatives. On that occasion, so long ago, it felt like Turner was right. The people had spoken.
These days, we’re not so sure. These days, it’s pretty hard to believe that “the people are always right.”
In the United States, for instance, the people chose Donald Trump. It was a free and fair election, and Democrats have respected the outcome. The didn’t convene secret meetings of fake electors, they didn’t allege the election had been stolen, they didn’t instigate a riot at the Capitol.
But, in the days since the election, America and the world – and many within Trump’s own Republican Party – have been shocked by Trump’s selections for his cabinet.
There is Robert Kennedy, Jr., who famously opposes vaccines and says he has a worm in his brain (those two things may be related). Trump wants to put Kennedy in charge of healthcare for millions of Americans – which has many experts predicting a return of measles, polio and other preventable disease diseases.
There is Tulsi Gabbard, who has been an enthusiastic supporter of Syria’s genocidal regime, and has been credibly accused of being a Russian asset. Trump wants her to be America’s top intelligence official.
There is Matt Gaetz, who has been investigated for sex with a minor, illegal drug use and accepting improper gifts. Trump wants him to be America’s Attorney General.
There is Pete Hegseth, who has never had a military command role, and who has said he hasn’t washed his hands in a decade, because germs aren’t real. Trump wants him to run America’s military.
There is Elon Musk, the billionaire who has been secretly meeting with Iranian officials – which, as the New York Times has reported, has delighted the ayatollahs in Iran, who have called it “positive” and “good news.” Trump has brought Musk in for all kinds of meetings, without ensuring first that the X elf lord has a security clearance.
Up here, of course, we have a Prime Minister who has worn racist black face many times, who has never been cleared of groping a female reporter, and who has been found culpable in multiple corruption scandals. And who claims to be (a) anti-racist, (b) feminist, and (c) leading a responsible and ethical government.
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Trump runs the table in the swing states.
Who would have thought?
Now: talk about a Middle East peace deal; ceasefire in Ukraine.
Who would have thought?
On a related note, WWIII could start before he gets sworn in. Kind of makes the nomination fights moot.
As Winston Churchill once famously said, democracy is the worst form of government there is, except for all of the others. And as H L Mencken also famously said, democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard. We shall see, as the people have spoken. We may not think it a wise choice, but it was not ours to make.
Today’s WSJ: Biden Approves Ukraine’s Use of Long-Range Missiles Inside Russia
Just great.
US missiles. It is kind of frightening. There have been lots of proxy wars over the years but never has the US fired into Russia through a proxy.
https://babylonbee.com/news/in-last-ditch-attempt-to-prevent-trump-from-taking-office-democrats-start-world-war-3
Remember when many of the Democrats were running around saying T would start a war during the last transition. Milley even went behind T’s back to tell the Chinese that whoever was running the country would not let it happen. That was awesome.
Warren, there is huge difference from voters in 1984 and today’s base of voters in the USA. There is a crisis of sentience with this population, numbed by torrents of lies and propaganda. There is in this society a distaste for both truth and knowledge. The population has been made to fear and as any psychologist will tell you if you can get them to fear, you can do whatever you want to them.
Oh please. Your memory is very short. The left thought that the “unwashed” did not vote for their best interest in either 1980 or 1984. “Twas ever thus.
They aren’t informed well enough to make a good choice. That’s the sad truth – they aren’t informed, but rather targeted with a slew of conspiracy theories and they don’t have the time to sort it out – what’s real, what’s fake – what’s propaganda and what’s the news – they have no idea so they’re failed by the school system that doesn’t prepare people to be good voters and citizens – they aren’t bad people, they’re just susceptible to brainwashing.
Oh…please. The smarter people on the left are starting to figure out that calling the electorate stupid and calling your opponent Hitler is not the best approach. Get out of your bubble.
I’d be your friend, Martin, even though we disagree. I have plenty of friends who share your views, I just disagree with them – my issue is that the source of the information they peddle is bullshit, pretty well every time. The Nazis, now I’m not comparing Trump to mass murderers, but the style of propaganda the Nazis used is similar to modern conservative movements – they just blame the immigrants for everything instead of the jews.
WaPo today featured a study that found educated Americans were predominately Republican until Reagan. After that, those with university degrees, the sort who read newspapers and books, deserted to the Democrats. At the same time those who were effectively illiterate, who spurned newspapers and books, migrated to the Republicans. This, it claimed, is the basis for the great divide in American society. Emotion trumps fact. Critical thinking is eschewed by MAGA. We’ve all endured nearly a decade of interviews with Trump rally attendees.
The democrats lost working class voters, the very people who benefit from their policies
Define “educated”. I’ll wait. One can be “educated” but “effectively illiterate” about lots of issues. We literally have the receipts. Look at all the nonsense going on at major universities as we speak. This approach worked so well in 2016 and 2024.
Trump was this or that or heaven forbid Harris was just awful. I know not a popular opinion but like in Canada, Zoolander now smells like 5 day old fish so Pierre is starting to smell a lot better than before.