Surprise! and Welcome Trump 2.0!

And I don't know a soul who's not been battered
I don't have a friend who feels at ease
I don't know a dream that's not been shattered
or driven to its knees
But it's all right, it's all right
We've lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the road
we're traveling on
I wonder what went wrong
I can't help it, I wonder what went wrong
-Paul Simon, "American Tune"

Well, well, well.
Here we are, America. Here we are.

Did you wake up last Wednesday morning with a sense of déjà Hillary vu?
Did you wake up, mangled and exhausted on the sideline, the trainers loading you onto the gurney, and did you manage to grab the coach by the lapels and ask with what seemed like your last breath, "Did we win the game, coach? Did we win?"
No, my beaten and battered friend, we didn't really "lose" either... we were massacred. With barely a wet puddle on the field to show for our trouble.

Full disclosure: I voted for Harris, Allred, etc., etc. However, I bet on Trump/Cruz to win. A few weeks ago. 3 whole dollars. With the wife. (Remember: vote with your heart, bet with your head.) She finally paid up this morning. With a jar full of coins, flung at me across the living room. She had the grace to take the coins out of the jar before heaving them. It was her way of saying, "I am an honorable person, a person of my word. But this has been somewhat difficult for me." I hear ya, babe.
(Side note: any doctors in our readership that know how to dig a nickel out of an eyeball?)

But I digest. Let's begin.

It was awful, and as all of our progressive friends are wringing their hands and rightfully telling us, 'it's gonna get awfuller.'
Already, the ugliest of ugly ultra-right-wing groups are coming out from under their rocks, putting on their brown shirts, and kicking puppies.
Online harassment of women has exploded on social media since the election. Phrases such as "Your body - my choice" and "get back to the kitchen" saw a 4,600% increase on Nov. 6.
The so-called "manosphere" led by White nationalist podcasters and influencers like Nick Fuentes and Andrew "women belong to men" Tate are stoking young men and boys to declare their dominance.
Another trope is the call for the repeal of the 19th Amendment.
(And yes, several women's groups that identify with so-called "traditional values" have chimed in, calling Harris supporters "retards," and celebrating Trump for "grabbing Harris by the p**sy.")
Hundreds of black college students in multiple states report receiving texts addressing them as slaves - telling them to prepare to "pick cotton" and other racist suggestions.
More disconcerting is the OFFline reaction, with several college campuses reporting "protestors" showing up on their campuses with signage and shouts reflecting similar vile sentiments. Texas State University had a couple of a-holes showed up with "Women are Property" and "Homo Sex is Sin" signs. They represented that they were just good Christians from "The Official Street Preachers." A counter-protest spontaneously started, and campus police were able to keep things to a dull roar.

Most distressing was an incident shared by one of our most loyal subscribers who wrote to me about an incident that happened last Wednesday reported by her sister in Florida. (Names withheld.) She said her friend's daughter came home from school crying because a gang of boys surrounded a couple of girls and yelled over and over, “Your body, my choice”. Wait for it…they were 6 yr olds. Gosh, I wonder what daddy has been yelling at momma since Tuesday night?

Here we are.

Alright. Enough doom scrolling for you, enough of me poking at your rage button. That's MSNBC's job. (more on that, later.)

They Tore Out Our Hearts and Stomped Them Suckers Flat

It was a real ass-whuppin'. It was shocking how much ground Democrats lost compared to the last two election cycles, and of course, how much better the coup-promoting felon gained. Worse yet, Republican gains occurred in every demographic. The testosterone club, the incels, and the bigots are (white) proudly celebrating, Trump got 16 percent of the black vote (up from 8% for Biden) 24 percent coming from black men. 42% of Latinos supported Trump, up from 35%. In Texas, Trump commanded 55% of the Hispanic vote. Remember when Democrats' fallback line was, "demographics are destiny?" This was to imply that the Hispanic wave that is turning Texas brown would also turn it blue. Well, 14 of the 18 counties along the southern border voted for a Republican president. And the cries of "it's a matter of education" rings hollow when you see that 42% of voters with a degree voted Trump. Most shameful of all? Trump got 53% of white women's votes. So much for "women will save us." For more numbers, check out the AP's results here, complete with an interactive comparison of 2020 and 2024. It ain't pretty.

Meanwhile, the "business people who are not politicians" seemed to be off to a good start with the nascent administration. Musk donated $120 million to Drump's campaign. This week Tesla stock jumped up 30% for an increase of about 120 billion in market value while other EV makers' stocks tumbled. This increased Elon's net worth by about 25 billion. 25 Billion. Not a bad week for the Elon. Not a bad ROI at all.

Autopsy for a political party.

It's time for the blame game. It's a game that Dems are familiar with. But let's not do the popular social media version of the game..."I WARNED you people!" "We remain a patriarchy and you men had better not eff'ing say one word when it all goes down" (?) "Biden should have left the race in January" "Kamala didn't choose Shapiro and it cost her the election" blah blah blah. Let's go deeper. Because, really... WTF?

1. Having lost the popular vote in addition to the Electoral College, Democrats can no longer tell themselves that their agenda is only being limited by some structural problem. They have effectively lost the working-class vote across multiple demographics. Non-whites, who the party has always taken for granted, are slowly filtering away. The backbone of the party is broken.

The Democrats really are no longer the party of the common man and woman. The priorities and values that dominate the party today are instead those of educated, liberal America which only partially overlap—and sometimes not at all—with those of ordinary Americans.

Though they hate to be labeled as such, Democrats truly are the elites. It is sad but true, Trump has built the multicultural party of working-class voters - the one that Democrats aspired to be. This needs to be acknowledged... and fixed.

2. The institutions that held us together as a community have weakened or died. The church (for many reasons) has faded from most of our lives. Churches that survive are often perceived to be partisan. Boy/Girl Scouts are dying as well. The Rotary Club, Lions Clubs, Junior League... don't have the cache that they used to. Families are disjointed. Schools can barely teach the basics, much less robust civics classes with chapters in citizenship.
   As we've lost institutions, we've become more self-centered. Our "personal relationships" are often with online strangers that we've never met, and in those, we only tolerate "friends" who share (and do not challenge) our personal views.
   
   David Brooks, the NY Times "conservative" (light) opinion writer who likes to explore human behavior, wrote in an Atlantic column last year about "moral formation." Brooks suggests that these institutions were all sources of building a strong moral foundation.

"Moral formation, as I will use that stuffy-sounding term here, comprises three things. First, helping people learn to restrain their selfishness. How do we keep our evolutionarily conferred egotism under control? Second, teaching basic social and ethical skills. How do you welcome a neighbor into your community? How do you disagree with someone constructively? And third, helping people find a purpose in life. Morally formative institutions hold up a set of ideals. They provide practical pathways toward a meaningful existence: Here’s how you can dedicate your life to serving the poor, or protecting the nation, or loving your neighbor."

"...Training the heart and body is more important than training the reasoning brain. Some moral skills can be taught the way academic subjects are imparted, through books and lectures. But we learn most virtues the way we learn crafts, through the repetition of many small habits and practices, all within a coherent moral culture—a community of common values, whose members aspire to earn one another’s respect."

We've lost those tight communities, and with that, the ability to act as cohesive groups. We want our politicians to answer for our personal needs and not the greater good.

3- The right-wing media sphere is more powerful and effective at shaping national public opinion than people imagine. For many progressives, it is still absurd, even laughable. With a Trump second term, we need to stop laughing and realize that we are going to have to counter-program. Legacy media still believes in "balance," in the sense that if one "side" says "yes," then anyone who says "no" should be given an equal platform, irrespective of context, evidence, or a full understanding of where that "no" is coming from.

Beyond the understanding of what journalism should look like in principle and how we deal with partisan propaganda presented to us as journalism, the economics of producing news has not just shifted, but has turned inside out. In addition to falling ad revenues for legacy broadcast and radio news, entire media ecosystems have developed in the service of partisanship. TV and Radio News are supplemented by talk shows that last for hours. Local print media is in its final death throws. Social media channels exist for every demographic and political leaning. Special interest blogs and newsletters are ubiquitous. The right was early to develop well-produced internet-based news/talk outlets. Content might include news, conspiracy theories, political interviews (with friendlies,) and hours and hours of pontification. Tucker Carlson, Bill O'Reilly, Joe Rogan, Alex Jones, etc.

The left has got to invest in smart and effective communication ecosystems. These communication channels need to be coordinated and message-tested.

Right-wing media is now coupled with think tanks, political foundations, PACs, and fundraising organizations. It is an ecosystem that seems impenetrable at times. Messages are strategic and refined. Media celebrities wine and dine with their political benefactors. The money is good if you're willing to read the Trump teleprompter.

The left (and moderates) have a few media outlets. Late-night talk show hosts sometimes serve as editorial sources. CNN was pretty moderate, even left-leaning by today's standards, but recently ownership and management have favored a slight shift rightward. "Air America" was a short-lived (2004-2010) attempt by the left to establish a leftie talk-radio network. Rachel Maddow, Ron Reagan, Al Franken, Montel Williams and other fairly well-known progressives were featured there. NPR is a solid, lefty news-oriented radio network, its funding comes from membership, corporate sponsors, and the government-funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Which makes them a target for "defunding." These channels so not share coordinated messaging with political parties in any meaningful ways.

The presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump drew an estimated audience of 67.1 million television viewers. Podcaster and manosphere influencer Joe Rogan’s wide-ranging, three-hour interview with Trump got 47 million streams on YouTube - and that doesn't include the 25 million or so that listened to the audio podcast version. It's clear that Democrats need to develop an organized media strategy that utilizes these new pipelines.

4- By far the best piece of analysis that I've read, one that goes deeper than 'us vs. them' and 'their-ideas-suck,' was written by Obama's former security advisor. Ben Rhodes counts himself as a student of authoritarianism around the world. I can't recommend his article enough.

"<after the financial crash of 2008,> neoliberalism — that blend of free trade, deregulation and deference to financial markets — hollowed out communities while enriching a global oligarchy. Meanwhile, a homogenized and often crass popular culture eroded traditional national and religious identities. After 9/11, the war on terror was embraced by autocrats such as Mr. Putin, who used it as a frame to justify power grabs while forever wars fueled mass migration. The financial crisis came through like a hurricane, wrecking the lives of people already struggling to get by while the rich profited on the back end. Then social media’s explosion offered a vehicle to spread grievance and conspiracy theories, allowing populist leaders to radicalize their followers with the precision of an algorithm...
"Democrats walked into the trap of defending the very institutions — the “establishment” — that most Americans distrust. As a party interested in competent technocracy, we lost touch with the anger people feel at government. As a party that prizes data, we seized on indicators of growth and job creation as proof that the economy was booming, even though people felt crushed by rising costs. As a party motivated by social justice, we let revulsion at white Christian nationalism bait us into identity politics on their terms — whether it was debates about transgender athletes, the busing of migrants to cities, or shaming racist MAGA personalities who can’t be shamed. As a party committed to American leadership of a “rules-based international order,” we defended a national security enterprise that has failed repeatedly in the 21st century, and made ourselves hypocrites through unconditional military support for Israel’s bombardment of civilians in Gaza.

Democrats campaigned on how Trump was unfit for office. How Biden (and therefore Harris) were achieving the goals of a long-term recovery and positive growth. But Biden is old. He is establishment. Inflation is real to those who don't own stocks and have savings accounts. People don't care about the algorithms and charts that show otherwise. Immigration is scary at the levels we've seen in the last decade. The public's response was, (to those who bothered to hear it,) distrust of the old guard that had failed them time and again. Kamala, despite her energy, skill, compassion, and strong campaign, still represented the old guard. On "The View," she said she wouldn't change anything that Biden started. (To many,) she represented more rule by snooty, well-off college-educated elites who wanted to dominate their established way of life. And though it's hard for us to hear, her full-throated defense of democracy itself was a negative.

Many voters have come to associate democracy with globalization, corruption, financial capitalism, migration, forever wars and elites (like me) who talk about it as an end in itself rather than a means to redressing inequality, reining in capitalist systems that are rigged, responding to global conflict and fostering a sense of shared national identity.

And Trump got it. He pounced. And raged. And promised (again) to tear it all down and rebuild it for the average Joe, not the politician Joe. The right-wing mediasphere gave him the megaphone (see #3.)
We know that once again, Trump will govern and grift for the billionaire class. His policies will make it worse for the middle class in the long run, and we can prove it with facts, data, and studies...MAGAland hates that worst of all.

Rhodes has some thoughts on the way forward. He notes that Hungary's dictator-light Victor Orban, after losing an election in 2002, spent years holding civic meetings with groups all over the country. He gauged what their deepest hopes and fears were and then he made them an integral part of the agenda that put him in power. Shouldn't Democrats do the same? (Without all that fascism.)

Learn from mayors innovating at the local level. Listen to communities that feel alienated. Find places where multiracial democracy is working better than it is in the rest of the country. Tell those stories when pitching policies. Foster a sense of belonging to something bigger, so democracy doesn’t feel like the pablum of a ruling elite, but rather the remedy for fixing what is broken in Washington and our body politic.

• Maybe Dems can go easy on their tone of: "I know what's best for you!"
• Maybe STOP with identity politics which is easy to perceive as prioritizing one small special interest group above the overall community.
• Maybe just take some time to listen to the working, middle-class people of the country - the ones that used to be all in for Democrats.

What about you?

Here I am, demonstrating rank hypocrisy by "telling you what to do." I'd like to suggest the following.

• Take a few more moments to grieve or share your frustration. But no one likes a "snowflake," so collect yourself - there's work to be done.
• Get off of social media for a while if you're a doom scroller. Get off of social media if all you have to offer is wailing and gnashing of teeth (and more doom.)
• Definitely get off of social media if your M.O. is to scold everyone around you. Folks are upset enough without your bottomless anger. I assure you that you are talking to your own tribe, your own friends. Screaming at them, your coworkers, and your family is THE most unproductive thing you can do.
• Stop using social media to howl at the moon. Meaning: commenting and raging at politicians, corporations, acquaintances, and random posts change nothing. Screaming at the opposition is pointless. You're increasing your blood pressure. Stop.
• Join. Join a civic club, a political organization, a non-profit, a church, a charity... Use your talent and social skills to advance good causes. And through the relationships that you build, THEN you can use your influence.
• Don't bother people with your plans, once again, to move to another country unless you can show your receipts. We've heard it all 8 years ago. If you're serious, give a full report on the process once you are there,

My lovely wife Velveeta has a close friend of 30+ years. They exer-walk probably twice a week. She realized years ago that her friend, already more conservative than she was, was slipping into MAGAland. Friend was never militant or overbearing, and they both could not bear to lose a lifelong friendship. So they limited their discussion of politics, though, in season, it would come up. My wife would tip-toe around issues like women's health care, education funding, gun violence, etc. She stayed away from declaratives, ("I can NEVER abide someone who believes that!") Never shut down a conversation. Never treated her with anything but respect and authentic friendship. She DID try to personalize the effects that the modern GOP was having... "We have gay family members and friends, they're great people and I can't see how their bedroom activities matter." "I mean, we have a gun (locked up) in the house, but when I think about those kids in Uvalde, I don't understand how we can't keep guns away from criminals, kids, and the mentally unfit." "We both worked in the insurance business together (they did,) we know how crooked it is, why can't we have something better, and at least cover pre-existing conditions?" Etc, etc. etc.
This year, the friend voted for Harris. We had drinks with her and her husband this weekend, they mourned that Trump was reelected.
Yes. It takes that long. Yes, it takes relationships. No, scolding never works.

RESIST, but in ways that are effective. (And no, you don't have to tolerate or try to change intractable s**t heads.)

I shared the following thought with a friend of mine: Maybe we lived in the sweet spot. Many of us are boomers. Our parents/grandparetns gave us the best this country has ever had to offer. Great and inexpensive, publicly supported eduction. Quality, affordable health care. Moderate (and supportive) government, (the passage of Civil Rights bills, expanding freedom for women, LGBT folks, etc,) And the best music ever produced(!) (Yes, I know that things weren't at all peachy for blacks and ethnic minorities, but equality expanded during our generation.)

They say that social stability and economic balance lasts about 3 generations before there is upheaval or even revolution. We're a good 3 generations+ from the Great Depression and the Second World War. Is our time up?

It will take a lot of work. So much work.

"American Tune" is a go-to for me. I'm sure I've posted it before. I think about it when America stumbles so badly. That seems to be happening a lot, lately.

Still, tomorrow's gonna be another working day. And it's time to get some rest.

We come on the ship they call the Mayflower
We come on the ship that sailed the moon
We come in the age's most uncertain hour
and sing an American tune
But it's all right, it's all right
You can't be forever blessed
Still, tomorrow's going to be another working day
And I'm trying to get some rest
That's all I'm trying to get some rest.
-American Tune - Paul Simon