Not Without Incident: Questioning Big Brother's Platitudes

The Garbage Strikes Back

Trump’s supporters are not to blame for this. It is up to the US and Western ruling class to reflect and understand why so many people want to see the institutions they regard as precious bulldozed. They will not do this, so our best option is to grab some popcorn and to watch the next season of The Trump Show.

Donald Trump has officially secured 295 electoral votes, and thus the presidency. He did not just win by a slim margin in a handful of states like he did in 2016, he won all 7 swing states (Nevada and Arizona are yet to be officially called, though he still leads Harris in both), he is ahead by about 5,000,000 votes in the popular vote (this may shrink his majority with votes still to count in California), and the Republicans also won a majority in the Senate and will likely hold a majority in the House.

At the end of election night, Harris left her election watch party at Howard University without addressing her supporters. She called Trump today and conceded, and she also delivered a wordy, long-winded concession speech that typified why she lost.[i]

Trump may have won, but as I wrote before the election, it is the illiberal liberal class who is the true victor here.

Not only is Trump the first president since Grover Cleveland to win two non-consecutive presidential elections, but he has won despite facing multiple court cases, being charged for 34 felony counts, being accused of inciting an ‘insurrection’, and for allegedly being a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler, an evil dictator bent on putting illegal migrants and anyone who opposes him into concentration camps. These hysterical claims were heard throughout the 2024 campaign, and they will only get louder and more unhinged. Keith Olbermann declared once again, just as he did in 2016, that Russia had ‘essentially invaded’ the US and committed a coup on the government.[ii] Van Jones, brimming with tears, said on a CNN panel that he found the election results incredibly disheartening and that minority groups are at grave risk under a second Trump presidency.[iii] On MSNBC Joy Reid went on a rampage over Trump’s victory in North Carolina, blaming white women for not doing their duty, to vote for Kamala Harris.[iv]

The Guardian’s Editor-in-Chief, Katharine Viner wrote a reaction to Trump’s victory by proclaiming that The Guardian will be fierce in its coverage of Trump in his second term, as it was during his first. Viner writes that “Now, with Trump months away from taking office again – with dramatic implications for wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, the health of American democracy, reproductive rights, inequality and, perhaps most of all, our collective environmental future – it’s time for us to redouble our efforts to hold the president-elect and those who surround him to account.”[v] This is an absurd denial of reality. Biden has escalated conflict in the Middle East by sending a seemingly limitless supply of arms to Israel and looking the other way as it invades Lebanon and begins an endless war on terror in the region, and he has collaborated with Republicans and Democrats in Congress and the Senate to ‘Trump-proof’ aid to Ukraine and US membership in NATO, passing legislation that disallows him from unilaterally withdrawing from NATO and ceasing aid to Ukraine. Trump may have claimed that he can end the Ukraine war “in 24 hours”, but this unlikely given that in his first term he sent arms to Ukraine, a shift from Barrack Obama who refused to ship arms to Ukraine, despite prodding and demands from his neoconservative allies like Jeffrey Goldberg. Biden also escalated the US trade war with China started by Trump. In May 2024 Biden announced increased tariffs on Chinese goods like steel and semiconductors. This was after a 3-year long review of Trump’s tariffs, and a promise during his 2020 campaign to rescind the tariffs as they hurt American workers and the middle class. During her 2024 campaign, Harris continually lambasted Trump’s tariff proposals, though it is obvious that she had no intention of ending the trade war. As for the ‘health of American democracy’, that is a disease that has come and gone, killing off the body politic and feeding on its sordid remains. Viner and others in the Western press will pretend that they, under Trump, have a moral obligation to hold the powerful accountable are sickening in their hypocrisy and artificiality. Harris would have followed in Biden’s footsteps, committing myriad atrocities and international crimes in the process, however, because they must keep up the pretense that Trump is an aberration, not a natural excretion of our rotted political system, the ruling class suddenly cares about human rights abuses.

What will Trump do that is worse than George Bush and Dick Cheney’s global torture program, or Obama’s war on whistleblowers. For all the panic over press freedoms, there were no such worries while Obama had whistleblowers who revealed the locations of CIA torture facilities and war crimes imprisoned under the Espionage Act. International NGOs and human rights organizations are once again, like the press, assuming their stated roles after being in limbo during the Biden presidency. For example, the executive director Human Rights Watch, Tirana Hassan responded to Trump’s election by writing that “Rights-respecting institutions and officials need to hold the line during the Trump administration. World leaders, federal and state workers, activists, and ordinary citizens have a role to play in protecting human rights and keeping Trump from carrying out the abuses he has promised.”[vi] After sending multiple open letters to Biden urging an arms embargo on Israel, only to be dismissed and ignored, groups like HRW pretend that human rights around the world are at a unique threat under Trump, despite knowing that the Biden regime knew of atrocities being committed using arms they provided. They are selective with their ire because human rights for them is a lexicon to justify empire, and Trump is a sickly face on abhorrent policy. If they were serious about holding the powerful accountable, they would not wait until someone like Trump is the face of the US government, and then snap into action. They would recognize that no matter who the president is, the US government violates its constitution, international law, and human rights every day.

Clinging to the fantasy of a ‘rules-based order’ and concepts like international law and democracy promotion leads to a meshing of Democratic warmongers and their counterparts in the Republican party. Instead of reflecting on the consequences of what they blithely support and have supported for years now, from globalization to unfettered, crony capitalism, it is much easier to chastise voters and blame certain groups for not doing what they are obligated to do in service to their identity.

What happened in this election is not a rejection of democracy. It is a rejection of the dictates of the illiberal liberal class, however, they also benefit from Trump’s victory, as his rogue behavior will not be a mass deviation from the permanent regime’s operation, it will mostly continue it under a new mask. The ruling class will tolerate Trump’s antics, as he will probably appoint cretins like Mike Pompeo and Elbridge Colby to his cabinet, who will certainly hold the line on issues like China and Russia.

Political commentators like LBC’s James O’Brien are flabbergasted by Trump’s victory against Harris, unable to comprehend why millions of people would vote for an “adjudicated rapist” and an “insurrectionist”.[vii] What O’Brien, like many other Western political commentators, do not understand is that most people do not care about the same issues they do. His argument that Trump is morally depraved, and that although this did not seem to hinder him in the election, liberals should still care about depravity, is absurd. What O’Brien misses is that Trump is not uniquely depraved, especially in Washington. Liz Cheney, who endorsed Harris and campaigned with her, is an amoral, depraved individual who defends torture, military adventurism, and the security state having unchecked power. Nancy Pelosi is also incredibly depraved, as she spent years in Congress enriching herself and her family through insider stock trading, covering for Bush’s torture program, and remained inert as multiple presidents, Democrat and Republican, hollowed out America’s working classes and slashed welfare. O’Brien and his ilk act like Trump is distinctly grotesque, however, he is only distinct in his style and mannerisms.

Overall, this election is an absolute embarrassment for the illiberal liberal class, though they will ultimately benefit from his presidency, especially the corporate news, which is on life support since his exit from office in 2021, and the capitalist class in the US, who will enjoy bigger tax cuts and government cutouts. Those who wanted Harris and the Democrats to win should direct their outrage at the DNC and the Harris campaign, not Trump or his supporters, or even Biden, who is being blamed for not dropping out soon enough by the very same people who, during his presidency reacted to claims that he was overtly diminished and mentally decayed with vitriol and dismissal. The goons in the corporate media and the Democratic party said before Trump’s debate with Biden that he was at his peak, or, in the words of MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, “this is the best Biden we have ever seen!”[viii] Then immediately after the debate, Nancy Pelosi, Obama, and Chuck Schumer along with the DNC donor class implemented a soft coup to remove Biden from the presidential race, only to install Harris as the nominee, rather than hold a primary.[ix] After doing this, and as they attempted to have third party candidates banned from national ballots in several states, they declared themselves the sole protectors of America’s sacred democracy.[x] It is hilarious to watch these officials blame Biden for not dropping out sooner, given that they enabled and even encouraged him to stay, insisting that he is mentally acute and sharp.  Jim Manley, who served as an aide to former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, said of Biden that “He’s a good man who can be proud of his accomplishments. But his legacy is in tatters,” and that “The country is headed in a very dangerous direction and it’s due in part to his arrogance.”[xi] Manley and others blaming Biden are not wrong, but they have themselves to blame as well. The rise of Trump is the fault of his party and the ruling class which it is beholden to.

Pollsters should also be embarrassed, some made asinine and fantastical predictions. For example, Ann Slezer, a great political pollster, published a poll that predicted Harris would win the state of Iowa, citing turnout of women as a main factor that would give Harris an edge in the state.[xii] Trump ended up winning Iowa handily, by about 14 percentage points.

Another example is the error by the ‘polling Nostradamus’ of US elections, Allan Lichtman, a renowned US political historian who has correctly predicted the winner in 9 out of 10 presidential elections since 1984. He predicted Trump’s victory in 2016 despite a plethora of polls that showed a landslide for Hilary Clinton. However, using his system of 13 ‘keys’, true or false questions relating to the prospects and circumstances of each major candidate, he predicted a definite victory for Harris, as she had 8 out of 13 keys, while Trump only had 3.[xiii] On Tuesday night, he quit his election livestream embarrassed and in despair.

Trump’s victory should not be shocking. An event like his triumph in 2016 should have been seen as inevitable, considering the illiberal liberal class doubled down on their ideology of Western exceptionalism, which is defined by imperialism and unfettered corporate capitalism. The victims of this ideology, who Clinton dismissed as deplorables and who Biden referred to as garbage are those who, after being tossed aside like refuse and left to rot in impoverished communities, have chosen to channel their outrage through Trump.

Trump greatly improved turnout for him in rural counties. Clinton once said in an appearance in Mumbai, India, that in the 2016 election she “won the places that matter”, while Trump won places that are filled with, in the eyes of her and her illiberal liberal circle, unproductive deplorables.[xiv] The ruling class may feel that Trump wins in places that do not matter, but if their goal is to win elections, then they must start to see the places where Trump performs the best as communities that matter, and that the people who live there matter.

However, instead of recognizing and trying to understand people’s despair, most commentators and scholars prefer to resort to demonization and name-calling. This is not only easier, it deflects fault and does away with any need to self-reflect. An example of this analysis, that those who voted for Trump knowing what he is and what the illiberal liberal class told everyone he was, comes from Nina L. Khrushcheva’s reaction to the election. She tells us how she believes Trump won, and while she acknowledges people’s economic insecurity, saying that “While this explanation has some merit, something more sinister may be lurking in a significant chunk of Trump’s base. Many of them may want to see their country’s institutions destroyed. Instead of fearing Trump’s threats to democracy and the rule of law, they view him as the wrecking ball they have been waiting for.”[xv] With this, she is onto something, that Trump’s supporters want to see him enter the White House and destroy institutions and norms that Khrushcheva and her ilk hold sacred, however, what she is unable to realize is that the institutions Trump and his supporters want to see burn down deserve to be reduced to ashes.

Khrushcheva goes on to argue that Trump’s supporters dismiss his destructive rhetoric as hyperbole that proves he is “a man of the people – not just another polished politician”, and she refers to this as “the flattened logic of the blind believer – utterly incoherent and virtually impossible to challenge.”[xvi] It takes one to know one. Rather than fault the forces that put people in such a position of despair that they would see Trump as a perfect vehicle for their rage, Khrushcheva would rather scoff in disgust at people, like a patrician or an aristocrat. For her, Trump voters are not acting out of desperation or despair, they are acting like petulant children, unappreciative of their corporate masters and all that they do for them.

Krushcheva concludes by giving three main reasons for why Trump won against all odds and critiques, and she notes that white Americans have “lost faith in their country.”, business elites are able to shape politics with their capital, and Republican officials have “sacrificed their own integrity – and American democracy – at the altar of power.”[xvii] To her first point, Trump won, especially in states like Georgia and Florida, due to his support among non-white voters. Exit polls estimate that he won about 45% of the Latino vote. Evidently, Trump’s political movement cannot be generalized as white males enraged at their loss of status. This proves that there is a separation of class that favors Trump, which is especially proven in his share of non-college educated voters versus Harris’s share of college educated voters. Even among non-college educated women, Trump got more votes compared to Harris.[xviii]

To Krushcheva’s second point, while it is true that moneyed elites like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Jamie Dimon endorsed Trump, Harris outspent Trump on her campaign and she enjoyed the support of DNC donors and mega elites like Alex Soros and Bill Gates. Harris spent approximately 1.4 billion dollars on political ads that amounted to nothing.[xix] Further, the mega rich have been influencing US politics for decades, however it is only a problem when it results in the election of a candidate Krushcheva doesn’t like.

Finally, to her third point, it is not Republicans bending the knee to Trump who helped him win, it was the illiberal liberal class turning their backs on American workers and becoming prostitutes to the permanent regime and their commitment to endless war, corporatism, and unfettered globalization.

Harris lost because she is a terrible, moronic, vapid candidate, she assumed her identity entitled her to non-white voters, she failed to differentiate herself from Biden in anyway, on Gaza, Ukraine, or the economy, and above all else, she and the Democratic party lost because they became a far-right party, forcing the GOP to move further to the right. This is epitomized by the Harris campaign’s fealty to Republicans like the Cheney’s and former Trump officials who make media appearances to criticize him.

Trump’s supporters are not to blame for this. It is up to the US and Western ruling class to reflect and understand why so many people want to see the institutions they regard as precious bulldozed. They will not do this, so our best option is to grab some popcorn and to watch the next season of The Trump Show.

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[i] Guardian, The. “‘Sometimes the Fight Takes a While’: Kamala Harris Concession Speech – in Full.” the Guardian. The Guardian, November 6, 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/06/harris-concession-speech-transcript.

[ii] Olbermann, Keith. “RUSSIA HAS COMMITTED an ACT of WAR against US – 11.6.24 | Countdown with Keith Olbermann.” YouTube, November 6, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd-M_Jf3Ltc.

[iii] The Hollywood Reporter, and Van Jones. “CNN’s van Jones Calls Donald Trump Victory a ‘Nightmare’ in Emotional Reaction | THR News.” YouTube, November 6, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm6qJ8ld9uo.

[iv] Reid, Joy, and FOX News. “MSNBC’s Joy Reid Blames White Women for Harris Losing North Carolina.” Fox News, November 6, 2024. https://www.foxnews.com/video/6364274185112.

[v] Viner, Katharine. “How the Guardian Will Stand up to Four More Years of Donald Trump.” the Guardian. The Guardian, November 6, 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/06/how-the-guardian-will-stand-up-to-four-more-years-of-donald-trump.

[vi] Human Rights Watch. “Trump Take Two.” Human Rights Watch, November 6, 2024. https://www.hrw.org/the-day-in-human-rights/2024/11/06.

[vii] O’Brien, James, and LBC. “Trump Wins: James O’Brien’s Longest Monologue Ever.” YouTube, November 6, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwI3GMKghAM.

[viii] MSNBC. “Why ‘This Version of Biden’ Is Best Version of Biden.” YouTube, March 6, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pb6xXuU5wM.

[ix] Bade, Rachael. “What Obama and Pelosi Are Doing about Biden.” POLITICO. Politico, November 2024. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/11/obama-pelosi-democratic-party-biden-00167522., Oh, Inae. “Biden’s Right: It’s an Orchestrated Attack.” Mother Jones, July 11, 2024. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/07/obama-pelosi-biden-drop-out-race/., and Wong, Scott, and Ali Vitali. “As Biden Dug in on Continuing His Campaign, Nancy Pelosi Kept the Pressure On.” NBC News, July 22, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/nancy-pelosi-helped-pressure-joe-biden-end-2024-campaign-rcna162943.

[x] Bauer, Scott. “Democrats Try to Block Green Party from Presidential Ballot in Wisconsin, Citing Legal Issues.” AP News. AP News, August 14, 2024. https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-jill-stein-harris-trump-lawsuit-405e8bae8ff9becfa81a1360708d59a0.

[xi] Cancryn, Adam. “Democrats Livid at Biden after Trump Win: ‘He Shouldn’t Have Run’ – POLITICO.” POLITICO. Politico, November 2024. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/11/06/democrats-blame-biden-trump-win-00188092.

[xii] Pfannenstiel, Brianne. “Iowa Poll: Kamala Harris Leapfrogs Donald Trump to Take Lead near Election Day. Here’s How.” The Des Moines Register. Des Moines Register, November 2, 2024.

[xiii] CNN, and Allan Lichtman. “Professor Who Has Correctly Predicted 9 of Last 10 Elections Stands by Harris Pick.” CNN, November 4, 2024. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/04/politics/video/lichtman-harris-prediction-trump-election-digvid.

[xiv] Choi, David. “Hillary Clinton Speech in India: I Won in ‘Dynamic’ Places, Trump Won ‘Backwards.’” Business Insider, March 13, 2018. https://www.businessinsider.com/hillary-clinton-says-trump-won-backwards-states-in-2016-2018-3.

[xv] Khrushcheva, Nina L. “How Trump Won | by Nina L. Khrushcheva – Project Syndicate.” Project Syndicate, November 6, 2024. https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/who-is-to-blame-for-trump-electoral-victory-by-nina-l-khrushcheva-2024-11.

[xvi] Khrushcheva. “How Trump Won | by Nina L. Khrushcheva – Project Syndicate.”

[xvii] Khrushcheva. “How Trump Won | by Nina L. Khrushcheva – Project Syndicate.”

[xviii] Wolf, Zachary B., Curt Merrill, and Way Mullery. “How 2024 Exit Polls Compare with the 2020 and 2016 Elections.” Cnn.com. CNN, November 6, 2024. https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2024/politics/2020-2016-exit-polls-2024-dg/.

[xix] Betts, Anna. “Democrats Pick Apart Trump Victory: ‘How Do You Spend $1bn and Not Win?’” the Guardian. The Guardian, November 6, 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/06/election-trump-harris-democrats-loss.

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References

Bade, Rachael. “What Obama and Pelosi Are Doing about Biden.” POLITICO. Politico, November 2024. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/11/obama-pelosi-democratic-party-biden-00167522.

Bauer, Scott. “Democrats Try to Block Green Party from Presidential Ballot in Wisconsin, Citing Legal Issues.” AP News. AP News, August 14, 2024. https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-jill-stein-harris-trump-lawsuit-405e8bae8ff9becfa81a1360708d59a0.

Betts, Anna. “Democrats Pick Apart Trump Victory: ‘How Do You Spend $1bn and Not Win?’” the Guardian. The Guardian, November 6, 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/06/election-trump-harris-democrats-loss.

Cancryn, Adam. “Democrats Livid at Biden after Trump Win: ‘He Shouldn’t Have Run’ – POLITICO.” POLITICO. Politico, November 2024. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/11/06/democrats-blame-biden-trump-win-00188092.

Choi, David. “Hillary Clinton Speech in India: I Won in ‘Dynamic’ Places, Trump Won ‘Backwards.’” Business Insider, March 13, 2018. https://www.businessinsider.com/hillary-clinton-says-trump-won-backwards-states-in-2016-2018-3.

CNN, and Allan Lichtman. “Professor Who Has Correctly Predicted 9 of Last 10 Elections Stands by Harris Pick.” CNN, November 4, 2024. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/04/politics/video/lichtman-harris-prediction-trump-election-digvid.

Guardian, The. “‘Sometimes the Fight Takes a While’: Kamala Harris Concession Speech – in Full.” the Guardian. The Guardian, November 6, 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/06/harris-concession-speech-transcript.

Human Rights Watch. “Trump Take Two.” Human Rights Watch, November 6, 2024. https://www.hrw.org/the-day-in-human-rights/2024/11/06.

Khrushcheva, Nina L. “How Trump Won | by Nina L. Khrushcheva – Project Syndicate.” Project Syndicate, November 6, 2024. https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/who-is-to-blame-for-trump-electoral-victory-by-nina-l-khrushcheva-2024-11.

MSNBC. “Why ‘This Version of Biden’ Is Best Version of Biden.” YouTube, March 6, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pb6xXuU5wM.

O’Brien, James, and LBC. “Trump Wins: James O’Brien’s Longest Monologue Ever.” YouTube, November 6, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwI3GMKghAM.

Oh, Inae. “Biden’s Right: It’s an Orchestrated Attack.” Mother Jones, July 11, 2024. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/07/obama-pelosi-biden-drop-out-race/.

Olbermann, Keith. “RUSSIA HAS COMMITTED an ACT of WAR against US – 11.6.24 | Countdown with Keith Olbermann.” YouTube, November 6, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd-M_Jf3Ltc.

Pfannenstiel, Brianne. “Iowa Poll: Kamala Harris Leapfrogs Donald Trump to Take Lead near Election Day. Here’s How.” The Des Moines Register. Des Moines Register, November 2, 2024. https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/iowa-poll/2024/11/02/iowa-poll-kamala-harris-leads-donald-trump-2024-presidential-race/75354033007/.

Reid, Joy, and FOX News. “MSNBC’s Joy Reid Blames White Women for Harris Losing North Carolina.” Fox News, November 6, 2024. https://www.foxnews.com/video/6364274185112.

The Hollywood Reporter, and Van Jones. “CNN’s van Jones Calls Donald Trump Victory a ‘Nightmare’ in Emotional Reaction | THR News.” YouTube, November 6, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm6qJ8ld9uo.

Viner, Katharine. “How the Guardian Will Stand up to Four More Years of Donald Trump.” the Guardian. The Guardian, November 6, 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/06/how-the-guardian-will-stand-up-to-four-more-years-of-donald-trump.

Wolf, Zachary B., Curt Merrill, and Way Mullery. “How 2024 Exit Polls Compare with the 2020 and 2016 Elections.” Cnn.com. CNN, November 6, 2024. https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2024/politics/2020-2016-exit-polls-2024-dg/.

Wong, Scott, and Ali Vitali. “As Biden Dug in on Continuing His Campaign, Nancy Pelosi Kept the Pressure On.” NBC News, July 22, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/nancy-pelosi-helped-pressure-joe-biden-end-2024-campaign-rcna162943.