Trump was normalized by a media fascinated by personality. He wasn't dangerous. Oh, no. He wasn't a threat to orderly governance. Oh, no. He was at worse a fool, concerned with image and ratings. An almost lovable fool. But dangerous? Oh, no. Anyway, he'll never get elected
Clinton was not a valid alternative, they said. A tool of Wall Street. An opportunist. The candidate of the establishment. Just as bad as Trump. Forget her early work with migrants, knocking on doors for McGovern, her voter registration drives, her work for women's rights both at home and abroad. You just can't trust her. I read it on Facebook.
A pox on both their houses.
Americans are just beginning to see the result of their naivete. Let's look at two horrible examples.
America first? That's what Trump said. Then MOAB in Afghanistan, troops on the ground in Syria and Somalia. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. When has an Anglo-European intervention in the Middle East ever led to the desired result? Hundreds of years of history tell us that the answer to that question is NEVER. But somehow, this time will be different?
We are told that Trump's tax cuts will be paid for through economic growth. I repeat, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Not since Kennedy's time has a tax cut served as a significant stimulant. Of course, in those days the top individual rate was 91% and the top corporate rate 52%. There was room to provide stimulus. But both the Reagan and the GWB tax cuts resulted in huge deficits and eventually recession. Really, we need to try riding that old horse again?
You'd think that the example was there for all to see. But nooooooo......
Le Pen is smart, charismatic, good looking. Not her father. She isn't dangerous. Oh, no. She isn't a threat to orderly governance. Oh, no. She is at worse simply a socially conservative rabble rouser with Daddy issues trying to get attention. But dangerous? Oh, no. Anyway, she'll never get elected.
And who the heck is this Macron kid? A banker? Married to his teacher? Never held elective office? He is just not a valid alternative. A tool of the Rothchilds. An opportunist. The candidate of the establishment.
A pox on both their houses.
Insanity is doing the same thing...
Yes, it's amazing, how insistent voters are, at repeating history. And history unexamined, is history about to be repeated.
ReplyDeleteIt was revealing to me though, to review the results of voting by les Français de l'Étranger. As I stood in line to cast my ballot last Saturday (We vote a day early.), I wondered what sort of people were in line with me. Were they Républicains? Were they LePen wackos? Macron actually received 40% of the FOreign French vote, world-wide (and 51% in the US); LePen got 6%(and 5% in the US). Fillon took 26% and Mélechon 16%. So, had the French "home vote" reflected the Foreign-French vote, it would have been a more "normal" scenario of a social liberal/big business-friendly Centrist against a "mild" Conservative. More of a yawner, less of a threat. Perhaps those of us in the US were only too aware of the Trump Show, its wretched day-to-day stupidities and its horrible risk-taking and consequences, to be drawn in by candidates spouting nonsense.
As you may imagine, since we live in the southwest we live in Le Pen country, Out of about 1,000 votes cast in our little village, Le Pen took about one-third, Macron about half that. Fortunately, taste in politics is one thing. Taste in wine is another. And the wine still tastes good.
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