Still We Rise
On Navigating Through Chaos
Breathe
Before anything else, it is important to properly grieve for what has transpired in this election cycle. Take a weekend. Enjoy a simple time with family and friends. Go into nature. Breathe deeply in a forest, at the beach, or on a hike. Watch “The Princess Bride” or another movie that makes you laugh and nourishes your spirit. (Probably not “Apocalypse Now”). Also, it’s important to know you are not alone.
At last count, there were at least 67,927,988 others who voted for the rule of law, democracy, and decent governance to lead the United States forward.
Considering that at the height of the resistance in World War II there were 1.6 million people of tremendous courage, imagine what a resistance of 68 million can accomplish -more about that later.
Reality
The unfortunate reality is that in just under three months, the two major militarized powers in the world with planet-destroying nuclear capability will be led by aging and lawless narcissistic criminals (one whose “word salad” attempts at forming a coherent sentence is “sanewashed” by the media as "The Weave”). And in the United States, the President will be guided by the corrupt, the incompetent, the xenophobes, and the racists -either from in the shadows in the case of Stephen Miller or on stage in the case of Elon Musk.
The Blamestorm
For the next few days or weeks we will see the inevitable “blamestorming” unfold.
It was …
White supremacy and racism!
Misogyny, toxic male masculinity: the patriarchy!
The mainstream corporate media!
President Biden’s diminished capacity and not withdrawing from the race fast enough!
Inflation caused by corporate greed!
Putin, China, and Iran!
The Democratic Party!
Rupert Murdoch and Fox “News”!
Elon Musk and other billionaires who simply don’t have enough wealth and power.
Refugees and immigrants taking all of our high-paying jobs while murdering all of us!
The Supremely Corrupted Court of the US deciding it is not “…and justice for all”)
Voter suppression.
Our next Attorney General, Aileen Cannon prioritizing self-enrichment and fame over global security and criminal lawlessness.
The continuing US arming of Israel and Netanyahu’s devastation of Gaza!
The collusion of science, public health, and the big nanny government forcing us to wear masks!
Before cards and letters begin to pour in, let me qualify that the above is in no particular order, it is not a complete list, and each bulleted point was relevant in the horrific outcome, I’ll provide my own insight (which hasn’t shifted much since the 2000, 2004, 2010 midterms, and 2016 election cycles).
Mitch McConnell’s success in packing the Supreme Court and judicial system with biased partisans paid dividends in 2024. The decision granting immunity to a past or future President for “official acts” and “Judge” Aileen Cannon destroying an otherwise incontrovertible case against the criminal Trump paved a pathway to Trump’s elevation to “King”. Thus after a hard-fought battle for independence in 1776, and the fight against fascism from 1941 - 1945, a majority of voters have welcomed the coronation of King Trump and a fascist regime beginning in 2025. On the last day of the Constitutional Convention on the 18th of September, 1787, Elizabeth Willing Powel of Philadelphia asked Dr. Ben Franklin “Well Doctor, what have we got a republic or a monarchy?”, Dr. Franklin replied “A republic if you can keep it.”
We managed to keep it for 248 years.
“A republic if you can keep it.” -Dr. Ben Franklin
We kept it for 248 years.
It will be important to revise “The Pledge of Allegiance”. Certainly the last line “…and justice for all” should, be rewritten as “…and justice for those who can afford it. Or at a minimum add an asterisk.
Or David Foster Wallace might have suggested a footnote.
Or perhaps “except for those with no soul, no inner convictions, with the integrity of a hyena and the style of a poison toad.”, Hunter S. Thompson might suggest.
Regardless it is clear that the contractual obligations of “The Pledge” have been broken by Nixon, Reagan, Trump, SCOTUS, the failure to convict Trump for numerous crimes, and indirectly by McConnell and the billionaires who have worked through multiple election cycles to subvert the American experiment.
“…except for those with no soul, no inner convictions, with the integrity of a hyena and the style of a poison toad.” -Hunter S. Thompson
From Dream to Disease
In 1960, the dotted line to the American Dream (for some) was starting to solidify. Home-ownership and prosperity were on the rise due to strengthening labor unions and government economic programs geared to expanding the middle class in the United States. Federal programs such as the GI Bill provided low-cost mortgages and a pathway to home-ownership for those fighting against fascism (before fascism becoming popular in the United States). Also, FHA loans, the Interstate Highway Act of 1956 (leading to the growth of suburban construction and development), and tax incentives such as the mortgage interest deduction.
We were evolving as our founders had hoped toward a “more perfect union”. In the United States, while dreaming is fine, the implementation of dreams related to equality, justice, and democracy has proven dangerous -notably the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their efforts to help America fully realize its dream. Imagine the America we might have had if JFK completed two terms, and then Robert F. Kennedy governed over two terms.
As the middle class enjoyed new prosperity and multiple movements of people began to intersect -voting rights, women’s rights, civil rights, the peace movement, the environmental movement, and LGBTQ+ communities -and people started asking important questions about equality, justice, and democracy. This led to rising concern among the wealthiest Americans. If the majority of people became politically, economically, and environmentally conscious about matters of inequality and wealth -they might reject the obedient blind hyper-consumerism necessary to fuel the inequalities inherent in the American system, and necessary to preserve the concentration of wealth.
On August 23, 1971, Lewis Powell wrote a memorandum to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce outlining a comprehensive strategy to protect and concentrate more wealth to the top and erode any significant political changes necessary to create a more equal and democratic America. Much of his plan was implemented starting with Bonzo’s less intellectually qualified co-star, Ronald Reagan.
Between the failure of the justice system to indict and convict Richard Nixon for his crimes against the United States, and the concentration of wealth accelerated by Reagan -the American dream was replaced by a society that is intentionally divided, misled, and filled with uncertainty, anxiety, and debt.
Add the misinterpretation of the Second Amendment -and the accessibility of assault weapons to a divided, ignorance-fueled society filled with hate and uncertainty -and you get the new American Dream: a third-grader at school wearing a bulletproof backpack, living another day by successfully hiding from a lunatic with an AR-15 and a few high-capacity magazines while such lunatic indiscriminately shoots their classmates and teachers. So in America, dreaming is fine. Just don’t try to implement justice, fairness, and democracy.
Also remember that for the wealthy like Musk, Thiel, Koch, Seid, Crow, Adelson, and a handful of other billionaires -they were and are just fine losing in an election cycle or two. While most everyone else deals with what Dr. King Jr. called “The Fierce Urgency of Now” -the Elon Musk’s of the world can wait patiently from one of their winter or summer homes, untouchable, while the rest of the world struggles from paycheck to paycheck (or worse). They can afford to be patient.
The 2024 Campaign
In 2024 VP Kamala Harris rapidly assessed the organization in place for the Biden/Harris Presidential campaign, made adjustments, and ran a solid campaign. In 2016, Hillary Clinton had 1 1/2 years to build and execute a campaign that garnered close to 66 million votes, beating Trump by nearly 3 million. In 2024, Kamala Harris had a little over 3 months and garnered approximately 68 million votes.
By comparison, in 2020 President Joe Biden received over 81 million votes. This is 15 million more than VP Harris received running against the same corrupt candidate. While naming many of the culprits in a section above, a key area continues to be the Democratic Party apparatus.
I applaud some of the aspirational messaging of Kamala’s campaign (and not simply running as “I’m not Dubya or I’m not Trump), and the embrace of a handful of courageous Republicans who put the interests of justice, democracy, and country over fealty to a corrupt incompetent to support Kamala.
Nevertheless, the Democratic Party apparatus, continuing a tradition of frenzied fundraising (we’ll win this time by sending 20 fundraising emails per day to each person on our list instead of 10!) is not innovation.
The Party needs to be consistently engaging ALL voters, not through rah! rah! “We’re Democrats” messaging, however with how politics, engagement, and voting directly impact day to day life as well as the future.
I should be able to travel to any part of the country and get an informed perspective on “Trickle Down” economics -not necessarily a perspective that aligns with mine, but a basic description of what it is, how it is supposed to work, which party embraces it as its core economic platform (and if they want bonus points with me -why it is criminal fraud).
There is massive money poured into campaigns and messaging, however it is not translating to an informed, educated, and engaged society. There are approximately 290 million people eligible to register to vote in the United States. About 210 million are officially registered. It seems as though about 140 million people voted.
72 million of them for a corrupt criminal.
68 million for democracy and justice.
And another 70 million for “couldn’t care less.”
70 million people were either suppressed by GOP efforts to disenfranchise people of color or decided to self-disenfranchised because they did not see the point of voting or engaging.
The party must be going into every community helping to educate and engage with all people. Instead, I can almost guarantee that in the fall of 2025 the fundraising frenzy will begin again -doubling down on the same strategies that work as well as Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown.
Another area that fell flat was the attempt to explain inflation to voters. While Kamala tried to address “greed-flation” with the initiative on “Price-Gouging” it was not well communicated.
People that continually spoke about “economic indicators” such as the NYSE and NASDAQ indexes being at historical highs, unemployment being low, and a “soft-landing” for the post-Trump administration raids of the Treasury to fund the GOP-led tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy mean very little to someone whose income has risen a couple of percentage points while the costs of food, housing, and healthcare skyrocketed over generations and the costs of higher education has landed squarely on the debt burden of students and families in America.
The concentrated and obscene wealth of an Elon Musk might rise or fall billions of dollars in a day, while a single parent is going to work with a temperature of 103 degrees because he or she can’t afford to take a day off without risking housing or groceries. There is a major disconnect between the Stock index and the reality of life for those who continue to struggle paycheck to paycheck and guess what?
The answer for them is not sending them 10 more requests for campaign donations, or to sign a petition telling the Supreme Court to follow ethical guidelines.
People must understand the impact of politics in their daily life. While aspiration is not to be overlooked, people do not eat in the long run. They need to be able to afford food on the table for today (and a table under a roof).
Also, the mainstream media. For example in one of my earlier notes, I wrote “If only the NY Times had a mirror so they could understand their culpability.”
Democrats are having a tough time beating Trump, because the mainstream media in 2016, 2020, and again in 2024 covers him 24x7 as a viable candidate with important economic, domestic policy, and foreign policy plans. Healthcare plans. Grandiose plans. Instead calling him a non-viable candidate for anything other than prison for his pattern of corruption and numerous crimes. At the end of the campaign, the New York Times (unlike their Washington Post and Los Angeles Times counterparts) at least warned about the elevation of a lawless and corrupt incompetent Trump.
Finally, there is most certainly systemic racism and misogyny in the United States, and the GOP is counting on a new generation of white male incels to counter new generations of BIPOC voters who believe in equality, democracy, and justice.
Something Wicked This Way Comes
We know what is coming, we’ve seen it before. This time it will be far worse. Mass deportations, directing the DOJ and IRS to pursue "enemies of Trump”, a de-wormed idiot in charge of Public Health, an advocate of student loans, private schools, and vouchers in charge of Education, and more.
The evisceration of federal government by Elon Musk, inflationary food prices when there is no one to work in slaughtering houses, or under a blazing California sun in the central fields of California.
Adding to the estimated $7 trillion of debt created by Trump’s first term in office.
And our concern turns to the elderly, impoverished, women, librarians, educators, and all who will be most vulnerable to horrific and regressive domestic policies.
More extremism and violence as militias no longer have to “stand back”. Journalists, public health officials, election workers, stem-cell research, women’s health providers, BIPOC communities, and the LGBTQ+ communities -all at risk.
With the evisceration of the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies will no longer cover pre-existing conditions, and no more required coverage for dependents.
The global impact to isolationism, Netanyahu unleashed, settlements fully supported, and it won’t be long before Jared Kushner is selling beachfront Gaza property to whomever. The US withdrawal from major military, climate, and trade treaties, including NATO -will leave the UK and Europe on their own against Putin’s Russia (and now North Korea), in the defense of Ukraine, Eastern Europe, and the Baltics.
And the United States, will no longer be a trusted and stable partner throughout the world.
In Closing, The New American Resistance
The 72.6 million Americans who voted for Trump/Vance, Moreno, Lake, Boebert, and others (or those who did not vote, or voted for the other Putin puppet in the race, Jill Stein) will get the government they deserve. Enjoy the short-lived celebration, because if any of your family, friends, or people you hold dear are harmed by the chronically stupid domestic policies such as the loss of healthcare and coverage for pre-existing conditions, the expense of uncapped insulin and other life-saving drugs, discriminated against with no legal recourse, or are subjected to ignorance-fueled hate and violence of extremist groups who will no longer be “standing back”, you have assumed full responsibility for what comes next. For now, you can party like it’s 1939.
There are 68 million of us who cast votes for Harris/Walz. Now we are the resistance, and a formidable one (there were an estimated 1.6 million in the WW II resistance against the spread of fascism and genocide.
While I do not advocate for violence, 68 million of us flexing our economic power in support of:
Independent media and journalists;
Groups dedicated to protecting rights, promoting climate action, and countering extremist hate groups;
Democratic Attorneys General (who will work tirelessly to at least delay destructive and regressive legislation and policies); and
Local community organizations providing relief to those most vulnerable to Trump policies.
There are multiple ways to effectively organize and engage. I will continue to work on building civ.works for the resistance (and need your help to do so). And over the coming weeks I will provide my thoughts on effective civic actions and for all those who choose to remain engaged, defend those most vulnerable, and work toward justice, democracy, equality and the promises of the American dream.
Hey George, yay to civ.works!
With your point regarding the fact that militias in the U.S. now no longer have to “stand back” ... probably does us good to revisit the chilling warning of German Martin Niemöller, who became an outspoken critic of Hitler. During the rise of Nazism, he emphasized the dangers of inaction and complicity in the face of oppression:
“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me”
George, this is the best summation of the election I have read. I agree with every word. I admit I am frightened by the coming onslaught by the rethuglicans. As I am approaching 92 in March I fear losing Social Security may put me out on the street with no where to go. I am proposing secession by 7 Western States and 7 or 8 Northeastern States so we at least will have two areas of refuge from the fascist dictatorship around the corner. I fear I am too late in organizing and people are yet too timid for bold action.