With Trump’s 2nd Win, American Politics as We Know It Is Over

In Philadelphia this past weekend, I met a number of people who’d given up on democracy. They railed about politicians who make promises they don’t keep. They spun conspiracy theories about the government. A number of those who answered the door told me that they weren’t going to vote.

Then there were the grim young men who said, hell yeah, they were going to vote for Trump. They spoke of the Republican presidential candidate as if he were Tony Montana, the gangster played by Al Pacino in the film Scarface: violent, lawless, and powerful. Trump elicited respect laced with fear. According to his supporters, he’d stand up to America’s enemies abroad and be tough on crime domestically. Several said to me—with the usual preface of “don’t get me wrong but…”—that a woman president would be too weak or “mixed up by hormones” to do those necessary things.

If you cross celebrity culture with gun culture and add a few dollops of testosterone, you get Donald Trump.

Even as they wrap themselves in the American flag and the U.S. constitution, the American far right and its enablers are plotting against democracy itself.

Much has been written about the rise of the global far right (including by me). It’s important to understand that this global trend is not a type of politics. It is an anti-politics. The far right embodied by Vladimir Putin in Russia, Victor Orban in Hungary, Nayib Bukele in El Salvador, and others is determined to unravel democracy. They have contempt for elections. They revise, bend, or undermine the constitutional order.

And they despise the civic engagement at the heart of thriving democracies. They crack down on dissent. They target protesters. They ruthlessly purge the “enemy within.” This is what Donald Trump has promised to do this time around.

The Republican campaign in 2024 relied on anti-government rhetoric, conspiracy theories, and violent innuendo (against FEMA, against the border patrol, against Republican politicians that didn’t toe the MAGA line) in order to do two things. These strategies drew the disaffected to the polls. And they pushed others not to vote: to give up on politics altogether.

Rage and apathy are the two modes of right-wing politicking. This is a variation on Albert Hirschman’s famous “exit, voice, and loyalty” distinction. The loyalists are voicing their anger, the apathetic are exiting, and the dissidents continue to organize in the hopes of avoiding the Russian scenario: an entire opposition in exile or jail.

Other countries have managed to buck the trend. Even little Moldova was able to successfully beat back the anti-democratic, pro-Russian, billionaire-supported candidate in its presidential election last weekend. Brazil got rid of Jair Bolsonaro. The French teamed up to stop Marine Le Pen at the polls. It can be done.

Rich, prosperous, arrogant America failed to do so.

Let’s face it: American politics, as we know it, is over.

To be sure, it was always possible for American politicians to win with dirty tricks. But then there’d be a course correction of sorts: Nixon followed by Watergate, Trump 2016 followed by impeachment and electoral loss. That loss in 2020 should have been an inoculation against outlandish lies, threats, and manipulations. Instead, the Republican Party doubled down. It abandoned the few remaining guardrails governing the conduct of a campaign, which is a preview of how the next administration will skirt the few remaining guardrails it reluctantly observed in the waning days of its previous term in office.

The political game is now fundamentally different. Forget “ground game.” Forget strategic messaging. Forget polling. In other words, forget about those traditional methods of mobilizing political sentiment in a democracy.

Never bring a knife to a gunfight, the pundits warn. The Democrats brought a computer to a gunfight. Those computer models of how to win an election now lie in ruins.

A funereal pall has descended over half of America, and naturally there is a lot of finger-pointing in the wake of the Democratic Party’s loss of the presidency and the Senate. It was misogyny. It was Black men abandoning the Democratic Party. It was poor whites voting against their economic self-interest. It was the Electoral College, Elon Musk’s money, and Russian disinformation. It was Joe Biden’s decision to run again, and Kamala Harris’ failure to explain her positions clearly.

It was all of that, of course. But it was also the failure of the Democratic Party to understand the rage coursing through the body politic. The Democrats failed to translate the economic gains of the last four years—the infrastructure bill, the watered-down version of the Green New Deal, the CHIPS Act—into populist language. Put another way, the ordinary gains of an ordinary political process did not prove inspiring because this is a post-political moment. And the Democrats were playing by the rules of the old era.

Here’s an instructive story.

A friend confessed to me before the election that he didn’t pay attention to politics. “They’re both bad,” he said “One’s a fascist, the other’s a communist.”

“Harris is a communist?” I said, surprised. “That’s ridiculous. She’s just a run-of-the-mill politician, straddling the center. I could understand if you were criticizing Bernie Sanders as a communist. He, at least, is a self-professed socialist. He’s not a communist, of course, but at least he’s–.”

“Oh, Bernie?” my friend interrupted me. “Oh yeah, I really like Bernie!”

There are several lessons here. Even for the apolitical, the lies of Trump (“she’s a Marxist!”) penetrated the population with the brutal repetitiveness of state propaganda. The level of political understanding in the populace is shockingly low (a fifth grader should be able to put Trump, Harris, and Sanders on a political spectrum). And Bernie’s populism transcends ideology. Like the Vermont senator, a successful political party must be able to channel anger as well as aspiration.

As the opposition regroups, it’s useful to repeat some truisms. Character is forged in adversity. Previous generations have successfully fought fascism to rescue democracy. And democracy is all about learning lessons and moving forward (especially after slipping backward). It’s long been clear that this country needs a new politics. To use a shopworn phrase, let’s build back better—after this third and most devastating hurricane of the season.

In his 2004 novel, The Plot Against America, Philip Roth imagined the alternative past of a fascist takeover of the United States. Charles Lindbergh, a pro-Hitler isolationist, wins the 1940 election with his slogan “Vote for Lindbergh, or vote for war.” In office, he fulfills his promise by keeping the United States out of World War II. But when Lindbergh’s plane mysteriously goes missing, Roosevelt gets reelected to the presidency in 1942. The Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, and history resumes its well-known course.

It’s a chilling book that resonates with today’s headlines. It was a reminder, well before the political rise of Trump, that it can happen here.

But the current situation is different. This is not just a battle over the soul of America. This is a much larger confrontation. This conflict is being waged against Russia in Ukraine and against Israel in Gaza. It is being fought in polling places in democratic nations around the world. And it is being sustained by anti-authoritarian dissidents in streets, jails, and exile communities.

Even as they wrap themselves in the American flag and the U.S. constitution, the American far right and its enablers are plotting against democracy itself. It didn’t look promising in 1940 either, in Roth’s alternative reality or in the actual history. So, let the finger-pointing end and a new era of creative and savvy political organizing begin.

State Victories Against Inequality to Celebrate Despite Bleak Election Day

If you’ve ever questioned whether our country has an inequality problem, this election should provide all the evidence you need. As billionaires used their financial firepower to throw support their preferred candidates’ way, Americans who’ve been left behind took out their frustrations at the ballot box.

How do we get started on this next chapter in the fight to reverse extreme inequality? With Senate Republicans still short of a filibuster-proof supermajority, next year’s debate over the expiration of the Trump tax cuts could still present one opportunity.

But it’s also likely that any near-term policy progress will have to start at the city and state levels and work its way up to the federal level. Three progressive tax victories from last night are an encouraging sign.

In addition to these fair tax victories, I’m heartened by the passage of pro-worker reforms in several “red” states last night—in sharp contrast to the positions of their Republican representatives in the U.S. Congress.

Washington state’s Initiative 2109 was the most important tax-related ballot measure of the year. Hedge fund executive Brian Heywood bankrolled this campaign, hoping to repeal the state’s innovative capital gains tax on high earners.

With 62% of votes counted, the rollback proposal went down in a 63-37% landslide.

“This victory shows that advocacy in support of creating a more equitable tax code works,” Melinda Young-Flynn, communications director at the Washington State Budget and Policy Center, told Inequality.org.

“So many groups and individuals—including business owners, labor unions, teachers, racial justice advocates, parents, lawmakers, and many more—have worked together for more than a decade to help the public at large in our state make the connection between commonsense progressive taxes and the very real needs of our communities.”

Introduced in 2022, Washington state’s path-breaking policy imposes a 7% excise tax on capital gains from the sale of stocks, bonds, and other assets that exceed $250,000 per year (excluding real estate sales). Who makes that much from their financial investments? Fewer than 1% of the state’s richest resident.

Prior to the introduction of this tax in 2022, Washington’s wealthy had flourished under a state constitution that prohibits income tax. The capital gains tax does an end-run around that ban and the state supreme court has ruled it constitutional.

In its first two years, the capital gains levy has raised $1.3 billion for investments in childcare and early learning, public schools, and school construction.

“The people of Washington have sent a clear message,” says Young-Flynn. “The well-being of kids takes precedence over tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy. All those of us who care about economic justice know it’s well past time to stop giving the ultra-wealthy a special deal in the tax code at the expense of everyone else.”

Washington state voters also beat back an effort to allow employees to opt out of a new payroll tax for long-term care insurance if they waive the benefit of that state-operated program. If this measure had passed, it likely would’ve rendered the insurance program financially unviable. Fortunately, voters rejected the proposal by a 55-45% margin.

In Illinois, voters expressed support for an extra 3% tax on income of over $1 million, with revenue going to property tax relief. With 89% of votes counted, Illinois voters approved the ballot measure by an 89-11% margin. While this measure is nonbinding, organizers hope this victory will stoke efforts to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2026 to authorize the new tax on the rich.

In addition to these fair tax victories, I’m heartened by the passage of pro-worker reforms in several “red” states last night—in sharp contrast to the positions of their Republican representatives in the U.S. Congress. Voters in Nebraska, Missouri, and Alaska approved guaranteed paid leave and Missouri and Alaska also passed state minimum wage hikes.

A friend just wrote to me with this message: “A tree outside my window is nearly bare. Perhaps it is an image of our national life this morning. We have a choice: to focus on the bare branches or to appreciate the colorful leaves.”

These state victories against the scourge of inequality are some of the colorful leaves I’m appreciating today.

Why Did the Democrats Lose? Because They Gave Up on the Working Class 40 Years Ago

I feel like I’ve been in a brawl, a massive street fight where the punches are words and concepts instead of fists. I got clobbered while trying as hard a possible to warn the Democrats that they are losing the working class and that they absolutely must change course.

It should have been obvious that the Democrats could not cuddle up to Wall Street and then pretend that the “opportunity society” would help working people emerge from 40 years of mass layoffs and stagnant wages. It was so clear that the Democrats would be viewed as members and defenders of the elite establishment that rules over both the economy and government, and that Trump would be seen as the disrupter—the friend of the working class.

It really hurts to have called this one. I so wanted to be wrong.

The Democrats assumed the working class had nowhere else to go. They were wrong!

Exactly how the Democratic Party lost the working class is described in my book, Wall Street’s War on Workers: How Mass Layoffs and Greed Destroyed the Working Class and What to do about it.

It’s about how Democratic Party elites abandoned the working-class over the past four decades while enriching financial elites, promoting runaway inequality, and tolerating a tsunami of mass layoffs.

The book provides original research that shows how the Democratic Party vote declined in the Blue Wall counties of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin as the mass layoff rate increased. The Democrats—once the party of the working class—were blamed for the economic and social destruction that followed. They earned it by doing nothing to stop mass layoffs whose sole purpose was to enrich CEOs and their Wall Street partners.

The book also refutes the widely shared notion about the “deplorable” white working class. It provides conclusive data that shows these workers actually have become more liberal, not illiberal, on divisive social issues over the past several decades.

The Democrats assumed the working class had nowhere else to go. They were wrong!

Actually, the book should be retitled: Wall Street’s War on Workers and How the Democrats Enabled It.

It's time to end this sad chapter in U.S. history when the Democratic Party leaders refuse to be genuine allies for workers and the Republican Party is rewarded for pretending to be.

BTW, Amazon is giving away the book for $5.67, hardback or Kindle. All royalties go to the Labor Institute’s Political Economy for Workers courses, one of which was conducted this year for Amazon workers who are struggling to form a union.

Trump Makes Unsupported Claim About ‘Massive CHEATING’ in Philadelphia

Former President Donald Trump posted to social media an unsupported claim about "massive CHEATING" in Philadelphia, which he claimed had drawn the attention of law enforcement. The Philadelphia Police Department, the Philadelphia district attorney, a Republican city council member and the Pennsylvania Department of State all refuted the claim.

The post Trump Makes Unsupported Claim About ‘Massive CHEATING’ in Philadelphia appeared first on FactCheck.org.

Posts Spread Unfounded Claim of Race-Based Threat of Violence in Georgia

Posts shared on Facebook make an unfounded claim of racially motivated threats of violence in Gwinnett County, Georgia, "from now until the Inauguration." The county sheriff's office said it had "not received any information indicating threats to any group(s) on or after election day."

The post Posts Spread Unfounded Claim of Race-Based Threat of Violence in Georgia appeared first on FactCheck.org.

Typo in Trump’s Name on Ballot Review Screen Is Not ‘Election Fraud’

A misspelling of former President Donald Trump's name occurred on an optional ballot review screen in Virginia, prompting an unfounded claim on social media of "election fraud." The error was a typo that appeared only on the ballot review screen, not on actual ballots, and would not affect any votes, election officials said.

The post Typo in Trump’s Name on Ballot Review Screen Is Not ‘Election Fraud’ appeared first on FactCheck.org.

Candidíase – Conheça as causas, sintomas e tratamentos

Cirurgia Plástica não tem idade

Com que roupa eu vou? Dicas de qual roupa usar

Cuidados com a pele – Aprenda a fazer limpeza de pele caseira

Visão embaçada e distorcida nem sempre é miopia: fique atento aos sinais do ceratocone