Election
You call that loving French
But it's just frenchette
I've been to France
So, let's just dance
I always appreciate a good stomping, most especially when I’m not the one being stomped. Yesterday saw the electoral stomping of Donald Trump. It should also be noted, more enthusiastically, as it offers opportunity for real political revival, data centers were routed, no pun intended, wherever they were on the ballot.
An interesting thing about elections is people can be mighty clueless to why they won or lost. Let’s be real clear about this one: it had absolutely nothing to do with the Democrats. This was the fifth national referendum on Donald Trump. I didn’t say the sixth because 2016 was as much about Mrs. Bill and a rotted Dem establishment as it was about Trump.
The question now is what will the Democrats say this gives them the ability to do? The answer is nothing. The desperate changes needed in these United States weren't on the ballot. At present, we don’t have a political system that can create a necessary new politics to effect change. We do have a campaign system focused on personalities and continuing the status quo. Did you see the stock market surge this morning? The FT headlines, Blue wave sweeps markets back towards normality. The last thing needed is market "normality."
Remember in 2008, the collapse of a fraudulent financial system and an unpopular, criminal war in Iraq saw the Dems sweep both houses by greater margins than yesterday, not to mention gaining the presidency. They did nothing about either of those two issues. Instead, the Dems claimed the election was about shoveling endless piles of money into a corrupt and dysfunctional medical industry. Two years later, the supposed new Democratic majority was crushed.
The most interesting result here was Texas, where you’d like to think the Blue/Red idiocy created by our craven political class has been buried, but those that devised this numbnut electoral dichotomy are still very much in control. Nonetheless, impressively, it looks like turnout in Texas was up 25% from 2022. Phew! That at least says Americans or maybe just Mexican-Americans still want a functioning republic.
Money in the campaign system took a hit yesterday and there was/is no bigger loser than Elon. This was the case before the election too. In Elon's case, I'm all for reviving the ancient Greek practice of ostracism. What I like about these politically challenged business people is they all think they can just throw money at it, just like everything else in their lives, and voila, problem solved. I'm so old I remember such belief in money magic was a valid critique constantly hurled by Republicans at Democratic governance.
As I told Chris Whalen a couple weeks ago, money has limited electoral utility. Best, there was so much money flowing into the political hack industrial complex, and don’t kid yourselves Dems had plenty, they were running ads on national television sporting events to reach state constituencies. How do you get a taste of that?
The great problem, America needs to change and Americans as of yet aren't up for it. If there is one issue most demonstrative of that and electorally moved things yesterday, it is the price of gas. High gas prices are one of those issues, say like ignorance of the rest of the world, that unites Americans. With a completely oil dependent economy, high gas prices make everyone sad.
What you didn't hear from any campaign is the Iran war is the complete failure of forty years of bipartisan energy, foreign, and military policy. No, didn’t hear that, just promises to bring down gas prices. Yet, the solution, as it’s been for a half-century, is to use less oil and that doesn’t mean electrifying American car culture. Far too few Americans, an exceptional few really, have thought much about this, even though it opens all sorts of grand future possibilities.
The greatest problem of American politics, the corruption and dysfunction of DC, was sort of tangentially on the ballot. To all Democrats, you helped create the system and more than a few have profited handsomely. Democrats all whinge about Trump grotesquely exploiting a completely out of control and unaccountable executive branch, yet provide zero context on how it all came to be. The solution here is not putting another knucklehead into the same seat of power, but qualitative reform of an archaic, two-hundred and fifty year old system of government.
As I said at the beginning, don’t let anyone ever say old Joe still doesn’t appreciate a good stomping and this was a good stomping. Combined with the rise of local opposition to data centers, one might say there's still some life left in this old republic, never say never.