It's always so easy to blame women, isn't it?

William Lindsey :toad:

"The unfortunate reality is that this country is still steeped in racism, sexism and misogyny. I am personally proud of her, and I know that so many others are the same. We appreciate her tenacity, her focus, her decency and how she handled herself throughout this campaign. And I don’t want to hear anybody saying that they should have done something different, she should have been running longer."

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #future
/3

William Lindsey :toad:

"The fact is, is that they did everything that a campaign can do and more. But we as a country really have a lot of soul searching to do.”

But what Black people have to say isn't really important to a lot of us, right? Never has been. Never has been taken as seriously in the opinion pages of our major media outlets as the verbiage of any white person anywhere. Right? And it's never about racism or misogyny even when it's always about them.

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #future
/4

William Lindsey :toad:

Another piece of eloquent testimony from a brilliant Black man that won't be taken seriously by lots of us as we engage in the futile game-playing of the circular firing squad:

"America deserves everything it is about to get. ...

The conversations about who is to blame, the hand-wringing about who showed up and who failed the moment are largely academic and pointless."

~ Elie Mystal

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #future
/5

There’s No Denying It Anymore: Trump Is Not a Fluke—He’s America

The Nation Magazine

The Nation (www.thenation.com)

William Lindsey :toad:

"America did this. America, through the process of a free and fair election, demanded this. America, as an idea, concept, and institution, wanted this. And America, as a collective, deserves to get what it wants. ...

Now that he is here, we deserve our fate, because the most fundamental truth about Trump’s reelection is that Trump was right about us."

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #future
/6

William Lindsey :toad:

"He will be president again because he, and perhaps he alone, saw us for how truly base, depraved, and uninformed we are as a country. Trump is not a root cause of our ills. He did not create the conditions that allowed him to rise. He is, and always has been, a mirror. He is how America sees itself."

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #future
/7

RonSupportsYou

@wdlindsy "What Black people have to say isn't really important to a lot of us"?
Trump received higher percentages of Black and Latino votes than Republicans received for many years.

William Lindsey :toad:

And from Black historian Jemar Tisby:

"I find most of the postmortem pontificating about why Democrats lost the presidential election unpersuasive.

The reason, not the only one but a major one, Democrats lost the presidential election is disinformation and misinformation super-charged by billionaires and Russia through a network of right-wing media outlets and institutions."

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #future
/8

Why Democrats Lost

It wasn't the price of eggs.

(jemartisby.substack.com)

William Lindsey :toad:

From Wajahat Ali, son of Pakistani immigrants:

"We knew exactly what we were getting. And despite everything he’s done, millions of Americans would rather have a cruel, aging vulgarian than a competent Black woman become President. This is more a revelation of their lack of character than anything else. They chose to vote for him. No one forced them to do it."

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #future
/9

America Shit In Its Milk, But The Rest Of Us Don't Have to Drink It

A small majority of Americans decided to destroy this country by re-electing a racist criminal. However, that doesn't mean the rest of us have to bend the knee or reach out and be conciliatory.

(thelefthook.substack.com)

Martin Vermeer FCD

@wdlindsy So, so agreed. Black Americans, and especially Black women, understood the assignment and executed to near perfection. More than half of white folks failed, or didn't even notice there was an assignment.

The School of Hard Knocks is the only American academic institution that has been somewhat societally successful. Time for white folks to at least inspect some of the teaching materials.

William Lindsey :toad:

"This includes a majority of white men and white women. Without that bloc, Trump never comes close to being President. This bloc also includes margins of Latino, Black and Asian men. The two groups that understood the assignment were 90% of Black and Jewish women who voted for Harris. A majority of Black men also came through. The two religious groups that voted for Harris were Jews and Muslims, although many defected from Muslim and Arab communities due to the Gaza war."

#Trump #fascism
/10

William Lindsey :toad:

And a Jewish American voice, Steven Beschloss:

"Now we have more evidence that the appeal of authoritarianism is on the rise, in America as well as globally."

He cites a poll last year by Open Society Foundations polling 36,000 people in 30 countries, which finds commitment to democracy strong but waning globally.

Two key findings that bode ominously for the future of democracy in America:

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #future
/11

What I Won’t Get Over and (Some of) What to Do Now

As we grapple with where we are and the road ahead

(www.americaamerica.news)

JohnW

@wdlindsy

I have trouble, personally, with the acceptance that this is what the country wanted. But what you said is true. My blame goes only partially to the population, though, in letting themselves be duped. In letting themselves believe that anyone who is a white male is not as, or more capable to hold positions of power.

The rest of the blame goes to those in current positions of power who have spent trillions to coerce the public into believing this messaging.

William Lindsey :toad:

"An average of 86 percent of the global respondents said it is important to them to live in a country that is democratically governed, yet only 80 percent of Americans did. That put America in the bottom five of thirty countries, below Turkey, China, India, Egypt and Mexico, to name just a few.

Just 57 percent of 18- to 35-year-olds said democracy is preferable to any other form of government; 71 percent of older respondents said the same."

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #future
/12

William Lindsey :toad:

"And more alarming: Asked for good ways to run a country, 42 percent of those 18 to 35 globally believe the answer is 'army rule' and 32 percent of that age group believe it’s 'leaders who do not bother with parliaments or elections.'”

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #future
/13

Trojan Duck

@wdlindsy Trump's numbers were down from '20 by about 3 million. Harris's numbers were down about 7 million compared to Biden. The racist block actually decreased this cycle, but we lost anyway because our people didn't vote or they voted third party. There is no other correct analysis. Courting Liz Cheney and her ilk and moving to the right was a major strategic error, one the establishment continues to make -- and will make again in the future if we actually have another free and fair election. All the party analysts saying we 'NEED MAOR BIGOTRY' to beat Trump is all I need to see to understand that they will learn nothing from this loss. But it's too late now to fix it. This was our one shot and the corporate Dems blew it yet again. Gavin Newsome? Anyone who thinks this nitwit has any chance at the national level deserves the dystopia in which we'll soon be living.

The Democratic Party and its moronic corporate stooge leadership is to blame. No one else.

William Lindsey :toad:

Another Jewish American voice:

"I don’t expect normal times ahead. I believe Trump when he tells us who he is. I believe MAGA when they tell us who they are. This wasn’t just a campaign where the winner takes office and we all move on happily together, shoring up our disappointment. We have to be prepared for that reality, and not get sucked into a 'business as usual' version of what Trump’s time in office will look like."

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #future
/14

The Week Ahead

November 10, 2024

(joycevance.substack.com)

William Lindsey :toad:

Another Jewish American voice warning of how disinformation not only corrupts our minds, but also erodes our hearts, the center of our moral awareness:

"As a matter of truth and morality, the idea that immigration hurts Americans, or that immigration is immoral, is just a lie. …

It is simply a lie to say that anything that trans people are doing in America is harming other Americans...."

~ Peter Beinart

#Trump #fascism #cruelty #future
/15

Don’t Confuse Popularity with Truth

Just Because People Vote For Something Doesn’t Make It Right

(peterbeinart.substack.com)

Hamish Buchanan

Active conscription in the United States ended in January 1973. That age group is well insulated from its realities.

@wdlindsy

MylesRyden

@wdlindsy

I have to agree with the couple of analysts who are saying, "It's the racism, stupid." You yourself may have posted some essay referring to this. It was not about the price of eggs or gas. It was not about some economic policy like tariffs. It was not about either stopping or encouraging either of the two genocides currently happening.

It was voting for four more years of white privilege/supremacy. White women would rather retain their white privilege than gain equal rights. Latinos and blacks that voted GOP think they are rich enough or been here long enough that they are "white" now.

There was no argument that Harris or the Dems could have made that would have convinced these people that allowing others to have rights is somehow a good thing.

Trump is a symptom of white supremacy. Every successful GOP candidate since Nixon has been a racist criminal. Romney and McCain weren't overtly racist enough and they lost. Unfortunately for our country, the problem is the people who vote, not the people that win.

MrRaccoon

@wdlindsy

Disinformation, lies, has been around since humans have speech. That is not the problem.

All messages need a sender and a receiver. The readiness of Americans to receive and accept lies, like they want to be fooled, was the problem.

It could be that they didn’t know those were lies, and was fooled. That means their ability to tell lies from facts is the problem. There may be ways to fix it.

Or, they know these are lies and chose to believe lies. That’s hopeless