Day 111. 130 pages, 56,667 words. Again, you’re welcome for that extra word.
Quick one today, since I’m between stories. The US had their mid-term elections last week, which a lot of people have been looking forward to since Trump was put into office in defiance of the actual number of citizens who voted for him, because the US’s democratic system is broken.
Ever since that stupid day two years ago, my understanding of USian (and by extension, world) politics has been this:
- Something may or may not happen in politics. It’s impossible to tell because media news (and especially social media news) appears to have crossed some threshold and can no longer be taken at face value.
- The liberal and progressive pundits go nuts about it, which to be fair is pretty understandable because it’s usually something atrocious like the US pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, or the US government putting kids in cages, or talking about revoking birthright citizenship, or electing an obnoxious college jock (at best) onto the Supreme Court, or a fanatical supporter of the regime sending bombs to a bunch of media and public figures.
- John Oliver hits the WE GOT HIM button, The Young Turks say it’s terrible and must be costing the government critical support, a few other YouTuber and journalist sources talk about Mueller and organised crime and the constitution and unfitness for presidency and other stuff.
- Literally nothing happens. The atrocious thing is allowed to happen, nobody stops it, and Trump and his goons paint themselves as victims in an increasingly surreal series of press conferences where they just out-and-out lie and bully their way through “questions and answers”, and the whole concept of news media takes another massive credibility hit, and everybody lets them.
- Repeat.
So that’s about it. The mid-term elections were meant to be a “blue wave” of liberal and progressive voters coming out and taking back power from the increasingly fascist right-wing government.
And before anyone tries to tell me this is unbalanced and the left is just as much to blame for the widening gulf and there is cause for concern in these radical progressives and “antifas”, don’t. Just fucking don’t. You’re wrong.
So, how did that all go?
I have no idea. Here’s one of the better summaries I could find, and it’s very much a “meh, this was fine, I guess, but more of you chuckleheads still need to goddamn vote” mixed bag.
Blue wave, it was not.
Let’s hope things turn around soon, because the longer this anti-immigrant bigotry and foreigner-phobic shit is allowed to fly in the US, the more emboldened the racist and the ignorant will become across the globe. And frankly I think those pieces of human garbage need to be put back in their dumpsters for a few years.
Trying to have a civilisation here, you thick-headed fucks.
– Posted from my Huawei mobile phone while picking up Toop from daycare.
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OK so for now all I’ll do is summarize in a few statements of FACT.
1. Widespread voter suppression (closing voting places, kicking people off the rolls for bullshit, rejecting applications), especially in Florida and Georgia. Yet those races were STILL close
2. Lost 3 seats in the Senate (4 losses, one flip). This might change in Florida to a win. Ben Nelson, Heidi Heitcamp, Joe Donnelly, and Claire McCaskill were all terrible “centrist” Democrats pretending to be Republican lite, and the voters decided they’d just vote for an actual Republican instead.
3. Devastated the Republicans in the House of Representatives, flipped something like 35 seats. Many Justice Democrats won, which is very impressive for a new political movement in its first election. This means investigations (think Benghazi but over actual crimes) if they have the courage.
4. Flipped 4-5 Republican governors of states to Democrats. Florida might increase this, Georgia is doubtful but maybe. This is huge because the census is coming up and that’s how our broken election system gets better or worse.
this was a huge wave, but it’s really disappointing that we didn’t get the Senate. If RBG passes away, this country is screwed forever. The Supreme Court can override just about anything positive we do. Roe vs. Wade will be first, because Alabama voters agreed to a ballot measure not to protect abortion rights in Alabama. Idiots. That will take it to the Supreme Court where I fully expect they will get rid of it altogether.
OK summary over.
Great points and I appreciate the summary. Like I say, I wasn’t really on the inside and following closely.
Ultimately I’m cautiously optimistic about this? Hoping the new blood start some shit, even though there’s no chance the establishment democrats will act. I mean, do we really believe Lindsay Graham is going to bring that “Hell to pay” he was warning about if Trump fired the Attorney General? Not likely.
Still, all is not lost. As long as there’s still good in this world.
Agreed. With so many recounts going on and so much interference from interested Republican politicians (meaning those with personal INTEREST in the results), I am mostly worried that our law enforcement will continue to prove they are MAGA fascists and allow the right-wing to run rampant. I mean honestly, we have ANOTHER Florida recount with interference from the right. They do know we remember history, right?
Or worse, the military will prove itself to be a MAGA cult as well. Let’s hope we don’t need to find out, but I remain worried that rule of law is gone, here.