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26/10/2016
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There are two outcomes of the US presidential election that should horrify us all: Trump wins or Trump loses.
The horror of his winning leaves little to the imagination. We can see from his words and actions that on the personal front he is an ugly misogynist and a womanizer, yet is disrespectful of so many of the women who have entered his ambit, women whom he regards as his property, to do with as he wishes. He labels as liars the continuing procession of women who have accused him of sexual predation, insisting that all these claims have been ‘proven false’, and that he will sue them after the election.
We know too that he is a bully, and has a nasty streak that shows when he calls his opponent ‘Crooked Hillary’. He labels her a ‘criminal’ because of her email difficulties, although no charges have ever been laid by any authority. He calls her a liar, accuses her of ‘having tremendous hate in her heart’, attacks her over her husband’s alleged womanizing, and suggests she should be drug tested before their debates, as ‘he doesn’t know what’s going on with her’. He insists that it would be a total disaster should she be elected since, among other calamities, ISIS and Muslims would take over the country, international relations would become even worse, and the economy, already 'busted', would sink still further.
At the second debate he informed her that if he won he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate her e-mail habits as secretary of state, and when she expressed relief that someone with a temperament like his was not in charge of the law, his rejoinder was, ‘Because you’d be in jail.’ Subsequently, at his rallies his supporters have chanted: ‘Lock her up, lock her up’!
In the third debate we saw more of the same. At first more disciplined, he could not sustain that demeanour; halfway through he broke out into his usual ugly Trumpisms. Just 24 hours later they continued throughout the Al Smith Charity Dinner in Manhattan, a traditionally light-hearted event attended by both candidates, one usually devoid of nasty barbs. But Trump could not contain his nastiness, as the videos show in this article in
The New Daily.
We know too that his policy platform includes banning Muslims from entry, with what he likes to term ‘extreme vetting’, building a wall across the border with Mexico at Mexico’s expense to keep out Mexican ‘criminals, drug dealers and rapists’, scrapping trade deals that ‘rob Americans of their jobs’, and smashing ISIS by ‘bombing the shit out of them’, all in the cause of ‘Making America Great Again’. He shows his admiration for tough man Vladimir Putin and exhibits his willingness to cozy-up to him, contrary to contemporary US policy.
Apart from these outrageous policy positions, his campaign is largely policy-free on such matters as health, education, and foreign relations. He has threatened to ‘cancel billions in payments to the UN climate change program’ agreed to in Paris, as he considers global warming to be a hoax.
His latest assault on American democracy is his accusation of voter fraud, his assertion that the presidential election is rigged, and that the media is culpable, dishonestly representing his and his opponents case for election. Even close colleagues will have none of that accusation, which many see as Trump’s attempt to give himself an excuse for losing, which many of his colleagues and numerous social commentators believe will be the case.
Barack Obama’s response was apt: he reminded Trump that it’s ‘unprecedented’ for any candidate to try to discredit an election before it began, and advised Trump to ‘stop whining’ and get on with making a case for winning more votes. But as
Women’s Agenda reminds us:
“Trump has previously embraced the label of “whiner”, telling a CNN interviewer last year that “I do whine because I want to win and I’m not happy about not winning and I am a whiner and I keep whining and whining until I win.”
Trump’s threat to not honour the election result no matter the outcome, covert in his earlier utterances, became the defining moment in the third debate when in response to a direct question on this matter he replied: “
I will look at it at the time”, hardly reassuring for those who expect the traditional smooth transition to the next president. If his thinly veiled threat becomes reality, we can expect a level of discord and disruption never before seen post-election in the US. The following morning he reiterated that he would accept the result, but ‘only if he won’! Now he’s insisting that the opinion polls that put him well behind are 'phoney', and that he’s really winning!
Many Americans share the horror of a Trump victory, particularly a large majority of women (although sadly not the majority of American men), and are fearful of what a Trump presidency would bring about. There is a strong consensus among leaders of many other nations, and commentators worldwide, that a Trump presidency would be disastrous. Many of his Republican colleagues share this view. Some have disowned him and his views and have distanced themselves from him lest he spoil their chances of re-election; some have contradicted his bizarre statements.
While many express fear about what a Trump presidency would do for the global economy, world stability, and international relations, how many have
seriously contemplated what might come about should Trump win, a highly unlikely but not impossible outcome, and how world leaders would cope?
But while a Trump loss could hardly be worse than a victory, it would be foolish to believe that it would be without trauma at many levels. This piece attempts to tease out the possibilities.
Trump’s blanket condemnation of the mainstream media suggests a plausible post election defeat scenario: Trump will establish his own extreme right wing media outlet, one that would rival the existing one – Fox News. Trump is a billionaire businessman who has had experience in reality TV. It would come naturally to him to establish a TV network to compete with Fox News with even more extreme conservative, Republican and anti-Democrat views, and he has a readymade audience of supporters keen to lap up its every utterance. Not only would such an outlet be able to push neoliberal ideology, but it would also be a bridgehead from which it could assault a Clinton presidency, and make governing near to impossible with rancorous publicity and continuous condemnation. Fox News is bad enough; ‘Trump News’ would be even more vicious, vindictive, vitriolic, vengeful, venal and vile, should Trump seek to take out his revenge on the one who defeated him and all those who supported her.
This is not an idle thought, an improbable outcome, a fanciful scenario; it is one that Americans should contemplate, fear, and prepare to counter. Several commentators now acknowledge that possibility. One clue to Trump’s TV intentions is that he invited Roger Ailes, former CEO of Murdoch’s Fox News, who resigned from Fox last month over sexual harassment claims, to be his adviser. The latest though is that after just a few weeks they have parted company as Ailes realized that Trump
“couldn’t focus, and that advising him was a waste of time.”
Media commentators are seeing Fox News as an ailing, ageing network that needs rehabilitation and refreshing – the removal of 76 year-old Ailes is part of that process. No doubt Trump sees the audience Fox once enjoyed a ripe takeover prospect. He sees himself as the alternative right of the American national establishment, which he criticizes so vehemently, insisting it is introspective, corrupt and unresponsive to the needs of the people.
So don’t be surprised to see Trump TV News emerge early next year, with lots of beautiful presenters and experienced commentators, poached from Fox News and other networks, which will make billionaire Trump even more money.
In my view the greatest danger when Trump loses though is how his large base of supporters will react.
His supporters follow him because he gives them hope, albeit false hope, that he will fix their problems, improve their situation and make them, like America, great again.
These folk feel left behind in the wake of globalization, technological changes, and free trade, all of which have robbed them of their jobs and left them less well off, often dependent on welfare, and feeling hopeless. They are angry. They see no future for themselves or their children. It is not surprising then that when a ‘saviour’ appears and promises to make their unhappy lives better, they respond as Trump’s supporters have.
Trump cannot help them anymore than could preachers in a bygone age that promised eternal life in heaven among the angels to those oppressed by poverty or illness during their earthly existence. Yet his followers believe him fervently. Moreover, they also believe his anti-Clinton rhetoric and at Trump rallies rail against ‘Crooked Hillary’, heatedly shaking their fists at her. Having convinced them that the ‘corrupt media’ and Clinton’s allies have rigged the election, and that there will be widespread voter fraud, you can imagine their anger when Trump loses. He will tell his supporters they were ‘robbed’ by a corrupt system. We should be very fearful if Trump decides to stir up fury and resentment post election.
It’s too easy to dismiss Trump’s supporters as a rabble of discontents, as Hillary Clinton did when she labeled them
“a basket of deplorables…racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic — you name it.”
But their feelings are the direct result of inequality in the American economy. Many have lost their jobs, notably in the rust belt. They are poor and struggling. The American dream has passed them by. Many are homeless, on welfare, lacking healthcare, deprived of education – the flotsam and jetsam of American society. And they are understandably angry, just as were those involved in the ‘Occupy America’ movement.
They have swallowed Trump’s trickle down economic plan of giving massive tax cuts to business. They believe his promise that these cuts will stimulate business, create jobs and increase wages, classic neoliberal trickle down thinking that we know so well. But Trump also intends to get rid of ‘Obama-care’, which had given health insurance to so many who previously could not afford it, and he will also cut welfare, which one would have thought would upset his followers, but seemingly his other promises outweigh these drawbacks. History shows that people often vote against their best interests.
On the other hand, Clinton offers a classic progressive strategy of increasing wages, taxing the rich, and stimulating the economy through government spending, such as on infrastructure, just as Democrat governor Mark Dayton did so successfully in Minnesota where the economy is booming. In contrast, in neighbouring Wisconsin where Republican governor Scott Walker implemented a classic neoliberal strategy of cutting taxes and welfare, job growth has been among the worst in the region, income growth is one of the worst in the country, it has a higher unemployment rate than Minnesota, and the budget is in bad shape.
We cannot condemn Trump’s supporters for lapping up his promises, for not seeing through the fallacy of his economic strategy. They are the manifestation of inequality, which we know leads to discord and social disruption. They feel disenfranchised, distressed, despondent and despairing. Who could blame them for embracing Trump and his offer of hope, no matter how phoney?
What is fearsome is not their understandable faith in Trump’s false promises, but the spectre of Trump stirring them to unbridled rage when he loses, as he seems likely to do, unprepared as he says he is to accept the will of the people, ‘unless he wins’. Add to that the likelihood that he will stir up even greater hatred for the winner – ‘Crooked Hillary’, ‘the criminal who should be locked up’. Can you imagine how much civil unrest Trump could inflame, and how easily he could do so? That
is frightening. That would be evil. That is what should terrify all who value the democratic process.
To return to the title of this piece: ‘Trump is just part of the problem’, it is his followers, those who adore him, those who hang on his every word, those who turn up to his rallies and shout insults at his opponent, those who really believe he can lift them from their dispossessed state to a glorious sunlit land of hope and prosperity, who are a powder keg waiting for Trump to light the fuse and blow democracy to smithereens.
Trump is just part of the problem!
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