Organizing Notes

Bruce Gagnon is coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space. He offers his own reflections on organizing and the state of America's declining empire....

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Location: Brunswick, ME, United States

The collapsing US military & economic empire is making Washington & NATO even more dangerous. US could not beat the Taliban but thinks it can take on China-Russia-Iran...a sign of psychopathology for sure. We must all do more to help stop this western corporate arrogance that puts the future generations lives in despair. @BruceKGagnon

Wednesday, November 09, 2016

Trump: Who Really Knows?


It was a late night at our house.  It would be an understatement to say I was surprised that Trump pulled off a massive victory in the election.  I surely didn't see this coming.

I figured that with the mainstream media support for Clinton and the support from the banksters, the neo-cons, the military industrial complex and the oil companies it was a certainty that Trump would go down to defeat. 

Obviously the white working class is angry and feels betrayed by the elites who run the country.  I heard that half of the union workers in Michigan (traditionally 'loyal' Democrats) voted for Trump.  But normal is gone now.  Many of these voters who picked Trump told the exit polls that they didn't necessarily like him - but they just saw voting for him as the only way to shake things up.  How much patience will they have for Trump in the White House?  That will be an interesting thing to watch.

Trump has named corrupt New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as his transition manager.  Christie is a mobster and the rumors have long tied Trump to the mob.  Clinton is corrupt as well and I see her as a key spokesperson for the corporate mafia.  So this election was really the mob verses the mafia.

Studying the situation in Ukraine during the last couple of years has taught me a lot about how competing criminal oligarchies can control and tear down a nation.  That is basically what I see we had in this election.  There was division among ruling oligarchies here in the US - again the mob verses the mafia.

The Democrats blew their chance for power when they threw Bernie Sanders under the bus during the primary season where the Clinton campaign repeatedly cheated in order to take the nomination.  Those 'loyal' Dems who refused to see the folly of this strategy are now in funeral mourning mode as they witness a damn near complete collapse of their party across the nation as the much hated Clinton ran them into the ground.

Democrats can blame others all they want for this loss but until they face up to the reality that the voters have rejected their corporate dominated Clinton machine their party stands little chance of a real future.

The Trump strategy was to go hard after voters in the 'rust belt' of the nation. Those living in the decaying former industrial heartland that is now virtually jobless had nothing to lose.  Trump promised jobs and strongly opposed the disastrous trade agreements like NAFTA and TPP that the Clinton machine has long endorsed.

The truth is that for eight years the Obama administration did little to help create jobs in devastated regions like the rust belt and in impoverished communities across the country.  He, along with the Republican party, kept the Bush endless war cycle going which drained the treasury of resources that could have been used for rebuilding our nation.  Dems don’t want to talk about this but it is a major reason for the eventual rejection of Clinton who is an avowed war monger.

This was a 'populist' victory. Last night on the right-wing Fox News TV we saw conservatives saying that this was not a victory for the Republican Party but was indeed a 'populist' wave.  The Democrats had a chance to match and beat Trump with the populism coming from Bernie Sanders but after the Clinton machine dispatched the Vermont senator that opportunity was out the window.

This morning we listened closely to some of Trump's words on the radio where he said he wanted to bring the nation together after his divisive 'wrestling match' campaign.  We'll see how that goes.  He also said he wanted to get along with all countries around the world.  During his campaign Trump did repeatedly say he wanted to talk with Russia and he questioned whether the US should be spending so much on NATO.  It will be instructive to see how he handles the war mongers inside the Congress from both the Republican and Democrat parties.

Will Trump continue the major US-NATO mobilization along the Russian border?  Will he continue to build Poland as the key US power projection hub in eastern Europe - just as Israel is the US base of operations in the Middle East and Japan serves that role in the Asia-Pacific?  Will Trump continue to destabilize Ukraine and use it as a bludgeon against Russia?  These are the things to closely watch.

Trump has no real experience as an office holder to prepare him for this task.  He notoriously has a short attention span.  Those who have his ear will be directing US domestic and foreign policy.

We in the progressive community had best spend some time reaching out to allies and building a unified coalition to stand against the coming reactionary wave.  We would be wise not to demonize those who voted for Trump - especially considering that many of them are working class union members who were primarily voting for jobs and against corporate elites.

We need to be offering a positive transformative vision for the future - ending our wars, closing our nearly 1,000 foreign military bases and bringing the troops home to rebuild America with sustainable technologies that help us deal with the coming reality of climate change.

No matter how you might have voted yesterday we should all recognize that we have a common enemy - corrupt corporate elites who don't give a damn about working people in the US or around the world.  This election is a call for everyone to get engaged in order to take our nation back from those on Wall Street who only live for their own power and enrichment.

Will Trump change the spots on his skin and become a real advocate for the working class and the poor (many of whom are his beloved 'veterans')?  Hard to imagine.  But by now we should all know that only when the people get organized can we really protect our own interests against those who wish to rape and pillage our Mother Earth for their private gain.

It's kind of ironic that the biggest issue drawing progressive support across the nation these days is the Native American protests against the oil pipeline at Standing Rock in North Dakota.  Hopefully we'll all learn something from the people who have been under attack by the Great White Father in Washington for the past couple hundred years.

The indigenous people understand that no politician will bail us out as our compromised nation collapses.  Only a good relationship with our Mother Earth will allow the future generations to survive.

Bruce

6 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

I admire your statement. Thanks. We shall have to wit and ee how this wild card is played out. If war becomes less likely, that will be a good thing, although militarism is likely to remain with us. Contradictions abound with Trump.

11/9/16, 1:21 PM  
Blogger alice slater said...

Fabulous take on it all Bruce. while we figure out how to get organized, I urged everyone this morning to take on their local pipeline and join with our indigenous people who are leading the charge to protect Mother Earth. Teddy Roosevelt busted the oil trusts, and we have to bury the fossil, nuclear and biofuels industries so we can create millions of good paying green jobs for all the disgruntled Trumps voters converting our economy to clean, sustainable energy and saving Mother Earth as well. Win-win-win!!
Alice

11/9/16, 2:19 PM  
Blogger Vsin said...

Great read and so many important things were said here that people need to understand and realize. Shoving it on people won't work, they have to come to it on their own. Let's hope enough people do in time.

BTW, one minor correction in the writing needs fixing. "He notoriously has a short attention spam."

11/9/16, 7:28 PM  
Anonymous Brother Jonah said...

He anointed Giuliani for Secret of State. That doesn't bode well.

Rudy covered up Donalds crimes like the Gadafi Affair. Which was pure FRAUD and Grand Theft. Donald likes to trot that one out because Gadafi was unpopular among American voters, mostly because he didn't sell Libya to the US or British oil corporations. The Lockerbie affair was never proven.


But defrauding somebody is theft, and it doesn't matter if the person you defraud is unpopular. In New York there are added layers of protection for Tenants. Mr Trump has a history of defrauding Tenants, even those who aren't Moammar Gadafi. What happened to those charges of theft? Did Rudy abdicate his duties as prosecutor, as long as the Criminal is very rich?

11/10/16, 9:57 AM  
Anonymous Brother Jonah said...

And it's going to be easier calling people to action when the president is NOT popular.
His opposition to Native sovereignty and especially issues of mineral extraction, for instance. Insensitive racial slurs, eh. Maybe.

But something like tribal land which has uranium suddenly becoming a War On Terror issue?
Aside from being straight up bizarre, it has a smell of softening up the people to accept privatizing it with a company in which he has stock. Tea Pot Dome all over again.

And in our decreasing emphasis in public schools, other than Math, Science and Football, somebody or a lot of somebodies quietly subverted any history.

When I was in 7th grade and dinosaurs ruled the earth, we were required to agree with a history book published by McGraw-Hill called The Story of Texas. Pure hogwash. But even that wasn't a requirement to advance to 8th grade. Tea Pot Dome gets a large amount apathy as a history subject, and kids don't have to learn it to graduate.

And the mineral extractions business is basically run by the same group now as it was then. As Vsin states, we have to lead not shove. Starting with a general statement like "hey, man, this is WRONG" and having a fast answer showing HOW.

11/10/16, 10:17 AM  
Anonymous Brother Jonah said...

I'm pretty sure I can't edit on this. But I meant "Attorney General" for Rudy.

11/10/16, 4:32 PM  

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