Thursday, November 7, 2024

27.8% of ALL Adult Americans Voted Trump into Office in 2024 = not much of a mandate

 While his victory was impressive, let's put Trump's win into GENUINE perspective, as follows.

1.  In 2023, there were 262,083,034 ADULT Americans in the USA.  That number includes all voters plus all those who don't vote.

2.  In the election, 72,895,705 people voted for Trump.

3.  Conclusion:  it took only 27.8% of ALL adult Americans to elect our President.  [Historically, it usually took only a tad over 25% to win the Presidency.]

The "mandate" being touted by the Trumpican Party is a mandate from about 28% of American adults.  Even if we consider only those who voted in the election, Trump secured only a fraction over 50% of the vote.  It was barely a majority.

Everyone should keep ALL these numbers in mind when thinking about what some are calling "the greatest victory in the history of American elections".  Such characterization is a real stretch, eh?
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Not only my opinion.  Happy Trails

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Mea Culpa, and Brief Notes on What the Trumpican Party Victory Reveals

First, as evidenced by the previous Post on this blog, I misjudged the thinking of the majority of the people here in my beloved Land.  I've always known WHY that majority is fed up with The Establishment and its Plutocracy.  On the socio-economic scale, the lower 80% of people here have been shafted for decades.  My mistake was in thinking:  by now surely ALL people would see clearly that Trump is a) not the one to save them; and b), he's a con-man who actually is in favor of the ruling Plutocracy.  I was wrong; they don't see it.

Here are just a few of the things the Trumpican Party victory reveals (in no particular order) ---

1.  Apparently, too many of us have been dumbed-down to the point where we no longer are capable of critical thinking.  In general, I blame our education system for that.  Mainstream Media also are at fault.  Have you noticed, for example, for many years young folks have been encouraged to skip a university education in favor of a vocational/trade school.  Such schools certainly serve a valuable function; however, their limitations need to be considered.  Generally, they don't provide a well-rounded education.  Yes, it's true you don't need a university education to get a good job; but such a higher education provides most students with a lot more than a job.  It broadens your worldview, and gives you skills in understanding what's important in life.  It does more, but I need to keep this essay relatively short.

2.  There also seems to be a serious problem with too many universities.  It appears to me that too many of them are more concerned with not offending some group or another rather than exploring ways to develop open minds and critical thinking.

3.  The mainstream, corporate faction of the Democratic Party is not paying enough attention to Main Street.  Worse, they are marginalizing the Progressives in their Party, the ones who are tuned-in to Main Street.

4.  The mainstream Dems who now rule their Party need to stop enabling Netanyahu's genocidal wars.  They should do so not only for obvious ethical/moral reasons, but also because they won't get Arab-American votes until they do.  [That's about 1.5 million votes. ]

5.  Trump realized a long time ago that if you repeat a lie enough times, then people will come to believe it.  He repeatedly lies/lied about immigrants, the economy, Democrats, any Republicans who oppose him, election integrity, crime stats, covid, the Media, etc., and all those lies have served him well.

6.  The Upper Crust of the Dem Party has failed miserably at showing people the urgency of addressing the existential threat of ecological overshoot, and the fact that Trump policies will increase the threat & the urgency by orders of magnitude.  Educational institutions, the Mainstream Media and others also have failed in that regard.  Perhaps they all have failed because they don't fully understand the Crisis, or they still may believe we humans have until 2050 to address the problem.  In any case, within ten years politics will not be uppermost in anyone's mind; but trying to find a degree of physical, mental, and economic comfort will be.

7.  Most people apparently are as in the dark about eco-overshoot's existential threat as is Trump and the Plutocracy.  Otherwise, they never would have voted an ecological ignoramus into office.  They would have known that such an action would be tantamount to eco-suicide.
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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Monday, November 4, 2024

IF Americans have any common sense left after enduring decades of continual neoliberalism, then the 2024 election...

will play out like this--- 

1.  Due largely to young voters, women, people of color, Independents (41% of adult Americans are Purple, not Red or Blue), and the wisdom of many senior citizens, Harris will win the race.  Why?  Following are only some of the reasons.

2.  A majority of people are now wary of Trump's blatant lies, never-ending personal attacks on those who oppose him, total lack of statesmanship, ignorance of economic principles, espousal of violence, and his general negative and toxic demeanor.

3.  A majority of voters realize it's utter nonsense to blame a President or Vice President for overall INFLATION.  They know that the policies of the Fed Reserve Honchos affect the inflation rate more than any one person.  Interest rates are not determined by the President or VP.  The amount of "helicopter money" (basically created out of thin air by the Fed) dropped on all of us is not determined by the Pres. or VP.  Voters also know the Fed Reserve does not kowtow to the Oval Office.  [Remember how Trump once (while he was Pres.) denigrated the Fed Chairman for his actions?]

4.  A majority is aware of the rock-solid data showing that immigrants here have a LOWER rate of violent crime than those of us born and raised here.  Thus, Trump's constant claim of rampant criminality by immigrants is just another of his many delusions.

5.  A majority of people now see that Trump, if elected, will be consumed by revenge against his "demonic enemies" (his words), and such would not contribute to working toward unifying the country.  People are sick & tired of his divisiveness.

6.  Bottom Line:  IF (& it's a BIG IF) there's any common sense left in this country, then Trump will be defeated.  HOWEVER, here's one way he could steal the election (he calls it his "little secret")---

https://www.democracynow.org/2024/11/1/donald_trump_mike_johnson_little_secret

7.  End Note---  Trump has been telling Evangelicals that God saved him from assassination so he could be President (thus, it's God's Will).  Most of them appear to believe the same.  I'm a fairly open-minded guy, but I can't buy any of that.  It's narcissistic, manipulative hogwash.
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Not only my opinion.  Happy Trails

Here's what happens when capitalism is deregulated

Enron Remember the 2005 Documentary, Enron - The Smartest Guys in the Room ?  [It's currently available on Amazon Prime, & probably ...