My Last Thoughts On The 2016 Election (as if it actually matters) | Mickey Z.

MSM spotlights Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. By DonkeyHotey Flickr/(CC BY-SA 2.0). Nightly News Coverage in 2015: Trump 234 mins, Clinton, 113 mins, Sanders 10 mins - Sag / Daily Kos. This caricature of Donald Trump was adapted from Creative Commons licensed images from Gage Skidmore's flickr photostream. This caricature of Hillary Clinton was adapted from a photo in the public domain from the East Asia and Pacific Media's Flickr photostream. The body was adapted from a photo in the public domain from the U.S. Department of State's Flickr photostream. This caricature of Bernie Sanders was adapted from a Creative Commons licensed photo by Nick Solari available via Wikimedia.

Mickey Z. -- World News Trust

“I am documenting our collective self-annihilation. I am not writing to change your mind.” (Cory Morningstar)

I’d like to preface this article with a little story about Sept. 11. Not September 11, 2001. I mean Sept. 11, 1973. 

On that date, the U.S. government (with corporate assistance) funded and sponsored a military coup in the South American nation of Chile. The democratically elected president, Salvador Allende, was overthrown and they claimed he committed suicide… with a machine gun. In his place, the Land of the Free™ propped up a dictator, General Augusto Pinochet. Not surprisingly, under Pinochet, human rights violations in Chile skyrocketed. Surprisingly, someone within the Home of the Brave™ power structure talked about it.

David Popper, U.S. ambassador to Chile at the time, asked the U.S. State Department about the atrocities. The Secretary of State in the mid-70s was none other than Henry Kissinger. His response was short and sweet: “Tell Popper to cut out the political science lectures.”

Now, I may not have anything approaching a college degree, but I have taken one political science class in my life. I get it. So, in a rare case of synchronicity with the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Dr. Kissinger, I promise there will be no political science lectures herein. 

In fact, I’m finally done with that “political” nonsense forever. So here goes. My last thoughts on Election 2016 (as if my thoughts ever mattered in the first place).

The Donald

For the past two decades, my presidential election-related writing could be summed up in one of my favorite phrases: The primary difference between Democrats and Republicans is that they tell different lies to get elected. 

I had that line polished and ready to shine again… but along came Donald Trump. This time around, there finally is a greater evil component, but my radical “friends” are far too programmed and/or sexist to recognize it.

The media-fueled rise of Trumpism has re-emboldened misogynists, racists, and white supremacists all across God’s Country™. To view this phenomenon as some form of low brow entertainment spectacle is to expose one’s lack of historical context. For some Americans to flippantly talk of moving to Canada is a betrayal to all those without the resources to leave or fight back or earn justice. 

To trot out the classic “it can’t happen here” is to ignore that it’s already happened here many times and, in some cases, never stopped happening.

(I say “Trumpism” because this mindset transcends any one man or one party. However, Trump is precisely the kind of charismatic demagogue who can effectively mainstream and normalize such an agenda.)

Saint Bernard

Obviously, I appreciate any electoral effort with the goal of blocking Trump and Trumpism. If that means some of you will vote for Bernie Sanders, hey... someone's gotta be president for the next four years!

However, the way the "left" has gone from "strategic voting" to straight-up hive mind worship is even worse than the Obamatrons of 2008. It's as if all other forms of dissent are suspended so every ounce of energy can be focused on genuflecting before another establishment politician.

#FeelTheBern is swooned over for his accent and sexualized in fake Tinder accounts. He's believed to have the power to conjure wildlife to his podiums. His love of drones and military interventions is somehow an acceptable part of a "revolution." He's even emancipated his flock from any accountability for their open misogyny. Bernie Sanders is literally (and often) compared with Jesus! (socialist Jew, blah-blah-blah)

Just when you think the Left (sic) couldn't sink any lower, they’ve flocked to yet another savior who brings them the added “benefit” of being not-Hillary. 

I remember well the last time my radical “friends” flocked to a savior who wasn’t Hillary Clinton. I call it The Year of Hope & Change™. Even the most cursory view of the past eight years provokes the snarky question: How’s that working out for you? 

To borrow from Steve McQueen in The Magnificent Seven: “It's like that fella back home who fell off a ten-story building. As he was falling, people on each floor kept hearing him say, ‘So far, so good.’”

With friends like this… 

The activist (sic) scene loved me when I used my writing skills to relentlessly promote their causes (with virtually no financial compensation). They packed venues when I’d passionately and eloquently stand up and give voice to their dreams (for even less remuneration).

It took me long enough but I finally can see how ideological friendships are doomed by definition, especially for someone like me who never stops questioning, evolving, and changing. I very much relate to these thoughts from Alicen Grey: 

• Belief-based friendships are volatile. Unless you have other things in common with a person, or they’re mature enough to engage in critical discourse, they’ll probably turn on you as soon as you start challenging the shared worldview. After all, it is the foundation of your relationship. And a shaky foundation crumbles the entire house.
• Belief-based friendships are echo-chambers. They don’t allow challenges or growth or evolution. There tends to be an unspoken pressure to keep your questions to yourself, which leads to suppression and denial of the self.
• Even if your friends are tolerant/accepting when you change to a different worldview, it might still feel uncomfortable to bring up the topic.

Considering how quickly and comfortably many of my “friends” switched gears from solidarity and even adulation to hurling slander and threats of physical violence, why would I ever again want to associate with any activist (sic) hive mind -- especially when they’re all dripping in overt misogyny? (Answer: I don’t.)

As for the election blah-blah-blah, I’m done. Obviously, my opinion means less than nothing and has only bred contempt, so there’s no rational reason to continue speaking about this topic. Instead I’ll use my closing thoughts to issue a warning: Ignore Trump and Trumpism at your own peril.

Mickey Z. can be found here.

• Created

  Monday, 18 April 2016
• Last modified

  Monday, 18 April 2016