Minnesotans muse
on 2016 election
Hello, Forrester here.
I’m back with a continuation of my
and another voter’s take on the controversial 2016 presidential election. Our
discussions have interested me because we are both from different generations
of voting blocs, and the generational divide is one of many fault lines laid
bare in the last election.
So, I just think of this convo portion
as a sequel, пойми друга?
My
voter-friend’s take:
“You
seem to take Trump as a joke, the same way you laughed at me when I suggested
that Trump could start another war. He alone is not that powerful, [ but] there
is no party more corrupt and vile than the extreme right, and they are using
Trump as a tool to completely take down the government and restructure it to
the fancy of the wealthy and bigoted! They are using the Christian right, rural
America, the Veterans, (who did I miss?) to get what they want. They have no intention
of making real change. [They] just keep throwing them a bone and throwing up
smoke and mirrors to divert [these supporters] and the left from what is really
important.”
My
take:
My voter friend has me good here. I
did think Donald Trump would probably flame out as a joke, especially when the Access
Hollywood audio/video of him disparaging women leaked. I just didn’t think that
enough of the electorate, especially of the conservative mindset, could stomach
such personal indiscretions. Yet, he won.
Voter friend is right to warn me to
take Trump more seriously, especially now that he’s our president. I would just
say that the man himself can do tremendous amounts of negative damage to our
country and others worldwide by bad decision making, maybe more so than
calculated planning. I’ve been keeping an eye more on the president’s advisors
and supporters through media reports, but it definitely would be of benefit to
take more ‘measure of the man’ himself.
And it shouldn’t be forgotten that
President Trump very nearly won my home state, Minnesota (about 47% Clinton to
45% Trump). If his almost taking a “blue” state doesn’t support Voter Friend’s
assertion that he is not a joke, I don’t know what will.
On the next point of the Republican
Party, at least those in leadership, taking full control of President Trump, I agree
with Voter-friend. We’ve seen that the populist, “drain the swamp” rhetoric of
the campaign season spouted by then-candidate Trump was largely just for
reactionary support.
In office, President Trump has
mainly advanced elements of the establishment Republican agenda the party could
only have dreamed of in the past.
-Filling
out his Cabinet with numerous Goldman Sachs-affiliated officials, after
accusing Hillary Clinton of being corrupt for her associations with the banking
firm.
-Negotiating
a deal with an Indiana manufacturer, Carrier Corp, which extends tax credits
and grants for the company keeping some jobs in the state instead of following
through on an original plan to relocate to Mexico. This negotiation rewards
retention rather than job creation, contains dubious job figures, and may
actually signal a way for corporations to take advantage of state governments
in future negotiations, an
assertion agreed upon by even former Alaska governor Sarah Palin.
-Trumpeting
a national health care overhaul that was a thinly-veiled tax cut primarily
benefiting the wealthy.
-Numerous
executive orders weakening laws or protections involving the environment, banking,
and travelers coming into the United States.
If the objectives or results of these
moves sound familiar, they should, because they are what establishment
Republicans have been pushing for years: crony capitalism (Wall Street
bailout), lower taxes for the wealthy and corporations, and an even more laissez-faire
market.
Regarding my voter-friend’s last point,
the smoke-and-mirrors aspect also seems to be real. The President and his top
staffers don’t give much context or lip service to most of this agenda, unless it’s
a reaction or accusation that’s largely unfounded. While most of the establishment
media spends time debunking “The Bowling Green Massacre”, former President
Obama’s spy-ware microwaves, or how White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer is
addressing the press corps, numerous legislative or executive developments are occurring
everyday that seriously undermine not only those against President Trump’s
agenda, but even his own base:
*All
images used from Pixabay.com.
To
be continued…..
Forrester Pack
is a graduate of the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass
Communication. He is a freelance writer in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Comments
Post a Comment