A most coherent observation of the Election
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Random thoughts (agreement, disagreements, and new thoughts) after watching the video. #4 is the most important:
1. Elitist is a compliment, and it's the only one I would assign to Donald Trump. If his supporters had recognized that fact, they would have been less enthusiastic.
2. Any president whether it's Trump, Clinton, Sanders, Stein, Johnson is going to inherit wars and they are going to be stuck fighting them. Trump will oversee military operations in which thousands of innocent civilians die in the most horrible ways imaginable. The same would be true for any new president.
3. It's plausible that Russia has been interfering in this campaign.
4. There were no good choices in this election, but there were distinct choices. In this election if you voted for one of the two major candidates, you are worthy of respect. If you did not vote for one of those two candidates, then you are not worthy of respect. Clearly one candidate was better suited for the presidency.
5. I empathize with people who were burned by the "corrupt banking system", but people need to take some personal responsibility for getting burned by taking out loans they can't afford to pay back, and mindlessly throwing down money to buy property that's way overpriced at the height of the bubble. A loan officer is a salesman, and you shouldn't buy something just because a salesman says you should.
6. People who have trouble finding work in their locale need to be willing to relocate. It's just a fact of life.
7. Clinton is a flawed individual who has engaged in corrupt activities. Even so, she is capable of handling the duties of president of the United States. Had she been elected I would root for her success. Donald Trump is an absolutely terrible human being who has engaged in corrupt activities. Whether or not he can handle the duties as president is questionable. Even though I think he is a terrible human being, he is our president, and I root for his success. I hope that he does not set back the great progress that our country has made over the last eight years.
8. I consider Assange to be neither hero nor villain.
9. Journalists created Trump.
10. Journalists are biased. This is to be expected and is not a bad thing. It is useful and sometimes important to hear opinions mixed in with facts. Outright distortion of facts is always wrong. In these times, I want the journalists to be as loud and opinionated as ever, in spite of the fact that they sometimes make serious mistakes such as creating Trump.
11. It was the moral imperative of the media to oppose Trump once they realized the monster they had created. Whether or not they handled it properly is another story.
12. The media focused too much on the salacious side of Trump. They should have focused more on his intellectual shortcomings, lies, and distortions of reality. His temperament and tendency to become unhinged is fair game too.
13. Sometimes the elitists and status quo are right on the money. This election cycle is one of those times. They had to choose between being outspoken or not. Probably neither is a good choice for swaying key demographics.
14. No matter who is president, we're not going to break an alliance with Saudi Arabia any time soon.
15. Pilger is a pie-in-the sky idealist, Clinton is a hard-nosed pragmatist. Trump is a carnival barker. He was able to target his audience with promises that are certain to be broken.
16. I'll take mind over heart any day, but I also realize that a significant number of people don't think that way. Trump was able to capitalize on that fact and appeal to anger, hatred and frustration.
17. I think Trump could be inept when it comes to foreign policy and national defense. His anti NATO and pro Russia stance is scary.
18. The relative closeness of the election tells me that the "deplorables" remark was enough to give the election to Trump.
19. It's very clear why Trump won the election, and that does not speak well of us as a country. We will remain a country deeply divided, and I don't see that changing in my lifetime.
20. A lot of people were put off by Clinton's manner of speech and found her to be insulting. You would have to be an elitist to realize that she wasn't. Trump didn't find her to be insulting.
21. I see nothing wrong with the media trying to sway public opinion. That's what Pilger is doing in this video. It's freedom of the press at its best.
22. In spite of what some people would have you believe, Wall Street is a force for good.
1. Elitist is a compliment, and it's the only one I would assign to Donald Trump. If his supporters had recognized that fact, they would have been less enthusiastic.
2. Any president whether it's Trump, Clinton, Sanders, Stein, Johnson is going to inherit wars and they are going to be stuck fighting them. Trump will oversee military operations in which thousands of innocent civilians die in the most horrible ways imaginable. The same would be true for any new president.
3. It's plausible that Russia has been interfering in this campaign.
4. There were no good choices in this election, but there were distinct choices. In this election if you voted for one of the two major candidates, you are worthy of respect. If you did not vote for one of those two candidates, then you are not worthy of respect. Clearly one candidate was better suited for the presidency.
5. I empathize with people who were burned by the "corrupt banking system", but people need to take some personal responsibility for getting burned by taking out loans they can't afford to pay back, and mindlessly throwing down money to buy property that's way overpriced at the height of the bubble. A loan officer is a salesman, and you shouldn't buy something just because a salesman says you should.
6. People who have trouble finding work in their locale need to be willing to relocate. It's just a fact of life.
7. Clinton is a flawed individual who has engaged in corrupt activities. Even so, she is capable of handling the duties of president of the United States. Had she been elected I would root for her success. Donald Trump is an absolutely terrible human being who has engaged in corrupt activities. Whether or not he can handle the duties as president is questionable. Even though I think he is a terrible human being, he is our president, and I root for his success. I hope that he does not set back the great progress that our country has made over the last eight years.
8. I consider Assange to be neither hero nor villain.
9. Journalists created Trump.
10. Journalists are biased. This is to be expected and is not a bad thing. It is useful and sometimes important to hear opinions mixed in with facts. Outright distortion of facts is always wrong. In these times, I want the journalists to be as loud and opinionated as ever, in spite of the fact that they sometimes make serious mistakes such as creating Trump.
11. It was the moral imperative of the media to oppose Trump once they realized the monster they had created. Whether or not they handled it properly is another story.
12. The media focused too much on the salacious side of Trump. They should have focused more on his intellectual shortcomings, lies, and distortions of reality. His temperament and tendency to become unhinged is fair game too.
13. Sometimes the elitists and status quo are right on the money. This election cycle is one of those times. They had to choose between being outspoken or not. Probably neither is a good choice for swaying key demographics.
14. No matter who is president, we're not going to break an alliance with Saudi Arabia any time soon.
15. Pilger is a pie-in-the sky idealist, Clinton is a hard-nosed pragmatist. Trump is a carnival barker. He was able to target his audience with promises that are certain to be broken.
16. I'll take mind over heart any day, but I also realize that a significant number of people don't think that way. Trump was able to capitalize on that fact and appeal to anger, hatred and frustration.
17. I think Trump could be inept when it comes to foreign policy and national defense. His anti NATO and pro Russia stance is scary.
18. The relative closeness of the election tells me that the "deplorables" remark was enough to give the election to Trump.
19. It's very clear why Trump won the election, and that does not speak well of us as a country. We will remain a country deeply divided, and I don't see that changing in my lifetime.
20. A lot of people were put off by Clinton's manner of speech and found her to be insulting. You would have to be an elitist to realize that she wasn't. Trump didn't find her to be insulting.
21. I see nothing wrong with the media trying to sway public opinion. That's what Pilger is doing in this video. It's freedom of the press at its best.
22. In spite of what some people would have you believe, Wall Street is a force for good.
I will agree with you on number 9. You could not be more wrong on numbers 4.,19.21.22.20.1.5.6.8.15.11. In fact I'll go so far as to say your position on 4 is worthy of an Orwellian world where freedom is an illusion. Respect has nothing to do with the act of voting. It is a right that may be exorcised or not. Respect is something that is earned, and you have taken your Orwellian view to be you can only gain respect by voting for whoever has a reasonable chance of winning. Now that is deplorable.
I agreed with some. Disagreed with others. Some seemed superfluous. I agree that Clinton was capable of handling the duties of the job. And I don't think Trump is. It's as simple as that. As for respecting the people that voted for third parties, I was feeling the same way as LOTB, earlier today, before he said it. If you live in a country, you have to make choices for the good of the entire country, rather than choices that appease your conscience. Your vote was self-centered, symbolic, and meaningless. Curiously, I feel completely ambivalent about the people that didn't vote at all, but for the ones that voted for meaningless third parties, I feel really uncomfortable being in the same sinking boat with people that are more concern about their feelings than the sinking boat.
voting for Clinton for the good of the country is a big juicy rationalization that status quo is acceptable for the many for the benefit of the few.
The feckless Republican Party created Trump. They were elected to represent in 2010 & 2012 and did an aweful job.
They will now work with Trump in both chambers or get shown the door in 2018.
This I promise you.
I agree journalism is dead. And much of the media has been proven corrupt.
It will be fun to watch as they become professional news organizations, or become irrelevant. So far two days after the election they appear to mostly be on a track toward the latter.
They will now work with Trump in both chambers or get shown the door in 2018.
This I promise you.
I agree journalism is dead. And much of the media has been proven corrupt.
It will be fun to watch as they become professional news organizations, or become irrelevant. So far two days after the election they appear to mostly be on a track toward the latter.
I didn't say anything about voting for Clinton. I said voting for one of the viable candidates, with the conviction you're making the best choice for the good of the entire country. That would earn my respect. We were talking about people who voted third party, the meaningless.
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There's a yuge element of self-interest involved, believe me! There's nothing to rationalize. Voting for the viable candidate (either one) is the rational act. No "ize" necessary. Voting third party in a swing state is just voting from the heart. Quixotic maybe? (first time I've ever used that word).
The vote is private and no one has to know, so no worries.
I am one who advocated 3rd party. Although that was not always the case, I do believe those who, like myself believe at some point a 3rd party is necessary. So making a stand in this election was for me a turning point. Whether anyone believes my vote was valid, I did and I am happy with it and realize that I have an opportunity to vet 3 candidates at a minimum in the future.