The big question of the next few weeks is whether Trump’s lies, confusion and manipulation win in the US. If Biden wins there is no guarantee that Trumps lies and confusion will not win also, as to Trump’s followers and himself, he can only loose if there is fraud and that would justify violence.
Trump has repeatedly made it clear, since his last election campaign, that he is in favour of his supporters engaging in violence against those who dissent against his rule.
So if you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously, OK? Just knock the hell — I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees. I promise. I promise.
We`re not allowed to punch back anymore. I love the old days. You know what they used to do to guys like that when they were at a place like this? They would be carried out on a stretcher, folks.
I`d like to punch them in the face, I`ll tell you.
The real dangers of Trump’s racist rhetoric. MSNBC 19 July, 2019.
they used to treat them [protestors] very, very rough. And when they protested once, they would not do it again so easily. But today they walk in and they put their hand up and they put the wrong finger in the air at everybody. And they get away with murder, because we’ve become weak.
Jacobson & Tobias Has Donald Trump never ‘promoted or encouraged violence,’ as Sarah Huckabee Sanders said? Politifact 5 July 2017.
He always gives the violent on his side acknowledgement, and clearly finds it hard to denounce white supremacists and neo-nazis outside of formal scripted speeches, making clear that to him the problems are on both sides. If he does denounce them one day, he makes it clear in a tweet the next that he is fine with them. In fact any form of disagreement is evidence a person deserves to be ‘cancelled’. His primary imaginative response seems violent.
Consequently, it seems almost certain Trump would encourage violence against people who could be identified as not being Trump supporters in order to keep power.
He will not accept a loss. Some people are suggesting he will declare victory early before most votes are counted, and the speech will be widely reported. That way he can later declare the election was stolen. This we will have to see The indications are that he will invent ‘evidence’ and believe it, and many of his followers will believe it passionately – whatever its probability. Barr will set in motion the moves to keep Trump in office and arrest dissenters probably on ‘trumped up’ charges. It does not matter, as long as power is demonstrated, and those held responsible are punished, as an example for the others.
The Republican party will likely go along with this, especially if any brave souls in the party protest and end up shot, or attacked, by Trump supporters or the police. The Republican party has demonstrated total compliance whenever they had an opportunity to stand up to him, and that was without threat.
The corporate mega-powers will go with him, as Trump provides them with security, a license to continue the growth in their wealth, and welcomes their presence in his new hyper-swamp, as long as they praise him.
At least 187 Trump political appointees have been federal lobbyists, and despite President Trump’s campaign pledge to “drain the swamp,” many are now overseeing the industries they once lobbied on behalf of. We’ve also discovered ethics waivers that allow Trump staffers to work on subjects in which they have financial conflicts of interest. In addition, at least 254 appointees affiliated with Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and at least 125 staffers from prominent conservative think tanks are now working in the federal government, many of whom are on teams to repeal Obama-era regulations.
at least 35 Trump political appointees worked for or consulted with groups affiliated with the the billionaire libertarian brothers Charles and David Koch… At least 25 Trump appointees came from the influential Heritage Foundation
Kravitz et al. What We Found in Trump’s Drained Swamp: Hundreds of Ex-Lobbyists and D.C. Insiders. Propublica 7 March 2018
The Murdoch Empire will do its best to flood the world with fake news to keep him going and to break up any attempts to deal with the environmental and other crises we face – this is, after all, what they do normally.
When I first said, a few years ago, that Trump would not go if he was rejected at the next election, Republicans used to tell me that Trump could not stay in power if he lost, because Republicans would support due process, and the military would intervene and remove him if he would not go. We have no evidence of either of these points – they seem wishful thinking. What does it matter if the law says he has to go? The law is a matter of interpretation and convention, there are always possible fudges. Anyway, if the military did act, then his supporters would have it ‘confirmed’ that he was being displaced by the ‘deep state’. They would again rise, and start attacking people. The military would eventually loose and, if Biden depended on them for his presidency, he would have no widespread legitimacy.
Because of the US system Trump does not leave office until January so, even in the best case of him accepting a loss, he can do his best to sabotage transition. He may start a war with China, or declare a State of emergency to put down his opponents. He may charge Biden and claim he is unfit to be President, and thus Trump has to stay on. He is desperate to keep power, perhaps because this is where most of his wealth is now coming from.
The only hope for democracy is if the Democrats win overwhelmingly – even then he will probably argue that a large victory is just more evidence of fakery. After all Trump is one of the few people to argue an election he won was fake, perhaps because he didn’t win the popular vote and this was not acceptable.
In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally
@realDonaldTrump. Twitter 28 November 2016
There is no evidence to suggest this is remotely true – it is pure positive denial of reality – but it laid the foundations for his current claims. This was soon followed up by the claims of the largest inauguration crowds ever, media fakery and the use of the term “alternative facts”.
Chuck Todd: why the president asked the White House press secretary to come out in front of the podium for the first time and utter a falsehood? Why did he do that? It undermines the credibility of the entire White House press office–
Kellyanne Conway: No it doesn’t.
CT: –on day one.
KC: Don’t be so overly dramatic about it, Chuck. What– You’re saying it’s a falsehood. And they’re giving Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts to that….
CT: Alternative facts? Four of the five facts he uttered, the one thing he got right–
KC: -hey, Chuck, why– Hey Chuck–
CT: –was Zeke Miller. Four of the five facts he uttered were just not true. Look, alternative facts are not facts. They’re falsehoods.
Meet The Press. NBC 22 January 2017
‘Facts’ are now defined as statements which put the best light on the Administration. They seem true because they do that. While Trump may not be responsible for the term, it indicates his administration wants complete submission to his positive thought. Things which they would like to be true are true – and this is so from the beginning, it is not a recent aberration.
Trump’s overt threats to dispute the results and not leave, show the dark side of the positive thinking cult. If reality is not what you want it to be, then deny it. Reality is wrong. OR its the result of a plot by shady characters who you already dislike.
If the world exists to serve you, then it becomes a time for full shadow projection. If you cheat most of the time from golf to taxes, then the others must have cheated. If you engage in fraud taking money for your personal use from your campaign funds or your charitable foundation, then the others must be even more fraudulent.
Reality must bend to accomodate the leader’s will, and if you don’t believe the positive victory which should have happened, or did happen, you are a traitor, and deserve what you get. One likely way to make the facts be the real positive facts is through repetition of fake facts, and violence.
There are no problems to be faced. This is a popular refrain in the US. Reagan won massively by saying there was nothing to worry about, while Carter saw problems.
We have learned that more is not necessarily better, that even our great nation has its recognized limits, and that we can neither answer all questions nor solve all problems. We cannot afford to do everything, nor can we afford to lack boldness as we meet the future. So, together, in a spirit of individual sacrifice for the common good, we must simply do our best.
Inaugural Address of Jimmy Carter
The US will probably go Reagan’s way again.
So positive thinking is open to manipulation, especially when people seem alienated from the political system, from the economic system, and from the ecological system, and who are vaguely aware of encroaching, massive and unwelcome ecological upheaval. The merge, the deep need to overcome alienation, happens in fantasy, propelled by fierce emotions, and a turn to avoid the real serious problems of the world, which press on us all the time, as they are too big, and it is clear we are going to do nothing to help slow those problems.
I suggest that the Western World has given up dreaming, imagining and attention to its inner states, and has been captured by an encouraged political fantasy and unconscious shadow projection.
We are currently enmeshed in automatic complexes which will not let us have free, or informed, action. We are creating a violent and uncontrolled unconscious through suppression.
Partly this occurs because the internet allows the circulation of conscious memes, which are selected for their grip and ability to be passed on, rather than their accuracy. This makes fantasy formations the main decider of what people take as true…. It helps stop people from perceiving what is really happening, and enables them to retreat into a false reality.
