Well Here We Go

Some random thoughts a day before the most important plebiscite ever for any country or universe.

There might be unrest, but not a civil war. As I’ve said before, the main voting block in America is Boomers, born 1946 to 64 or 65, depending on the demographer. We still are 70 million strong, with some departing already, the rest soon enough. We vote in high percentages. And we get, or soon will, Social Security and Medicare and VA benefits. We will vote to keep our benefits flowing no matter what.

Also, the U.S. military remains the strongest in the world and would decimate any domestic disturbance that got out of hand. Lincoln kept the country glued together with a war that, by current estimates, cost 850,000 lives. The equivalent today would be 10 million dead Americans. Do you think our ruling elite would kill that many to stay at the top of the power ziggurat and keep the taxes flowing to them from all 50 states, not a fraction of them? Of course they would.

There’s a reason why Abe is on the penny and the $5 bill and has a memorial right there at the center of power. It’s not just a celebration, but a reminder. From Wikipedia:

President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton walk past President Lincoln's statue to participate in the 2013 50th anniversary ceremony of the historic March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.

This may be the last election with America as a global empire, the “indispensable nation” of Madeleine Albright and the “sole remaining superpower” of the 1990s neocons. Bizarrely, this never really came up during this election, nor foreign policy much at all, except for tariffs, even though 80% of what a president does is manage foreign policy. But, to twist a phrase by Pericles, “Just because you do not take an interest in foreign policy doesn't mean foreign policy won't take an interest in you.”

Whoever becomes president will have to deal with the rise of BRICS, as I wrote in “BRICS Summit: Is Trump or Harris Best for Transition to Multipolarity?” Instead of a “sole remaining superpower” there now are four: the U.S., China, Russia and India. All are nuclear powers. And here’s the list of the top global economies, according to the CIA’s World Factbook, based on Purchasing Power Parity in 2023:

·      China $31.2 trillion;

·      U.S.     $24.7 trillion;

·      India    $13.1 trillion;

·      Russia   $5.8 trillion.

China, India and Russia are the RIC in BRICS.

Biden’s attempt to destroy Russia – remember “the ruble is rubble”? – backfired and strengthened Russia. While showing the effective impotence of NATO, aside from nuclear weapons, and despite its further expansion. And the Ukraine war revealed Europe’s odd slide into irrelevancy after ruling the globe since 1492. Russia now is on the march and how far it goes in conquering Ukraine is in its hands, not America’s. NATO direct intervention would make the probability of nuclear war high.

Kamala’s portrait of Trump as “Orange Hitler” backfired. No one in the world today has been more examined, investigated and reported on than Donald Trump. He has dominated American political life for nine years. Everyone has made up his mind on him long ago. As I write, the election is a day away.

She still might win. But she could have won fairly easily by copying Reagan’s 1984 “It’s Morning in America!” campaign, as I outlined in my article, “Why Isn’t Kamala Running a ‘Morning in America’ Campaign?” She’s in power and ought to have offered a positive, uplifting vision of keeping her in power for four more years. She started to do that with her “joy” campaign. Which quickly turned into a joyless, 80% TDS campaign: Trump Derangement Syndrom.

Republicans are Trump’s party now, win or lose. People like former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan rub their chins about why the Gipper’s grip on the party slipped. It’s simple: He’s been out of power for 36 years and dead for two decades. And his successors were the “Invade Iraq” Bushes, Bob “Tax Collector for the Welfare State” Dole, warmonger John “Insane” McCain and ultimate RINO – Republican In Name Only – Mitt Romney. Their main policies were wars and recessions.

The recent crop of Trump challengers hasn’t been much better: Nikki the neocon, boring Ron from Florida who should have waited until 2028, and – I forget the rest. Except Vivek Ramaswamy, who ran as a young Trump. When Vivek dropped out and endorsed him at a rally, Trump said, “I don’t know why this guy ran against me because he supported all my policies.” Vivek ran as a Trump surrogate and scored points, guaranteeing his own political future, by attacking all the other candidates for not backing Trump.

At least it will be over. My friends long ago tired of this campaign. I love political combat, so I’ve told them I’m relishing every moment. Until this past weekend. Now I want it to be over. It’s time. Tomorrow, Abe’s Ghost speaks.