2016 Postmortem

progressive/democratic/liberal faction. Indeed, where IS the pendulum when the Republicans wreck the place, no one seems to notice, and nothing swings left, EVER? And when distracting social issues (abortion, etc.) keep many voters voting for Repubs even as those same voters end up in cardboard boxes beneath the underpasses? What exactly has to happen for an awakening to occur?

IMO, some people are thinking the long game and some the short game. No one will deny that if you are playing the short game, Clinton is your candidate. Maybe we'll get some faint liberal stuff, maybe we won't get the worst TPP ever, etc. But few to none of the problems this country is suffering will be addressed in any meaningful way. It will, in short, be business as usual.

If you are playing the long game (and not the long game that says "over generations we can incrementalize the biggest gains&quot , an in-your-face demonstration of what the Republicans truly represent, via a Trump presidency, can possibly act as a wakeup call that will happen no other way. Is it possible that the American people will decide they like fascism if he's in office? Sure. It's happened to countries that were a whole lot more educated than we are. But it could also act as a catalyst for total change in the other direction which, frankly, is desperately needed.

But who knows. I personally think that the true problems the world faces (essentially, environmental destruction) will never be addressed by either party or any meaningful faction of Americans in time to save much of anything, so it's all a moot point to me at this juncture. And never forget that the 1% are playing the longest game, which is to eliminate the useless eaters and have a verdant planet for themselves. That will have its own problems, but because the 1% think they are perfect and supremely qualified to be on the top of the heap, they just don't see it coming.