Friday, June 10, 2016

It might be that no matter what the results of the election our country is heading into a violent period.


Hillary Clinton has a mammoth political machine backed by a $3 billion personal fortune and Wall St. She is the most wealthy, powerful and feared politician in the United States and possibly the world. 

Bernie Sanders tried to nudge the Clinton juggernaut it a little to increase social security, fund education, drop support for the TPP and have Medicare for all.  And a $15.00 minimum wage. 
He might get the $15.00 minimum wage. 

"In the beginning, no one thought Sanders could win—not even Sanders. Unlike Clinton, who has been preparing herself for the grind of her second presidential campaign for years, the Vermont senator split his time between Congress and campaigning in the months after announcing his run. 
"He thought he could compete effectively by campaigning about three days a week while the Senate was in session and then making weeklong trips when Congress was on break," the New York Times reported in April. "As a result, he had limited time to campaign in crucial states like South Carolina; he canceled a visit to Charleston in mid-June after the church shootings there, and he did not return to the city until late August." 
The problem, according to the Times, was that "he was originally skeptical that he could beat Mrs. Clinton, and his mission in 2015 was to spread his political message about a rigged America rather than do whatever it took to win the nomination." He certainly spread that message, but by the time it became apparent he might have a shot to win the nomination, he wasn't well positioned to actually do so." 

MORE AT: 
Vice 
How Bernie Sanders Blew It
By Harry Cheadle 

But the real story isn't the unexpected success of Sanders or Trump.
No one expected the extreme anger over the coddling of Wall Street master criminals. The master criminals that stole jobs, retirement plans and homes from most of the people of America. 
They robbed the American people of the "American Dream"

The deep reservoir of pain, anger and hate of Wall Street master criminals & the politicians that leech off them. 


As they moved across America Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump felt rumblings from the reservoir of hurt and hate and dug into it.  The gusher of pain, anger, betrayal and hate coming from that reservoir surprised almost everyone. I think it surprised Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. 
The Sanders and the Trump campaigns were not the usual campaigns of empty platitudes and dry position statements. 

Bernie Sanders did what he did his entire political life and argued for the common man, not the wealthy.  

Pain, anger, betrayal and hate propelled the Sanders and Trump campaigns. But in markedly different ways. 

Since President Nixon's time Republicans had barely hidden suggestions of racism and ethnic hate.  Donald Trump made sure that hate had very clear ethnic targets. He shouted out the hate. The overwhelming popularity of Trump's hate speech among registered Republicans revealed the true nature of the Republican Party. 

Most politicians were deaf to the rumblings. 

If you walked on the ground of America you could hear the rumbling. But politicians were deaf to the problems of ordinary people. They were too busy calling Wall Street bankers, oil and gas companies for handouts. 
It seems that politicians and political journalists still don't understand what happened.

It might be that no matter what the results of the election our country is heading into a violent period.
That reservoir of pain, anger and hate could erupt in the form of extreme violence.
I've heard people on TV shows saying there hasn't been an armed insurrection in the United States for more than 100 years. That's not true:



The textile workers strike was a fast moving guerrilla war between working people, factory owners private armies and state militias, police and U.S. Army units across most of the Eastern United States. 

A few heavy machine guns were used by all sides in that strike. But guns were strictly regulated in the twenty and thirties. Most common autoloading firearms used today would be illegal in most states in 1934. 

If such an uprising were to occur today the increased firepower of small arms and ammunition in the hands of people inclined to hate government could lead to a severe loss of life. 


The US national textile workers' strike, 1934 - Jeremy Brecher



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