In case you didn’t hear Donald lately, he accused the U.S. electoral system is rigged. And you know something? He’s right. As a broken clock can be right twice a day, he is right on this rare occasion.
There is already a good article that kind of hits on this subject already, but this goes a little further than just things like gerrymandering and voter ID laws. To be considered an actual serious candidate, you have to be wealthy or willing to sell yourself to the wealthy. Then, joining one of the two main political parties is a must as third parties are mostly seen as jokes and treated as such by the media, which (even out of laziness/spite) can manipulate attitudes towards certain issues and people (intentionally/unintentionally). Of course that doesn’t assure your success as caucuses and primaries can royally screw you over. (See video below.) Not saying other countries are any better with elections, nobody likes admitting it but — even if on technicality — from the electoral college to the results of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Citizens United, the system has been structured in a way that makes elections generally asymmetrical to keep the status quo in power. I wouldn’t blame anyone who feels that their vote is little more than a symbolic gesture at the polls.
However, the reason ole Drumpf is roiling and ranting about this flawed electoral process, isn’t because he believes in fairness and truth and a rigged system is bankrupt of such. (There are many examples where it’s pretty clear he shows he doesn’t care for those two.) No, he’s upset because the system isn’t rigged in HIS favor. The status quo may be greedy and shady, but it’s not stupid and they see him as the walking disaster he is. Even if Donald somehow wins the popular vote, it’s a pretty sure thing the electoral college wouldn’t let him become president, which they’ve gladly done four times before in past elections. Sure, the media gives him free coverage but this reality star is finding out that acting like a backstabbing ass isn’t enough to win; only problem is that he doesn’t know how to stop. So what does he do? He points out the obvious, ugly, cancerous sore and hopes people will see him as a viable alternative to it. If he wins, it’s water under the bridge and everything’s fine since he made it out on top. The fact that he’s not even genuine in his outrage over this broken system is what makes his refusal to accept loss so extra disrespectful. Though why should anyone expect more out of him? He did it before:
Watch 1:58 and 11:49 in particular, but the whole video itself is quite good in illustrating one of the main points I made earlier.
I don’t like the powers that be, but at least we’re familiar with them enough to know their motives and habits. We still have the possibly to adapt, counter — heck — there are even the occasions where we could even reason with them. Trump on the other hand, is unyielding and simpleminded, yet unpredictable and unstable. We’d have to relearn the opposition from scratch to face off against a brand new threat. On the off chance he somehow wins this election and becomes president (*cough* Russia *cough, cough*) you can bet he’s going to try his best to fix the rigged system… in his favor.
Sunday, Nov 13, 2016 · 5:37:04 PM +00:00 · TheLovingThinkingFighter
Oh God… I think I’m running into a major Keyser Söze revelation-type moment. The majority of the country votes for Hillary, (who is admittedly is more of the same from out country’s establishment for better or worse,) but the electoral college forces Trump onto us a president. Still don’t doubt Russia may of had something to do with it, but if it wasn’t at least part of the case then that means Trump and the status quo are different tentacles on the same slimy mollusk and not competing entities of destructive id! What is that mollusk you may be asking? It is some of the worst qualities of humanity: greed, bigotry, anti-intellectualism and deceitfulness.
Intentional or not, they conditioned everything to become more inviting for his coming. We interfered in their plans every now and then, but they learned and adapted to our strategies by desensitizing and over-sensitizing the common citizen over time. Civil Rights activists and the anti-war movement used the TV to showcase the horrors of their day to show why they were fighting, the status quo overdosed the public’s psyche with violence and panic, cluttered it with junk and innuendo. Socially conscious people wanted to share a sense of empathy towards others, the status quo enacted zero tolerance, overactive censorship and dog whistles. The internet provided a way to distribute free knowledge to the public, the status quo filled it with ads, malware, misinformation and unhinged conspiracy theories. All of what they did seeped into the lives and minds of many, and obviously a bunch were far more susceptible than others. All it took was someone like Trump to awaken their near latent (what I could only describe as) programming, like some sort of dimwitted Manchurian candidate on a mass scale. Their vote wasn’t what got him into office but they’re sizable enough to legitimize any screwed-up policy placed forth; policies no doubt that will, not only benefit him, but the oligarchs who placed him into office to begin with, while the common citizen suffers.
Trump was never the political outsider he portrayed himself as — this we already knew — but I thought the powers that be would never give him the reins of control he desired. He’s an unstable and unpredictable fool, but I guess the status quo decided to risk it and stopped hiding to show its true self. It doesn’t want to pretend that much of our common votes and roles in governing the nation matter anymore. (They didn’t even go through a whole recount and U.S. Supreme Court decision this time, like they did back in 2000.) It seems to want a strongman enforcer at the head of a government that is almost completely filled with his own party, and of a mass of like-minded followers, to twist the nation’s (and maybe even the world’s) arm into submission for their self-love.
I should’ve seen it sooner. For that, I feel embarrassed and I’m sorry.