First, I’d like to extend my congratulations to President-elect… again… Donald Trump. I’d also like to express some minor condolences to former US President Grover Cleveland. He is no longer the sole American president to win two non-consecutive elections. This was a groundbreaking election in more ways than one.
Though I’ve heard many express their confidence that Trump would win, and while I was inclined to believe it myself, I didn’t share their confidence. I thought he’d win the last election, too. I learned that year never to underestimate the opposition, or the lengths they’d go to win. But it looks like it was pretty decisive this time, with Trump winning the electoral college and the popular vote. They'll be no arguments about prioritizing the popular vote this time, unlike back in 2016 when Hillary won the popular vote but lost the electoral.
So how did the progressive forces for the left lose this time? They had all the advantages. They had the wind at their backs. They had the high ground. Almost every major, well known and popular organization was backing them. The media. Big Hollywood. Big corp, big tech, the three letter government agencies, and above all else, academia, the worst of the lot.
I would say that one big reason is because of Kamala Harris’s overexposure. That may sound like a strange thing to say, but if she had taken a page from Joe Biden’s book and “campaigned from the basement” as he did, preferring to let the media focus on doing his job for him to engage in demagoguery against Trump, she might have won, or at least her chances would’ve been way better.
But she didn’t. Whether she was shamed into it or just wanted to prove that “she’d do things different from Joe” (a statement she’s made, but never clarified how), she got far more exposure than was good for her. And I think she never wanted it to begin with. Ordinary people could see for themselves just how unappealing and incompetent she really was. She couldn’t answer tough, or even simple questions without spewing a word salad of non-answers comprised of being “raised in a middle class family” and falling out of coconut trees, in whatever regional accent she chose depending on the location, always followed by her nervous, maniacal cackle.
As the saying goes, "better to be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and confirm it."
Everyone could see it. Even some lifelong Democrats, including politicians like Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could see it, even to the point of Gabbard leaving the Democrat party (though that wasn’t the sole reason). Even some hardcore union teamsters, who are typically loyal to the Democrats, have turned out in support of Trump, something I never expected to see. Much of it had to do with seeing Kamala in action… or her lack of it.
But the other reason is simply that the right was just that much more determined to win, fueled by just being sick of it all. Sick of the inflation and high prices. Sick of the unchecked borders and people abusing the system, illegals and their American enablers alike. Sick of the myriad of rules and regulations that they had to adhere to… but those in power were immune to. Sick of DEI. Sick of children being mutilated and the propaganda they’re being fed in public schools. Sick of losing our status of energy independence. Sick of the lies by our politicians, media, Hollywood, big tech and academia, of their stifling and penalizing the truth, or even just different beliefs and opinions. Sick of the LGB-ETC (yes, I misspelled that on purpose) groups and their sinister agendas. The list goes on, I’m sure.
To paraphrase Popeye, “Tha’s all we kin stands, and we kin stands no more”.
I’m not even going to get into the numerous attacks on Trump, both verbal and physical, including numerous baseless lawsuits resulting in over 30 convictions and two assassination attempts, all of which only helped him gain popularity. I’ve actually seen “I’m Voting For The Convicted Felon” flags.
It makes me wonder what relevance all these progressive groups, news organizations, celebrities and academia even have anymore… and the people who still believe in them.
There’s a quote from the late Marcus Aurelius, one of the great emperors of Rome and a practitioner of stoicism: “When a bunch of known corrupt people unite against one man and spare no effort to ridicule him, blackmail him and assassinate his character, blindly follow that one man.”
While I’d never endorse “blindly following” anyone, you should, at the very least, pay close attention to what he has to say about those people.