We learned a lot from the election of 2016. Politicians, special interests and voters had a night of surprises.
Socialists party leaders rigged their own primary election by using “Super Delegates”. These delegates in the Democrat primary election were bought and paid for before the first primary vote was cast. The candidates and their handlers discovered that voters really want their vote to count, and resent it when the election is rigged. This must have shocked Chicago politicians.
Democrat politicians thought they could sell the financial and political future of the United States to the highest bidder. They would gladly accept contributions today in order to direct huge government monopolies and regulatory exemptions to favored donors once the politicians were in office again. It turns out you have to win the election first. The United States Government is not supposed to be for sale.
Democrat political operatives thought they could buy the election. Clinton spent 89 percent more than Trump, and still couldn’t come up with the votes on election night, neither the popular vote nor the electoral college vote. Content counts after all.
Hillary Clinton thought she could break the law and her political cronies would exonerate her. She ran the Clinton Foundation as a giant tax avoidance scheme. She ran the State Department as a cash machine for foreign companies to buy access and buy special favors to the United States. It turns out that that government electronic communication systems were designed to preserve and secure government records. Clinton so wanted to avoid an electronic trail. Hackers gave us an electronic record of Clinton’s private activities whether she wanted it or not. Julian Asssange bet his life that we cared to know the truth. Thank you, Mr. Assange.
Wealthy donors thought they could buy power. George Soros and Michael Bloomberg thought they could do it with cash. Some special interest groups thought they could do it with votes, some of which were illegal. They didn’t want justice or a fair political process. Each group wanted to influence executive decisions in their favor at the expense of others. Who knew but that the government power you collect today, can later be used by your opponent then they win the election. In one night, Donald J. Trump did more for the argument for smaller government than the libertarian party has accomplished in 40 years. I’ll take it.
Entrenched Republicans showed us they were not the party of smaller government. They were not the party of opportunity and more freedom for the common man. They were political hacks who wanted their turn at the trough, their turn for insider deals and political kickbacks. Conservative voters rejected establishment Republicans in the primary election. We elected someone who had already made his fortune and didn’t need to sell us out to rich special interests. The election of Donald J. Trump was the biggest middle finger to the entrenched political parties in almost 200 years.
The publicly traded info-tainment lied to us. Many citizens, the committed Socialists, wanted the lies to be true. American voters decided they would vote their conscience even if their point of view was unpopular with the talking heads and the glitterati. The Canadian Immigration website was overloaded late in the evening on election night when socialists learned how unpopular they really were.
Some things remain the same. We do know that human nature remains unchanged. We know that politicians will continue to lie. We know that the talking heads in the publicly traded media (and that includes PBS) will sell us propaganda disguised as news. We know that special interests will try to corrupt our government for their own advantage. We don’t know if the elected Republican hacks will insist on receiving political spoils and dirty politics as usual. We don’t know how Trump will govern.
At best, this election is a temporary reprieve from government corruption. Please stay vigilant. Condemn dishonesty where ever you find it.
photo credit: emilio labrador Detoured via photopin (license)
