The election of Donald Trump as president in 2016 was a catastrophic event for a segment of the US government. It had been assumed by the entire “Ruling Class” that Hillary Clinton would, at last, be elected president. Books have been written about her reaction to the loss. One was titled, “Shattered” and recounted her reaction. A pretty good analysis in this Amazon book review.
To be fair to the authors, they lay the blame for her loss squarely on her. They sort of feel bad about it but their close access makes it obvious to them and they are objective enough to report it. The other main person held responsible is campaign manager Robby Mooks, who is so enamored with ‘analytics’ that he can’t see the forest for the trees. The canary in the coal mine is Bill Clinton, who senses that his wife and her campaign are not connecting with the white working class, but is ignored by the team who consider him washed-up and out of date.
What happened after she lost ? The Russia Collusion story was concocted.
Here is an analysis of How it began and why.
It turned out, however, that the dossier was a Clinton-campaign opposition-research project, the main allegations of which were based on third-hand hearsay from anonymous Russian sources. Worse, though the allegations could not be verified, the Obama Justice Department and the FBI used them to obtain surveillance warrants against Page, in violation of their own guidelines against presenting unverified information to the FISA court. Worse still, the Obama Justice Department withheld from the FISA court the facts that the Clinton campaign was behind the dossier and that Steele had been booted from the investigation for lying to the FBI.
Now, more analysis is coming from Sheryl Atkinson.
Taken together in context, the evidence points to two important findings. First, U.S. government insiders, colluding with numerous foreign citizens and governments, conspired to interfere in the 2016 election. Second, after the election, these figures conspired to undermine, oust, and perhaps even frame Trump and some of his associates.
The methods used, according to factual accounts and witnesses, include collusion with reporters and politicians, leaks to the press, and paid political-opposition research. Officials in the intelligence community were involved in the effort, which included the use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), domestic and foreign informants or spies, and electronic surveillance.
Both articles are worth reading in full. The fact that other diversions are appearing, like the hoax bomb story, suggests that the Democrats know the Mueller “investigation” is going to be ended soon with a dud.
We are still dealing with reaction from Angelo Codevilla’s “Ruling Class.”
When this majority discovered that virtually no one in a position of power in either party or with a national voice would take their objections seriously, that decisions about their money were being made in bipartisan backroom deals with interested parties, and that the laws on these matters were being voted by people who had not read them, the term “political class” came into use. Then, after those in power changed their plans from buying toxic assets to buying up equity in banks and major industries but refused to explain why, when they reasserted their right to decide ad hoc on these and so many other matters, supposing them to be beyond the general public’s understanding, the American people started referring to those in and around government as the “ruling class.” And in fact Republican and Democratic office holders and their retinues show a similar presumption to dominate and fewer differences in tastes, habits, opinions, and sources of income among one another than between both and the rest of the country. They think, look, and act as a class.
This is how we got Trump and why there is a well funded effort to get rid of him him any way possible.
Joel Kotkin has a good analysis.
Over the past few decades, the U.S. has developed essentially two economies. On the one side is the widely celebrated “post-industrial” economy: software, entertainment, media, and financial and business services. These sectors flourished as the stock market soared in the ultra-low interest-rate environment fostered by the Obama administration, whose recovery strategy was built around bailing out major banks, all headquartered in deep-blue cities. The winners under Obama included urban real estate, financial-service firms, and the tech oligarchs. These elements now constitute the Democratic Party’s burgeoning financial base, allowing it consistently to spend more than the GOP in key congressional races, while the GOP still gains support in energy and other less heralded “legacy” industries.
The whole thing is well worth reading and explains a lot about why the big money is backing Democrats.
Tags: Democrats, election, energy policy, politics
Discovered you site in a search for ‘preference cascade’ and realised we think very similarly about what has been happening in the West – Trump, Brexit, the difference between Eastern and Western Europe etc. I’m adding you to my reading list because you are certainly putting together many of the people I already read like Codevilla and ones I haven’t read like Kotkin in this article. I would add that I think if the Dems take the house we will see what you call above “a well funded effort to get rid of him [him} any way possible” in the form of impeachment of Trump and as Glen Beck on Dave Rubin’s Sit Down said a subpoenaing of Trump’s tax returns and the demand that Kavanaugh recuse himself from the resulting SCOTUS decision and then an impeachment of Kavanaugh. Something along those lines is highly likely I think. If they don’t they will continue with the current attempts to put Humpty Dumpty together again. We don’t know the outcome of the mid-terms but I think the Democrats are revealing that they are completely unfit to govern while even the me too GOPe folks like Mitch McConnell are showing signs that having real power to shape the future is better than eternally playing second fiddle to the Democrats. Candice Owens and Kanye may hive off a significant share of the Black and Hispanic vote in this election or the next. I don’t think the Democrats are going to be able to sell their identity politics snake oil in another 2 years. They are just too vulnerable among minorities they pretend to support given the outcomes of their policies in the is the cities they have ruled forever. Anyhow – I really like your blog.
Thanks.