What This Election Is About

He used insouciance in the first sentence. I think that is a record.

Guest Post by Paul Craig Roberts

I never cease to be amazed at the insouciance of Americans. Readers send me emails asking why I ever supported Trump when he was the Establishment’s candidate. If Trump was the Establishment’s candidate, why has the Establishment spent two years trying to destroy him?

The failure to put two and two together is extraordinary. Trump declared war on the Establishment throughout the presidential campaign and in his inaugural address.

As I wrote at the time, Trump vastly over-estimates the power of the president. He expected the Establishment, like his employees, to jump to his will, and he did not know Washington or who to appoint to support his goals. He has been totally defeated in his intention to normalize relations with Russia. Instead, we are faced with both Russia and China preparing for war.

In other words, the same outcome that Hillary would have achieved.

Trump has been so harassed by the Establishment that he is having trouble thinking straight. He was elected by “the deplorables” as the first non-Establishment candidate since when? You have to go back in history to find one. Perhaps Andrew Jackson. Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan were not the choice of the Democratic and Republican establishments, and the ruling establishments moved quickly to constrain both presidencies. The Democratic Establishment framed and removed both Carter’s budget director and chief of staff, depriving Carter of the kind of commitment he needed for his agenda. The Bush people that the Republican Establishment insisted be put in positions of power in the Reagan administration succeeded in blunting his reformist economic program and his determination to end the cold war. I fought both battles for Reagan, and I still have the bruises.

Trump is an outsider elected by “the deplorables” whose middle class jobs were offshored by America’s global corporations for the benefit only of the executives and large shareholders. A few people sold out the American middle class, which is shrinking away.

In the rest of the world, Trump’s true allies are the presidents of Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, the former president of Ecuador, and the former president of Honduras, who was overthrown by “America’s First Black President,” the consequences of which are the caravan moving toward the US border. The Establishment has succeeded in so confusing Trump that he has declared the Establishment’s war against the non-establishment leaders in Latin America.

So what is this midterm US election about?

It is about whether “the deplorables” have been brainwashed by the Establishment’s media whores and fail to support Trump in the House and Senate elections. If the Democrats, whose politics is Identity Politics, get the House and/or Senate, Trump will be completely impotent. The Establishment hopes to drive the lesson home to every future presidential candidate to never again appeal to the people over the vested interests of the Establishment.

In America democracy is a scam. The oligarchy rules, and the people, no matter how they suffer under the oligarch’s rule, must submit and accept. No more presidential candidates, please, who represent the people. This is the lesson that the Establishment hopes to teach the rabble in the midterm elections.

What should this election be about? If America had an independent media, the election would be about the dangerous situation created by Washington that has caused two militarily powerful countries to prepare for war with the US. This is the most serious development of my lifetime. Everything President Reagan worked for has been overthrown for the material interests of the power and profit of the military/security complex.

If America had an independent media, the election would be about the American police state that, based on the 9/11 lie, the weapons of mass destruction lie, the use of chemical weapons lie, the Iranian nukes lie, the Russian invasion of Ukraine lie, was accepted by the insouciant Americans. Those responsible for these lies, which have caused massive war crimes, for which US administrations should be indicted, are feted and rich. The rest of us have experienced the loss of civil liberty and privacy. Any individual in the way of the police state is mowed down.

If America had an independent media, the election would be about the de-industrialization of the United States. Today, as this article makes clear—https://thesaker.is/the-pentagon-realised-what-it-has-done-the-chinese-put-the-us-army-on-its-knees/ —the offshoring of American manufacturing and industry has reduced the US military to dependence on Chinese suppliers.

And the Trump administration starts trouble with China!

If America had an independent media, the election would be about the 20 years of US and NATO/EU war crimes against Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, Syria, and Yemen, and US and NATO support for Israel’s war crimes against the remnants of the Palestinian people, and US and NATO/EU support for the neo-nazi regime established by the Obama regime in Ukraine to commit war crimes against the breakaway Russian provinces, the populations of which refuse to become victims of Washington’s overthrow of the democratic elected Ukrainian government and installation by “America’s first black president” of a neo-nazi regime.

If America had an independent media, the election would be about the orchastrated demonization of Iran. The completely stupid dope that Trump appointed Secretary of State just declared (the utter fool should not be permitted to open his mouth) that Washington was going to drive Iran into the ground unless the government agreed to behave like a normal state.

What does Pompeo mean by a “normal state.” He means a state that takes its marching orders from Washington. Iran has not invaded any country. The government in power is the continuation of the government that overthrew the Shah, a dictator imposed on Iran by Washington when Washington and London overthrew the democratically elected government of Iran.

What the despicable Pompeo is really saying is that Iran has to go, because Iran, like Syria, is in the way of Israel’s expansion into southern Lebanon, because Iran and Syria supply the Hezbollah militia, which has twice defeated Israeli invasions of southern Lebanon. The vaunted Israeli army is only good for murdering women and children in the disarmed Gaza ghetto.

If America had an independent media, someone would ask Pompeo precisely what Iran is doing that warrants Washington unilaterally, in the face of opposition of the European, Russian, and Chinese signatures to the Iran Nuclear Agreement, pulling out of the agreement and imposing sanctions that no other country on the planet, except Israel, supports?

But, of course, America has no independent media. It has a collection of whores known as NPR, Washington Post, New York Times, CNN, MSCBS, Fox News, etc.

Without an honest and independent media, there is no accountability of government. America has no honest and independent media. Therefore, in America there is no accountability of government.

“The deplorables” are faced with a dilemma. The president they elected has been overcome by the establishment and cannot represent them. Instead, Trump gives his supporters warmonger John Bolton as National Security Advisor and warmonger Pompeo as US Secretary of State. He might as well have appointed Adolf Hitler. In fact, Hitler was a more reasonable person.

So again, America is having an election in which nothing of any importance is discussed.

Unless the American people rise up in armed rebellion, they are finished as a free people, and, of course, they cannot rise up in armed rebellion. Not so much because the police and every agency of the government has been militarized as because Jewish cultural Marxism and the Democratic Party’s Identity Policics have the American people disorganized and at one another’s throats. Cultural Marxism and Identity Politics have divided the American population into victims and victimizers. The true victimizers and true victims are not part of the picture, which is a construction that serves ideological agendas. It is not the oligarchy that is the victimizer, but the Trump-voting white male. It is not the multi-billionaires, but the marginalized former manufacturing and industrial work force that is the source of oppression. This former work force is black and white, but the Democratic Party’s Identity Politics has blacks and whites at each other’s throats.

My conclusion is that America is doomed. The people, with few exceptions, are not smart enough to continue to exist. Perhaps the outcome of the elections tomorrow will change my mind. If the vote goes to the Establishment, all is lost.

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28 Comments
oldtoad of gReen acRes
oldtoad of gReen acRes
November 6, 2018 9:30 am

“Always look at the bright side of life,” Eric Idle https://www.google.com/search?q=looking%20at%20the%20bright%20side%20of%20life
A little too much doom and gloom for me.
Say your prayers and get ready, Believe.

Steve C
Steve C
November 6, 2018 9:36 am

They say that in the end, everyone gets just the sort of government that they deserve.

I don’t know that what we have or are getting is the sort of government that any of us deserve, but ‘in the end’ is just where we are getting it…

Anonymous
Anonymous
November 6, 2018 9:44 am

People don’t give a shit about foreign policy lies. Most people couldn’t even locate Europe on a map.

It’s all identity politics all the time. And that began with advent of TV. Now you can’t watch an advertisement without the song and dance of the rainbow coalition.

As I said before , You can’t have an egalitarian society and a free society. Go to Wikipedia and look at the pictures of all the presidents of Venezuela dating back to the 1700s.

no one
no one
November 6, 2018 9:54 am

“… America has no independent media. It has a collection of whores known as NPR, Washington Post, New York Times, CNN, MSCBS, Fox News, etc.”

MrLiberty
MrLiberty
  no one
November 6, 2018 11:25 am

Thank you for not leaving out Fox.

no one
no one
  MrLiberty
November 7, 2018 5:27 pm

Whores are whores, no matter who they service.

polecat
polecat
  no one
November 6, 2018 1:25 pm

I’m glad to see that Dr. Roberts listed Neoliberal • Putrid • Radio first ! Back in the day they were maybe half sane … over the years, it has become a cacophony of spineless Factotums, and whiny Heathers .. trying as hard as they might, to cloak the pubic in falsehoods and lies !
All the more galling that the public spares their precious $$, or should I say.. cents .. to a media institution that has nothing but contempt for the mopes.

Bat Guano
Bat Guano
November 6, 2018 9:55 am

Bend over, grab your ankles and vote America.

wdg
wdg
November 6, 2018 10:31 am

“My conclusion is that America is doomed. The people, with few exceptions, are not smart enough to continue to exist. Perhaps the outcome of the elections tomorrow will change my mind. If the vote goes to the Establishment, all is lost.”

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts is dead right. Like a boxer bruised and battered on the ropes in the tenth round of a heavy weight championship, the question remains whether a brainwashed, drugged, plundered and distracted population has enough of a will to survive and shake off the shackles that enslave us is an open question. I wouldn’t count European man out yet – because this is a battle not just for America but for the entire European world – but clearly before us is a dark and gloomy landscape where the forces of unspeakable evil are now in control employing divide and conquer as an effective weapon of mass destruction. My prediction is that the Republicans will win both the Senate and the House…but will it make any difference in a Trump administration infiltrated and subverted by treasonous NeoCons?

Emil
Emil
  wdg
November 6, 2018 11:00 am

I agree with your prediction, and it will not make a difference. I’m a prophet of doom, and would like to remind folks that many votes were “against Hillary” rather than “for Trump.” The same is true in this mid-term election.

Excommunicated
Excommunicated
November 6, 2018 10:36 am

Unless the American people rise up in armed rebellion, they are finished as a free people……

Told you so!

VOTING QOTD

22winmag - PFC Frank reporting for duty
22winmag - PFC Frank reporting for duty
November 6, 2018 10:49 am

I’d rather be INSOUCIANT than be driving around in a car with disabled airbags that someone believed were just peachy to disconnect, and encouraged others to do so RIGHT HERE ON THIS MIGHTY FINE BLOG.

Well guess what, the seatbelts in airbag equipped cars are engineered stretch more than pre-airbag seatbelts (to reduce injury and work in concert with the airbag). The belts in an airbag equipped car may not properly restrain you if the airbag is disabled.

Goose
Goose
  22winmag - PFC Frank reporting for duty
November 7, 2018 12:08 am

Nobody’s forcing you to disable your airbags. Do whatever the fuck you wanna do with your vehicle. I could give two fucks. I don’t wear seatbelts because I don’t want to. I own them so they are mine and no government or person should be able to force me to use my personal property for my own protection. Its all about control. It always has been and the more we accept it the more they take till you don’t own a car and aren’t allowed to drive. Think I’m nuts? You’re delusional.

Emil
Emil
November 6, 2018 10:56 am

I’ve been accused of being a never Trumper, but I am a “Trump can’t fix this mess”-er. I’m letting you know that up front because most of what I am going to write triggers the Trump-Fan-Club.

No man can fix the United States because:
– A democratic republic is characterized by the peaceful transition of power. How’s that going for US?
– Too many people are employed by the government; directly or indirectly.
– The national debt and unfunded liability guarantee that political promises must be broken.
– Americans are uneducated and misinformed.
– The family unit is shattered: 3.2 out of 6.9 (per thousand) marriages end in divorce.
– Need a fact check: More babies are born to illegals than citizens in the US?
– Congress has abdicated it’s responsibility. So has the electorate, but let’s not make this personal.
– Our food, water, and environment are toxic.
– Americans lack morals and principles. There is no God in that sense.
– Our borders are open.
– Despite spending more on defense than the next five heaviest spenders combined, our military is deemed inadequate.
– Money is almost always confused with wealth.
– There is no such thing as private property ownership. Land is only one type of property.
– Justice has left the building, and legalism has filled the vacuum.
– Hillary managed to get a vote. Not a single sane person would vote for Hillary.

Trump has done some very positive things, and I enjoy seeing the huge impact a small positive step can make. But you can’t legislate morality, and that means every democratic form of government is doomed to failure.

MrLiberty
MrLiberty
November 6, 2018 11:24 am

What its about? “Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods.” – H.L. Mencken

And to that I would also add property and rights.

BETOMANIA
BETOMANIA
November 6, 2018 11:26 am

The election is about certifying Trump’s authority. There were also questions about Bush2’s validity. That question got plowed under by the 9/11 emergency war powers act called the Patriot Act.

People have forgotten that the other parts of government were designed to be a check on the president’s power. They have been subliminally induced (it’s your patriotic duty) to vote for automatons who will rubber stamp his every tweet.

Stucky
Stucky
November 6, 2018 11:50 am

Damned fine article. One of Kunstler’s best. A couple small quibbles;

“If the Democrats, whose politics is Identity Politics, get the House and/or Senate, Trump will be completely impotent.”

Is that completely true? Trump still has; 1) Executive Orders and, 2) the Veto Pen. That means, I believe, that Trump is NOT “completely impotent”.

——————— –

“If the vote goes to the Establishment, all is lost.”

I simply don’t understand this. I thought his point — in this article, and many others — is that BOTH PARTIES are the “Establishment”. What am I missing?

polecat
polecat
  Stucky
November 6, 2018 1:31 pm

Kunstler ?? …. Dude !

Mary Christine
Mary Christine
  Stucky
November 6, 2018 2:03 pm

I know, I was going to ask who he thinks the establishment is. I’m guessing but I think he means most if not all Demorats and Rinos.

Rob157
Rob157
  Stucky
November 6, 2018 8:27 pm

“What am I missing?”
The author’s name?…

KaD
KaD
November 6, 2018 11:52 am

Same results as Hilary? I hardly think so. If Hilary was in office we’d be eyeball deep in WW III already.

BETOMANIA
BETOMANIA
  KaD
November 6, 2018 12:08 pm

You don’t know what that scenario would look like. Your pulling stuff out your bottom.

BETOMANIA
BETOMANIA
  BETOMANIA
November 6, 2018 1:47 pm

Seriously, how was Hillary going to be much different from Clinton 1? How is Trump different from Clinton? Both have encouraged the ballooning of debt, puffing up the stock market, military adventurism and drug trafficking – heck, normal folks are dropping dead from opiate abuse.

Prof. Mandlebrot
Prof. Mandlebrot
November 6, 2018 1:42 pm

I voted in 15 midterms and always in the lull of breakfast and lunch around 10:30am. I have never seen this type of turnout, ever. There was a line out the door with over 300 people and no parking left. They said its been that way all day. I left around 11am and the cars were backed up on the highway. These were not blue haired gender confused open border antifa people. These were workimg patriots and retired grandmas. This is gonna be a land freaking slide and sjw tears will cause mudslides nationally, especially in san fran with all that shit everywhere. Revel again in your loss you anti american POS libturds, MAGA baby, MAGA. I am predicting a republican landslide…..

Treefarmer
Treefarmer
  Prof. Mandlebrot
November 6, 2018 2:17 pm

I never understood the need to go vote in person on election day. Who wants to deal with that scene? In the last five states I’ve lived in I’ve been able to vote by mail-in ballot. It’s easy and fast. I realize that there’s a good chance my mailed ballots have never been counted, but at least I didn’t have to deal with the cluster that is going to a polling place on election day.

Jdog
Jdog
November 6, 2018 6:37 pm

I generally vote libertarian, but this election I felt the need to break with my ethics, and vote strictly in opposition to the Democratic Party. This forced me to hold my nose and vote for Republicans, not because I agree with their positions which are still way too liberal for my liking, but because the Democrats have become totally uncivilized and are clearly trying to rule by force.
Anyone who cherishes freedom and liberty has to hold liberals in contempt for wanting to crush freedom and civil rights. The Democrats are now the party of Globalism and a feudal socialist order. They are dangerous and about as anti American in their philosophy as any ideology could possibly be.
It angers me that I must vote against what I despise, other than voting for what I support.

Rob157
Rob157
November 6, 2018 8:14 pm

Thank you, Paul Craig Roberts, for a very blunt, succinct assessment of the situation.
I am sad to watch America become a third world marxist hellhole.

robert h siddell jr
robert h siddell jr
November 6, 2018 10:22 pm

We are watching FSA Demographics destroy America; this may be the Last Stand for Conservatives.