Update (11–14–2016): Nationwide, #NotMyPresident and #TrumpRiot protests are surging in Portland, Philly, California, NYC, et al. Some appear to ally with #BlackLivesMatter. I’m working on deconstructing the tangled web of many diverse aggregated interests here.
Depending on your partisan lean, posts and headlines about who is winning will read differently, but likely favorably. I diversify my consumption, following #TCOT and the #NeverTrump Ted Cruz types, #MAGA Trumpeters, #StillSanders Sandernistas, #NeverHillary blends of both partisans, Libertarians and even the newly-Berning #JillStein. Any student of the Social Sciences (namely Political Science) may recognize this ideological gap stretching, Right to Left, from Red Conservative to Yellowish Libertarian and Blue Liberal, and way over to Green Progressive.
Yet, I could not select into #ImWithHer (mainly on account many are so delusional, but so is TCOT.) Recent hashtags have confirmed what many suspected: Thanks to #DNCLeaks, we now know all (or much) of America has been subjected to a pro-Hillary fog throughout much of the Primary election. It reflected in subtle media bias; disgruntled Bernie activists sounded alarms over delayed reporting of results when Bernie swept states (compared to real-time reporting for Hillary), cantankerous caucuses, mysteriously de-registered voters in NYC and AZ and, especially, Superdelegates.
Here we are at the DNC, the apex of the election spectacle, and tarnished as it is by #Wikileaks the spectacle forges on, deaf to the alarms. The DNC Leaks are ongoing and even mainstream media cannot ignore them. And the implications are potentially grave for the DNC and, perhaps, Democracy.
Consider the reality of this situation: The leaked email (and now voicemail) messages indicate, most important of all, the DNC may have colluded with Government and mainstream media. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz has resigned, DNC officials have apologized and swaths of #BernieorBust and #NeverHillary tribes have defected to Jill Stein or Trump. The resignation and apologies are especially telling. For some, they validate that the election was rigged in even a modest definition of the term.
Ironically, the GOP has faced the antithesis of the DNC’s problems. The Democratic Party contrived of Superdelegates in the 1980s to block “grassroots candidates,” which they framed as demagogues. Arguably, this is more of a Donald Trump than a Bernie Sanders, considering vague or empty rhetoric.
Superdelegates are an undemocratic, non-majoritarian mechanism put in place by party elites specifically to “rig” the election. It’s no secret that was the intended purpose from the start.
Therefore, ironically, the GOP in this election is more directly democratic than the Democratic Party is itself. Ultimately, people are angry for the same reason as Black Lives Matter: they rightfully feel there is no justice and they have no voice. For BLM, a consequence of this frustration, when people feel cornered and oppressed, has been attacks on police officers.
In this election, people feel helpless in the face of oppression (or voter suppression) and the separate-but-equal treatment of their political participation. (Affidavit or provisional ballots, impossibility of electing Third Party Candidates, caucuses as exclusive clubs for elites, etc.)
Many GOP elites clung to #NeverTrump, frustrated because their voices were not heard. However, they are the minority. GOP Conservatives realized this and rallied around the nominee, blindly projecting their values onto him.
Trump won by popular support, fair and square. Hillary did not. The entire political landscape in America, other than Hillary and the DNC, likely knows from #DNCLeaks that the Democratic Primaries were neither fair nor just. Media was complicit, as was the DNC and elite officials nationwide.
So, while the DNC rhetoric has been anti-Trump scaremongering, the reality is that, should Hillary win the General Election, the consequences may be exacerbated. Trump won via popular vote because the GOP had no Superdelegates to tip the scales. Even the Colorado caucus gave its best effort to quickly “reform” the RNC and failed. (To be fair, Closed Primary states like NY and AZ stifle turnout for both parties, though it notably hurt Sanders.)
Depending on how everything plays out, and whether future DNC Leaks indicate fraud in the General Election, a Democratic win could be construed to signify more widespread corruption spanning the entire system. (UPDATE: What of Trump’s narrative priming?) At this point, the angry Sandernistas might grow into a bipartisan movement should the Trumpeters and Establishment GOP join in expressing their distrust and frustration.
Thanks to the Internet, the public’s attention span has been lengthening. Information is persistent, available to all online. The days of televised “broadcast democracy” are over. Information trails no longer go cold. People do not forget and move on. Yet, the Establishment has yet to accept this reality. Instead, evidence of corruption is simply ignored and/or dismissed as conspiracy.
This election is unprecedented and may define the future for (or history of) American Democracy. If the Democratic Party can fabricate a nominee with impunity, by controlling the media, using Superdelegates in place of proportional representation, marginalizing votes in Closed Primary states, and etc., and if this undemocratic process elects the next American President, then the People have a right to be up in arms. (To cite John Locke, we have an obligation.)
As it stands, the Republican Party is the last viable avenue through which citizens may participate in the electoral processes democratically, given the DNC’s control over elections. This is something I don’t admit to lightly.
Author’s note: This piece should read with a mostly neutral or balanced partisan lean. I’ve historically voted Libertarian. Briefly, I was wooed by the Bernie “Revolution.” (At this point, personally, I do not support any candidate and have never pledged allegiance to any major party. It’s safe to say I am mostly non-partisan and anti-Establishment across the board.)
I thought to cite the information above, but I didn’t want to distract from the content. Contact me on Twitter @teddyspaghetti and I will gladly provide hints to anyone having a problem finding information. Please research and stay informed.
