Empire in Decline: When the Oligarchy Inherits the Wind

[Oscar]

Empire in Decline: When the Oligarchy Inherits the Wind

[ http://commondreams.org/views/2016/09/0 ... erits-wind ]

by John Atcheson Sunday, September 11, 2016 Published on Wednesday, September 07, 2016 by Common Dreams


The unthinkable may well happen.

The US may elect as President a racist, xenophobic, narcissistic, con man with no knowledge of policy or governance.

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The answer to the headscratchers and the rest of the establishment lies in these three studies. People have had it with the politics of privilege, and the favoritism of the elite, by the elite. That, Dr. Krugman and the rest of the establishment media, is why Hillary’s emails showing favoritism to those donating to the Clinton Foundation—which was established to do good, after all—is sticking, while Trump’s many more, and worse, transgressions get a pass.

The Democratic Party still lives in Davos-land, a place where it’s still possible to believe—or at least pretend—that serving the ultra-rich and corporations while purporting to represent the people at the same time is anything but a conflict of interest. The people aren’t buying it.

Republicans—shocked that their silent dog whistle politics of hate, racism, jingoism and militarism has turned loud and rowdy and explicit—are still trying desperately to understand what happened to JEB! And Marco.

Meanwhile, a lunatic hatemonger is getting nearer and nearer to having his tiny fingers on the nuclear code.

The people who told us Hillary was our best shot to win, and who then stacked the deck so she would, have a lot to answer for. Sanders was ahead of Trump by double digits, at a time when Hillary was even or behind in polls, and it’s getting increasingly clear that he would have been a far stronger candidate in the general election.

But Hillary was the Oligarch’s candidate, and the Oligarchy still rules the Democratic Party, and still seems intent on turning elections into a something with all the truth and reality of a Kabuki dance in a Potemkin village.

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John Atcheson is author of the novel, A Being Darkly Wise, an eco-thriller and book one of a trilogy centered on global warming. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the San Jose Mercury News and other major newspapers. Atcheson’s book reviews are featured on Climateprogess.org .