TRUMP VICTORY
[col. writ. 11/9/16] ©2016 by Mumia Abu-Jamal
I didn’t see this coming.
The words I never thought I’d say, “President Trump”, have become reality.
In a remarkable campaign, full of bile, hatred, fear and loathing, guess what?
Fear won.
Hatred now gulps a chilled glass of champagne.
This campaign has been marked by scenes we have never seen before, by words we’ve never heard said on TV or radio, by screams about a “rigged system, folks.”
When a billionaire shouts about a rigged system, you’d better believe it; ’cause it is, but in his favor, not against him.
Donald Trump has received billions of dollars in free media and cable coverage, which lifted his campaign from farce into solidity.
After every campaign stop, the strains of a song: ?”You can’t always get what you wa-an-ant!”?, was heard.
It is now clear. You can’t.
Today, a new, dark day dawns in America, as a curtain falls over the Obama presidency, and with it, the last vestiges of Clintonism.
For many across America, the presidential election has left them distraught, awash with anxiety, fear and even dread.
It seems surreal. A candidate caught on tape, saying what he said, who launched a pernicious hate campaign directed at Mexicans and Muslims, a man who seemed to embody a sense of doom. And yet; and yet….
Donald Trump has snatched the brass ring; the prize of prizes of politics; his first and only political race and political win. For good or ill, this election may transform American politics.
It would be accurate to say that economic discontent played a part, the result of the Clinton-era NAFTA pact (for the North American Free Trade Agreement).
But that’s not all. The Trump campaign represented not just fear, but profound paranoia–and also white revenge for the darkening of America.
If Trumpism represented vengeance, then Clintonism represented betrayal. For every constituency that voted for Bill Clinton, gays, Blacks, you name it, the Clintons supported bills against their interests, like DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act), the AEDPA (an anti-habeas corpus bill), or NAFTA, despite massive labor support.
These are indeed dark days in Babylon. Yet, believe it or not, this too shall pass.
