I love the musical Les Miserables. I love the songs, and the way the characters celebrate revolution.
Even if it ends badly.
Because I believe that only a revolution can save us and the world we live in.
But Donald Trump has a version of Les Miserables called Les Deplorables...
And it's an absolute nightmare.
And the reason it's a nightmare is because the movement Trump has created combines the legitimate desire for change, with an appeal to the darkest instincts of humanity.
And while every alt-right kook, every far-right racist party or neo-nazi group from Hungary, to France, to Britain and America, makes an appearance in that video.
They are portrayed as a liberating force, and real revolutionaries.
When that video really should be called "Can You Hear the Fascists Singing?"
But not all of Trump's supporters are fascists, many are just so desperate for any kind of change, they'll believe anything, or anyone...
And the challenge for progressives is to build a giant revolutionary movement that can offer the real change so many in the world want, and the hope they so desperately crave.
Because without hope there is only darkness, demagogues, and dictators...
Which is why I prefer my video version of the song "Can you hear the people singing?"
Which I made to pay tribute to the kids of the Umbrella Revolution...
Because that was a progressive revolution, and a light in the darkness.
And in North America at least so is this one...
And that revolution is only beginning.
Trump and his deplorables would only lead us to fascism and the end of everything.
Only progressives can offer real change and hope.
And only progressives can save the world...
Well, Trump is going to lose isn't he? What's the big deal?
ReplyDeleteI mean, Hillary is 15-20, maybe even 40 points ahead right? ... right?
hi anon...no Clinton is not that far ahead. The race is closer than it should be, and Trump can still win. But Clinton still has a little more momentum, a sizeable lead in the electoral college, and a better ground game. So all things being equal she should prevail....
DeleteSadly, Clinton is still only 5 percentage points ahead of Trump in the CNN ongoing poll of those Americans planning to vote. Keep in mind that that the poll is slightly skewed to Democratic voters:
ReplyDeleteClinton 49%
Trump 44%
On CNN, Dana Bash just said Trump could STILL win, even without Florida, but it would be very difficult.
hi David...yes, unfortunately because Clinton is such an uninspiring candidate the race is closer than it should be, so I think it's going to be a cliff hanger all the way to the election. Especially since in Florida Trump now has a two-point lead...
DeleteLin-Manuel Miranda Mocks Trump in Remix of ‘My Shot’ From Hamilton
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONRP5M9YJhc
Lin-Manuel Miranda Presents: The Donald Trump Run-On Sentence Musical
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuVip8tDS30
Hamilton's Lin-Manuel Miranda Sings Donald Trump Tweets In a New Musical
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bNqZt5556k
Trump will win this election just like the Brexit. The staus Quo went all out and the holi poli revolted. Not saying Trump is anything execpt a pile of pooh, but he is better than Hillary. Even Mike Moore agrees, we are voting on the double shit and likely a double tap.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Michael Moore really agrees with you... https://youtu.be/LD1rN4INQkk
DeleteSteve, are you a betting man? Do you want to bet a $100 (I'm serious) on the outcome of the election, since you are so certain Trump will win?
Deletehi Steve...yes, unfortunately you're right, for once. ;) Trump still could win. There could be a hidden vote like there was during the Brexit referendum. But I should point out that if that referendum was held again, the remainers would win, now that many Brexiteers have admitted that they had no idea what they were voting for.
DeleteAnd I'm hoping that even the dumbest Americans will be smarter...
Who lies more? Clinton or Trump?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politifact.com/personalities/hillary-clinton/
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/hillary-clinton/statements/
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/statements/
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1610/18/cnr.05.html
ReplyDeleteBALDWIN: All right, see you in Vegas in a couple of hours. Phil Mattingly, thank you.
Donald Trump still doubling down on his claimants that this election is rigged, that there's widespread voter fraud, even blasting Republican leaders who are denying his allegations of large scale voter fraud. So we had CNN and our fact-checking team take a long look at these allegations. Drew Griffin is the guy to do it. Our CNN senior investigative correspondent joins me now.
I mean the president today said this is unprecedented what Trump's been saying. That it's based on no facts. What did you find?
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: We took a reality check on this whole thing and what we did was we found actual cases of voter fraud occur but they are extremely rare. They have not been prove to be part of any vast conspiracy or attempt to rig an elections and several Republican officials I've talked to from Florida to Philadelphia to out west believe this attempt to smear an election's validity is wrong and without factual basis.
So here's what we did. We asked the Trump campaign what evidence they have that the elections are rigged. They sent us an e-mail listing out several studies that they say prove their point. They actually don't. The Trump camp cherry-picked information to conclude this entire election system is rigged. It's just simply not, Brooke. Study one, researchers at Old dominion University believe they found non-citizens voting in large enough numbers that the results could have actually decided the election in close races. That study is now being challenged because it was an online poll with a small sample size. The author does tell us he stands by his study and he believes that in a very, very close race, a local race, decided by a few dozen votes or even a few votes, non-citizens could, he said, sway a race. It's never happened. He has no evidence of it.
Study two, Pew Research which showed problems with voter registration lists basically being outdated with dead people still listed as eligible to vote. But the study does not mention a single example of an actual vote fraud. None of those dead people voted.
Study three is about voter fraud in Philadelphia. It was done by a Philadelphia city commissioner and cites a handful of examples of fraud in Philadelphia. But any conclusion that it proves the system is rigged is completely false, according to the author, who is a Republican. In the last two years, he tells me, eight people in Philadelphia have been convicted of voter fraud. Eight people. Nothing that would swing an election.
BALDWIN: So you just touched on one of the allegations that dead people are voting.
GRIFFIN: Right.
BALDWIN: And it's coming from Rudy Giuliani, who is saying dead people are voting. They're voting for Democrats, not Republicans. Is that true?
GRIFFIN: Again, we're asking the Trump campaign for specifics. They pointed us to a report of dead people voting in Colorado. A television news station uncovered evidence that dead people in Colorado have been voting in several elections over the past few years. How many? Six to seven. Six to seven total. The secretary of state's office says the minute they found out about it, they began re-scrubbing the system to try and eliminate even that possible avenue of fraud. But, again, this is six or seven people in all of Colorado. According to the secretary of state's office, among these six or seven people involved, they were mail-in ballots that were basically sent to homes traditionally homes that vote Republican, Brooke. So the second part of the allegation was dead people, mostly dead Democrats vote, we couldn't find any evidence of that as well.
[14:10:18] BALDWIN: Voting for Democrats. OK, thank you for checking. Facts are important -
GRIFFIN: Right.
BALDWIN: As we talk about this election. Drew Griffin, thank you.
[snip]
Ever hear of "A Modest Proposal" (1729) by Jonathan Swift?
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Modest_Proposal
A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People From Being a Burthen to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick,[1] commonly referred to as A Modest Proposal, is a Juvenalian satirical essay written and published anonymously by Jonathan Swift in 1729. Swift suggests that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food for rich gentlemen and ladies. This satirical hyperbole mocks heartless attitudes towards the poor, as well as British policy toward the Irish in general. In English writing, the phrase "a modest proposal" is now conventionally an allusion to this style of straight-faced satire.
Now read:
THE TRUMPING OF GOD’S COUNTRY
A Modest Proposal by Aeon 999
http://musemash.tumblr.com/post/152260319810/the-trumping-of-gods-country-a-modest-proposal
hi David...thanks for that list of cartoons on Tumblr. I'm glad to see one of my creations made the list. The one who made that list has really good taste... ;)
DeleteHi Simon. And below the cartoons is the article! Did you read it?
Deletehi David...yes I did, and it was most entertaining. Although I'm sure it will only compound my Post Traumatic Election Disorder... ;)
DeleteCannot stand either one of them. The 1 thing I like from him is term limits. We as Canadians should discuss it. I think it is more important than electoral reform. Especially in our echo chamber.
ReplyDeletehi anon...yes it isn't a great choice. And yes, Trump does ave a couple of good ideas that resonate with Americans. But the problem is that they are all mixed up with crazy bigot stuff. And I honestly believe that Trump is too unstable to be president...
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