Words of support from Steve Bhaerman

[wisewomn]

November 11, 2016

There Is No Joy in Doodyville

Mighty Democracy Has Struck Out

"Now that Mr. Bluster the new mayor of Doodyville,
how will we dig out from all of this doody?"
-- Swami Beyondananda

I still remember the first time I realized I was on the wrong planet.

I was five or six years old, and it was my first experience with elections. It was the early days of television, and like just about every other kid my age, my answer to, "Hey kids, what time is it?" was "It's Howdy Doody time!"

One day, Buffalo Bob announced that we could vote for Mayor of Doodyville -- either Howdy Doody, or the ominous and grumpy Mr. Bluster. It was a no-brainer for me. Following the instructions carefully, I wrote my choice accompanied by the Wonder Bread wrapper that qualified me to vote, stuck it in the envelope, mailed it and awaited the foregone election of the (little) people's choice, Howdy Doody.

You can imagine my shock, chagrin and exasperated confusion when it was announced that Mr. Bluster was the new mayor of Doodyville! I couldn't believe so many misguided kids out there could have chosen such obvious badness over such obvious goodness. Of course, I didn't realize at the time that there really wasn't an "election" and that the plot required Mr. Bluster in the mayor's role.

Now 60+ years later ... so what else is new?

Once again we have a Phineas T. Bluster in charge of our beloved Doodyville. And once again, THAT election too might have been fixed because it served another "plot".

The Good News / Bad News -- Hillary Actually Won

In the sadness, fear and anger following the election results, sane and reverent people have gone through all of the coping mechanisms. Blame Hillary and the DNC. Blame those who chose third party candidates. Reflect on the neglected left-behinds in the "rust belt" states that Michael Moore accurately predicted would shift the balance to Trump. Get stoned -- hey, it's soon to be legal in California (until of course the Trump regime trumps that too). Make plans to move to Canada ... or as it will be called once global warming has fully manifested, Tropicananda.

Reach out to our otherwise-intelligent friends who pulled the lever for Trump, hoping that they'd offer up some redeeming hidden trait or saving grace that Donald could offer. Perhaps they saw something in Donald Trump -- like courage and independence -- that was lost to us amidst the onslaught of what was clearly a media campaign to destroy him just as surely as they created him. Some friends are joyful because by defeating Hillary we "avoided World War III" or because Hillary and her menagerie of perverts will be going to jail. Others are going, uh-oh, as they recognize that World War IV -- the one being waged on the natural world by unnatural capitalism is moving fool speed ahead.

The one thing we hadn't considered in the midst of all this grievous handwringing is one piece of good news / bad news: Hillary actually won.

Not only did she win the popular vote, but according to long-time electoral watchdog and whistle-blower Mark Crispin Miller, she very likely won the electoral vote as well.

Jonathan Simon at Code Red echoes these thoughts and goes even further: In swing states Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, there was an "outcome-altering" discrepancy between exit polls and vote count. While this doesn't necessarily mean there was fraud, Simon concludes: "I call on County Election Directors, Secretaries of State, the United States Congress, and President Obama to initiate an investigation into the outcome of the 2016 election."

Further confirmation of possible fraud comes from Theodore de Macedo Soares
who uncovered fraudulent results in the Democratic primaries, and from journalist Greg Palast.

OK, so what?

First of all, the cry for electoral reform is coming from many quarters, including Michael Moore's call to eliminate the Electoral College. There is even a petition to call on Electoral College electors to award THIS election to the one who won the most popular votes, Hillary Clinton.

A long shot, for sure ...

But there is one chance, our one Hail Mary pass that might work, and that is widely -- and I mean widely -- proliferate the evidence that there was manipulation, and do exactly what Jonathan Simon at Code Red called for. Do a literal recount of those states and ballots in question. As he and Mark Crispin Miller say, there is likely a paper trail for these ballots, at least some of them.

What would happen if 10 or 20 or 30 million angry and concerned voters recognized this smoking gun as a sign of another stolen election, and did exactly what Donald Trump was prepared to tell his minions to do? Now of course the same tactics the Republicans allegedly used against Hillary, Hillary used against Bernie. (See the articles and interviews above.) But as I have maintained all along, this isn't about Hillary, it's about us. It's about the majority of people being thwarted and held in check by literally a one-party system.

And seriously ... if tens of millions of voters presented a petition to President Obama -- as it becomes more and more clear what the consequences of a Trump presidency would be to American Muslims, Mexicans, African Americans, women and gays, the environmental and climate change movements, and anyone who dares to speak out (Trump's notion of strengthening the libel laws could put critics of corporations like Monsanto in criminal jeopardy) -- perhaps that would be enough to spark the courage that has been so long missing over on the Democratic side.

We shall see. Meanwhile ...

Unity Is Our Spiritual Firewall

The even more obscured missing piece (peace) in this entire post-electoral shit storm is that despite the obvious polarization, we have a deeply UNITED body politic. The vast majority of Americans from across the political divide agree that our pay-to-play system is corrupt, and broken.

The problem is, each pipeline has an extremely contradictory narrative. If you listen to the left, Trump is a sociopathic ogre who will institute a fascist regime. If you tune in to the alt right, you find out that Hillary is a murderer and associates with perverts. (I'm not going to link to any of this stuff. It's out there if you want to find it. I can even see where it sounds convincing, particularly to those of us who've already been exposed -- no pun intended -- to the cozy relationship between politics and perversion.)

And ... here is the real question.

What about the vast, vast majority of the American people who want to live and earn a living in peace and wish the same for others, who want financial wellbeing and are willing to work for it, who want to have savings when they retire? Or those who want clean air, water, and food and a future for their children? And who want to be able to trust their government and governance?

Because the political conversation has been dictated by the political class, by the two warring parties, we the people have been caught in the crossfire. We've reluctantly joined one of the two sides, based on which narrative appeals to our background, proclivities and nature. A friend chose Trump over Hillary because her election would be a "catastrophe" whereas his a mere "disaster." No, I am not joking.

What about the fact that we just spent $2 billion and probably billions of human hours of precious time pummeling one another -- even though we fundamentally want the SAME THINGS? What's wrong with this picture?

Well ... when you look at the picture from the right angle, you see that the only way we can possibly "overgrow" this toxic system is not with a dictatorial strongman, not by putting a pretty face on a toxic empire, but by an independent community of sane and reverent people from across the political divide. To repeat what my friend Joseph McCormick the transpartisan activist emailed me from China last weekend, there is a well-known saying there: "Neighbors fight, landlord benefits."

Or as I put it less elegantly, "United we stand. Divided we're fucked."

There has been lots of upset and anger on the left, and some horrific and racist threats coming from purported Trump supporters. We are on the verge of losing our democracy entirely, as the cycle of expression and repression escalates. People are talking about leaving the country. Well, I ain't planning on going anywhere, but I am not a fool about fascism. Nor am I willing to compromise my safety or the wellbeing of young people who have their lives ahead of them. I see many things in the world that are working, and I see huge challenges, like climate change, that will be the greatest opportunity for our species growing into maturity.

And that is why I am whole-heartedly supporting my colleague Stephen Dinan as he moves forward with his Day of Healing in Washington, D.C. that will be broadcast live and for free this Sunday, November 13th from 3 to 5 pm ET. You can go here to register.

Speakers include Republican Presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), Marianne Williamson, Dr. Oz, Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Rich Tafel, founder of the Log Cabin Republicans, and many other clergyfolks, uniters and entertainers. The stated purpose of the event is in Stephen's words, "to come together in a spirit of unity, forgiveness, and solidarity so that we can better address the challenges our nation faces."

If you think it is a denial of our differences or the challenges we face being ruled by a Donald Trump, think again. It is the spiritual firewall to protect all the American people as we go through this difficult passage, and designed to keep us unified so that we keep our eye on the prize -- liberty and justice for all.

My hope is that this will lead to an ongoing "civilian" board of advisors to protect the commonwealth and the common good, and to cultivate a consensus reality that will overgrow the bitterness and focus on the virtues and values we have in common.

I have spoken to countless individuals who have gone through horrific personal challenges and have said, "It was the best thing that ever happened to me." Now you already know that I am an "optimystic" -- to me, the glass is never 95% empty, it's 5% full. I can only see the "election" of Donald Trump as an evolutionary crisis that is forcing us to face the "music" we have put off facing for so long.

May we learn to dance together, and salvage our spirit, and our democracy.