The U.S. Presidential Election of 2016 will not simply go down in history as its most contentious election; it may actually go down as the straw that broke the American camel's back. After the Election, articles appeared in major magazines and newspapers for the first time to introduce the idea of dividing the US.

It is easy to see why. In the summer run-up to the Election, the antipathy of the voting public toward the candidates and the hostility of the candidates toward each other exceeded anything in living memory. November 8th came and went, but the hostility continued, fueled by allegations of voter-fraud. After the Supreme Court refused to hear the petitions for a recount, Democrats routinely described Trump as "Not Our President!" Many of them threatened to leave the country, although few actually did.

I am seventy-years-old and have learned to take the antagonism with a grain of salt. Most of the people I know vote "Bourgeois" before they vote Republican or Democrat. They listen to cable-news a lot for its take on the issues, and for orientation. They express outrage over the actions of the other party more as a self-definition thing, rather than to resolve anything. It's the sick side of being Bourgeois, I guess, and involves a lot of role-playing.

Nevertheless, the Election of 2016 may have changed the rules of the game. The radical-Left group Antifa emerged after the Democrat defeat, ready to do anything. Marginal types took to the street, started fires, threatened people, disrupted public events, and clashed with street-fighters on the Right. Those right-wing street-fighters started their own campaign of violence with the defeat of Trump in 2020.

The National Opinion Research Center (NORC) picked up on the changes in the political environment in its polls during the Summer run-up to the Election of 2016 and published its findings in August of that year: "Americans see their country as deeply divided over values and politics--a gap they do not expect to diminish any time soon."

Furthermore, "Fifty-two percent say the country's best days are in the past." NORC says this represents the opinion of most of the Whites. "Forty-six percent say they (best days) are ahead of us." This position represents the opinion of the nation's Black and Hispanic minorities.

The poll also reports that most Americans form relationships with people who have the same opinions about things and embrace the same cultural standards. Most Americans appeared to understand the ramifications of the 2016 Election and believed that both Presidential candidates would cause a division in the nation--forty-three percent, if Hillary Clinton were elected, and seventy-three percent believing that a Trump victory would. Since Trump won with close to fifty percent of the popular vote, many of those who voted for him also understood the impact his election would have.


Blog

March 31, 2023

How Long Do Republicans Wait?

Americans who vote Republican have to remember that, for people who work for the Republican Party, it's just a job. They may like their jobs. Mostly they prefer to keep their jobs. They may share the Republican sentiment for free-market principles and military readiness; but when someone like me comes along and suggests that Republicans petition for a nation of their own, they worry about things like job-redundancy and relocations more than they do about Democrat big-government and peacenik sell-out.


March 23, 2023

Release Grand Ole Prometheus!

Left-wing trash-talking of the GOP represents a concerted campaign that should concern its leaders. The scathing rhetoric suggests that the trash-talking will not end until the Left can make the GOP the permanent minority-party, and silence or discredit its associated media-organs. Older Americans familiar with the Nazi-smearing of the Jews should note the similarities in the left-wing method. Neither the Republicans nor freedom-loving people of any stripe should ignore the potential threat that these smear-tactics represent.


March 21, 2023

Republicans: a New Start

The Republican Party has a few tasks it needs to undertake. It needs to examine the philosophy it claims to represent and to take stock of its future, and stop thinking in terms of personal rivalries. We have more on the line than just choosing candidates and securing a victory in future elections. The GOP needs to regain a corporate sense-of-self. How can we move forward when we have deep doubts about the game, the rules, and not least the players?


Lloyd Bowers

loybow3@gmail.com


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