FEATURE ARTICLE

Temple Chima UbochiFriday, January 6, 2017
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Bonn, Germany

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FACTORS WHICH DETERMINED THE 2016 UNITED STATES' PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION'S (11)

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Continued from Part 10

Every child deserves the best possible chance at success in school and in life (Clinton Foundation)

...they say if you don't vote, you get the government you deserve, and if you do, you never get the results you expected (E.A. Bucchianeri)

There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution (John Adams)

resident Obama was on the verge of re-writing history, but he lost it all due to some catastrophic mistakes he made towards the middle or the end of his second tenure. The NYT noted that President Obama has as high an approval rating as Ronald Reagan had when he left office. President Obama won two elections with more than 50 percent of the vote. And so it seems like -- and not to psychoanalyze Donald Trump -- it seems like it comes from a place of insecurity". Donald Trump lost the popular vote. Donald Trump didn't get 50 percent of the vote, and Donald Trump is in the 40s in his approval rating going into Inauguration Day, so it's a bit like a star is on stage and he's trying to shove the popular star off the stage but the popular star isn't leaving yet." No matter what, the Democratic Party, that was supposed to be basking in the euphoria of winning the presidential election, three times in a row, is now forlorn.

Trump is jittery, and is not happy that his win is tainted by Russian cyberattacks, and also that he lost the popular votes by such a wide margin (the final popular vote was certified on Dec. 22; Clinton won nearly 2.9 million more votes than Trump). Trump's impeachment is loading, as many GOP senators are so independent minded to make decisions incompatible with their Party's position! The point, as noted by Chauncey DeVega also, is that Trump remains widely unpopular among the American people and lost the popular vote to Clinton. He is besieged by scandal and rumors of impropriety or corruption that might constitute violations of the United States Constitution. Trump is virtually certain to take the oath of office as president on January 20, and the United States' political crisis is likely to become more severe.

In about two weeks, Donald J. Trump will become the 45th president of the United States. No doubt, that will bring joy or pain to so many people, depending on what ones thinks of such an unusual election result. The New York Times is right by writing that "Political analysts have talked about how ignorance, racism, sexism, nationalism, Islamophobia, economic disenfranchisement and the decline of the middle class contributed to the popularity of Mr. Trump in rural America". Trump has won the election and the electoral college, but still many Americans are worried that his presidency would be a disaster, and that he might end up like George Bush, meaning that after his tenure, Americans would be looking for another Obama to clear Trump's mess- Just as Obama cleared George Bush's messes (but ended up losing every good thing he did by his arrogance and overt support for gays and lesbians).

No doubt, many Americans doubts Trump's ability to perform well as the nation's leader, in other words, Trump's upcoming presidency continues to worry most Americans, and K. T. Walsh wrote that Donald Trump has secured his victory in the Electoral College, guaranteeing that he will take over the White House, but most Americans remain pessimistic or uncertain about the Trump presidency. A new poll shows that Americans still have serious doubts about how Donald Trump will perform as president: Fifty-four percent of adults say they are either uncertain (25 percent) or pessimistic and worried (29 percent) about how Trump will perform as president, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. This compares with 45 percent who are either optimistic and confident (22 percent) or satisfied and hopeful (23 percent). The pollsters, according to The Washington Post, said this is a significantly worse outlook than Americans exhibited after the elections of both Democrat Barack Obama and Republican George W. Bush. A combined 66 percent were either optimistic or hopeful about Obama in January 2009, and 59 percent were optimistic or hopeful about Bush in January 2001".

Karma as Factor:

Karma was one of the reasons Hillary Clinton lost the election. In my two parts article, published a day to the election, caption "Karma's a bitch: The 2016 United States' Presidential Election", I wrote these excerpts, when the issue of the Russian cyberattacks became very hot topic, few days before November 8:

"President Obama is getting a taste of his own medicine, and should tell us how he feels now. There's no way America will be a "killer" of others, but will be a lover of its own life. America can't mess up other people's countries, and expect its own to remain intact; American can't cause wars in other places, and expect its own country to be peaceful. After the FBI Director release the latest information, President Obama asked the agency not to operate on innuendo, and defended Hillary Clinton's "integrity".

Now, everybody is afraid that Trump has Russian ties, and that Russia has been releasing hurtful information about Hillary Clinton. Infact, Clinton's campaign has alleged that the recent trove of documents relating to the US elections, the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton, published by WikiLeaks, as part of its Podesta dumps, did come from the Russian government. There's fear that Russia might do everything to influence the outcome of the presidential election, and the American government says it's ready to hit back, if Russia tries to hack the election. Now, suddenly, Obama and other Americans saw the evil in foreigners meddling in American politics, something they have been doing to other peoples of other countries for a long time. For Obama, America doesn't operate on innuendo, but when it comes to Nigeria or other countries, operating on innuendoes is allowed. That's a double standard. So, reap what you sowed, America".

The latest is that it has been confirmed that the U.S. intercepts captured senior Russian officials celebrating Trump win, as The Washington Post wrote that Senior officials in the Russian government celebrated Donald Trump's victory over Hillary Clinton as a geopolitical win for Moscow, according to U.S. officials who said that American intelligence agencies intercepted communications in the aftermath of the election in which Russian officials congratulated themselves on the outcome. The ebullient reaction among high-ranking Russian officials - including some who U.S. officials believe had knowledge of the country's cyber campaign to interfere in the U.S. election - contributed to the U.S. intelligence community's assessment that Moscow's efforts were aimed at least in part at helping Trump win the White House. According to a senior U.S. official, "the Russians felt pretty good about what happened on Nov. 8 and they also felt pretty good about what they did".

Also, Junious Ricardo Stanton, noted that Karma contributed to Hillary Clinton's loss, and he wrote that "Karma is an ancient concept that was articulated in India but you find it in most indigenous cultures, it simply means we reap what we sow It is the law of cause and effect. Karma applies to all actions, it applies to our thoughts, values, motives and actions, there are always consequences for everything. Karma is personal and collective. The consequences may not be quantifiable nevertheless there are consequences. There is an old saying, "whatever is in the well will come out in the bucket." The election results shouldn't have surprised you, if you were in tune with the pulse and sentiment of the masses and not the corporate media. The corporate media's function is to create perceptions, to manufacture public opinion, to distract us from what is really going on and shill for the 1%. The media rarely reports on or focuses on the increasing income inequality, the hardening economic apartheid, the decline in the standard of living and rising tide of indebtedness for Americans young and old.

Discontent has been percolating beneath the American psyche for a long, long time. This discontent first manifested during George W. Bu$h's term as president. Millions were upset about the 2000 election results when the US Supreme Court stopped the Florida vote count and gave the election to Bu$h. The discontent spread because of corporate fraud but abated following 9-11 by the media propaganda for the bogus "war on terror". Ultimately it was the wars and the collapse of the global economy that spurred new feelings of angst and dissatisfaction. This anxiety manifested openly in the Tea Party, an amorphous assortment of dissidents mostly of conservative and libertarian bent worried about the direction of the country. But the Koch brothers co-opted the grassroots Tea Party movement into an ultra conservative arm of the Republican Party and set Glen Beck and Sara Palin up as their spokesperson figureheads. The discontent did not disappear or dissolve.

Next came the Occupy Wall Street movement that exposed the US class war. Because of Occupy, the term 1% is part of our everyday vocabulary. The Occupy Wall Street movement spread across the country and around the world. After ignoring it for several months the corporate media began to demonize and mock them. Finally Obama forcibly shut the Occupy Wall Street movement down all across the country in 2011 so they would not be a factor in the 2012 election!

Fast forward to Tuesday November 8, 2016: Hillary Clinton lost the election for numerous reasons foremost because the people wanted "real change'. A Gallup Poll showed Americans' satisfaction with the way things were going dropped from 29% in June of 2016 to 17% in July one month later. A twelve point drop in one month! Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump addressed this dissatisfaction, Hillary Clinton did not. Bernie Sanders' Socialist message and popularity forced Hillary Clinton to adopt his populous rhetoric but people knew she was Wall Street's girl. In a twisted irony Donald Trump a billionaire businessman, a non politician and reality TV celebrity became the voice of resistance, the embodiment of the revolt against the 1%.

Clinton's Karma caught up with her. Her warmongering, her active support of her husband's policies that led to mass incarceration of Black and Brown people, the repeal of the Glass Steagall Act which opened the way to Wall Street shenanigans and the crash of 2007-08, the passage of NAFTA that led to the loss of millions of jobs and the demise of American manufacturing, what they said about and against Barack Obama in 2008, the Clinton Global Initiative and the Clinton Foundation were exposed as money laundering influence peddling, pay to play operations. Her Karma was too much to overcome so she lost.

What is the lesson for us? Black people were the only major constituency that still voted for Hillary Clinton, even though not to the level we supported Barack Obama. How is it knowing how the Clintons' policies negatively impacted our communities, millions of Black people still voted for her? Why did we vote for her despite the Leakileaks, despite how Bill Clinton and George W Bu$h ripped off our people in Haiti?! What can we learn from this? We come from an ancient people of genius who made a way out of no way. We were resilient and resourceful when we couldn't vote, when the US Constitution supported slavery and politicians did not court our opinions. Let's not succumb to fear, despair or defeat over Donald Trump's election. Let us rekindle the energy and spirit that allowed us to survive slavery, violence, state and Klan terror to rise up and dismantle legal apartheid. Let us create a new vision for ourselves and create positive Karma".

Clinton Foundation as a Factor:

It has been alleged that the Foundation is a cesspool of corruption, and that the Clintons have surreptitiously enriched themselves, and were not providing truthful information about their donors and activities to the authorities. Before going far, one of the reasons Hillary lost, apart from the corrupt tendencies of the Foundation, was the fact that the Clintons forgot that "charity begins at home". What do I mean? The Clinton Foundation goes all over the world offering helps to poor children, but in America, so many children are facing destitution and need help. Knowing that she will be contesting, why didn't the Foundation tackle the destitution at home, rather than going afar to do good needed at home? The Clinton forgot that a Chinese Proverb says "Better do a good deed near at home than go far away to burn incense".

Going through the Foundation's website, I read its wonderful message (but, is it practicing what it preaches?): "Too Small to Fail aims to help parents, communities, and businesses take specific actions to improve the health and well-being of children from birth to age five so that more of America's children are prepared for success. Too Small to Fail's public awareness and action campaign raises awareness among parents and caregivers about the critical importance of talking, reading, and singing during everyday moments and provides them with tools to engage in these language-rich interactions".

There are many parents, communities and businesses in America the Clinton Foundation are not helping to improve the health and well being of their children, so why didn't the Clinton start helping those, around them, who're suffering, rather than investing almost everything in Haiti, South America, Caribbean, Africa and Asia?

Meanwhile, five different FBI offices are probing the Clinton Foundation on suspicion of public corruption. The Wall Street Journal called this "a sprawling cross-country effort." While Clinton apologists call the foundation a font of beneficence, its 2014 IRS filings show that it spent a whopping 5.76 percent of its funds on actual charitable activities - far below the 65 percent that the Better Business Bureau calls kosher. That paltry figure also mocks Hillary's Las Vegas lie, uttered at the final presidential debate on October 19: "We at the Clinton Foundation spend 90 percent - 90 percent of all the money that is donated on behalf of programs of people around the world and in our own country." The Clinton Foundation seems to be a bribe pump that sucks in money and spews out favors".

TIT BITS

Remembering the Greek British born George Michael, who died some days ago! He was one of the finest voices ever (Rest well George)

Listen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izGwDsrQ1eQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVOXmhn-AcA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQVWYu4BdMo

THE THANX IS ALL YOURS!!!

Continued from Part 10

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