Both elections revolve around the notion that the Establishment is always trying to sell us heros. Much of our entertainment media is focused on it and in the last 10 years there has been an explosion of movies literally about heros (super-hero genre). 2008 Barack Obama was the perfect Leftwing Hero (LWH). 2016 Trump in the perfect Rightwing Hero (RWH).
There are a myriad of similarities between their campaigns but often these similarities or connections are because their attributes are perfectly diametrically opposed. For example Obama was loved and fawned over by the rest of the world while Trump was hated and feared. What makes it similar is how farcically extreme each candidates experience was. The left wants their hero loved by the rest of the world hence why Obama, the LWH, was shown to be loved by the world to a silly degree to his supporters. Trump was hated and feared by the rest of the world and his supporters where made sure to know it, because the right is intensely nationalist so the world disliking their hero is a sign to them that Trump is indeed the RWH.
Normal people, bitten by an irradiated campaign victory for President, are transformed into the most powerful person in the world, with a benevolent heart, who will serve and sacrifice for the American people. Through this fantasy the Establishment manufactures consent of the left and the right.
These election psyops reinforce the false notion that our electoral system is a vehicle for governmental policy change. Another feature of the psyops is the classic "divide and conquer" as it pits citizen verse citizen through manufactured issues, driven expertly by the Establishment media. The election of each hero gives the Establishment room to pass obviously establishment favoring policies, as each hero earns a lot of leeway from their supporters because they are the RW or LW Hero. Paradoxically the LWH gives the Establishment more room to pass pro-establishment right wing policies and the RWH will give them more room to pass pro-establishment leftwing policies that their respective party supporters would normally resist. For example I wouldn't be surprised if Trump where the one to pass gun control laws that a Democrat would never get passed.
I had assumed like most everyone else that Hillary Clinton would win the 2016 presidential election. Either way though I felt assured that whoever won, it would be who the Establishment wanted. If they cant manufacture their result and rig something they have had so much control over for decades they wouldn't be the Establishment. So when Trump won it was clear to me he was the one the Establishment wanted all along and so began the process of trying to understand why.
I watched a mainstream site on youtube on mute to watch the electoral map on election night while I listened to a libertarian/rightwing'esq group of alternative media personalities commenting live on an audio stream. There were a couple who I know just the day before would have argued that the Establishment will get whoever they want. Everyone assumed the Establishment wanted Hillary so it was an easy thing for the libertarian/rightwing'esq alternative media pundit to argue. But as it became clear that Trump was going to win euphoria took them over and that same pundit exclaimed that the election of Trump was a huge middle finger to the Establishment. If you believe the Establishment gets whoever they want, the previous statement is nonsensical. They middle fingered themselves? What?
And that's when it hit me. I was experiencing the 2008 Obama campaign and election all over again but just of the rightwing flavor. I was the type of person they would customize the LWH for and I fell for Obama hook, line, and sinker in 2008. I experienced that euphoria. I only recently started listening to more rightwing alternative media in order to get more perspectives and information. It was that exposure that helped me understand that many of the qualities I was naturally turned off by of Trumps were actually not flaws in his campaign but rather features that signaled to the right wing that their RWH had arrived.
The day after the election a foreign family member of mine messaged her American family asking what the heck was going on over here in the US. I gave a very bare-bones version of this thesis and based off the 2008 playbook I made some predictions. While both Obama and Trump were sold as "outsiders", like Obama, Trump will pack his administration with Washington insiders. Now some of his possible folks had leaked before the election and I knew about that. But it will be on the level of the absurd. Since the election we already hear names like Rudy Giuliani, Newt Gingrich, and Jaimi Dimon. But as Trump is the RWH his supporters will not only give him a pass, but defend him as happened with Obama.
I predicted that just as Obama talked a big game about all the Bush crimes like torture or rendition, Trump will also find some form of "look forward, not backward" in regards to Hillary. I didn't hear Trumps victory speech until after I wrote that prediction (of course I cannot prove that), but early on in that speech was the beginning pivot away from going after Hillary.
"Hillary has worked very long and very hard over a long period of time, and we owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country.
(APPLAUSE)
I mean that very sincerely"
From 2008 to 2010 Obama had filibuster proof majorities in both Houses. However he was often "blocked" or "forced to compromise" during those first two years by blue dog democrats. The Democrats had filibuster proof majorities so the Republicans couldn't stop him. In 2016 Trump has majorities in both Houses, but not filibuster proof majorities. However the Democrats haven't seemed to use the filibuster strategy as aggressively as the Republicans have so I am guessing Trumps more radical agenda items will be "blocked" or "forced into compromise" by his own party, just like for Obama. If I had to guess who the narrative has set up for Trumps blockers to be I would guess the old guard Republicans like Lindsey Graham or John McCain. Trumps walls, or Muslim visa bans, or mass deportations will be blocked or extremely watered down.
My final prediction right now as I look at the 2008 playbook is that I think we will get another financial crash before Trump officially takes office. The fact that the 2008 crash was well underway before Obama took office meant that he bore little culpability for the crush to the public. Even the rightwing didn't blame Obama for the 2008 crash as he had only recently even become a Senator. With no culpability and an election psyop engineered "mandate of the people" Obama was free to pass any pro-establishment policies the elite wanted with next to no opposition. In fact every time Obama would manage to pass something gutted of everything populist that it may have started with (The 2008 Obama campaign was extremely populist in rhetoric) the leftwing would joyfully bask in another core quality they look for in their LWH: someone who brings both parties together, heals the divide, to pass legislation.
The stage is set to use Trump in exactly the same fashion. Where 2008 Obama was trusted by the leftwing for his populist rhetoric, the right will accept whatever Trump offers as a solution because it will be a mixture of Trumps "blunt talk" and his supporters deference to his business acumen. I am not here to argue whether or not Trump has actually been a successful businessman. I just claim that largely that's what the right think of Trump as that is a core quality of the RWH.
My plan for now is to explore the different aspects of this play from their election psyop playbook. I am curious to see if the thesis holds up under greater scrutiny and if so, if it could allow us to better read elections going forward. But you know, meandering. So we'll see.
No comments:
Post a Comment