Nixon/Humphrey-Trump/Clinton

wv wrote:

One man thinks back about his decision to not vote for the lesser evil of Hubert Humphrey.
w
v
1968:https://zcomm.org/zmagazine/the-lousy-reason-i-didnt-vote-in-1968-and-why-sanderss-supporters-shouldnt-fall-for-it/

“…We failed to understand Nixon and what was at stake

Our failure was not in our assessment of Humphrey but in our failure to understand Nixon and what was at stake. We could have turned the close election in favor of Humphrey. We could not have moved the election results by 5 points, but we certainly could have moved the needed one….” see link

Thanks, WV. Great article. Though I think his description of 1968 is much better than his description of now. I’m guessing he thought he already made his case in the first part, and he didn’t need to go over the obvious similarities/paralles between Trump and George Wallace, for instance, or Trump and Nixon . . . or the fact that if America elects Trump, it’s electing a hard-right GOP along with him. It’s electing hard-right government, and pretty much giving it carte blanche.

Trump, just like Wallace, has mobilized white supremacist anger and hatred, and helped mainstream and normalize it. He’s also been preaching hate against immigrants and black and brown people, and is calling for his brown shirts to intimidate PoCs at polling places. He’s real big on “stop and frisk” and “law and order,” as long as no one takes away guns from white people. Perfectly okay with him if this happens in the “ghetto.” But not white folks in Oregon, etc. etc.

In short, I see far too many direct connections between Trump and the hard right, historically — and, yes, that includes fascism and nazism. Just the proposed ban on Muslims alone is Nazi-like, and he added shutting down mosques and mass surveillance of Muslims. I was shocked initially that that didn’t sink him all by itself, and his words and deeds before and after that have been just as revolting.

Again, yes, the Dems suck and HRC is awful. But Trump and the GOP, their “base,” and where they want to take this country? Waaay worse. It’s like a choice between a broken arm and an amputation. The former can heal. The latter?

1968. It was one of those amazing, revolutionary, pivotal years that could have gone either way. Like 1789, 1830, 1848 and 1871.

I don’t count our own, really. Because I think we mostly replaced one (foreign) ruling class with another (home-grown), and for some people, especially Native Americans and the enslaved, the British version was better — relatively speaking. Rotten, but better.

I don’t believe anything is inevitable, or that “history” must move, inexorably in certain directions. Not a Hegelian or a (vulgar) Marxist, when it comes to historical determinism. Have always seen these crucial moments as having all kinds of possibilities, and their effects must differ with the various events in context. New contexts forming, etc. etc.

But, damn. There is a pretty lousy pattern, when it comes to these revolutionary moments in time. Tremendous hopes for radical, positive change, smashed all too quickly by the Power Elite, etc. My guess is I won’t live long enough to see that pattern shattered, but it needs to be.

wv wrote:

I didnt realize or remember that the Humphrey vs Nixon vote was so close. I guess it was very very close.

w
v

I had forgotten that too. I was in Grade School, I think. A few years later, I started buying David Frye albums. He’s probably the best ever impressionist when it comes to Nixon.