TO KEEP IT SIMPLE

"The frustrated follow a leader less because of their faith that he is leading them to a promised land than because of their immediate feeling that he is leading them away from their unwanted selves.  Surrender to a leader is not a means to an end but a fulfillment.  Whither they are being led is of secondary importance."
                                         Eric Hoffer
                                         The True Believer

"They've got the guns, but we've got the number.  Gonna win, yeah, we're taking over.  COME ON!"
                                                                                              The Doors
                                                                                              "Five to One"

  A sad fact of life is that sometimes, the best we can do is not good enough.  This is especially true when we set specific goals.  A brutality clear example of this reality is the presidential election of 2016.  The result, which shocked both sides, has set off a furious round of blame casting among the losers.  The winners of course are preoccupied with grabbing the spoils.  Hillary Clinton's supporters are desperate to find reasons for her stunning loss, so that the proper heads will roll.  We lost.  Hillary Clinton was an experienced and capable presidential candidate with a smart, well-disciplined, organized campaign staff.  She campaigned on issues and programs that set well with most Americans, including many who voted against her.  She won all three debates and the popular vote.  Yet she lost the election, and her party lost everything else.  The Democrats put up a good fight and got whipped.  They need to accept it--not "get over it" as the victors demand, implying they should bow down and slink off.  But if they are to even have a "next time", not to mention win it, they need to accurately appraise the opposition and realize what happened.  Otherwise there is no rematch.
  After an unexpected loss, human nature demands explanations and scapegoats.  Again, the Democrats put up their best efforts and still lost.  The election was not entirely above board, but under current laws, rules, and practices, it was fair enough--or at least legal.  Voting restrictions probably kept some Democratic voters away from the polls, and campaign finance laws probably gave the plutocratic side a lopsided advantage.  We would do well as a nation to work together to make changes that will make our elections freer and fairer.  Good luck getting the winners to help.  But none of these change the fact that nearly half the voters were eager to vote against their obvious self-interest.
  Did the Democrats ignore the needs and fears of the white working class?  Good question.  But are the aspirations of white workers different from those of working people in other ethnic groups?  Strengthening Social Security, Medicare, and unions have been proven to help all workers.  Democrats campaigned for them, while Republicans made no bones about their opposition.  The Republicans won--not only the White House (Donald Trump, after all, was never clear on how he really felt) but the Congress and most states.  Naturally, they had the support of the business class and elites, who look on labor as an expense to be reduced wherever possible.  But they could not win on those numbers alone.  White laborers voted for politicians who vowed to make life tougher for the working class.
  Is climate change only a threat to liberals?  Is the overwhelming scientific evidence that climate change is happening, and is caused by humans, false?  Obviously, the Left Coast liberals are first to suffer from rising oceans, but are other Americans immune?  Democrats campaigned on facts, Republicans on wishful thinking.  We live in an age of conflicting "facts", but the truth is still available, and people who use their reasoning powers can find the truth if they want to.  Yet nearly half the voters chose to renounce the evidence of their own rational observations.  These people are as intelligent as anyone else, and in everyday matters quite capable of gathering evidence and solving problems.  There is no logical explanation for their forsaking reason in this matter.  We must look elsewhere.
  Donald Trump is a genuine leader, after the fashion of other autocrats: able to persuade crowds to follow them blindly.  He promises only that he will be the unsung workers' "voice", and will make the country "great again." Hoffer attributes the success of people like Trump to a general sense of frustration on the part of people who are modestly successful, but who feel their prospects are severely  limited.  We can theorize, but without getting inside their heads, we cannot know how they actually feel.  So far, they appear impervious to rational arguments.  And now we face the real prospect of fascism, right here in the United States of America.  We have been flirting with fascism for nearly a century, and the flirtation has finally gotten serious--the date rape happened.  If we want to change the situation, we must look beyond reasoning with the opposition.  We already outnumber them.  We must overwhelm them.
  The unexpectedly huge turnout for the Women's March, not only in Washington, D.C. but worldwide, not only women, is an encouraging start.  It shows that fascism won the battle of 2016, but the fight goes on.  Popular, peaceful, joyful yet determined demonstrations, happened on January 21.  The momentum for an invigorated campaign based on equality for all, superiority for none--is here.  The event was heartening.  If we can keep our enthusiasm, we have the possibility for real change.  Our side was beaten.  Now we need to try winning.