Angry America
By James Moore
When the video appears on TVs and computer screens, it will, initially, be shocking. Men in uniforms, wearing sidearms or guns drawn, will walk up and knock on the front doors of modest homes. An unanswered door will be battered down with a heavy ram. The people hiding inside will be dragged out to waiting vans, crying, children screaming for their parents. They will be loaded up and driven down their neighborhood’s street and taken to a fenced compound, likely to be called a deportation center or camp. Family members will probably be separated as they wait for mass transportation to the border, where they will be frog-walked back to a country many of them had never even experienced. Possibly, to complete the tableau, long trains with box cars will wait on sidings to take passengers to unknown destinations.
Assuming the new administration can pull off mass deportation, there will be varying types of raids. Cameras will be invited to watch as immigration agents sweep into meat packing plants and small manufacturing facilities and reduce to custody the entire workforce. Buses will be parked nearby and people, many with blood still dripping from their work aprons in an abattoir, will be herded aboard and driven off to unknown locations to await deportation. Their families will not know why they did not return from work that evening. Troops from the U.S. Army will patrol barbed wire fence lines of these internment camps spread across the American landscape, which will also serve, symbolically as graveyards of our “better angels.”
Whether the Trump administration is competent enough to even deport 500 immigrants is worth contemplating. The only endeavor he has not failed at in his life is getting low-information and low-intellect voters to believe his bullshit. According to the president-elect, he plans to invoke the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to authorize the deportation of immigrants. The last time the measure was used occurred during World War II when the land of the free rounded up 100,000 ethnic Japanese and placed them in internment camps. Two-thirds of the detained were American citizens. The law is supposed to be used only when this nation is involved in a declared war, but such technicalities are not likely to restrain Trump and the racist administrators of his xenophobic fantasies.
If Trump’s incompetence can overcome the deportation logistics, the consequences of losing lower-wage labor will almost certainly have a sweeping downward impact on the U.S. economy. Crops on the truck farms of California’s fertile Central Valley, which feed much of this country, will surely rot in the fields or never be planted. There is no rush of Americans demanding they be given jobs bending their backs to pull vegetables from the ground or picking and loading the sweet cantaloupes from the Pecos River Valley of West Texas. Jobs on farms and ranches across the country will go unfilled, prompting less production on family operations and force many to surrender to the spreading power of agribusiness corporations. Home construction, too, in a thriving economic climate will shrivel to almost nothing without Mexican labor, documented or illegal.
Anger appears to be more important to the American electorate than information. Trump was mad and that translated into voters who did not believe that inflation was under control, the country was adding jobs every month, wages were rising, and the U.S. economy was the “envy of the world.” Robust may not be an adequate word for how well the economy has performed under the Biden administration. Figures indicate the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has risen 12.6 percent during the president’s tenure and that more than 44,000 applications per month were filed for new businesses, a figure without equal in the country’s history, and according to the White House, about 90 percent faster than applications prior to the pandemic. The African American and Hispanic voters who crossed over to vote for Republican distemper must have been oblivious to the fact that, under Mr. Biden, black ownership of companies doubled and Hispanic businesses rose 40 percent.
People were grousing about the cost of groceries, and, in some locations, the price of gasoline, but the economic engine of the nation was thrumming along and there was no apparent need to change political leadership, which may be precisely why the Democrats lost the presidential campaign. According to a new study by the University of Chicago, a healthy economy always accrues to the political benefit of Republican candidates, even when they are not incumbents. The Booth School of Business analysis appears to prove Trump won because the economy is thriving. I consider this more of an indictment of the failed historic messaging of Democrats than voter ignorance, though there was certainly no shortage of vacuous decision making in the voting booth. Americans are convinced, wrongly, that taxes are lower and more jobs are created when a Republican holds office, and obviously, are not sophisticated enough thinkers to link current economic success to the Democrat who has held the office the past four years. Republicans are in fact, as demonstrated by the chart below, bad for the economy, and Trump has been the worst.
The Booth School analyzed 89 years of data on elections and the economy and discovered that, regardless of the incumbent, a weak economy favors Democrats and a strong economy augurs to the benefit of Republicans. The study points to the two biggest economic crises of the past century, which are the Great Depression and the Great Recession. Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to turn the economy around in 1932, and, in 2008, Americans chose Democrat Barack Obama to undo the crisis caused by Wall Street’s speculative practices. Voters picked John Kennedy in the midst of the 1960-61 recession, Jimmy Carter to fix a similar problem with the 1973-75 recession, and Bill Clinton when the economy got bumpy in 1990-91. The Booth School model effectively predicted Trump to win with a good economy in 2016 and Biden to be elected during the Covid-19 crisis, which was bad for more than just the economy. Predictably, then, Biden’s vibrant economy meant that Republican Trump would be restored to office.
The most disturbing revelation of these outcomes is the rationale used by voters; it is also a condemnation of messaging by Democrats and their inability to get out from under their brand image. The public believes Democrats are best to hold office in trying times because they will indulge in redistribution of resources and raise taxes to solve problems and provide social safety nets. Republicans get votes during strong economies because, as the authors of the study wrote, “voters are more willing to take risks and therefore more likely to elect Republicans, who favor lower taxes.” As facile as that sounds, it is true; Americans believe the myth that Republicans are better for jobs, economy, and taxes and that Democrats are big spenders and bigger taxers.
Was there not enough reason, though, to break the model with Trump? Had he not tried to overthrow an election? Was he not convicted of 34 felonies and adjudicated to be a rapist? Had he not bragged about groping women against their will? Did he not mock a disabled journalist during a televised speech? Had he not told the country that Covid would go away “in the warmer weather,” a falsehood that was the partial cause of 1.1 million dead Americans? Voting for him was, I suppose, proof that presidential politics have become strictly transactional. Vote for me and here’s what you will get in return. Trump promised a secure border and a better economy, which meant his supporters had to believe Biden’s was bad even when it was not. Vice President Kamala Harris seemed to offer something a tad more amorphous, which was “joy,” and a renewal of women’s rights regarding abortion.
Other dynamics included the fact that not enough men could bring themselves to vote for a woman, maybe especially one who is of color, and an insufficient number of women were willing to cast a ballot for Harris. Trump gained in almost every demographic, including Hispanics, Blacks, and Asians, and college-educated Whites. Babbling on about batteries and sharks and Hannibal Lecter seemed not to have impacted his constituency. The man was mad, about something, as was the electorate. They shared his anger but could not articulate why any more than their candidate. Nonetheless, America has spoken, and we have chosen disaster. The Republican dream of shrinking the size of government down until it can fit in a bathtub is about to be realized.
But Trump and his acolytes will also finish the job and drown it.
This article was originally published on Texas to the world.
James Moore is the New York Times bestselling author of “Bush’s Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential,” three other books on Bush and former Texas Governor Rick Perry, as well as two novels, and a biography entitled, “Give Back the Light,” on a famed eye surgeon and inventor. His newest book will be released mid- 2023. Mr. Moore has been honored with an Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for his documentary work and is a former TV news correspondent who has traveled extensively on every presidential campaign since 1976.
He has been a retained on-air political analyst for MSNBC and has appeared on Morning Edition on National Public Radio, NBC Nightly News, Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, CBS Evening News, CNN, Real Time with Bill Maher, and Hardball with Chris Matthews, among numerous other programs. Mr. Moore’s written political and media analyses have been published at CNN, Boston Globe, L.A. Times, Guardian of London, Sunday Independent of London, Salon, Financial Times of London, Huffington Post, and numerous other outlets. He also appeared as an expert on presidential politics in the highest-grossing documentary film of all time, Fahrenheit 911, (not related to the film’s producer Michael Moore).
His other honors include the Dartmouth College National Media Award for Economic Understanding, the Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television News Directors’ Association, the Individual Broadcast Achievement Award from the Texas Headliners Foundation, and a Gold Medal for Script Writing from the Houston International Film Festival. He was frequently named best reporter in Texas by the AP, UPI, and the Houston Press Club. The film produced from his book “Bush’s Brain” premiered at The Cannes Film Festival prior to a successful 30-city theater run in the U.S.
Mr. Moore has reported on the major stories and historical events of our time, which have ranged from Iran-Contra to the Waco standoff, the Oklahoma City bombing, the border immigration crisis, and other headlining events. His journalism has put him in Cuba, Central America, Mexico, Australia, Canada, the UK, and most of Europe, interviewing figures as diverse as Fidel Castro and Willie Nelson. He has been writing about Texas politics, culture, and history since 1975, and continues with political opinion pieces for CNN and regularly at his Substack newsletter: “Texas to the World.”
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13 comments
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Michael -
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paul walter -
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Patricia
Return to home pageDon’t forget that the JCS (Joint Chiefs of Staff) has been planning for war with China by the end of 2025 for a few years now. Having said that, China has, essentially, been on the U.S. “nuke” list since 1952. The Strange-lovians have been in charge since then. While this may start as a “conventional” war, it will certainly not end that way. Global nuclear war by early ’26, with Australia as acceptable “collateral damage.” We have voted for not just one, but two unacceptable alternatives.
Under Biden and his war hawks we are the closest ever to world war 3,which will for sure be a Nuclear war,under his administration he has created uncertainty of this planets very survival and the end of the human race,and why would he do this,because he is a angry hateful man,he has played a big part in almost all of America forever wars ever since he became a senator.Under his administration he has use billions of dollars to support a fascist regime in Ukraine run by a coke sniffing actor,who lost the plot a long time ago and needs a new script writer,and has zero regard for the survival of his people.And then we have the genocide accruing in Gaza with the full support of the US,admittedly this will not change with Trump.But now still under Biden he has authorized Ukraine to use long-range American missiles to strike targets inside Russia’s pre-2014 borders.And if this is true will almost start world war 3,i guess this is his parting gift to the world before he toodles of the old people home.Thank you Joe you have probably managed to kill all of use
Sad read, James, but much to agree with, especially about women’s rights.
Too many women believe their rights are given by men and the top man thinks they are receptacles.
Trump will destroy Americas current system and replace them with his imaginings. Even an americophobe hopes that all of the 6 non-trumpian supreme court appointees live through his tenure.
wam, Trump may have appointed only three of the nine SCOTUS judges, but six of those nine are conservative and allied with the Republican side of politics. The US Courts of Appeal have 54 Trump appointees, the District Courts a whopping 174, along with ~30 other judges in sundry court environments.
The judiciary of the USA would appear to have been roundly & soundly stacked in favour of the Orange Toad’s preferential biases. To suggest that the USA is royally rooted is perhaps to be guilty of gross understatement, as it sinks inexorably into its dystopian nightmarish death throes.
Much gloom here and little wonder.
Wretched USA and its retreat into paranoia.
You can blame Biden, as far as I am concerned. He has loosed the Orangle Cartman on us with his ridiculous adventurism-he and his sponsors.
Excellent appraisal James,
Many know that America folk hold the world record for flip-flopping between flippant banality and vengeful hostility, as they plough their beliefs looking for a truth that continues to elude them. But we are time and again told we should never mind as they are resilient.
Thanks, Cangaru, the court system is in trump and the republican hands as is the politics and he will cement the conservative control over both (plus health, armed forces and government law enforcement, spying and interference overseas)but my reference was to the 3 liberal supreme court judges and the 3 non-trump who may have non-trumpian loyalties. Should two go trump has the majority.
The last federal election in America proves that America, in general, has to be the most stupid, short-sighted and irrational nation on the planet! It seems apparent that the uneducated, Murdoch-manipulated majority would rather have Trump in power than a foresightful, inclusive, well-educated woman (Harris). DESPITE the fact that Trump is a crass, uneducated, hate-filled, thoroughly depraved, misogynistic serial predator; a PROVEN pathological liar with a shameful CRIMINAL RECORD – the American majority would rather see this hideously divisive sociopath (Trump) in power than Harris who, unlike Trump, is widely respected and admired around the world! FFS, on what bloody planet do Americans REALLY believe that a thoroughly deluded, deceptive, megalomaniacal narcissist and rusted-on white supremacist (Trump) will – in ANY way whatsoever – provide any type of long-term benefit to a nation like America which has a long, internationally-respected history as being one of the most multicultural nations in the world? Trump and his like-minded racist, male-dominated, self-serving cabinet, will prove to be the most destructive, fear-mongering American cabinet of dangerously undemocratic political psychopaths the world has ever seen! How bad, how sexist, how corrupt, how racist and how depraved does Trump have to get before the majority of easily-manipulated Americans STOP supporting him? Nothing – absolutely NOTHING good, positive or compassionate can result from a Trump-misled regime which will achieve NOTHING but to MAKE AMERICA HATE AGAIN!
It is now time for Australia to “disassociate” ourselves from the inherent hate, rusted-on misogyny, self-serving corruption, elitism and deceptive, power-obsessed tyranny of a Trump-misled regime that will, inevitably, abuse their terrifying level of megalomaniacal power in order to rule through hate, intolerance, inherent misogyny and divisive racism! The corrupt, multi-billionaire, Trump, has ZERO affinity with working-class Americans, especially if they are black or Hispanic! Trump not only poses a REAL DANGER to America- a nation that ONCE prided itself of its egalitarianism and multiculturalism – he ticks every box as a thoroughly deluded and dangerously undemocratic, narcissistic political psychopath who will stop at NOTHING – even shredding America’s democracy, in order to rule over America like some pathetic, tyrannical third-world despot! God help America and God help the world! More than any other American president in history, Trump (like that war criminal, George Bush) is likely to “lead” through hate, division and short-sighted despotism and a level of power-obsessed entitlement that is likely to cause a world conflict! God help America and God help the world!
“God help America and God help the world!” Therein lies the tragedy – it has nothing to do with god – it is the apathy of the non voting population that is the cause of their present malaise ??
Kate,
Maybe … But I find her, and whatever it is that has been passed off as her agenda, deeply annoying. It’s a kind of inexorable self-important middle-class technocratic “I know what’s best for you, and I’m going to give it to you whether you like it or not!” managerialism, that has been called out nearly 200 years ago by Alexis de Tocqueville under the heading “Soft Despotism”:
Harris is in the same obnoxious league as Hillary “Deplorables” Rodham Clinton, Madeleine “A price worth paying” Albright, and, closer to home, Jenny “I could live on $35/day” Macklin. And that’s just some of the prominent women on the progressive side of politics. Many of the men – Starmer, Biden, Scholz, Albanese, Schröder, Blair, Clinton, Macron, Obama …, are just as bad. Or worse.
Being “a little bit less obviously bad” than the likes of Sunak, Truss, Johnson (and the infamous Margaret Thatcher herself), Trump, Morrison, Dutton, Merz, Bush sr, Bush jr., … as sufficient qualification for high office has worn very thin!
Arnd has kindly left out up to 8 billion names to dislike on political attitudes, but is on track to underline a basic problem, that too many loud, empty, undereducated, unenlightened, uncaring individuals seek to gain status, wealth, fame and notoriety in political life by ubercursing us all with utter incompetent indifference, ignorance, irrelevance, irrationality and irritating existence. It is a serious agonising insoluble problem…
In the spirit of Kate’s wonderful diatribes:
‘On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be occupied by a downright fool and a complete narcissistic moron.’
H.L. Mencken, Baltimore Evening Sun, 26 July 1920
It is the same in Australia and the UK. The Republicans/LNP/Tories are voted in with an economy that is good and social programmes that support those who need it and in their time in government they wind down the social programmes, (because everyone should stand on their own feet and if you are poor it is because you are lazy and a drain on everyone else), cut taxes for the already wealthy and their big business donors, send the economy into a downward spiral, waste taxpayer funds but don’t build anything, and demonise those they don’t like, immigrants, ethnics, women, the unemployed etc. Once the economy is flat enough and enough people see that their standard of living has decreased enough (felt enough pain) Democrats/Labor/Labour governments are voted in to fix the problems that the Republicans/LNP/Tories have caused. And so the merry go round grinds on. It is not the politicians who are fully to blame for this eternal shite show, it is the voters and the fact that most voters have no idea, and don’t want any idea, about how an economy works and how lied to they are by the Republicans/LNP/Tories. The fact that voters keep voting against their own interests shows that hiding your head in the sand and not wanting to engage in the political process, even as far as knowing who your local/state/federal member is, or when there is an election coming up, works well for the wealthy and for big business but is a killer for the average yonk, small business owner and especially for those who are disadvantaged, disabled, unemployed, immigrant, elderly.