re: #260 Lupin

I completely agree with you — but do not share your optimism re the power of the ballot box, at least the way it’s been interfered with and corrupted in the US. Nine years ago when Obama got elected, I thought a trend had been stopped, but overall I don’t see it today. Obama may well be a blip in a line that runs from Reagan to Trump.

Trump did the one thing that Obama couldn’t: He woke Democrats to the fact that they can’t wait for someone else to fix things. Too many Democrats thought things were OK and they would stay that way, and, if not, the president could stop them. That has changed, finally. Democrats are finally running for local offices in places they haven’t in a long time.

Now, I’m not saying everything will be rosy, or that we’ll recover tomorrow. And I’m definitely not saying we’ll be the same country we were before. But that, in part, is a good thing. The US has dealt with corruption before. We will just have to adjust to the reality that corrupt morons can get elected to office under our current system, and try to minimize it. Things like requiring disclosure of taxes would be a start.

And the EU and Asia are obviously learning that they can’t rely on us to protect them. As an American, I cannot say that’s a bad thing. I’m also the kind of person who hates being the only one who knows something at work. I’m not big into the idea of job security.

Edit: I would like to see the US be more of an equal partner among all of these groups. And I think we need to build these alliances up more to keep China and Russia from becoming the dominant power.