TRUMP PHENOMENON - BLAME OBAMA & THE DEMOCRATS

[william bangura]

Then Sen. Barack Obama was the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state of Virginia in 2008, since President Lyndon B. Johnson did in the 1964 General Elections. As President, Obama won Virginia again in 2012. Bill Clinton a "Bubba" lost Virginia as a governor in 1992 and as a president in 1996. Al Gore also a "Bubba" who was born in DC but appealed to his Tennessee roots did not win Virginia either.

One of President Obama’s problems is that he does not know how to talk to his “enemies”. He neither had rural nor urban policies to appease those who had voted for him in these regions. Then Sen. Barack Obama was the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state of Virginia in 2008, since President Lyndon B. Johnson did in the 1964 General Elections. As President, Obama won Virginia again in 2012. Bill Clinton a "Bubba" lost Virginia as a governor in 1992 and as a president in 1996. Al Gore also a "Bubba" , who was born in DC but insisted in his Tennessee roots did not win Virginia either.

In the South and "Bible Belt", Obama should have utilized the language that they recognized. On taxes he should have quoted Luke 20:25.

He should have enlightened them “that they could "cling to guns or religion", but at the end of the day if they are unemployed and could not pay their rents--if they live in apartments--they would be evicted; and their houses would be foreclosed if they do not pay their mortgages.

He should have also informed them though government is not the answer it adds about 20 percent to 25 percent to the GDP which is about $3.2 trillion to $4 trillion respectively of a $16 trillion GDP.

Obama should have also exposed the faux “Southern elites” who rail against the ‘bureaucracy’--code word for uselessness--of Washington, DC, the waste, fraud and abuse of the federal government, the elimination of the departments of education, interior, and the EPA, and abolition of the Internal Revenue Service.

After former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R. GA) resigned from the House he did not move back to Georgia to cultivate Vidalia Onions, but he bought a house in Mclean, Virginia which is 10 miles from Washington, DC. Ditto Sen. Jim Mint (R. SC). When he retired from the Senate he did not return to South Carolina and produce cotton, but became president of the Heritage Foundation. Obama should have asked a rhetorical question that if Washington, DC was such a Sodom and Gomorrah these arch conservatives should not stay in that city.

During the 85th United States Congress the Democratic Party wanted legislation for Civil Rights. But to the contrary Senate Majority Leader, Lyndon B. Johnson convinced liberals and "Dixiecrats" that they must pass a Voting Rights bill. His logic was that if the Negras--he used this pejorative in the presence of liberals; but employed the ‘n-word’ when he was in the company of the "Dixiecrats" --were allowed to vote those racist senators would have to kiss their fannies (he used a choice word which I cannot place in this forum), and then the Democrats would then pass a civil rights bill.

Obama and the Democrats should have politically educated these “conservatives” that former President Ronald Reagan never anticipated that most low-tech manufacturing jobs would be lost and moved overseas. And that Reagan should have provided the training to educate them for the high tech jobs which would replace their manufacturing careers. But during his presidency Reagan wanted to eliminate the Department of Education, so he would not have utilized this department to enhance the living standards of his conservatives and "Reagan Democrats".

Obama and the Democrats should have also enlightened these poor whites that they would not have the opportunity to attend the “Southern Ivy League Universities” because their "Southern elite" Republican and conservative representatives have and continue to use education to subjugate them.

William Bangura (Konkay)

[kenneth harrow]

all that is fine, except for one thing: obama is black. you can't reassure racists with pacifying speeches, not in america  if you are black, if you are "muslim," if you are "kenyan" etc.
and could he have rallied them anyway by playing to their own biases without alienating his own supporters?
trump is playing to the ugly side in america; i am glad obama was, and is, above that ...
ken

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-- 
kenneth w. harrow 
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[Sulayman Nyang]

Thanks for your piece on the President. You have made several significant points. However, in order to do justice to him you must revisit the data explaining his success under conditions where Bill and Gore failed. What factors contributed to his success?What is the relationship between his inabilities to deal with his enemies and his miraculous performance in the South. Again, you are faulting him because he did not do anything for the victimized whites or minorities. Did they fail him in his second run? Finally, what are moral foundation of the charges against him?

Sent from my iPhone

--

[Samuel Zalanga]

From a "longue duree" perspective, Thomas Piketty wrote an article in the UK Guardian, I think, trying to explain the emergence of Bernie Sanders, the Democratic Socialist in the current presidential primaries. Here is a link to the article here for those that have not read it: 

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2016/feb/16/thomas-piketty-bernie-sanders-us-election-2016

In brief, using tax records he shows that U.S. was at one point more egalitarian than Europe, but not so now. Things have changed. No matter the problems of Europe, it is now more egalitarian.

Why is the Donald Trump phenomenon happening now? The arguments by Piketty I believe are in many ways applicable to the emergence of Donald Trump. For me, what I am seeing is an excellent sociological experiment. It shows that when elites ignore the masses, it cannot continue indefinitely. A day of reckoning is coming. 

While on my way to Guatemala City, I spent much time reading the Wall Street Journal and it is amazing how many Republicans feel this kind of rebellion by the grassroots members of their party did not take place for a century. Some are afraid this serious problem in the Republican Party is like a political suicide that will either change or destroy the party. For that reason, I am happy with the success of Donald Trump even though I would not want him as president. If the Republican party is willing to talk openly about issues of inequality and injustice, it will force the Democrats to even to the left further, and that will be in the interest of ordinary Americans. Donald Drump makes sense to the working class. Paul Ryan will like to do away with social security and medicare as we know it. Donald Trump on the other hand refuses. I know there are some Republicans who equally would not want to see Social Security and Medicare privatized. Indeed, this debate raises fundamental questions about the purpose of a society or civilization. 

But the issue is not Donald Trump per se. Using a social realist epistemology Trump is the appearance of the problem but the real problem is much deeper in the social structure and institutions of Americans society. America is made of a huge  group of elites that have become so disconnected with the ordinary masses. They ignored them and continued to use cliches and nebulous phraseology to explain why their nation is great. You cannot continue to use liberal or conservative phrases and assume that they answer or solve the real problems of real people. 

There are two books that come to mind, which reaffirm this: Jared Diamond's book titled "Collapse." He identified five factors that led to the collapse of civilizations and one of them is the widening gap between the elites and the masses, to the point the elites are totally out of touch with the masses or assume that the masses can have problems in the country, but no matter what the problems are, they,  the elites are safe, they have gotten their golden parachute as they use the term to refer to CEOs. Such CEOs can mismanage their corporations but worrying little about that because they have their golden parachutes, which will ensure they land safely. Professor Diamond says when the crisis comes unfortunately it sweeps away all. 

Second, the book: "Coming Apart" by Libertarian scholar Charles Murray, also the author of much-hated and debated book "The Bell Curve." In the book coming apart, even as a libertarian, and libertarians are more tolerant of inequality, he expressed sincere fears and concern about the future cohesion of American society. It is not in this case immigration or ISIS that are of great and immediate threat but the widening inequality in my own assessment. The libertarian tolerance of inequality goes back to the ambitious book by John Rawls -- "A Theory of Justice." which is making a case for trivializing inequality by emphasizing justice as entitlement i.e., the mere existence of inequality does not mean injustice, unless you can prove that someone's rights were violated in the process of accumulation. 

In effect, many in Americans assume that even if inequality is widening if it is consistent with John Rawls' argument, everything is alright because it is legitimate. Well, Charles Murray warned that America is coming apart. He thought that even as a libertarian, the widening inequality in the country has reached a level that it is a threat to national cohesion. Getting old, he said, this is the last time Americans will hear from him. In the book, he provides good comparison of the zip codes of the rich which he called super zip codes, and the zip codes of the poor which are different and the difference can be noticed by just attending parent-teacher meetings of the two zip codes and noting the average waist size of the parents. According to him, marriage in America is increasingly becoming skewed and smart people who go to IVY LEAGUE schools end up marrying each other and the odds of them producing smart kids in the future is higher, which then leads him to conclude that inequality will in the future make intelligence concentrated among the upper classes because presumably dumb people end up marrying each other and the odds of them producing someone smart is low, even though not impossible because of so many reasons related to disadvantage. He argues that the U.S. congress man or woman does not know how the average ordinary American copes with life.

Every president can have some fault but one cannot explain what is happening in the U.S. today without taking a long historical perspective and the way American Institutions have been transformed in the past forty or so years. Much of what the majority of scholars in American have done with the situation of widening inequality is either to remain agnostic about it, withdraw to their cocoon and pursue their self interest so as to survive in the system or in some cases provide justification for why nothing can be done about it because we are at the end of history and this is the best country that has existed in the face of the earth. Well, history is there to teach us a lesson. One man in Wall Street Journal said, other than Donald Trump shooting his daughter on the street, nothing will prevent him from supporting him. This is a guy who voted for Romney before.

In some states of the U.S. fighting against inequality and interstice can create problems for a faculty member. Yes, the person can retain his or her tenure, but they can make life miserable for a person. So there has been a moral minority on this issue for good reasons. This is part of the broader campaign of neoliberalism to legitimize itself. It is not easy to discuss justice, fairness and inclusion, but any economic system that reduce these topics to the footnotes will sooner or later have an encounter with historical reality. It is not enough to allow people to go and vote between two groups of exploiters i.e., who will guarantee your exploitation for the next for or two years, since there is no attempt to restructure institutions and social structures that create and perpetuate inequality. When I watch the debates among pundits and analyst on TV, it reminds of Marx critique in German Ideology of the typical German scholar who assume by just making critique or analyzing the situation thoroughly they will solve the problem. It is like a man with a stone around his neck sinking into the bottom of the ocean but instead of really doing something concrete, he just remains there using scientific explanation related to the law of gravity to explain his predicament. But that knowledge is not enough to save him. There is need for social action. No nation has achieved justice and fairness by relying on miracles. And if anyone knows of such a nation, please help me with the information, because I will like to assign readings on it. That will be a faster way to achieve justice. We can just fast and pray for so many days or perform long rituals in order to bring the intervention, while we continue our lives as we know it.

Samuel

--

[Cornelius Hamelberg]

O’Bai Bangura,

Re- Obama and the Democrats should have also enlightened these poor whites

I notice that you haven’t even mentioned  or explained the intended impact of ObamaCare  characterised as “the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery” if we are to believe Dr. Ben Carson.

There are many other issues  such as the recent spate of gun violence in which Black youths have been mostly at the receiving end of the lethal bullets, the overrepresentation of Black people in the prison industrial complex

Leaving it up to you guys who are going to vote in November to do some more of the explaining to the rest of the Diaspora

Cornelius

We Sweden

[kenneth harrow]

hi cornelius
i know you directed your question to another, but let me say from my point of view it is a normal human right to have health insurance. we pay much more for health insurance in the US than europeans, and our results are much worse. this is because we do not have a single payer system. obamacare was a great accomplishment on the road to amending the faulty system we have.
what i am asserting is very easy to check on. google the question of how much we americans spend on average for health care; google our standing in world health systems, and we are relatively low, despite paying enormously more. it is really common knowledge that our costs are augmented by the health care systems we are forced to work with, and not with doctors' salaries.
to give one small example: we treat people without insurance in emergency rooms at enormous costs. the hospitals make up for those costs by charging exorbitant rates. if we have a single payer, universal system, this would end. further, if you are not indigent, and receive these treatments, you are required to pay whatever money you have. it is an insane system.
ben carson's views are off the wall, for most progressive americans, and would leave things worse than what they are. he is a rich physician who has zero concern for the indigent.
ken

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[William Bangura]

Ken,

You have ignored the crux of my opinion.

Faifax County the most populated region in Virginia is inhabited by 59 percent Whites, 9 percent African-Americans, 16 percent Latinos and 18 percent Asians. In the 2008 Presidential election then Sen. Obama won this county by 109,365 votes, out of a total of 511,353 casts. Let us assume that all the “minority groups” (African-Americans, Latinos and Asians) had voted for Obama their aggregate would have been 168,746. But his total was 310,359. Therefore, 141,613 Whites would have voted for him.In fact 67 percent of Latinos and Asians voted for him while a "great" 23 percent of African-Americans voted for him in that election.

Though the state’s demography is 63 percent Whites, 19 percent African-Americans, 9 percent Latinos and 7 percent Asians, Obama lost the White vote to Sen. McCain by 150,000.

William Bangura (Konkay)

[Emeagwali, Gloria (History)]

"There is need for social action. No nation has achieved justice and fairness by relying on miracles. And if anyone knows of such

 a nation, please help me with the information, because I will like to assign readings on it. " Zalanga

Great point. I am sure that the brainwashed followers of  what I call

 neo - colonial missionary evangelism

will not agree with you.

G

Professor Gloria Emeagwali
History Department
CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
africahistory.net

vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on

Africa and the African Diaspora

---

From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Samuel Zalanga <szal...@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, March 6, 2016 5:51 PM
To: USAAfricaDialogue
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - TRUMP PHENOMENON - BLAME OBAMA & THE DEMOCRATS

 

[kenneth harrow]

but william
if he played more to the white vote, how would that have affected his appeal elsewhere, in more liberal venues?
ken

[Cornelius Hamelberg]

 A slight digression ( more pressing matters  - maybe should be posted under a new thread?) :

Talking about the Black vote today  in the  two-party system that’s  the US  here’s an opinion piece by Raynard Jackson a Black Republican:

This is Why the GOP Can’t Win Black Votes without Trump

(Gloria in excelsis Emeagwali,  have you been celebrating International Women’s Day today ?

 Only asking,

Cornelius

We Sweden

[Cornelius Hamelberg]

In this instance  William Bangura having made his spurious case, nothing could be better than to hear a few words from the horse's mouth : Obama: Trump's rise not my fault

On Sunday, 6 March 2016 03:30:58 UTC+1, william bangura wrote:

[Samuel Zalanga]

For more on how healthcare and health insurance in the U.S. compares with what exists in European and other Asian countries (Japan and Taiwan), these documentary films produced by Frontline PBS as investigative journalism, quick overview, making the points you are making:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/view/main.html

 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundamerica/view/

In the U.S., healthcare has strictly become a commodity like any other thing. There is an uncritical infatuation with the market as a panacea to all problems. In Switzerland, many of the politicians said that it is dangerous to make something as important as healthcare a commodity, in which access to is strictly determined by how much one can pay. We always have not make distinction between availability and access.

But for some people, American exceptionalism means America can judge others, but only God can judge the U.S. This is for many Americans, pointing out that something is working better elsewhere than in the U.S. is a sign of lack of patriotism, whatever that is.

Samuel

[kenneth harrow]

that's true, what you said samuel. there have been massive campaigns to dissuade people re single payer system, claiming either that you won't get the care when you need it--that you'd have to wait your turn, and could die waiting--or that you won't be able to choose your doctor. both things are generally not true in countries liked european ones or canada with single payer systems, or their equivalents, that work better than here, and that cost less. it seems very very obvious, but the campaigns against it have brainwashed many people against it.
we travel to france and live there, typically, in the summers. our best friend is a dr. i have had enough direct experience with how things work there, compared with here, to make a judgment, esp on costs. same with u.k. where my son lived and w orked for 5 yrs. the systems there are not perfect; but they provide better overall healthcare to the country. and cost a fraction of what it costs here. ditto for pharmaceuticals.

it makes one grind his teeth, to think that this is the case here. health care costs at my university are an enormously high factor in the budget. it shouldn't be that way.
ken

[william bangura]

Brother Cornelius,

Why do you call my opinion false? President Obama in his final State of the Union address said that Lincoln and Roosevelt would have tackled this rancor that is mainly about race differently.

William Bangura (Konkay)

[Cornelius Hamelberg]

Your opinion could never be false in as far as it is yours. Here's something more to your liking :http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-noam-chomsky-white-mortality_us_56cf8618e4b0bf0dab31838f

[William Bangura]

Brother Cornelius,

My opinions are based on facts and comprehensive research. Consequently, many have failed and will continue to flunk whenever they have  questioned my ideas. 

Racism is based on socio-economics and political power (S.E.P.), and most White Americans "know" they are losing S.E.P. power.

I do not want to elucidate excessively because I will opine on how the Republicans created Donald Trump. But racism goes back to the creation of humanity, the founding of the United States, slavery, the 1964 elections et cetara. 

Blame “conservative” ideology for, ‘Wealthier Americans are living longer lives, while the poor are living shorter ones.’The most conservatives White are, “Poorly educated, middle-aged American white males are particularly affected, multiple recent studies suggest. While Americans from other age, racial and ethnic groups are living longer lives than ever before, this particularly segment of the population is dying faster.” 

Due to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's social democracy and the New Deal, “It’s interesting to compare the situation in the ‘30s, which I’m old enough to remember,” he said. “Objectively, poverty and suffering were far greater. But even among poor working people and the unemployed, there was a sense of hope that is lacking now.” 

Most conservatives then and now have bought into President Ronald Reagan's nonsense and have nobody to blame, but themselves for, "...hopeless, despair and anger."

William Bangura (Arrogant Konkay)

On Mon, Mar 14, 2016 at 3:54 AM, Cornelius Hamelberg <cornelius...@gmail.com> wrote:

Your opinion could never be false in as far as it is yours. Here's something more to your liking :http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-noam-chomsky-white-mortality_us_56cf8618e4b0bf0dab31838f

[Cornelius Hamelberg]

Brother Cornelius,

Has not been arguing against any of what you or anyone else in or outside of this forum has been saying so far - and "anyone else" includes the KKK who also contribute to the complex mosaic that is the USA...

[Cornelius Hamelberg]

Stockholm

16.3.2016

O’Bai Bangura (Arrogant Konkay)

Impiare !

(Some of the uninitiated will think that  this is an imperialist greeting)

You know that I am neither a racist nor a tribalist ( I am a Zionist / post-Zionist).

I should like to ask you and I would like you to explain it to us  about you and  some of the Negroes over there, how come they are showing  such overwhelming  love and support  for Ohporto  Hillary C?  Am I missing something?  Why not Bernie? What has Hillary ever done to deserve their  support?

I am patiently waiting for a reply from you which will be grounded on “facts and comprehensive research”

Seke yo !

Cornelius

We Sweden

[William Bangura]

My Brother Cornelius,

Ow u do?

"I should like to ask you and I would like you to explain it to us  about you and  some of the Negroes over there,"

The responses are historical, tribal and regional: Malcom X, Dr. Martin Luther King, Thurgood Marshall, Clarence Thomas, Andrew Young, Congressman John Lewis and Marion Barry.

Malcolm X was born in the Nebraska (West); Thurgood Marshall was born in Maryland (North); Dr King was born in Georgia (South); Clarence Thomas hails from Georgia (South); Andrew Young is from Louisiana (South); John Lewis was born in Alabama (South) and Marion Barry was born in Mississippi (South).

Malcolm lived in Detroit, Michigan (North), New York (North) and Massachusetts (North) which shaped his relationships, and socio-economic and political philosophies of White Americans. Consequently, he characterized Black Americans as House (N) and Field (N). House (N) were acquiescent, while the Field (N) were intransigent. He wanted freedom for Black Americans through their context of liberation rather than through the "Democratic Party". Please be aware that my Democratic Party was the party of slavery.

King wanted and procured "freedom" for Black Americans through the 'philosophy' of the Dixiecrats (Democratic Party). As they say in Creole, "Den gee we de cow, bor hole de rope". (They gave us the cow but held on to the rope).

With the exception of Marion Barry (Mississippi) all the aforementioned Southerners are malleable.

Fast forward to the 2016 Democratic Primaries, the Southern states voted overwhelmingly on an average of about 68 percent for Hillary Clinton (HC). In Michigan (North) Bernie Sanders procured about 28 percent of the African-American vote, consequently, winning that primary.

I used to have tremendous respect for Congressman Jim Clyburn, Democrat from South Carolina who was insulted by former President Bill Clinton (BC) for "supporting" then Sen. Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic Primary in South Carolina. Clyburn did not endorse Obama before that primary. But come the 2016 South Carolina Democratic Primary he advocated for HC.

As a proud and arrogant Konkay you can bet your bottom dollar that nobody will get my endorsement after they have insulted me.

Most African-Americans are "Christians" so they have the 'right' to forgive HC and her husband even though the latter took away from the poor through "welfare reform" and gave to the rich by repealing Glass-Steagall.

Congressman John Lewis said HC and BC participated in the Civil Rights struggles, while Bernie Sanders (BS) was AWOL. But this has been debunked by the press because as a student at the University in Chicago BS was in sit-ins.

Finally, all the aforementioned Black Southerners genealogies with the exception of Marion Barry--I have not researched his, though he was very pro-sub-Saharan Africa--are Mendes.

I hope Skip Gates of Harvard University researches Malcolm X's genealogy. I would not be surprised that he was a Konkay.

William Bangura (Konkay)

On Wed, Mar 16, 2016 at 2:40 PM, Cornelius Hamelberg <cornelius...@gmail.com> wrote:

O’Bai Bangura (Arrogant Konkay)

Impiare !

(Some of the uninitiated will think that  this is an imperialist greeting)

You know that I am neither a racist nor a tribalist ( but I am a Zionist / post-Zionist).

 I should like to ask you and I would like you to explain it to us  about you and  some of the Negroes over there, how come they are showing  such overwhelming  love and support  for Ohporto  Hillary C?  Am I missing something?  Why not Bernie? What has Hillary ever done to deserve their  support?

 I am patiently waiting for a reply from you which will be grounded on “facts and comprehensive research”

Seke yo !

Cornelius

We Sweden

On Wednesday, 16 March 2016 03:28:39 UTC+1, william bangura wrote: