Who Lost Virginia? We Lost Virginia

 

It's best to ignore 90% of the pundits analysis of "who lost Virginia". They will hit you with sociological gobbledygook about voting behavior of different constituencies, exit polling on "issues", and second guessing about McAuliffe as the candidate. Also, beware of "positive spin" which represents this as anything other than strategic disaster. I'm here to tell you that would be misdirection. 

The two leading factors were primarily the obstructionism of Manchin and Sinema, and secondly the incompetent and corporate influenced advice of Biden's most trusted "Centrist" advisers like Anita Dunn who advised him and Garland to keep "hands off Trump," in the name of bipartisanship and unity, and to seek GOP "input" on the economic recovery program. These two factors had the effect of sabotage and poisoning everything. 

Those folks who have been following me here are aware that I've focused on these factors from day one. And this once again goes back to what I have hammered at for the entirety of my time writing on Facebook. The road to fascism is paved by delusion, denial, and pragmatism. And the "pavers" are those who sat back and watched it happen. 

The crash and burn failure of this administration (and don't tell me "it's still early") is the cumulative effect of their refusal to "go to war" over the fillibuster, voting rights, Build Back Better (which if even agreed to and passed, now very unlikely, will be a gutted and skeletal version which antagonizes the Progressives, and splits the Dems) and the refusal of the DOJ to investigate and prosecute the instigators and organizers of January 6th. You can add to that the strategic humiliation of our misadvised and chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, (stupidly honoring Trump's pre-election stunt agreement) which was seen by many Americans as demoralizing, impotent, and incompetent. If you think that was not a factor in the State where the employees of the Pentagon, the State Department,  Intelligence community and their families live, you are missing the forest for the trees. 

The Biden Presidency was brought to the White House with a mandate to tear out by the roots the atrocious policies of the GOP and Trumpism. They had immediate emergency requirements to address on the pandemic and economy. The Biden White House delusional approach from the beginning was driven by Centrist arguments that in order to govern effectively, Biden needed to seek cooperation from the leaders of the Party of Insurrection. This delusional belief is what I've warned about since the beginning. It is reminiscent of Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler at Munich, and the willingness of the German Christian Parties and Conservatives to "give Hitler his chance and see what happens". They simply did not want to face the reality that Joe's "old friends" in the GOP Caucus had opened the door to a fascist takeover of that Party. 

Seriously, ignore the spin doctors, cut through the fog of blather. The administration has been militant and mobilized on one thing. The vaccine. What they did on evacuating Afghanistan was a rearguard attempt to salvage a strategic disaster, a political net negative.  On everything else of substance they have been playing "rope a dope". Now they are not playing, and indeed are looking like dopes. 

I've told you guys all along my belief in and support for Joe Biden. It kills me to write this. We are watching a Shakespearian tragedy entering the third act. The question remaining is will they throw out the Centrist strategy of the White House political advisers and switch gears? And is it too late?

In either case, mine and my wife Martha's writing and analysis is definitely going in a new direction in light of these events. You'll be reading a lot more about the history of resistance movements. The Civil Rights Movement, the freedom movements of Eastern Europe, the anti-Colonial movements of the 19th Century in India, African nations, and elsewhere. The resistance in Europe to the Nazis, before and after the war. The history of anti-slavery movements and operations here. 

Many if not all of these examples above were to different degrees successful because it's leaders emerged in a time of great crisis, and they had the courage and intellect to understand that for them, "politics was dead". They knew that traditional and "acceptable" politics no longer worked, and that the mission of bringing about the needed changes required a revolution. Many of these succeeded with a strategy of non-violence, which is the most historically effective and honorable. Some of them took the last resort of armed resistance in the most desperate of circumstances. (but we in the US are not there yet)  And they understood that real revolutions were those of the mind, and started with changing the way people think, not "good information". It may be that this analysis and change by me loses friends and readers. If so, then I'll live with it. 

There are points of no return in history, beyond which certain processes are irreversible. It may be that some think it is arrogant or egotistical of me to state my view with relative certainty that if we aren't there yet, we are very close. And in saying this I am truly sad. Welcome to Donald Trump's "New Confederacy", our latest self-inflicted historic tragedy.

But that is where we are, and everyone who shares that view has some decisions to make about what they are going to do now. What kind of Nation do you want? What do you want the world to look like 50 years after you are dead? How do you know who to trust? What is it that we don't know that we need to learn in a hurry? Those who don't want to think about these matters might want to block me for their own peace of mind. I won't hold that against anyone. 

Best wishes to all of our friends, keep the faith.