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A
post-November 8th Election Day in United States
By Daniel Paquet and The New York
Times International Edition (Paris)
DAMON WINTER
Adjusting to 4 years of Trump in charge “We talked about the work ahead
of us, and the importance of bringing the nation together. This needs to be a
time of redemption, not a time of recrimination.”
The American political establishment reeled as leaders in both parties
began coming to grips with the reality of four years of President Donald J.
Trump in the White House, a once-unimaginable scenario that has now plunged the
United States and its allies and adversaries into a period of deep uncertainty
about the policies and impact of his administration.
Meanwhile scores of people, mostly youth, hit
the road to protest the election of Mr. Trump.
That is the real fight! How long
will the protesters hold on? It depends
of their organization. Do they have
leaders, sound leaders? Situation in
U.S.A. may look like what is going on in Europe, for instance in France with
the growing popularity of Marine LePen and elsewhere, in Germany or Hungary, or
Poland.
“On 8 June
of 2010 an amendment to Article 256 of the Criminal Code came into force in
Poland, provoking an outcry in progressive circles. It proposed to punish ‘whomsoever shall, with the aim of propagandising, produce, import, buy,
stock, transport or send objects bearing symbols... or comprising communist
symbols’.”[1]
Leaders in the United States and abroad wished Donald J. Trump well,
including Hillary Clinton, who said Americans owed the president-elect “an open
mind and a chance to lead.”
Democrats, who will be out of power in both the White House and Congress
for the first time since 2006, were particularly crestfallen on Wednesday that
Hillary Clinton had a slender lead in the popular vote but lost in the
Electoral College, a fate similar to Al Gore’s in 2000.
On campuses nationwide, students marched against Mr. Trump with signs
bearing slogans like “Not my president,” and protesters in Oakland, Calif.,
smashed windows and set fire to garbage bins. On Wednesday night, thousands of
people protested in several cities, including Chicago, Philadelphia, Seattle
and New York, where demonstrators converged in Midtown Manhattan in front of
Trump Tower, the home of the president-elect.
With millions of other voters euphoric at the election of a true
political outsider as president, the clear divide over Mr. Trump inspired pleas
of unity from his two biggest opponents, President Obama and Mrs. Clinton. At
separate news conferences, they urged Americans to come together for the sake
of the republic, and for the good of Mr. Trump’s presidency.
“We are all now rooting for his success,” said Mr. Obama, who planned to
meet with Mr. Trump at the White House on Thursday. “The peaceful transfer of
power is one of the hallmarks of our democracy. And over the next few months,
we are going to show that to the world.”
Mrs. Clinton, in her first remarks to supporters after the election,
said Americans owed Mr. Trump “an open mind and a chance to lead.” Choking back
tears at times, she said she was “sorry that we did not win this election for
the values we share and the vision we hold for our country.”
“This is painful, and it will be for a long time,” Mrs. Clinton said,
standing beside her husband, former President Bill Clinton, in a tableau that
underscored the end of a nearly 25-year era in which the Clintons dominated
American politics.
The clash between excitement and dread was especially palpable over the
likelihood that Mr. Trump, at the head of a unified Republican government,
would try to reverse Obama administration policies and appoint a conservative
Supreme Court justice. The House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, indicated on Wednesday
that Republicans would try to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and Democrats
privately began strategizing to thwart that agenda. Republicans also expanded
their power in state capitals, and Democrats pledged resistance.
Foreign leaders who have had tense relations with Mr. Obama were
particularly welcoming to Mr. Trump. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of
Israel called Mr. Trump “a true friend” of Israel, while President Vladimir V.
Putin of Russia said he hoped to have a “constructive dialogue” with him. Mr.
Trump and Mr. Putin had previously spoken warmly of each other, to the
consternation of both Democratic and Republican leaders, but Trump advisers
said on Wednesday that the two leaders had not talked by phone yet.
“Can we speak of outright fascism today in the
US? Not yet! But we now can see elements and many
characteristics, such as the protection of the corporate power, extreme US nationalism
and the dominant role of the US military.
However finance capital (primarily
transnational corporations and the banks) have concluded that as yet, the traditional
right wing, assisted by the neo-cons, can rule with the semblance of bourgeois
democracy, without resorting yet to ‘extreme dictatorship that outright fascism
represents. This is what Dimitrov called
the ‘preparatory stage’.”[2]
This is the
old story of ‘good cop-bad cop’.
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, whose immigration policies Mr.
Trump has dismissed as “insane,” offered her cooperation but emphasized the
importance of human rights, while President François Hollande of France noted
that some of Mr. Trump’s views might test “the values and the interests that we
share with the United States.” And Mexican officials congratulated Mr. Trump
but said they would not pay for his proposed border wall, as he has flatly
insisted they will.
“As we all
know – or should know – immediately after World War II and the defeat of
Nazism, CIA protected and brought to the USA General Reinhard Gehlen, the
German Army’s intelligence chief for the Eastern Front. Others that were brought over to work for
NASA include the war criminals SS Major Werner Von Braun, the Hitler rocket
scientist and the butcher of Lyon, Klaus Barbie, among scores of other Nazis
and SS officers.”[3]
By the way, the Communist Party of Poland is a
legal party registered as a Marxist-Leninist party since 2002. This is a warning for the US people since
according to Warsaw University student (also leader of the CPP), Monika
Karbowska, “these
attacks on democratic freedoms are aimed at ‘silencing all opposition by terrorising the population’.[4]
Among the candidates for cabinet secretaries and advisers are members of
Mr. Trump’s inner circle, aides said, including Senator Jeff Sessions of
Alabama, a crucial adviser on policy issues; Steven Mnuchin, a businessman who
was Mr. Trump’s national finance chairman; Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former
mayor of New York; Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey; and Newt Gingrich, a
former speaker of the House.
“(Polish)
trade unionists, militant cadres and other supporters of an alternative world
are also hobbled in this way’, while backed by US imperialism and NATO. (...) It’s
25 years since they opened this cycle of repression. It has led to the ultra-liberalisation and
Americanisation of Poland. Today we’re back
to repression because America wants war, continue Mrs. Karbowska.”[5]
Advisers said he had also started thinking about ways to unite the
country. Democratic leaders quickly embraced a policy priority that Mr. Trump
highlighted in his victory speech: infrastructure spending.
Still, more than a third of Americans said in exit polls on Tuesday that
they would be frightened of a Trump presidency. Among those who voted for Mrs.
Clinton, the feeling was almost unanimous: 92 percent said Mr. Trump scared
them.
Anxieties ran strong among Hispanics, African-Americans, Muslims, immigrants, women and others who had felt disparaged or demonized by Mr. Trump, who used harsh and racially charged language in ways that upended mainstream politics. The fact that Mr. Trump had been endorsed by a Ku Klux Klan newspaper, even if he rejected it, symbolized the sense of shock that he would now lead a vibrantly diverse democracy.
Anxieties ran strong among Hispanics, African-Americans, Muslims, immigrants, women and others who had felt disparaged or demonized by Mr. Trump, who used harsh and racially charged language in ways that upended mainstream politics. The fact that Mr. Trump had been endorsed by a Ku Klux Klan newspaper, even if he rejected it, symbolized the sense of shock that he would now lead a vibrantly diverse democracy.
“While
there may be other valid descriptions of the concept of fascism, I like the one
that Gerogi Dimitrov used at the 13th
Plenum of the Communist International (Komintern) in 1935: ‘the open terrorist dictatorship of the most
reactionary, most chauvinistic and most imperialist elements of finance
capital.’ He also emphasized
that fascism can assume ‘different forms’ in different countries, depending
upon the historical, social, and economic conditions, as well as national and
cultural characteristics. Dimitrov also
noted that where there is no broad base, and there may be an acute struggle
within the fascistic bourgeoisie itself,
parliaments and other bourgeois parties may continue to exist with a modicum
of legality.”(NSC, S)
Many conservatives felt just as strongly, but in the opposite direction.
The conservative radio host Laura Ingraham was overcome with emotion on her
show Wednesday. “You’re bringing tears to my eyes,” she told the Republican
strategist Ed Rollins as she exulted over the meaning of Mr. Trump’s win.
Jacob Stout, 20, who owns a small contracting business in Danville, Ky.,
said the result thrilled him because of the promise of bold action in
Washington. “I’m excited, man. I’m not going to lie,” he said. “We’ve seen,
especially the last eight years, talk but not drastic change that benefits the
citizens. The idea that a citizen would be taking the presidency as opposed to
a politician, I think that’s got people excited.”
His wife, Chloe Joslin, 24, was more tempered in her expectations, even
though she also voted for Mr. Trump.
“Oh my goodness, you see people who are disowning friends over who they
are voting for,” said Ms. Joslin, a communications instructor. “It’s been a
very heated race.”
Politicians also joined business leaders, as well as the many Americans
with retirement and savings accounts, in keeping a nervous eye on the world
financial markets, fearing the sort of backlash that wounded Britain after its
vote in June to leave the European Union. While some business leaders worried
that the nation would slide into recession, others were hopeful that Mr.
Trump’s proposals of tax cuts, infrastructure spending and relaxed regulations
would be welcomed by the markets, which reversed sharp declines.
Political activity and reactions in both parties were in a state of
suspended animation as Republicans and Democrats began anticipating Mr. Trump’s
moves. Mr. Ryan said at a news conference Wednesday that Mr. Trump had a
“mandate” for his vision of government, but was sparing on the details of how
they would work together. Mr. Ryan stopped campaigning for him last month after
revelations that Mr. Trump had boasted about sexual assault.
Mr. Ryan said that he had “spoken with Donald twice in the last 18
hours.”
“We talked about the work ahead of us, and the importance of bringing
the nation together,” he said. “This needs to be a time of redemption, not a
time of recrimination.”
Mr. Ryan could have been hinting at his own fate. There are more than a
few restless conservatives in his conference in the House who were agitating
for his ouster before the election because of his failure to fully embrace Mr.
Trump. And whether that discontent will die down is far from clear.
Other Republicans who made their reservations about Mr. Trump proudly
known before the election tried to be gracious, though some sounded more sceptical
than optimistic.
Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, who became a public face of the anti-Trump faction on Capitol Hill, said he and his family had asked God to steer Mr. Trump in the right direction. “We pray that he will lead wisely and faithfully keep his oath to a Constitution of limited government,” Mr. Sasse said in a statement. Then he promised to hold Mr. Trump to his word. “Starting today, I will do everything in my power to hold the president to his promises,” he said.
Blog: Communist News www.dpaquet1871.blogspot.com
Montréal, Canada
Party of Communists USA
Post Office Box 140434, Staten Island, NY
10314-0434
www.partyofcommunistusa.org 1(718)979-6563
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