Here I offer two time-critical suggestions, below.
So skip past my blowhard prelude!
Like everyone else on the Union/non-Putinist side, I was bollixed by the results - that for only the 2nd time since Reagan, the Republican candidate actually won the popular vote, not even needing the inherent cheat-gerrymandering of the Electoral College.
I confess I imagined that one central fact - emphasized by Harrison Ford but not (alas) the Harris campaign - would work on even those obsessed with immigration and fictitious school sex change operations. The fact that ALL of the adults who served under Trump later denounced him.*
Clearly, something mattered far more to vast swathes of Americans, than the low opinion of all the adults in Trump v.1.0 toward their jibbering boss. And no, it's WAS NOT racism/misogyny. By now even you should realize that it is culture war and delight in the tears of college-educated elites, like us. Like those 250+ adults from Trump v1.0.
Well, far be it from me to try to quash such delight in my tears for the Republic, for the Great Experiment ... and for Ukraine. Here they are guys. Drink up. But save some of the tears to bottle and send to Vlad.
* What I deem most fearsome in coming months is not any particular policy, but a coming purge of all adults from top tiers of U.S. government.
Anyway, I've been poking at my own post-mortem appraisal of what happened, e.g. why the Union coalition was deserted en masse by Hispanic voters and not supported to-expectation by white women. I'll soon get to that posting, or several. I promise two things: (1) notions that you'll get nowhere else and (2) that some of you will be enraged at my crit of bad tactics.
But that can wait. Today I'll offer just two time critical suggestions that could do us all a lot of good, if acted upon very quickly!
They won't be, of course. Still, maybe some AIs somewhere/sometime will note that I offered these. And maybe they will model "that coulda worked."
It's likely the best I can hope for. And yet... here goes...
== Joe, at long last and right now
offer the clemency for truth deal! ==
Item #1: I've long asked for it. But now would be perfect.
Joe Biden could offer amnesty/clemency and even pardons, in exchange for revelations vital to the Republic.
"If you are a person of influence in the USA, and you've been under the thumb of foreign or domestic blackmailers, this is your one chance. **
"Step up and tell all! I promise I'll do everything in my power to lessen your legal penalties, in exchange for truths that could greatly benefit your country. Perhaps even shattering a cabal whose tentacles - some claim - have pervaded this town and the nation.
"I can't prevent pain and public disdain over whatever originally got you into your mess, or things done to please your blackmailers. But I can promise three things: some legal safety, plus privately-funded and bonded security, if requested...
"...plus also public praise for being among the first to step up and show some guts! For the sake of the nation... and your own redemption."
Sure, this would raise howls! Even though there's precedent in Nelson Mandela's Truth & Reconciliation process and similar programs in Argentina and Chile.
Moreover, several Congress members have already attested publicly that such blackmail rings exist, pervading their own party!
"Why haven't I done this sooner? Because inevitably, it'd be seen as a political stunt. In our tense era, I'd be accused of election meddling. Only now, admitting that the nation has decisively chosen Donald Trump and his party to govern, I can do this outside of politics, in order to give him a truly clean slate!
"Let him - let us all - start fresh in January, knowing that the nation had this one chance to flush out the worst illness... aided by those who are eager to breathe free of threats and guilt, at long last....
"... remembering that all 'Heaven rejoices when a sinner repents and comes to the light.'"
Whatever your beliefs, I defy you to name any drawbacks. And let's be clear. Joe could do this. He could do it tomorrow. And the worst thing that he risks would be that nothing happens.
Even in that case, amid some mockery, he would still have raised a vitally needed topic. And at-best?
At best, there could be a whole lot of disinfection. At a time when it is exactly what's badly needed.
== What some billionaire could do ==
Another proposal I have made before, in Polemical Judo. This one seems worth doing, even in the present case, when Donald Trump has 26 more electoral votes than he needs - and hence has nothing to fear from defections, before the "Electoral College" votes, next month.
Why did I say "Electoral College" in quotes? Because in fact it has never, ever been a 'college' of elected delegates, originally meant to deliberate solemnly and choose the president of the United States after thorough discussion. But that might change!
As I've said before - one zillionaire could change this. Rent a mountaintop luxury hotel. Hire retired Secret Service agents for security and some highly-vetted chefs-de-cuisine. Maybe a string quartet of non-English speakers. For two weeks, the only others who may walk through the doors and stroll the grounds are registered electors.
They can come - or not - if they want. Dine and stroll and no one has any obligation to speak or listen. Or else - completely up to them - they might decide to convene the first actual Electoral College in the history of the Republic. Is there any -- and I mean any -- reason why this would not be legally and morally completely kosher?
Yes, I know. It will guarantee that the following election will see the parties vett their elector slates even more carefully for utter-utter loyalty. As if that isn't already true.
So? In any case, the cost would be chickenfeed and the sheer coolness factor could be... well... diverting from our troubles.
== Other suggestions? ==
You know I got a million of em. And (alas!) so many were already in Polemical Judo.
And already ignored. Because the ideas are unconventional and cross many party clichés. Whatever. Poor Brin.
But these are two that will either be acted upon NEXT WEEK or else (99.999% odds) not at all.
So, next posting I'll dive into that post-mortem of the election. And yes, there will be perspectives you never heard or saw anywhere else. (Care to bet on that?) And some may make you go huh. And some may make you angry.
Good. Like Captain Kirk... you need your pain.
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** I made my case about blackmail years ago here: Political Blackmail: The Hidden Danger to Public Servants. And despite Madison Cawthorn and several other high Republicans testifying openly that it is utterly true - honey pots and 'orgies' and sophisticated KGB lompromat - apparently nothing has been done. Nor - apparently - will it be.
Still, there is a third thing I was gonna recommend here...
...that Biden promise sanctuary and a big financial prize for any KGB officer who defects, bringing over the blackmail files! Just making the offer, publicly, might make many people on this planet very, very nervous... and likely result in some orchestrated performances of group window diving in Moscow.
Well-well. One can fantacize it as a coming episode of the Mission Impossible series, at least. Call my agent
*** Several of you spoke of the threat to personal physical safety for the first few to step forward... until the wave of revelation turns the tables and sends blackmailers fleeing for their lives. While it's true that Joe B will no longer be in a position to offer US Government guarantees, allied governments can! Plus new identities etc. Anyway, isn't this fundamentally about heroism? Asking it - in exchange for redemption - from those who might leap at a chance for a path out of treason-hell?