Re: <nettime> why is it so quiet (in the US)

[Eric Kluitenberg <epk@xs4all.nl>]

Hi Felix, all,

The post-election situation in the US is very worrying in many respects.

The darkest scenario, a slow coup d’etat against a clear election result has been suggested to me by several friends over the past few days.

I can’t read the local situation that well, so it would be great to hear some US subscribers on the list weigh in.

However, when adopting a ‘realist’ perspective on politics it seems that Republicans are keeping all options on the table, mostly to secure future positions, when a.o. more senate seats are up for election (in 2 years?).

What is significant about the election outcome is not just that the Biden / Harris ticket has won, but that the landslide victory of Democrats did not happen, that their majority in the House declined, and that it seems likely they will not gain 50 seats in the Senate (to be decided by the Georgia run-off in January).

It seems that voters have voted against Trump, but not for the Democrats, and that the electorate remains as bitterly divided as it has been for the past twenty years. That is not a good thing for the country and the stability of the political system in the world’s most militarised state, holding the largest nuclear arsenal. 

So it is justified to be worried right now, let’s hope it is a ‘realist’ game for the post-Trump constellation.

bests,
Eric


> On 13 Nov 2020, at 10:10, Felix Stalder <felix@openflows.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi everyone,
> 
> I must admit, amidst post-terror assault on civil liberties and covid
> cases spiraling out of control here in Austria, the US election drama
> has moved a bit lower in my attention, but not that much.
> 
>> From what I understand, the numbers show that Trump lost. Period. No
> recount will change that.
> 
> But, the game of the Republicans is to create so much doubt about the
> fairness of the elections (without any evidence) to make it impossible
> to certify them in time. Frivolous lawsuits are great at gumming things
> up. This would then allow the Republican dominated legislatures in swing
> states to appoint their own electors which would bring Trump the
> majority. In the mean time, the minister of defense, who previously
> refused to send in troops against mostly peaceful protestors, has been
> fired and replaced with a loyalist. Apparently, similar moves are in the
> wings for the FBI and CIA.
> 
> I know, Trump is often portrayed as an incompetent child, and the
> strategy is totally outlandish, but the Republican party has shown to be
> a pretty ruthless and successful power machine playing both a short and
> a long game, and it's exactly the outlandishness of the strategy that is
> its strongest point.
> 
> In the mean time, the democrats pretend all of this to be irrelevant (an
> 'embarrassment' at worst) and happily appoint a transition team full of
> corporate insiders like it's 1992.
> 
> Am I totally misreading the situation?
> 
> Felix
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
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