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| This combination of pictures created on Nov. 4 shows Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware, and U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., during an election night speech. AFP |
By Emanuel Pastreich
I am not sure what word best describes the events of this week, but the word "election" is most certainly not one of them.
Personally, I love a good puppet show, especially one that projects into your living room, whether you want it or not, any number of lies and distortions ― now to such a degree that you cannot trust any of the authority figures. Terms like "progressive" or "conservative" have degenerated into marketing terms that have little or no philosophical or moral basis. And the truth, well the truth is not much of a priority these days.
We call it a "good cop, bad cop" routine. It is a standard strategy used to manipulate the target.
You, the prisoner, are introduced, in turn, to a good police officer, one who shows sympathy for you, and then to a bad police officer, one who is abusive and hostile.
You are seduced, over time, to feel sympathy for, to trust in, the good police officer. But, in fact, they both are just playing their assigned roles. The good police officer is but a baited gambit, a tool to keep you from being able to formulate your own opinions. The good cop will tell you how to think about the problem in a way that is helpful for the powerful, and not for you.
If you are a progressive, the politician says he or she will make America more diverse, will stand up against police oppression, will address climate change. But he or she will do almost nothing at all, except say things. When other forces step in to undo what the politician has promised, he or she will be silent, following the script.
He or she knows that you have no choice but to give your support to them in this fixed system.
If you are a conservative, the politician will say he or she will stand up for values, will restore the best of America's traditions, will end abortion and restore spirituality. But he or she will do almost nothing, because he or she knows you have no choice but to give your support. He or she will take money from pornographers and advertisers who turn women into objects for sexual exploitation, and he or she will punish single mothers while talking about the evils of abortion.
How should we think about this election? I think that we need to start with the profound question once asked by the political philosopher Humpty Dumpty. Professor Dumpty asked, "Who is to be master?" That really is the only question to ask when watching a puppet show.
We see that the media was flooded with all sorts of reports of civil war and the coming massive conflict. This reporting is an effort to tear the nation apart along racial, ethnic and cultural lines. It is no accident. It did not flow up from below. It was planted from above by the hidden hand. Civil war is the plan for the bankers and their friends, to tear our nation apart so that they can make even more profits.
The same topics were repeated in the election until we wanted to turn off the TV, to throw it out of the window. But the real issue in this campaign was a deep, dark taboo: the complete domination of the decision-making process in the United States by multinational investment banks and their drive to tear apart any institutions, or citizens groups, any church or club that could possibly organize to oppose their absolute rule.
Those financial interests are the masters. We, the citizens, as defined by the Constitution, are only given a choice between Pepsi or Coke, between McDonald's or Burger King, between Biden or Trump. We cannot play any role in the decisions made by the banks and the companies that they control behind the screen. They present us, on purpose, with a hopeless choice so that we have no one to blame but ourselves for the crimes they have organized.
The newspapers and television broadcasts are not telling us anything about the horrific actions against citizens at the local level in the months leading up to this election, they are not telling us what is happening right now.
Moreover, the alternative press has for the most part bought into the same false narratives.
We can be sure of one thing, however: No one has any mandate after this election, and no one who has closed his or her eyes to this corrupt and fraudulent process deserves any mandate.
Let us start with Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the candidates forced on us by the Republican and Democratic parties. My heart went out for these two men as I watched them give endless speeches in the days leading up to the election.
Two worn-out, old hollow men, repeating hollow words for empty rooms, speeches that were broadcast to the world, over and over, until we were begging for this election to end.
We saw how Biden and Trump had their chains yanked and we saw how they suffered.
Yet, we do not have time to wax sentimental now. We need to focus on reality. We need to focus and to act, because the chaos that has been intentionally set off by the promotion of "civil war" scenarios by the super-rich ― abetted by the deep moral corruption that destroyed the government as a moderator, as a regulator, and as an arbiter ― could set off a chain of crises in the following weeks, or days, that will spiral out of control.
There are those, in their comfortable homes, behind gates, who ― shame on them! ― are hoping, foolishly, for exactly that outcome.
Trump and Biden talked a lot, mainly about the same topics, issues at a terrible distance from what concerns you, or from the true threats to our country.
Neither candidate demanded an international investigation of the 9.11 incident. It is no secret that our inability to respond to the "COVID-19" incident is a direct result of our failure to roll up our sleeves and take on 9.11.
Trump deserves credit for talking about the topic, but he has been forced into silence.
Neither candidate has demanded that the public know where those $10 trillion, or more, paid out by the Federal Government to bail out banks, to buy worthless stocks and bonds, and to help Wall Street out of the mess it intentionally created, have gone.
Neither candidate has demanded that the money be returned, that the internal documents related to those payments be declassified, or that those involved should be sent to jail for their felony crimes. Both candidates blamed our financial woes on "COVID-19." Such a response is not just bankrupt and irresponsible; it is, legally, malfeasance in public office to cover up a criminal conspiracy. Such actions constitute a felony.
Neither of these candidates has made climate change the central issue for security or even touched on the catastrophic collapse of biodiversity. The fact that Biden will discuss the topic, while doing nothing, reeks of "good cop, bad cop-ism."
Both candidates set their agendas on the basis of what the corporate (bank-controlled) media will tolerate, and in many cases on what was dictated to them by political consulting firms that worship at the cruel feet of Mammon.
The truth, and the long-term interests of the American people, never crossed their minds.
Neither candidate demanded that that the Department of Defense budget be subject to an audit, or that the efforts within the military and in intelligence to run domestic propaganda campaigns to promote policies be stopped.
Our demand of Trump and Biden is simple. Both of them must pull out as candidates immediately.
There were some third-party candidates: Jo Jorgensen of the Libertarian Party, Howie Hawkins of the Green Party, and others. A careful reading of their material reveals they are not interested in such serious issues either and that they have intentionally neglected inconvenient topics. Their material is skimpy when it comes to policy and they are cowardly and conformist ― granted that both have a few good ideas as well.
I will not waste your time with the tale of the musician Jade Simmons who ran as an independent as a publicity stunt. I would only suggest that she, and other such candidates, were less harmful than Trump or Biden.
So, you ask, what do we do next?
Well, we already know what the powerful want: they want this election to slide into a massive division, much like the election of 1860. They are hoping to use their commercial media so as to pit the white man against the black man, the rural woman against the urban woman. They want to create as much chaos and confusion, to stir up enough dust, that they can distract us from the rape of our country by Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, Bank of America and the host of shadow puppet masters who stand behind those puppet masters, who stand behind the corporations who pay our politicians.
First, we must have a legitimate election in which everyone is allowed to vote and in which none of these stunts are permitted that stop people from voting, invalidate their votes, or limit the opportunities for the citizen to vote.
When we do have a legitimate election next year, in accordance with the Constitution, we must make sure that anyone qualified to run, people like myself, are not blocked out of the media, or marginalized by criminal corporations and their pawns in the political parties.
We must also make sure that every American has access to journalism that is objective and based on the scientific method without the interference of the rich and the powerful. We must make sure that our precious citizens are not blinded to, or distracted from, how our country has been placed on the chopping block like a slab of meat.
I do not want to say what the process must be for establishing a fair and open election next year, or how I think the government should be administered until then. I am hesitant to make any declarations, not because I do not have any ideas, but rather because I want you, the citizen, to be involved in the process, to start to organize yourselves without any help from the rich and the powerful, to create institutions that will demand that the Constitution be adhered to, and to create truly independent media that addresses real issues, not phony issues.
We need to rip the masks off the politicians and reveal that behind every virus lurks a parasite.
I personally believe that the end of the rule by the Democratic and Republican parties, two institutions that are not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution and which have decayed into pay-to-play syndicates, should be a first step toward a real election.
Let us come together now and work with each other to make this crisis into an opportunity, to make America great for the first time.
Emanuel Pastreich is president of The Asia Institute. He declared himself an independent candidate for president of the United States in the 2020 election.
