Saturday, August 13, 2016

This is all going to be very serious after the American presidential election is called.

I give it about 5 minutes after it is announced that Hilary Clinton is the next president of the United States for the secession movements to start gaining traction.

I think that Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, the secessionist movements will start moving. Probably early in the evening because, if the current polls hold up, Hillary Clinton is likely to be projected the winner early in the evening.

Further with Trump calling for poll watchers there could be inflammatory events where poll watchers and minority voters get into fisticuffs or worse. However, unlike the news articles on this, I don't necessarily see that calling for poll watchers itself is a problem.

This is the article on secession.

http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article95361707.html

This is the article on Trump calling for poll observers.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/08/13/is_trump_pushing_supporters_to_intimidate_minority_voters.html

Now, having poll watchers is a normal part of democracy and a valuable part of democracy. Observers from both parties ensure that there is a fair election. Also, making sure there isn't fraud should be stringent.

The question that is raised is how Trump supporters might carry out their responsibility as poll watchers. Given the temperament of Trump supporters and the inflammatory nature of Trump's rhetoric it could be that they will be disruptive and attempt to illegally deprive minority voters their right to vote. Also, given that a lot of white nationalists are supporting Trump, it might very well be the result that white nationalists will be disrupting the polls.

Given that cell phones now all have high quality video cameras in them, scenes of fighting at a polling place could be distributed immediately across the country and result in conflicts everywhere. With social media inflammatory rumors and statements would spread across the nation. I don't think we can expect Trump to bring calm to such a developing situation.

I think that after the 2012 election reactionaries and others thought that surely in 2016 they would get a conservative in the White House.

When Trump is defeated by Hillary Clinton it will be realized that there is no possibility for some right-wing turn in the future for America.

Also, being defeated by Hillary Clinton, with her high negative ratings, will especially show that there is no possibility of a reaction or white nationalist future for America.

In this article a professor comments:
Some of these groups, Huffmon said, espouse unsavory philosophies, “a crossover between white supremacists and the militia movement.” But, ultimately, he said, it’s about how the groups spend their time. Talking about their beliefs over beers with their buddies is harmless enough, he said.
I think Huffmon's comments show a failure to understand social movements or the power of language. "Talking" "about beliefs" is how thinking is developed, strategies thought out, identities formed.

It is fewer than 60 days to the election. It won't be long before we know the consequences.

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