Much of what is published about the impact of the Midterm elections in the US must be taken with a grain of salt, not at face value. It is a lot more complicated than just that the Republicans have squeaked a majority in the House of Representatives and the Democrats in the Senate. Democrats may technically still hold onto a slim majority in the US Senate, but that may not be enough to continue down the proverbial path, with so many “progressive policies” appearing doomed.
The first knee-jerk reaction to the outcome is that the Justice Department is to open an investigation of Trump, appointing a special counsel to look into a plethora of crimes and other dastardly deeds, tax fraud, stealing official documents, and Trump’s effort to stage an insurrection over the contested results of the presidential election.
However, it appears all these alleged crimes are part of a BIGGER political ploy, one to deflect attention from domestic and foreign policy failures, a dismal economy and rampant and intentional inflation. All is coming together like a “perfect storm”, and setting the stage for a showdown with the 2024 presidential elections coming up.
But voters from both parties are fed up with the apparent picks for the final showdown, Trump for his tendency to tell it as it is, no holds barred, and Biden for showing his true colours and mental decline. Hence the results of the midterm elections remain an open question for many, the first volley in what may prove to be a bloody battle.
Now we are looking to the Presidential elections, and teams are drawing lots, taking sides. Before trying to explain the details of how this process works, let me emphasize that American voters are tired of the prospects of either Trump or Biden getting the top job, and this tendency is increasing as people grow tire of the lame rhetoric.
All the while, the US tries to stay the course, at least in the rhetoric over Ukraine, supporting a neo-Nazi régime and pouring more money and weapons into Ukraine, till the last Ukrainian is standing. But the situation on the ground is more complicated, and much of it is saber rattling, bluff.
One indicator of this is that European and American foundations forums and conferences are being cancelled due to the threat of a wider war, in the wake of an apparent “false flag” by Poland with missiles being shot into Poland. However this is probably more “bluff than substance,” as NATO and the US lack cohesion, an army able or willing to fight, and a shortage of troops in the worst-case scenario that a shooting war breaks out.
Turkey and many other NATO countries will not be willing to venture into the mess. Not even the US has combat troops, instead too many chiefs and too few indians.
It is clear that Russia is winning in Ukraine, and the West cannot politically let this happen. However, it is not able to prevent it from happening—and it knows it— in spite of all wishful thinking and rhetoric otherwise.
A question to be asked is if Trump has a chance of winning when so many ranks are being closed against him. Yes, but he will not have the money behind him like the Democrats have from the BitCoin “Swindlers”, FTX, and arms dealers.
Money is what decides elections in the US, not real issues, and definitely NOT who is the best man for the job. It is becoming apparent that much of the money funneled into Ukraine was part of a larger money-laundering scheme, with the money being siphoned back into the Democratic Party and select initiatives, including not controlling the Bitcoin sector. However the effect may be the opposite, as the US government really wants to replace Bitcoin with its own form of fake wealth.
Soon more may surface, and it is too early to predict the pending political demise of Donald Trump and his supporters, despite wishful thinking, especially by the mainstream media. The longer the US-funded régime in Kyiv survives, at the expense of American taxpayers, who are starting to demand hard answers as to where all the money went and why, the sooner Trump will regain his reputation and improve his odds for the top job.
Yes, it will be a close race, especially in the primary, with the “one guy who some state polls supposedly show him losing to — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis” coming on strong. But Trump needs to think more before he talks, and not be so direct, even when he is telling the truth. Nobody wants to hear the truth, especially when it comes from someone who is now in the position to rub it in.
Tides have turned
With Republicans now back in control of the House of Representatives after a campaign in which they emphasized inflation and its impact on average people, largely due to Biden and his corrupt friends trying to shut down the US energy sector, Trump has a good chance. The problem is that the race for him may be in the primary, as DeSantis may be a bigger challenge to him than Joe Biden.
Trump needs to focus on why Americans are poorer now, the needless conflict in Ukraine, the corrupt Biden family, Joe and his drug addict son Hunter, the real origins of Covid-19, the FBI, the withdrawal from Afghanistan and so on.
Republicans need to draw public attention to corruption in elections, mail-in ballots, and giving illegal immigrants the right to vote to throw an election in the Democrats’ favour. The Democratic Party in America has come to represent massive voter fraud. It makes the UNM look like a bunch of amateurs in comparison.
Many Americans, especially Veterans and former military, don’t like the way Biden left Afghanistan, running like a rabbit, in shame. And how do they expect to win in Ukraine when they are up against a real country and real army? Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden have much in common, as they are both war prostitutes. Even Volodymyr Zelensky knows how corrupt the Democrats are, but he is benefiting from that corruption.
Ukraine, Taiwan and many other countries need to wake up and understand that America is not the kind of friend you can trust and depend on when you need it the most. Nobody wants to listen to the truth, as it is only “too” self-evident!
Getting the House in Order
The Republicans having gained the majority in the House of Representatives may have the biggest impact on the American political landscape. If we are to believe the campaign promises, the House will now start independent investigations, outside the FBI and US Justice Department and the short-term result will likely be the curtailing funding for various schemes and clip Joe Biden’s wings and his runaway spending.
Less money will be approved for Ukraine and the never-ending supply of weapons. One investigation may be into where all these weapons are, where they ended up, and who are they being sold to. This is something that many insiders already know, and some may their way to friendly countries, such as Georgia, which is seen by war planners as another possible tool to destabilize part of Russia.
But will the practice really match the rhetoric this time? We’ve been promised investigations, results, and accountability time and again. Thus far, absolutely nothing material has occurred. The problem is that too many are benefiting, and not only Democrats from corruption schemes, business as usual.
One in particular which has featured prominently in Republican promises is a thorough investigation of Hunter Biden and how Hunter’s many financial involvements in China and Ukraine connect directly to his father, Joe Biden, President of the United States, and a high-placed network of patronage.
Such an investigation could destroy the Democratic Party and bring the two-party system into serious question—the house of cards will come crashing down. However we do not yet know if Republicans have the stomach for it, as they like the Democrats need an enemy to give their supporters somebody to blame, for the same of doing it.
Senate will be no “Cake Walk!”
The Senate is also almost a tie, with the Democrats having a slight majority, and this means difficulties in getting key nominations to various cabinet posts approved. There will be blowback over Biden trying to circumvent the system with executive orders, a practice Obama made into a fine art, or signing exceptions as under Bush Jr.
The practically even split means many efforts will result in ties, and not much can be accomplished. Keep in mind that even at the best of times, very few pieces of legislation initiated in the Senate actually make it into law.
The Senate is often busy in approving presidential nominees for high-level cabinet positions and judgeships. With an even split, as before the election, that process is slowed down — and will continue to dismay Joe Biden and his highly questionable and often poorly-qualified appointments.
Those Biden wants to serve in his government are often those who are into the woke fades or on the fringes of mainstream society, not supported by Republican Middle America, with its core values and a voting block that delivers – as Richard Nixon called it, the silent majority.
Voters do not like being preached at, and told they have to catch up with the higher understanding of their rulers. The reaction to this is essentially right-wing, and affects parties of the left harder and for longer – the once popular Australian Labor Party government of Ben Chifley, still a highly polarising figure there long after his death, condemned that party to two decades of opposition by becoming perceived as arrogant- voters expect it of the right, but not the left.
You know what you’re voting for!
Elections tell us what is good or bad about any society, and elections alone don’t mean anything without educated people who can make informed choices, which often means choosing between the lesser of two evils. Even then however the only options are the choices available, and it is a common feature of democracies that electors complain that all the parties are the same because no one listens to them – in other words, the choices they are presented with by the parties are not relevant to the issues they have, and won’t either change whatever is bad or protect whatever is good.
The US has long used this as a means of controlling its client states. They may be democracies on paper, and hold elections, but when the only choice is between candidates the US has decided will not take the country in a direction it doesn’t want, and further support is dependent on the right choice between those candidates being made, any talk of democracy is so much hot air.
As an uncle of mine used to say, “it is a crying shame that someone has to win.” This was definitely the case in the US midterm elections, and the real battle is only just starting.
Some seats are still up for grabs, as there will have to be second elections in States like Georgia, where neither candidate won 50 percent of the vote. Some counts will be contested, and then we will find out who expects the most favours for their support, whether or not the voters were told this at the time.
In the end, neither party will have much advantage, as both parties were bought and sold long ago by special interests. Those interests use the parties as a means of entrenching themselves, but by no means the only one: at the end of the day, elections decide who will be doing it in public, and who behind the scenes, without any oversight.
Republicans have an advantage in the House of Representatives, which is based on population, while the Senate has two Senators from each state regardless of their populations. There will be the usual claims of fraud, but even if true, does it actually matter when you can only vote for this unelected special interest or that, regardless of what you want, simply because only those interests have the money to fund candidates?
Even the promised investigations will achieve only one thing: making one special interest feel better and temporarily changing the personnel in another. It is generally supposed that Bill Clinton’s presidency was tarnished by his long-drawn-out impeachment. But his approval ratings shot up when Congress came after him, because the impeachment was seen as special interests persecuting him, not the people seeking justice, whatever the rights and wrongs of the case.
Turnout in US elections is usually lower than in any comparable democracy, because few people think their vote makes a difference. It is more of a personal statement to go to the polls, and you are the same person after you voted as you were before. What you change is who is going to screw you over for the next few years, and who volunteers to be the chopping blocks for the rulers behind the rulers, who know better than the take the flak themselves.
Henry Kamens, columnist, expert on Central Asia and Caucasus, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”
