All week I’ve been working on a post called “Trash Parade” that was supposed to run today. Basically it was a rundown of all the terrible people the RNC has given a platform to: the racists, the various liars, and sycophants that made fools of themselves. OMG Kimmy G? What a lunatic. Not to mention all the Hatch Act violations. If you watched the RNC and believed any of that performance, I have a bridge to sell you. But honestly — who cares? These people stand with Trump. Obviously, they are garbage people. That’s all he has left. Grifters and conmen like himself. So I won’t be writing about that. Instead, I am going to write something else, something that is part-reverse jinx, part-preparation, and part-PSA. Ready?

It’s time to accept that Trump is going to win re-election. And I don’t think it’s even going to be close. I know a lot of liberals don’t want this outcome. Some of my friends even have a hard time just hearing it. But the sooner we accept our fate, I think, the easier it will be to swallow when it comes to pass.

Now, this is not remotely the outcome I want. If I had my druthers, we’d amend the Constitution so AOC can become our Empress for Life. I’d follow that woman into Hell if she said it would get rid of my college debt. But since we don’t live in fantasy land, I’ll stick to reality.

Joe Biden is a fine choice. He’s experienced, empathetic, and best of all: NOT TRUMP! Really, there are dogs I’ve met that I would rather have in the Oval Office. At least we’d have dumb luck on our side when it came to making decisions. Sure, President Bingo might whiff on the intricacies of international finance but at least we know he won’t be grabbing any pussies. He might smell a few but come on, he’s a dog. In any event, NOT TRUMP is as fine a candidate as we can get.

Given the current state of things, you’d think NOT TRUMP would be a runaway success and leading in the polls by miles. Every day, we lose another thousand or so of our countrymen to a virus that most of the world has learned to manage. Our postal service, a foundational necessity to our continuing democracy, is under assault. We can’t even be sure we’re going to have a legitimate election in two months. And yet, Trump is somehow surging, gaining ground on Biden and making this a real contest. What does this mean?

It could be that polls aren’t as valuable as we tend to think they are. 2016 proved that to some degree. Maybe there is a quiet group of Biden voters who just haven’t exposed themselves to polling yet. I don’t think this is likely. If I had to bet my life on who had more secret supporters, I think I’d pick The Donald. Rather, I think Trump’s imminent reelection hinges upon the foundation of what America is.

Without getting into the weeds too much, our country was founded and designed to have systemic racism. We tend to think of it as a bug in the programming. It isn’t. It’s an important feature of America. It helped turn us into a superpower and created an enormous amount of wealth. For white men, mostly. A few shekels have fallen out of their overstuffed pockets and trickled down to everyone else. The complex, institutionalized racism in this country of ours has touched virtually every aspect of culture, finance, and social norms. We exist not only within a pool of racism, but we also drink it, and it flows in our blood.

That is why I am convinced he will win reelection.

I’ve spent a fair bit of time lately driving in rural Minnesota. And let me tell you something: Trump is a big deal. There are giant, homemade billboards lining the highways. Flags GALORE. You can’t swing a dead cat in most upstate counties without hitting the MAGA who shot the cat. I drive a Prius, something that causes irritation with rural folk. And no, it’s not because I drive like a lame Prius person. I go fast. Anyways, the enthusiasm for Trump is practically ORGASMIC for country people. They are so happy to have someone who speaks for them. And in a way, I kind of get that.

Now, you might be thinking, “umm, white people have had a voice since forever” and you’d be correct. The thing you’re forgetting is the eight years where a black man was telling them what to do. He had a “weird” name. His kids had “weird” names. His wife was seen as “masculine” (an opinion I do not share). Combine that with the friendly, “funny” racism ingrained in so many white people (monkey jokes, etc.) and I’m sure it felt like 100 years to some. They also would have preferred President Bingo to Obama. To people who are used to supremacy, any loss of power would feel like a deeply inflicted wound. And all that resentment built up. Think of what the MAGAs say: Make America Great Again. Ask them to identify what time the “again” refers to, they will almost certainly reference a time when white men had absolute power, instead of the illusory “shared” power they cede now.

When faced with the prospect of another decade of control by a non-white male, Americans did what we have done throughout our history: we chose racism. Why? Because that’s what feels like home to us. To be clear, the “us” I am speaking about are white Americans. Unfortunately, due to sheer numbers and systemic racism, white folk are still steering the ship. It’s getting better but there’s still a long way to go. And because Whitey chose racism, that’s what we got.

Do you think that the racial justice movement happening right now is going to encourage white people away from racism? Perhaps, for some, it has opened their eyes. But they aren’t the ones buying Trump condoms (real thing) and painting signs. I think, instead, the same old cycle is repeating. As more and more white people get scared by protesting and “civil unrest” they will run home to their momma: the comfort white supremacy offers. This isn’t to say that protesting is bad or it shouldn’t be happening. It is long overdue. The time has come for white people to confront their position within this society and how we have benefited directly from supremacy. We are the only ones who can make the changes that we so desperately need as a nation. It begins with us acknowledging supremacy exists.

But dogs are gonna bark. The reckoning we are experiencing now will have repercussions with people who don’t follow politics all that closely. They will see burning buildings, cops getting hit with bricks, and crying business owners. It won’t be hard for the Trump campaign to connect those images to Democrats. They have spent the last week doing just that.

Do you believe in the goodness of white Americans? What evidence is there that “good” white people will sacrifice anything for the advancement of people of color? If they had, we wouldn’t be where we are now. Instead, I think that since soccer moms got to have their safe little marches in their super white towns, they feel good enough. They will acknowledge that there is still imbalance, but what would you have them do? March again? In this heat?

No, I think that once they step into the voting booth (virtual or otherwise) they will remember the great economy Obama helped create and pull the lever for Trump. They’ll remember all the signs and flags around town, they’ll feel that enthusiasm and want to be a part of it. Or, at best, they’ll be so wary of what Democrats would do with power, they will vote for Trump.

Either way, I can say for sure that I have seen very little in the way of Biden signs. I can count on one hand the number of yard signs I’ve seen. In the suburbs here in Minnesota, there are these pop-up Trump shops everywhere. Usually, it’s a trailer with some tables set up around it. But I’ve actually seen brick and mortar shops too. Let me know when you find an impromptu Biden Shop.

Listen, I would love for us to have made the progress this moment requires of us. But I just don’t think we have. Wearing a mask is seen as an act of tyranny. Popular right-wing TV hosts are defending a 17-year-old kid who murdered two people and shot another. Ann Coulter praised him. A washed-up baseball player called him a “national treasure”. Shockingly, it wasn’t Curt Schilling, though I’m sure he’s got an opinion on the matter. Does this look like enough progress to you? Just months after George Floyd was murdered in broad daylight, Jacob Blake was shot 7 times in the back. Breonna Taylor’s killers are still at large and there seems to be zero interest in bringing them to justice. At some point, I guess, we agreed that police could kill innocent people and go “whoopsie!”. Again, I ask, does this seem like enough progress to you?

The fight is long and eventually, I think we will get to a better place. But right now? I don’t think so. That doesn’t mean we should give up or stop pushing for justice and reform. Not in the slightest. Support progressive politicians who don’t take big money donations and seem genuine in their efforts to reform our system. We’re close. Republicans haven’t won the popular vote of a presidential election in my voting lifetime. Their power is held through cheating, gerrymandering, and systemic racism (like the Electoral College). And as much as I want Trump to be the end of the line, I fear that he is only the beginning.

Defeating Trump will not make his supporters disappear or change. They will find a new master of supremacy to follow and adore. They always have, they always will. Our focus needs to be on ensuring that we do a better job of taking care of each other when we get the chance, not in only bashing Trumpism. It’s a vile philosophy that revolves around one man’s ego. Everyone is aware of who he is and what he stands for. Our contrast needs to be focused on something better.

The lesson the Democrats should have learned from 2016 and the great returns they had during the 2018 midterm elections was that people want something different. They want people of color and women to represent them. They want bold, progressive ideas like Medicare-for-All and free college. They want people who are going to make an actual difference in their lives. Not more of the same. Unfortunately, Dems have never been good at being bold and so they went with the “safe” pick.

Will this milquetoast choice of Biden-Harris be enough to get some disgusted Republicans to jump ship? Maybe. But I’m sick of chasing the same stupid voters. Only half of the country votes. There are millions of votes out there waiting to be picked up. Maybe someone like Bernie could have brought the same enthusiasm the MAGAs have. Instead, we have to hope and pray that “good” white people choose the non-racist option.

I have no doubt that we are at a major crossroads in the history of our nation. This election will be a point that historians look back upon with awe and wonder. How will they judge us? Will they celebrate the day our nation took its first steps towards racial healing? Or will they curse us quietly from the dark, trying not to draw the attention of the Trump Patrol Bot sent to shoot libs on sight while Don Junior’s latest speech echoes throughout the wasteland that was once NYC. The choice is ours.

He's Gonna Win