Democracy?

 Leonard Cohen sang about democracy coming to the USA:

It's coming to America first 

The cradle of the best and of the worst. 

It's here they got the range 

And the machinery for change 

And it's here they got the spiritual thirst

He also sang that 

The rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor 

And there's a mighty Judgement comin', but I may be wrong

You need a lot of money to stand for election. The rich don’t just have their channels in the bedrooms of the poor but in the decision-making that goes on in government … everywhere it seems. And during the election campaign there was Elon Musk handing out money to people to persuade them to register to vote. Then there are suggestions that the dirty tricks department got going in other ways:

“A political action committee (Pac) linked to Elon Musk is accused of targeting Jewish and Arab American voters in swing states with dramatically different messages about Kamala Harris’s position on Gaza, a strategy by Trump allies aimed at peeling off Democratic support for the vice-president.

Texts, mailers, social media ads and billboards targeting heavily Arab American areas in metro Detroit paint Harris as a staunch ally of Israel who will continue supplying arms to the country. Meanwhile, residents in metro Detroit or areas of Pennsylvania with higher Jewish populations have been receiving messaging that underscores her alleged support for the Palestinian cause.

Those aimed at Arab American populations claim Harris will “ALWAYS stand with Israel” and “stand up against Hamas and radical terrorists in Gaza”. Another notes that she has a Jewish husband, and describes the pair as “America’s pro-Israel power couple”.

And now it seems that Donald Trump is to be president again. Kier Starmer has already congratulated him on his “historic election victory” and said that “as the closest of allies, we stand shoulder to shoulder in defence of our shared values of freedom, democracy and enterprise”. There you go! 

Eight years ago, Michelle Obama said this:

“In our hearts, we all know that if we let Hillary’s opponent win his election, then we are sending a clear message to our kids that everything they’re seeing and hearing is perfectly ok. We are validating it. We are endorsing it. We’re telling our sons its OK to humiliate women. We’re telling our daughters that this is how they deserve to be treated. We’re telling all our kids that bigotry and bullying are perfectly acceptable in he leader of their country.”

Our UK democratically elected representatives have been involved too. The Campaign to Rejoin the EU posted this just the other day

"In Pennsylvania on Monday was Nigel Farage, who was sporting a teal-colored MAGA hat at a Trump rally. The Reform leader even got a shout-out from Trump during the rally as he claimed (again) that Farage was “the big winner” of the last U.K. election and that he was a “rebel.” 

Farage is now a serving British MP and the U.K. parliament is sitting this week. Today he’s missing the main debate on the budget plus a Westminster Hall debate on the future of the U.K. fishing industry — a subject once close to his heart. Still, the cheesesteak in Philly is meant to be really good"

Later I read that Nigel Farage had suggested that if Donald Trump lost the election he should just go and play golf. It seems that won’t be necessary after all. 

We probably don’t need to wait for confirmation. 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!