Tag: Memes

Adios Muthafucka

Hamar WilliamsLeave a comment

It’s about bloody time but according to various news outlets Biden has finally been declared the winner. It has only been about an hour but the internet has gone wild in celebration; memes flying out left, right and centre. The laughter has begun. After four years of jokes tinged with an air of war about them they already feel more fun. People need to let off steam after four years of political bewilderment and horror. The war goes on though. Not only with Trump in the short term as he contests the election but when he refuses to concede. Trump will never concede. He might walk out but he’ll never concede, and likely there will be subtle elements of force at play when he does finally vacate the building. Even then the fight goes on. His legions of fanboys hanging on his every tweet. Waiting on the order to go out and embarrass themselves further in public. It will be interesting to see how quickly people start deserting him though. He’s going to die an embittered lonely old man.

Yet the fight goes on. In America, you now have to deal with the tyranny of centrism. The empty beliefs of people who like everything very much as it is and will withstand any attempts at change. Those foolish enough to not learn the lessons of Trump and what led to him coming to power in the first place. In Britain we won’t stop Brexit but we have to somehow deal with our own version of a government that just does as it feels, one never really held to account despite the glaringly obvious. We have to deal with an entire media incapable of upholding even the most basic tenets of journalism. And we have to deal with an opposition in the image of a centrist like Biden, one also likely unwilling or incapable of dealing with the issues which have allowed for events like Brexit and the extreme fringe wing of a political party now running a country.

This same situation seems to be repeated across the western world. When Emmanuel Macron came to power in France at the expense of the far-right Marie Le Pen, it felt like another short term sticky plaster with nothing to offer but empty charm and words. The sticky plaster can never heal the wounds of a people being left behind by an economic and social ideology that relies on them being behind. All bubbles must burst. Trump was no fluke. Brexit is no accident. Marie Le Pen will return. And then what? More sticky plasters? We celebrate tonight but the evidence will be in what comes next. That’s what it comes down to. With all that in mind though let’s enjoy this moment, that orange prick is finally gone or at least he’s not in power anymore. You know how it goes; “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap…”.

The Donald’s Migration

Hamar WilliamsLeave a comment

Nothing conclusive as of yet, we’re still stuck on a variety of results. The BBC says it’s 253 – 214, CNN 253 – 213 and both The Guardian and Fox News 264 – 214. Why they vary I’m unsure but I assume it comes down to whether a challenge or recount is expected, with the latter two happy to count votes despite the inevitable recount. This delay is no surprise though as we’ve been warned for days prior to the election that it was unlikely to be resolved at the usual speed. None of it is actually a surprise, we knew in states that were close they were always going to be recounted if possible and Trump has always gone on about the prospect of voter fraud that we knew his tactics in advance. It shows how much faith he had in winning that his back up plan was shouted louder than his main one. In the end the polls were not quite accurate and he gained more support than expected but with polls so far off the previous time this was also expected.

It is remarkable to think though that he is ready to sue because of supposed fraud and throw into doubt the legitimacy of a political system the entire country is established upon. In moments like this we need to try and understand what his end game is, and that is something less clear. Clearly he won’t win the election by the votes cast. If he can contest it enough maybe he intends to drag it to the Supreme Court and hopes they’re willing to delegitimise themselves by favouring him on some call we would normally expect of a kangaroo court. If this happens the entire system and the pretence of legitimacy it is built upon will likely come crashing down. The country is so polarised already that something like this could be generationally defining.

Failing all of that we enter other conjectural territory. Is he hoping he can convince his supporters enough of the existence of some heinous injustice that they’ll stand with him in his next move. To suggest he’ll lead a violent uprising, while not impossible, is a little excitable and in reality highly unlikely. He is and always will be an establishment figure despite his lies and protestations. That isn’t to say some of his hardcore support won’t act on his dangerously irresponsible words and commit something unforgivable. Maybe he’s planning on running again in 2024 or on using this supposed wrong in the hope it’ll propel his son Donald Duck Jr or someone else in his inner circle he holds influence over.

It’s all a little excitable I admit but I’m trying to look at this rationally and what ever it is he hopes to achieve by calling fraud on events, beyond salvation in the Supreme Court, is unclear. Maybe he doesn’t expect anything after that or maybe he plans to let future Donald worry about it it when he gets to that point. Expecting a highly irrational man to think rationally is itself slightly irrational. We can assume then he’s just a big baby who can’t accept defeat and is willing to throw the almightiest of tantrums before he’s forced out. If you thought his Twitter was entertaining already, I suspect we’ve only seen the calm before the storm. And one thing is clear, there’s likely a hell of a lot of ‘You’re Fired’ memes in production right now.