acknowledge the problems.

Happy Election Day. I’ve been listening to Bernie Sanders on Trevor Noah’s podcast and (along with lots of other voices) it really is starting to come together. How did Trump win?

He won the same way every demagogue wins: first, he talks about the actual problems. This is the Democrats first mistake. They don’t talk about actual issues that Americans face, and instead focus on peripheral stuff. Second, he offers solutions. The solution is to blame a minor group of people that can’t really defend themselves but at least it’s a solution. This is the Democrats second mistake. They simply side with the group of people being targeted instead of talking about the fact that they are not the actual problem - but they won’t really talk about the problem in the first place anyway - so, it would be hard to talk about solutions.

But both sides suck, because both sides are inherently tied to money and power that come from corporations and big donors and both are threatened by anyone or anything that might take that power. This is the Democrats final mistake: they act exactly like Republicans and bow at the throne of money and power.

He references Mamdani a lot. You have a young, progressive whom people are coming out in droves for and the Democratic establishment won’t support him because he threatens them and their power.

Of course, all of this is contained within the facts of massive inequality in this nation that gets progressively worse every year and gives more power to the rich to control everything.

Listen to the whole thing. It’s sobering, for sure. No real easy way outs. I’m not sure there is any way out?

But it sure as hell doesn’t make me want to be a Republican. Or Democrat.