Disputed
U.S. Presidential Election Anarchy and Violence Prevails - Kathleen Chandler
-
 November 4, 2020. Detroit,
Michigan.
On November, 7, the monopoly media
finally declared Joe
Biden the winner in the U.S. elections for president. But the
conflict is far from over. As anticipated, initially no winner
was declared. Even now, the rivalry within the ruling
factions is so intense -- with potential for open violent
conflict -- it is clear the election settled nothing, as yet more
disputes continue to unfold. This was evident as soon as Biden was
declared the winner. The news agencies announced both
Pennsylvania and Nevada for Biden, giving him 290 Electoral
College votes against Trump's 214, with 270 necessary to win.
Georgia, North Carolina and Alaska still remain. Biden
is expected to give a victory speech the evening of
November 7.  Donald Trump
responded as expected, refusing to concede and
saying the election is still far from over. On November 7 he
said, "Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any
states, let alone any of the highly contested states headed for
mandatory recounts, or states where our campaign has valid and
legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate
victor." This echoed his comments made on election night. "All of
the recent Biden-claimed states will be legally challenged by us
for Voter Fraud and State Election Fraud," Trump declared.
The
Trump campaign is pursuing numerous lawsuits in
Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada and calling for a recount in
Wisconsin -- states where the vote tally is close. As Trump
reiterated November 7, "Beginning Monday [November 9] our
campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure
election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is
seated." The indication is that more lawsuits in
additional states may
be filed, including Michigan and Wisconsin where, like
Pennsylvania, mail-in ballots are being accepted after Election
Day. It would appear that the ruling factions backing
Biden
would still like to secure a decisive win, so as to more readily
secure a "peaceful transition." Biden is already indicating this,
saying "With the campaign over, it's time to put the anger and
the harsh rhetoric behind us and to come together as a nation."
He is also trying to say he has a mandate from the people: "I am
honoured and humbled by the trust that the American people have
placed in me and in Vice President-elect Harris." The fact is
that the vote in his favour represents less than 25 per cent of the
voting age population and furthermore, about 80,000,000 eligible voters
-- more than Biden's 75,000,000 -- expressed their views by not voting
at all. Generally
speaking, certification of the votes by the states is
not completed until the end of November. The electors to each
state's Electoral College then do not meet and certify the
electors until December 14. Lawsuits are to be settled by that
time. If not, states can potentially send two sets of electors to
Congress and then the House of Representatives would decide. All
of this confirms that the election remains disputed and the
potential for greater violence against the people hangs in the
air as well. Already the National Guard is deployed in several
states, including Oregon, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Tennessee and
Texas and police presence has been greatly increased in New
York City, Washington, DC and Chicago. Despite the
effort by the Republican and Democratic campaigns
and monopoly media to keep everyone focused on election results,
continued resistance in various cities and plans for more all
indicate that the election has not silenced or stopped the
people's demands for equality, justice and accountability.
Everywhere people are making clear that these issues will be
settled by the people and their fight for the rights of all. The
inequality and arbitrary nature of the election, including the
counting of votes and discounting of them, has only further
affirmed that a new electoral system is needed. The ongoing
disputes do nothing to address and solve this necessity. It
also shows, more profoundly than ever, the need for the
democratic renewal of the U.S. institutions at every level and of
the constitutional arrangements and definitions of rights. One
of the features of this election was the inability of the
rulers to predict the outcome. Their unending polls were again
wrong. The oligarchs refuse to see that in conditions of anarchy
and with the broad disinformation imposed, polls do not reflect
the public, its stands and demands. They do not reflect the broad
anger with the whole political set up and the drive among the
people to have a decision-making process that favours their
interests. It is in part because of this blindness that they
would pick Biden, an old, white, establishment man, as a standard
bearer. How better to show their exhaustion rather than any
semblance of the new direction people are demanding? The
selection of Kamala Harris, long-time representative of state
district attorneys, did not change this. Joe Biden,
like Hillary Clinton in 2016, also counted on
African Americans and youth to give him a more decisive win.
Clearly, the old calculus of the Democrats that African Americans
will vote in large numbers for them no longer applies, which is
also true for the youth. The consciousness that Democrats, Biden
included, have played a main role in the racist mass
incarceration, militarization of police, state-organized racist
attacks and genocide, is widespread. So too is the conviction
that strengthening the organized resistance is the way forward.
It is also the case that promoting that white workers all support
Trump was put to rest in part by the vote in Wisconsin, where
they are the majority. People vote, or do not vote,
for various reasons but it is not
the vote that reflects their overall stands and views as to how
to solve the problems society faces. That is evident in their
overwhelming support for the many demonstrations and strikes
organized to defend rights and planned now after the
elections.  What the rulers
fail to recognize is that their usual methods
for predicting, including polls and various old
calculations, are as obsolete as their electoral process. People
are rejecting the disinformation of the campaigns, which are
designed to deform the shape of the body politic, to eliminate
its cohesion, to fracture and splinter it rather than unite it in
solving the problems of the day. They are instead fighting to
take the country in a new direction, which includes an electoral
process where the public is informed, their concerns and
solutions are on the agenda, and their own candidates selected,
and that is structured to provide them equality as members of the
polity.
People are also remaining vigilant for more
potential violence
instigated by the government. Given the intense rivalry to
capture the presidency among the ruling factions, and Trump so
far refusing to concede, and large numbers of police and National
Guard already present in some areas, the threat remains. So too
does the possible use of armed racist militias against the people
so as to justify use of the military and widespread arrests and
detention. Unions and hundreds of organizations are
at the ready to
demonstrate and defend rights. Numerous demonstrations took place
November 6-7 and more are planned for next week and again in
December. Many are also angry and prepared for action, including
possible strikes, if the Supreme Court interferes. Together with
the organized resistance ongoing since May, people are ready for
rejecting use of the military and federal forces against the
people and advancing the fight for equality, justice and
accountability.
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 43 - November 7, 2020
Article Link:
Disputed
U.S. Presidential Election: Anarchy and Violence Prevails - Kathleen Chandler
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
|
