Election 2024
The Good Reset

2,996 words

The Good Reset[1]

This essay will complete my Trump trilogy of election essays. I truly believe for the rest of our lives people will talk about the Trump political era with extreme reverence and nostalgia. Before this era, we had the likes of McCain, Romney, the Bush family, Obama, and the Clintons. All political powerhouses that Trump would end in brutal fashion. That alone is a fascinating achievement to consider.

Last week was the third presidential election in a row I stayed up all night watching results with my parents and chatting with friends while posting on X. For the first time in a long time, it felt like we were back. There are a handful technical and legal details worth discussing regarding the last three elections. First, back in 2016, polls had suggested Hillary Clinton would win by an absurd margin, some showing a 98%+ chance of a Clinton victory with over 300 Electoral votes.[2] Trump would of course win in a huge upset, while spending about half as much money on his campaign as Clinton. This spending pattern would widen in 2024, with Harris spending nearly a billion dollars to Trump’s $388 million.[3]

In 2020, there were an extreme number of outliers and oddities surrounding the vote. I will not go into the gritty details as I did in the “Stolen Election” essay from November, 2020[4], but there are two items that remain quite bizarre to my mind four years later. The first is how Joe Biden managed to command the most popular votes in United States history. The second was how many of those votes came, in the middle of the night, long after polls had closed and states declared they were “pausing the count for the night.” When vote counting resumed the following morning, Biden was suddenly was winning states he was losing. In some cases 90% or so of the after-hours votes counted went in Biden’s favor. In my opinion, that election had been stolen by entering fraudulent ballots in key precincts in the middle of the night – some of which reported a turnout rate far higher than anywhere else, some near 100% and several standard deviations outside of normal.[5] I pored over the data and exit polls for days following the 2020 vote and could find no real possible explanation other than that. There had been a handful of small shifts percentage wise, while the overall votes for Trump were still higher than 2016 across all segments.

Obama received 69 million votes in 2008, the most popular votes in history at the time, then 65 million in 2012. Trump won 65 million in 2016. Then, Biden managed 81 million in 2020. Trump received 75 million in 2024, and Harris received nearly 71 million. Some extreme irregularities took place in 2020 to make it such an outlier.[6] I believe something had to cause the extra votes for Biden, other than the theory that Democrats just love older white men so much that they would show up in record breaking numbers, while he struggled to fill small rally venues.

After Trump won in 2024, many people who doubted the idea that the 2020 election was stolen took to social media to ask, “If you think the 2020 election was stolen, why did they not steal it again in 2024?” That is a fair question, and it has a quite reasonable explanation. After the huge outcry following 2020 regarding election irregularities, many states changed laws and procedures surrounding their election procedures.

I will note that the 2020 election was challenged legally, but in states without strong voter identification laws, it is more or less impossible to prove legally that fraudulent ballots were used. Not everything true can be proven true in court. There are people guilty of crimes who go free because their guilt cannot be factually proven. We accept this fact as a society. The same idea applies to the 2020 election.

Some examples of these updated procedures are Georgia changing their rules to ensure the number of ballots printed matched the number that should exist, requiring three different counts to match each other. Ohio, along with other states, made their ID requirements stricter, such as what they will accept as identification and whether or not the piece of ID is expired matters. Florida changed their rules on how drop-off boxes are monitored and available, ensuring one ballot is dropped off per person. Before states made this change, drop boxes could have been unmonitored and open after hours.[7] Across the country, states and counties moved to ensure voters were who they said they were, that they were only voting once, and that the right number of ballots existed. There were liberal protests to each of these measures. The normal allegations of “voter suppression” were exploited. Some states even made these moves close to the 2024 election, possibly ensuring any election fraud schemes in the works would have a wrench thrown into them at the eleventh hour.

My answer to those who say the idea that the 2020 election could not be fraudulent because the 2024 election was not stolen in favor of Harris is simple: the window of opportunity to commit election fraud was far narrower and more difficult to pass through. Laws changed. Procedures changed. For once, conservatives learned from their mistakes and took measures to ensure that trucks dropping off ballots in the middle of the night would not swing the election again.

I believe the way things worked out will provide for a much better second term than had it been in 2020. Going into his first term, Trump was a political neophyte. An ardent businessman can certainly have a place in politics, but he needs to be aware it is another world. In business, people are trying to make money and will suppress opinions and desires they may have to keep the numbers in line and the deal moving. In politics, people will throw away money and much more, an entire society, to see their political machinations come to fruition. That is a difficult transition to understand for most people. With that said, many aspects of the business world do transpose well into the political realm. Finishing difficult projects that seem endless, overcoming unforeseen obstacles, and navigating curves in the road, are all things forged in the business world that give one a leg up in the political over those not accustomed to hard deadlines, tight budgets, and all-nighters. Government jobs and entrepreneurship might be near polar opposites.

Trump’s two terms are also separated by four years. That is a long time to think about what you would do differently if given the opportunity.

Eight years ago, Trump surrounded himself with far too many people from the established GOP who were never on board with his ideas and primed to keep the status quo intact. Trump was also surrounded by associates who may have been great in business, but bad in politics, many of whom, such as his son-in-law Jared Kushner, were and remain lifelong liberals.

Speaking on the Joe Rogan podcast, Trump said that his biggest mistake during his first term was picking some of the wrong people.[8] I would have to agree with him. While early, the messaging coming from those close to Trump, Vance, and Donald Trump Jr. specifically, suggests there will be a purposeful exclusion of neoconservatives and war hawks such as Jim “mad dog” Mattis and John Bolton. This news is to the great chagrin of Israeli firsters.[9]

There was a point in April of 2017, after what I believe to have been a largely fabricated “chemical attack” story about Bashar Assad where I felt Trump entirely lost the plot.[10]  Trump authorized the attack on a Syrian air base in a radical departure from his campaign messaging and a sign to many early supporters that his presidency was being heavily influenced by all the wrong people. Most vocal Neocons were part of the “Never Trump” movement while people like me, voted for Trump in part due to his promise to not involve the US in every foreign scuffle.

The entire rest of Trump’s term was riddled with turmoil, intense opposition from every side, and constant legal harassment. With that said, he had three Supreme Court appointments confirmed[11], moved the economy along well, and immigration numbers fell. For me, it was a mixed bag, somewhat of a rollercoaster ride. Trump graciously took it easy on much of “the swamp,” and in turn, they attacked him continuously for the entire term. It could have been better, but I have to keep in mind how I felt on November 8, 2016 – anything but Hillary Clinton and these nasty women.

To me the Biden years were like watching a bridge collapse or a train wreck, but in extremely slow motion to the point it’s almost painful and you become restless like you’re crawling around inside of your own skin trying to escape. Everything got worse and more expensive, but slowly, while we were lectured on how great things were. Listless and miserable was the political atmosphere of the Biden tenure.

It is unlikely we will see a campaign again featuring a mugshot, seemingly endless lawsuits, a bona fide assassination attempt, an incredibly Nietzschean response to that attempt, a McDonald’s shift, and driving around in a garbage truck. From one end to the other, this campaign was entirely iconic. And Vance bringing up the rear with commanding media interactions, taking on anything and anybody at any time, won me over as well. Initially, I very much disliked Vance and the horrid Republican National Convention replete with foreign prayers and some sort of performative multiracial sketch act. The 2024 RNC was truly the low point of this campaign, as well as likely the most scripted aspect. Trump and Vance off the cuff are where the money is.

For the sake of posterity and proper coverage, I must also mention Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter in April of 2022 as another high point. Social media has been increasingly suppressive over right-wing thought, the major platforms had all been owned and operated by Jews or Indians until Musk bought Twitter. The Musk era of Twitter is not perfect, people are still suspended for perfectly legal speech, and not everybody banned under the old regime has been allowed back. However, the platform has become much better in many ways – except maybe the search function, which could use some work. Liberals complaining about Elon Musk’s support of Trump and “a billionaire buying the election,” is risible in the era of Soros, Gates, Bloomberg, Sandberg, Altman, and Mark Cuban (real name Chabenisky), throwing billions of their dollars at liberal candidates and schemes.

Despite the many shortcomings of Trump’s first term, I voted for Trump three times, and for many reasons, some of which have little, if anything, to do with Trump. November 2024, like 2016, was in my view a referendum on many things and people that I truly disdain. These elections were not so much about the people running, but those candidates as avatars, each representing something entirely different. As Harris said so many times, she and Trump represent two different visions of America. Harris was so correct, but in a deeper way than she ever considered.

Back in 2016, a common refrain from liberals was to ask with sneering contempt “When was America ever great?” That alone said everything I needed to know about how these people viewed my country. I do not need to go over the endless contributions to the world from the hands of Americans. In the current USA, it is clear things are not going very well: social capital being destroyed, very few people have any close friends, would-be first-time homebuyers are priced out of the market, etc. With a disdain for our past and hostile ambivalence to our current condition, how could liberals do anything but harm us more in the future?

The world needs more people like us. Not coddled children still playing with crayons in university with their petulant social media posts devoid of anything resembling wit.[12] It is very easy to be a liberal when you aren’t the one losing your job because of bad trade deals and immigration, both unskilled and skilled, aren’t the one who struggles to afford things that could be easily had on one income thirty years ago, and aren’t the one suffering at the hands of rampant criminality. Society needs people who understand and face the harsh realities and consequences of political and policy decisions.

I have no illusions about Trump being something he is not. From where I stand, the entire GOP is entirely too liberal for my liking from the lowest levels of volunteers and Congress pages, to the very top. With that said, before Trump entered the stage, talk of mass deportations, foreigners eating pets (which is entirely true), and revoking birthright citizenship were nothing but fringe far-right talking points that people like me would float online, usually met with ridicule. I cannot express how grateful I am that these once third-rail topics (do not touch!), are now on cable news.

Another key aspect I think being overlooked is that beyond Trump and Vance, this is a referendum on getting rid of Alejandro Mayorkas, Merrick Garland, Anthony Blinken, Rachel Levine, Janet Yellen, David Cohen, and the rest of their kind who are in leadership roles at the highest levels of the United States government.

Finally, I voted for Trump because he is more fun. He’s funny. He is charming. I like him. I like the orange man. Trump creates cultural artifacts instead of tearing them down. He enhances the national lexicon, goes off script all the time leading to pure gems, and represents something much larger than himself. Despite it all, I am proud to have voted for him all three times. If I could, I’d go for a fourth.

Lastly, now is not the time for unity. Nor will it ever be. Liberals flooded our country and small towns with extremely alien foreigners to out-vote us, to change the day-to-day experience of our lives, and to put in us constant danger. They tax us aggressively to pay for our dispossession, then censor and harass us when we speak of it their many ills. They tried to convince us, with a straight face, that they were the party of joy, fun, and prosperity, after the BLM riots, after Covid lockdowns, after decades of mass migration, after facilitating pets being eaten and euthanized – then denying it all. The freakshow coalition needs to be razed, and I hope Trump finds it in his heart to hate a little bit more this time around and seek just deserts for everybody who attempted to destroy him and finish off the country.

Starting my day after another sleepless election night I was hopeful. A weight had been lifted. The vibe was different. There was some room to work again. We might have jumped back onto the right timeline. The energy being different might be the most important detail in all of this. Feelings of being stifled are easing, and it is as if we are free to get back on track and history is moving forward again. I was never looking to Trump for total political salvation, we just needed somebody to knock down a few cobwebs and help get things running again. Even if Trump fails to deliver going forward, I feel like I already got my vote’s worth for the ideas he has expressed alone and the symbolism of it all. For that, I am thankful.

Notes

[1] Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum launched an initiative in June of 2020 called “The Great Reset.” It involved mass migration, the International Monetary Fund, spawned the “you will own nothing” essay, and several speeches promoting a sort of authoritarian liberalism. Hopefully we made the jump to the “good” timeline. I do not want to be a part of another Great Reset similar to 1865 and 1945.

[2] Rachael Revesz. “Survey finds Hillary Clinton has more than 99% chance of winning election over Donald Trump.” Independent. November 5, 2016. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/sam-wang-princeton-election-consortium-poll-hillary-clinton-donald-trump-victory-a7399671.html [https://archive.ph/Yt1EQ#selection-1499.0-1499.4]

[3] Christopher Ingraham. “Somebody just put a price tag on the 2016 eleciton. It’s a doozy.” The Washington Post. April 14, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/04/14/somebody-just-put-a-price-tag-on-the-2016-election-its-a-doozy/ [https://archive.ph/QgRfA]

Alison Durkee. “Trump Vs. Harris Fundraising: Harris Outraises Trump by Nearly 5-to-1 Among Last Minute Big Donors.” Forbes. November 4, 2024. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/11/04/trump-vs-harris-fundraising-race-harris-outraised-trump-3-to-1-with-last-pre-election-report/ [https://archive.ph/FtaNa]

[4] https://counter-currents.com/2020/11/the-stolen-election/

[5] Daniel Payne. “Milwaukee’s sky-high voter turnout raises questions, prompts lawsuits seeking explanation.” Just the News. November 6, 2020. https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/milwaukees-sky-high-voter-turnout-prompts-lawsuit-seeking-explanation [https://archive.ph/E2BkI]

[6] Ewan Palmer. “Where Did the Millions of Joe Biden Votes Go?” Newsweek. November 7, 2024. https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-millions-voters-kamala-harris-trump-election-1981954 [https://archive.ph/m8i1J]

[7] Associated Press. “Judge Rules that Restrictions on After-Hours Dop Boxes Don’t Keep Floridians From Voting.” US News. February 13, 2024. https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2024-02-13/judge-rules-that-restrictions-on-after-hour-drop-boxes-dont-keep-floridians-from-voting [https://archive.ph/7RS33]

Haley BeMiller. “Ohio changed rules for returning ballots at drop boxes. Here’s what you need to know.” The Columbus Dispatch. October 15, 2024. https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/10/15/how-ohio-changed-rules-for-returning-absentee-ballots-via-drop-box/75610560007/ [https://archive.ph/PesFc]

Ali Swenson. “Several states are making late changes to election rules, even as voting is set to begin.” AP News. September 24, 2024. https://apnews.com/article/election-2024-voting-ballots-certification-state-laws-c6d5a339503771596758a733851bfeae [https://archive.ph/KHdLU]

Douglas Guth. “Rule changes cast a shadow over Ohio elections forcing voters to be vigilant.” Crain’s Cleveland. July 22, 2024. https://www.crainscleveland.com/crains-forum-elections/ohios-changing-election-rules-force-voters-be-vigilant

“Bart Jansen. “Amid new ballot drop box limits, Florida’s shorter hours cause voting rights worry.” USA Today. July 31, 2024. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/07/31/florida-absentee-ballots-drop-boxes/73624783007/ [https://archive.ph/aX6C2]

[8] Flip Timotija. “Trump says picking ‘disloyal people’ was ‘biggest mistake’ of first term.” The Hill. October 26, 2024. https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4955032-trump-criticizes-administration-picks/ [https://archive.ph/odYHH]

Jacob Magid. “Trump Jr. says war haks won’t be welcome in administration.” The Times of Israel. November 10, 2024. https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/trump-jr-says-war-hawks-wont-be-welcome-in-administration/ [https://archive.ph/X5WdZ]

[9] I once read a comment that said, “Anybody with a foreign policy at all is smeared as a Neocon.” That is a mere excuse. There is a difference between having a foreign policy and using the United States military as another department within the IDF, as Neocons have done for decades.

[10] Jim Garamone. ”Trump Orders Attack in Retaliation for Syrian Chemical Strikes.” US Department of Defense. April 6, 2017. https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/article/1144601/trump-orders-missile-attack-in-retaliation-for-syrian-chemical-strikes/ [https://archive.ph/3aLtP]

[11] Although Amy Coney Barrett was wrong from the beginning, one look at her family photo would tell you everything.

[12] Melissa Koenig & Alyssa Guzman. “Ivy League students offered crayons, Legos and cookings with milk to cope with Trump’s election win.” The Daily Mail. November 7, 2024. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14055647/ivy-league-dartmouth-listening-circle-kamala-harris-election-2024-loss.html [https://archive.ph/2sRkY]