A Response to Ta-Nehsi Coates

According to Newsweek, Ta-Nehsi Coates  said this about Trump:

“Trump is professionally stupid,” Coates said during a lecture at the University of Pennsylvania on Wednesday.
“You cannot convince me that somebody could be black, and be that politically unqualified, and even be a governor, forget president. If Donald Trump was black, he wouldn’t have made it off the block,”

Bonzo was first choice.

This is one of the most politically ignorant comments a person could make: especially after the last election.

Since Mr. Coates seemed to have missed it: two of the most unpopular candidates to ever run were chosen. Hillary Clinton was chosen to be the Democratic nominee long before anyone even voted in a primary.

Donald Trump was supposed to be a Candidate who Clinton could beat.  Note Ben Carson is also on the list.

Ben Carson has the charisma of a mannequin, but I am sure it would be President Carson if the powers that be wanted it. They would have built him up the same way they built up Trump.

We would have a trained chimp if the powers that be wanted it. The only reason the US didn't get Bonzo in 1980 was that he was long dead.  The powers that be went with his co-star, Ronald Reagan.

Hell, we had George W. Bush (another election thrown by the electoral college)--he is as close to a trained chimp as you can get

Seriously, were you asleep during the last election?  The most popular candidate ever, Bernie Sanders, "lost" to Hillary Clinton. But that was due to the powers that be moving heaven and earth to suppress the Bernie Phenomenon. Even with all the suppression, Bernie had the momentum and probably would have been president. 

Still, the Dems went with Bernie for Clinton. They preferred losing with Clinton than winning with Sanders.

The problem with that is that the same "populist" image Bernie projected was something the reality show star could also project: even though he has as much in common with the average US citizen as someone from Burkina Faso.  Although, US culture is asperational and a scam artist like Trump projects the "prosperity" US citizens believe can be theirs.

Sure it may come with all Trump's bankruptcies, but its the image Trump projects which was what made him dangerous.

Clinton won the popular vote, but lost in the electoral college.

On the other hand, if you are saying that Trump was not supposed to happen:  he was a choice that went horribly wrong for the powers that be since Clinton "should have won in a landslide".  I'm not sure I can agree there since the powers that be wouldn't have let him anywhere near the White House if he were totally out of control.

The real bottom line here is that neither Clinton nor Trump would have been candidates if it were solely based on popularity and a fair election process. Or even competence. They were chosen long before the election began (Clinton DEFINITELY was).

We would have had President Sanders if the system really held free and fair elections:among other things (such as a truly free press).

The real issue here is a fucked political system that ignores popular votes and is totally questionable anyway. See also,  Evaluating US electoral institutions.

Why didn't you mention that this election was held without the most of the protections of the voting rights act of 1964: that is far more germane than trying to make this an issue of race.  And given the origins of that act, I thought that would be your primary agenda.