{"id":1877,"date":"2016-11-07T10:06:22","date_gmt":"2016-11-07T09:06:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=61209"},"modified":"2026-02-10T17:07:01","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T16:07:01","slug":"why-joe-exotic-2016-will-never-stand-a-chance-against-hillary-and-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2016\/11\/07\/why-joe-exotic-2016-will-never-stand-a-chance-against-hillary-and-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Joe Exotic 2016 will never stand a chance against Hillary and Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Propaganda researcher Etienne Aug\u00e9 from ESHCC.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAysha Gasanova<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Me or Hell<\/em>. That is the title of a lecture about the American elections to be presented by Etienne Aug\u00e9, a senior lecturer at the Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication, on Monday evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings are the same now as when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie broke up,\u201d is the comparison made by Aug\u00e9. \u201cAt the time you had Team Brad and Team Angelina. It\u2019s the same now with Trump and Clinton. Everyone is choosing a side. \u2018It\u2019s me or hell,\u2019 both candidates are saying. The message being: if you choose the other candidate, the country will go to hell in a handbag.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Joe Exotic.<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

Not that voters are necessarily forced to choose between \u201cCrooked Hillary\u201d of Donald \u201cGrab \u2018m by the pussy\u201d Trump. They are also free to vote for libertarian Gary Johnson, Darrell Castle of the Constitution Party and Jill Stein of the Green Party.<\/p>\n

In addition, there is a plethora of candidates who will only be on the ballots in a few states. Aug\u00e9 opens Joe Exotic 2016\u2019s website on his computer. \u201cThis is an actual candidate. If I wanted to draw a cartoon character who wishes to become president, this is what I would come up with. And he\u2019s not even the worst of the lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sending observers<\/h3>

However, these candidates, including Aug\u00e9\u2019s own favourite, Jill Stein, do not stand a chance of making it to the White House. \u201cAmerica is an oligarchy. If you are not part of the Democrats\u2019 or Republicans\u2019 war machine, you simply do not matter,\u201d the French researcher explains. He shows a table on his computer listing the donations received by both candidates \u2013 $1.3 billion for Clinton, $700 million for Trump.<\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t
\n\t\t\u2018If the Netherlands or France were to run their elections in the same way the American elections are being run at present, the Americans would send observers.\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

\u201cThere are many ways in which people can rig an election. This is one. In the primaries, Bernie Sanders refused to accept donations from major companies. It was clear from that point that he would not become the Democratic candidate. If the Netherlands or France were to run their elections in the same way the American elections are being run at present, the Americans would send observers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Fucking rednecks\u2019<\/h3>

Aug\u00e9 discusses the elections with students during lectures and seminars. \u201cA while ago I had an American student in the lecture theatre who said she hated Trump. \u2018Fucking rednecks\u2019 she called his electorate. To me, saying such things is exactly the same as saying all Mexicans are rapists, as Trump did a while ago. The problem is that you\u2019re heaping so much hatred on Trump that you will overlook Clinton\u2019s shadow sides. Which is exactly what they want you to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t
\n\t\t\u201cClinton said the following about Julian Assange: \u2018Can\u2019t we send a drone his way?\u2019\u201d\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Clinton has plenty of shadow sides, Aug\u00e9 has found. \u201cFour years ago I supported Hillary. I was disappointed when Obama was re-elected. But the things that have been released about her recently have blown me away. As a scholar, I look at Wikileaks a lot. Clinton said the following about Julian Assange: \u2018Can\u2019t we send a drone his way?\u2019<\/p>\n

And her campaign leader John Podesta\u2019s brother is a lobbyist for Saudi Arabia, a country that is bombing Yemen, with American assistance. Clinton will continue that policy. She is a real war monger. She is also very close to the Goldman Sachs investment banking company. She often presents lectures there, and her daughter is married to a Goldman Sachs boy. But if you tell people that Trump may not be as diabolical as all that, and that Hillary may not be a saint, they will respond very strongly. It has definitely become impossible in the USA to give a nuanced response.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jill Stein<\/h3>
\"\"

Jill Stein.<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

Aug\u00e9 himself would vote for Jill Stein, the Green Party\u2019s candidate. \u201cFirst of all, I still love the idea of having a female president. Some people call her incompetent, but hey, we\u2019ve had so many male incompetent presidents. Why shouldn\u2019t we have an incompetent female for a change?\u201d he says with a smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I do think she is competent. One of her key ideas is that the USA must stop being the world\u2019s police man. She will not invest in the army. Basically, she wants to reinvent the entire idea of how a president must govern. Her vice-presidential candidate is Ajamo Baraka, an Afro-American. Look at the ballot and you\u2019ll notice that the other candidates are all white males. At least these two look like a team that would change a thing or two. But there is no way in hell they will be elected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even so, the EUR scholar is not giving up on the United States. \u201cWhat I like about America is its ability to adjust, to evolve and to grab opportunities. Several states are already getting rid of the \u2018winner-takes-all\u2019 principle, thus giving alternative candidates a better shot. I believe that America will conquer its problems. But yeah, these are the worst elections in ages.\u201d He will hazard a cautious prediction: \u201cI have little faith in the polls, but I do think Hillary Clinton will emerge victorious. But then I remember waking up the morning after Brexit\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

More about Etienne Aug\u00e9<\/h2>