I think you're forgetting how bitter the 2008 Democratic primary was. The Clintons did everything they could to keep Obama from being the nominee (well, as we saw in 2016, not quite everything they could do). Clinton was made secretary of state as an olive branch to keep her end of the party secure.
I think you can comfortably replace "establishment" with "idealogically representative of the inner standard deviation of the american people", with some skewing for party politics, which is pretty much what a representative republic is supposed to do. People also miss that the parties frequently shift to accommodate their candidates, such that any candidate of a major party de facto becomes the establishment for that party (within reason).
Also, Bill Clinton was in no way an establishment candidate in 1992. Nor was Reagan in 1980, nor particularly was Carter in 1976. Skipping their associated unelected presidents (who by nature of being VP were part of the establishment), Kennedy probably also was not particularly establishmenty (but he cheated). Nixon was a solid component of the Republican establishment, Eisenhower had literally run the country's military, and FDR was president for so long it's hard not to think of him as defining the establishment. Before that, my picture of electoral history gets fuzzy.
All that to say, saying things are run by "the establishment" is too ephemeral to be useful.
> America is just a monarchy with term limits.
Yes, that's literally the intent of the executive branch as conceived by the founders. Even the term limits were feature creep.
Yep, very true. I can't disagree with anything you've said. I do remember 2006 very well and the "I landed under sniper fire" from Hillary.
I agree Bill Clinton was outside of it, but he got in and they started their entrenchment. Prescott Bush spent decades preparing for his son to become the president, but it was his long term intention.
Trump started planning this in the 80s and his extended family are also much easier to listen to and less ... squawking. There's a good chance they'll rise despite all of this as another political family like the Kennedys.
Kennedy wasn't corrupt enough, and got taken out by his own people, and somehow to this day over half of the world believe it was just one guy with an axe to grind.
The actual undercarriage of what is going in is deep and complex, held by powerful people who will rip each other, and the peasants, in order to maintain their control and power.
Just look at how people on here are ripping at each other, accusing every Trump supporter as being a Nazi or fascist. I think back to the quote from Wargames about thermonuclear war .. the only way to win, is not to play.
I think you can comfortably replace "establishment" with "idealogically representative of the inner standard deviation of the american people", with some skewing for party politics, which is pretty much what a representative republic is supposed to do. People also miss that the parties frequently shift to accommodate their candidates, such that any candidate of a major party de facto becomes the establishment for that party (within reason).
Also, Bill Clinton was in no way an establishment candidate in 1992. Nor was Reagan in 1980, nor particularly was Carter in 1976. Skipping their associated unelected presidents (who by nature of being VP were part of the establishment), Kennedy probably also was not particularly establishmenty (but he cheated). Nixon was a solid component of the Republican establishment, Eisenhower had literally run the country's military, and FDR was president for so long it's hard not to think of him as defining the establishment. Before that, my picture of electoral history gets fuzzy.
All that to say, saying things are run by "the establishment" is too ephemeral to be useful.
> America is just a monarchy with term limits.
Yes, that's literally the intent of the executive branch as conceived by the founders. Even the term limits were feature creep.