This year's presidential primaries were the most interesting in memory.
Simultaneously they brought much needed discussion to long-avoided issues, while at the same time exposed just how farcical and corrupt our political system is.

The way the Democratic primaries ended perfectly encapsulated all that is wrong with our political system.

This is the perfect symbolic ending to the Democratic Party primary: The nomination is consecrated by a media organization, on a day when nobody voted, based on secret discussions with anonymous establishment insiders and donors whose identities the media organization – incredibly – conceals. The decisive edifice of superdelegates is itself anti-democratic and inherently corrupt: designed to prevent actual voters from making choices that the party establishment dislikes. But for a party run by insiders and funded by corporate interests, it’s only fitting that their nomination process ends with such an ignominious, awkward and undemocratic sputter.
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That the Democratic Party nominating process is declared to be over in such an uninspiring, secretive, and elite-driven manner is perfectly symbolic of what the party, and its likely nominee, actually is. The one positive aspect, though significant, is symbolic, while the actual substance – rallying behind a Wall-Street-funded, status-quo-perpetuating, multi-millionaire militarist – is grim in the extreme. The Democratic Party got exactly the ending it deserved.

The journalistic malpractice committed here is staggering.

The establishment needed to make the votes in California meaningless and keep people from even voting. So they declared her the winner. The timing was calculated. The AP headline and story was written days ago.

It wasn't just AP. Other mainstream news organization jumped on the bandwagon, the LA Times in particular.

After running the headline “Hillary Clinton Clinches Nomination in a Historic First,” it then ran an article that asked in the headline: “After AP calls nomination for Clinton, will voters still turn out Tuesday?”

Considering this is coming from a political party that has spent years complaining about how how the GOP suppresses voting, and how the news media cooperates with Trump by giving him free news coverage, this extremely hypocritical ploy is the perfect ending to the primary season.

What we are seeing is the last of the paint peeling away from the edifice of the Democratic Party, revealing the mold and rot underneath.
Except for a few corrupt and dying labor unions back east, the New Deal coalition is dead. In fact, it's been dead so long that it is reaching Peak Stench. It isn't just allergies that are making your eyes water.
This also explains why the democrats have embraced identity politics so hard.
It's not like Hillary can make us believe that she cares about the working class. So it's about a "milestone" for a gender.

In Africa, identity politics would be called tribal politics. "Vote for me because I'm Hutu, or Tutsi, or Zulu, like you are."
The difference being is that tribes actually mean something in Africa, and the election of a tribal leader has benefits for that tribe.
However, voting for someone because they have the same skin color, or gender is about as meaningful as voting for someone because of their hair or eye color. That's why blacks are worse off relative to whites after seven years of Obama.

On the other side is Donald Trump.
The rebellion of the Republican voters against all things establishment is the true milestone of these primaries. It's just unfortunate that it is all for naught.
The big selling point for Trump is how he's too rich to be bought, but that totally contradicts the very system that made Trump rich. A real estate developer has to get into bed with the banks in order to do business.

Remember when "a Trump White House strikes fear at the heart of capitalism"?
Remember when "Wall Street’s wealthiest tycoons are spending millions to thwart Trump"?
Remember when "The real threat to Wall Street is not Bernie Sanders — it’s Donald Trump"?

It all sounded so believable...as long as you didn't think about it too hard.
The Billionaire who is the nightmare for billionaires, because Reasons!
The angry conservative base of the Republican Party sure ate it up.

So how does Wall Street feel now that Trump is the nominee? Pretty good.

I spoke with over 50 financial professionals across the board. And the overwhelming majority said they were planning on voting for Trump at the election.
"He fights very hard to pay as little taxes as he can," a hedge fund manager said referring to recent Trump comment. "I say amen. He's just like us."

He's just like us

Why does this not surprise me?

Donald Trump is so obviously full of sh*t that only those seeking to be deceived would fall for it.
And guess what? His audience desires being deceived. It's all a circus act! All of it!

It's Kayfabe people.
It's exactly what you would expect from a WWE Hall of Fame member.

None of it is real, and that includes all his talk about banning Muslims and building a wall. Trump couldn't give a sh*t less about that stuff. Build it, ban them. He doesn't care one way or another.

The circus act extends to the Democrats as well. Their reaction is so over-the-top it's laughable.

This past week we saw Clinton pair the idea of President Trump with nuclear disaster, racism, Hitler, the Holocaust, and whatever else makes you tremble in fear.

The question is: where do you go after a nuclear-armed Hitler?
The anti-Christ? Cthulhu? Just how far down Scaremongerry Road will you go before you sound ridiculous?

The real joke is on us, because Donald and Hillary are owned by the same people, lock, stock, and barrel.
Their owners will prevent either of them from changing directions too much.
We are being robbed blind on this road to destruction, but our owners will manage this disaster so that it doesn't happen all at once. That way we won't rebel, and more importantly, their asset prices won't tank.