If democracy is about choices, then it’s survival involves accepting the better at the expense of the ideal. At the same time, abiding such reasoning requires faith the process offers viable options that distinguish themselves from each other. We got Trump because many on one side lost faith in that proposition and figured what the hell. How wrong they were is now on display hourly. Astonishingly, many still hold to their November, 16’ outlook, but just as incredibly, Democratic leaders still seem intent on providing the same reasons to do so.
The concept of common sense suggests the obvious exists and should be recognizable to most. How anyone who watches Trump in public comes to any conclusion other than the nation has a monsterous problem, either challenges the existence of that idea, or means many have lost their bearings.
Trump is so alien to any of his predecessors, so bare in his disdain for established protocol, so wedded to his contrarian impulses, so divorced from a coherent vision of governance, accepting him is either a full and shared indictment of everything before, or an expression of complete apathy.
That 35 percent of America, 85 percent of the GOP, approve of behavior so at odds with established standards, means either Trump is exceptional enough to create new metrics, or something has convinced them the alternative is bad enough that anything else is acceptable… the least is not as bad as the worst, which the other choice certainly is.
Of course Trump exists to promote the former contention, making virtually every sentence he utters about his unique greatness. His rallies ring more of cultist Jim Jones than any previous POTUS, almost entirely in service to his megalomania. Yet attendees, aside from fatigued by having to stand and sheer boredom, don’t see any reason at all for pause.
That both national and local Republican candidates now embrace far more than distance themselves from him reflects two simple truths: they can read polls; and they, not only can accept his behavior, but also wed their political brands to it. So much for common sense on the GOP side. But what of the Democratic alternatives?
It’s hard to argue with anyone promising a simple return to sanity and abidence of previous standards, targeted by Trump for no other reason than to demonstrate his power to do so. Yet there is the emerging wing of the party demanding its own war on the status quo, come what may. Clinton and her machinery denied them; they made us pay. Coming into November they seem uninterested in simply a general resistence to the crisis they created, yet their agenda is evolving. Universal healthcare, a livable wage, higher taxes on the 1% and addressing corporate greed are the broad strokes. Righting immigration injustices and doing in ICE now appear to be added to the list. In short, fast action on intractable political issues… sound familiar?
Kicking the can down the road is no longer tolerated by either side of the populist yellow brick road, but what both sides seek can’t be achieved through compromise, which has always been required for big US legislative changes. Democrats refused to allow GOP refusal to participate stop Obamacare, and gave birth to the dark forces plagueing us now. Trump, as the most grotesque manifestation of Tea Party nihilism, has no political identity giving away ground necessary for compromise. So what are we left with?
Schumer, Pelosi et al seem intent on believing that both of the most powerful forces available to harness are too dangerous to fully embrace. Calling out Trump as the existential danger he shows himself to be on the hour risks alienating soft independents, who he turns off, but don’t have any stomach for a battle to remove him. Moreover, it risks invigorating Trump’s wretched core, who will TiVo Outnumbered and hit the polls to protect their champion from the deep state. Better to go slow and keep powder dry for 2020.
Meanwhile, anything more than humoring the Bernie crowd risks further alienation of undecideds with no stomach for socialism, better the devil they’ve normalized already than another wave of big changes. Again, no need to press too hard. We’ll work to reunite the families, absolutely no to any NEW tax cuts. And let’s fix this flawed Obamacare because the GOP failed to repeal and just wants the issue to go away. Talk about a solid platform!
The GOP worked out its internal differences by allowing the Fox/AM fringe to destroy all reason and compassion within its ranks. The Tea Party morphed from an electoral asset to a nihilist albatross in the blink of an eye. Trump came along and simply fully defined himself in line with those ugly traits, rendering them non distinguishable from his hideous cult of personality.
Now the Dems seem paralyzed on how to proceed. One of the short list of usurpers of Pelosi was decisively trounced in his primary by as dynamic and attractive a progressive face as one could ask for. Yet they seem intent on nibbling at the edges rather than creating any wave required to either deliver us from our pestilence or pursue anything more than gridlock, which would suit Trump just fine.
Collective angst toward our system’s warts was responsible for electing America’s worst, who now daily provides a stress test for our democracy’s survival. Whether this bloc subordinates its demands that the Democratic Party move on from the 1990s, and makes peace with simply throwing water on the fire we all see burning, will determine if the current criminal enterprise continues. One can only hope they employ the common sense they were born with. BC