Can someone please tell me what the fuss is all about? Didn’t we know that a minority of people didn’t elect a statesman or someone with a deep and abiding knowledge of public affairs? Wasn’t it clear that Donald Trump was just a real estate guy with a TV show that glorified…himself and…his accomplishments based on…his ego? Is it not apparent that a minority of voters decided that they wanted a regular person who knew as much about the constitution as every other regular person and wanted someone who is as angry as they are about the what’s-so-complicated policies regarding immigration, taxes, health care, foreign affairs and the separation of powers?
Didn’t one of your parents ever say to you that big people talk about big ideas, while small people talk about…themselves?
The events of the past three days surprise me not. They are disturbing. They are frightening. And they were eminently avoidable. But Democrats have to be very careful about what accusations they make and what stories they gather themselves behind. Enough with the mental health updates or the talk of impeachment. These just make the left seem unhinged, screechy, petty and uninformed. And can someone please tell the New York Times that they don’t have to include a recap of every wrong thing the president has said over the past year in every story. I can’t even read the paper anymore.
The only objective is to win enough seats to take over the House and/or the Senate and to stop the GOP’s reactionary agenda before it can do any more damage to the country. That’s why the 2018 midterm elections are key. The Democrats need to mobilize their voters and those Trump voters who didn’t like Hillary, but would vote for a sensible Democrat who would protect their health care, truly lower their taxes, safeguard the environment, respect and improve international agreements and support reproductive rights.
It’s clear that the Republicans are not going to challenge the president on his behavior as long as he supports their program. But even that is beginning to fray. The order opening up the entire US coastline to drilling is such an outrageously terrible idea that even Governor Rick Scott, no friend to moderation, is against it, as is Chris Christie, who would be able to see the derricks from his beach chair.
There is also resistance to Jeff Sessions’ announcing that the Justice Department would begin acting against states that voted to legalize marijuana. Not that I’m a big fan of balancing state budgets on alcohol, tobacco, gambling and pot, but returning us to GiulianiTime. The absolute last thing we need is for our criminal justice system to begin arresting low level drug users in states that have legalized weed. That would be a travesty. And here I thought the GOP was the party of states rights.
Democrats need to capitalize on these issues and get out their voters and those Democrats who sat out the 2016 election. And they’d better come up with an economic argument too because that will also be the key issue in November, as it usually is. That most people see the GOP tax cut as a sop to the wealthy will help, but seeing more money in your paycheck is a powerful argument to stay the course. Then again, cuts to social programs, as the Republicans promise, will certainly wake people up to the danger.
So cut the garbage about psychiatric evaluations and see this election through the correct lens: It’s politics, and all politics is local.
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