A Year After Trump, Where Does the Democratic Party Stand?

It’s been a year since Trump became the President of the United States. Here were my thoughts after the election:

I’ve never been more ashamed as a U.S. citizen in my life. I’m angry at those who voted for Trump and those in the Democratic party who either voted third party, joined the Bernie or bust movement, or failed to vote entirely. My hope going forward is that this is a wake up call to those of us who are either centrists or to the left. We do not live in a post-racial society. We are not over sexism. We are not too above being conned on a massive scale by someone like Trump. We have work to do. When significant losses like this happen, in the words of my Grandma Bev, we have to pick ourselves up by our bootstraps. Well, let’s take this next four years, try to limit the losses that the Trump/Pence/Giuliani/Gingrich/Christie government will inflict upon us, and move the country so far forward that there will never, ever, be any going back to where we are tonight.

Those feelings haven’t changed but I’ve come to some new realizations too. Yes, realizations in addition to realizing that Giuliani, Gingrich, and Christie didn’t get their promised appointments.



Here’s the thing: I can’t stand seeing the victory lap that Democrats are taking after last night’s wins in Virginia and New Jersey. We were supposed to win those races. We shouldn’t be acting like we won a gold medal when we merely won elections that should have gone our way in times of normalcy. Yes it’s great that New Jersey is becoming bluer but how hard is it to win when the departing Republican governor has an approval rate in the teens?

What we have to do is realize that while sexism, racism, and hate in general played a part in last year’s election, those sentiments only had a chance because Democrats left a void. That void was filled by Trump’s vile attacks. To avoid another catastrophe, we as liberals and progressives must focus on getting our house in order. For instance, we criticize Republican politicians for making money off of their power yet every face in the Democratic Party is cashing in on his or her shtick. Yes, even Saint Bernie made the rounds pumping a book to line his own pockets. How about this for a start: No more fixating on Hillary Clinton or blaming her for all that has ever happened in the world. That’s what the Republicans want us to do. Let’s stop helping them.

Moving forward, we can and should promote our ideals like ending systemic racism, protecting women’s rights, LGBT rights, gun control, healthcare, and climate policy. But we can’t forget to speak to the citizens of our country who aren’t listening because they can’t find a job and that is what consumes them. Globalization and automation have changed the game. Rather than ignoring that reality, or doing what Trump/Bannon/GOP did and blame immigrants, we must propose solutions.

For instance, how are we going to employ people whose middle class factory jobs were replaced by robots? How are we going to bring back middle class wages, middle class life styles, and a middle class sense of accomplishment for a hard day’s work? We slam Trump for rejecting globalism and decry China’s influence now that we pulled out of TPP, but remember, Bernie was against TPP too. We need ideas that adapt to the new world we’re in. We can’t mirror the Republicans and try to take a time machine back to 1950. We must re-train people and invest in innovation.

Unfortunately, Democrats are not putting forth ideas that lift those impacted by harsh economic realities. More than that, we need Democrats pushing policies that support the ideal that a rising tide lifts all boats. When that ideal is debated and meshed with the Republicans’ ideal of individual responsibility, we become a successful America again. Until then, we’re just a bunch of people yelling at each other in the sandbox while the rest of the world is passing us by.

In the interim, we have become that which we bemoan. We demonize the other. It’s just a different other. We demonize Trump supporters, rich people, the religious right, and many others. How much has doing so gotten us? And when are we going to look in the mirror when it comes to staying true to our ideals? We skewer Bannon, Trump, and the white supremacists for their anti-Semitism, and rightfully so. Why are we so quiet when left wingers promote anti-Semitism on college campuses? We lambaste Trump for crapping on the 1st Amendment by trying to silence the press. Why don’t we criticize left-wingers who try to infringe upon the freedom of speech of others?

Moreover, our hypocrisy is not limited to issues of demonization. We call the Texas murderer a terrorist but fail to categorize Islamic terrorism as being just that, terrorism. I’m not saying that we need our President to say the words “Islamic terror” when his advisers tell him that doing so poses a security threat, but how can we ignore the terrorist attacks in New York, Barcelona, Paris, Manchester, Orlando, and several dozen more that occur every year all over the world? Does that mean we should trample on our Constitution and engage in “extreme vetting”? No. But burying our heads in the sand and pretending that a problem doesn’t exist is every bit as factually irresponsible as pretending like having 300 million guns in our country doesn’t lead to more gun violence.

As a whole, the Middle East is, and has been, a quagmire. It is in a state of perpetual war and there are major power players at work in Saudi Arabia and Iran. Rather than try to figure out a long term strategy as it pertains to all of the warring factions, what is the left wing response of late? Blame Israel, our one true ally in that part of the world. Why are we so fixated on trying to shun the one nation in the Middle East that respects women, that has LGBT pride parades, that elects its Arab minority members to its Knesset and its Supreme Court? That doesn’t mean that we have to agree with every Israeli policy or leader any more than we do an American one. We love the U.S. and are are against Trump’s policies, right? So why can’t we support Israel and be against its right-wing policy initiatives? And if the issue really is about an American ally getting our money and doing what we think is wrong, how is Saudi Arabia not the number one target of our criticism? We’re still several months away from women maybe getting to drive there by the way.

As noted above, our world has become infinitely more complicated in the last generation. We can’t afford to bury our heads in the sand anymore, on any issue. The Republicans have been hell bent on doing so and now we seem to be willing to follow in their lead just so we can have power for a four-year stint. We’re feeding red meat to the far reaches of our party in the hopes of galvanizing a populist movement to take us to power. Sound familiar? Do you really think anything will change in Washington if we get the House and Senate back the way things stand? Sure, we’ll be able to filibuster whatever nonsense Trump and the Tea Party try to push, but what happens afterward?

I’ve had enough. No more intellectual dishonesty. No more heads in the sand. If we want to run on the platform of single payer healthcare, then we must tell the average American that his or her taxes will go up to pay for it. It won’t just be the rich people subsidizing the healthcare system because that math doesn’t add up. We want free college? Be ready to pay into the pot for that too. I agree, we should raise taxes back to pre-Bush tax cut times but let’s not act like we can afford everything we’re pushing for without raising taxes for everyone. That fallacy is every bit as morally repugnant as the fallacy of trickle-down economics.

Finally, let’s grow up and realize that life is hard. Safe spaces don’t exist in our world. They never have. Let’s be the party that wins because we are prepared to debate. Let’s be the party that wins because we choose the moral high ground. Let’s be the party that wins because our ideas will make the lives of our citizenry better. Let’s be the party that wins because we are honest with facts and figures. And finally, let’s be the party that wins and then extends our hand to the other side and says, “here are our ideas, how do we make them better? Let’s get this ship headed back in the right direction together.” Let’s be the Democratic Party again.

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