The more I watch this slow descent into fascism and the coverage of it in media, the more I am convinced that the November elections will be a massive moment in US History. And the question to be asked of all of us is: What are we willing to do? We need to talk about it right now. Of course, we on this blog are probably active as much as we can be in local political campaigns, get out the vote efforts, giving money when we can, phoning/emailing Congress, and marching. But how much different is that than normal? Haven’t those activities become part of the white noise that can be ignored? I watched the coverage of the London protests, and noticed even MSNBC reporters were under estimating the size of the crowd. A Greenpeace protester flew within yards of the President in Scotland and there was hardly a peep of coverage. Remember the weeks long scandal when some people jumped the fences at the White House during the Obama administration? Yesterday, the DNI said that we have a red light warning on impending disaster like it was during the months prior to 9/11 and all we get are the same pundits, with the same opinions, and politicians making the same statements.
So let’s take stock here in mid July and think about what is about to happen. Let’s go with a positive outcome: Democrats take the Senate and House. What do WE do then? What do WE demand? What can happen and in what time period? Remember first there will be a lame duck session that will in all probability be a rush of coordinated Republican efforts to sabotage whatever anticipated action will occur when Democrats take over. The ACA will be further at risk; the Russia investigation as well; and the Kavanaugh nomination (if it didn’t go through pre-election, will be hammered through); and I’m sure other outrageous acts will take place. It won’t be time for a collective breath of relief. It will be a time for heightened vigilance. What should that heightened vigilance look like? And once January comes, then what? We cannot accomplish everything at once. Will our Representatives and Senators become distracted by Trump efforts to coax them into bipartisanship? Should they go down the path of impeachment? Should they pass bills, or concentrate on oversight? Of course, we should want both, but should we demand action all at once or a well timed, organized approach that focuses American attention? And what should be the media strategy? How should WE communicate with our Democratic leaders?
How about a mixed bag? Let’s say we get one house of Congress. Again, we would have that lame duck period between November and January that would probably be full of Republican maneuvering aimed at creating as much chaos as possible. We would see Ryan or McConnell at their worst. (Continuing their worst, I should say. When have they not been at their worst?) And, then in January, what should WE demand? How should we react, say if our Democrats preach patience and bipartisanship? We won’t have Ryan, but we will still have McConnell. What do we do if our leaders are consistently outmaneuvered by Republican politicians and Fox News executives? What are WE willing to do? March some more? Make more phone calls? Donate more money to the DNC? Start focusing on the horse race that will be campaign 2020?
How about bad outcomes? Yes, I think there are at least two possibilities here. One, we lose and we legitimately lose. Republicans control both houses and Trump is emboldened. Exit polling and actual results do not indicate anything but a legitimate outcome. Do we resign ourselves to defeat? Do we sit down and read those New York Times pieces on the Trump voter and try to understand why we failed to listen to their concerns? Do we retreat into a depression realizing that our fellow citizens are just fine with creeping authoritarianism, theocracy, misogyny, and get ready for the repeal of the 22nd Amendment or a remake of the Constitution with the only liberty left the right to bear arms? Do we withdraw into local politics in an effort to maintain our islands of blue? Do we even talk with our family and friends who represent the other side of the aisle? Do we arm ourselves (seriously)?
Two, Democrats lose, but it is evident that shenanigans from voter suppression, to fraud, to gerrymandering, to hacking lead to the Republican victory. How about if Republicans maintain control, but like is the pattern, the majority of the votes are Democratic? What do WE do then? March? Write emails? Blog? Donate to the DNC? Arm ourselves (seriously, but maybe some of you are already armed)? To me, if this happens we will have to face the fact that the United States has fundamentally changed into an oligarchy. And, we will all have to ask ourselves if we are willing to sacrifice our relative comfort in order to make change. We will have to ask ourselves if the change is worth losing our tranquility (those of us who do have tranquility that is).
Watching the coverage post latest Mueller indictment I think the following. First, Monday’s possible impeachment of Rosenstein will be a huge event if it happens. We must demand more of our Democratic Representatives and Senators than a tersely worded statement. What is that MORE though? How do we DEMAND it? Emails? Phone calls? Public readings of our Indivisible Guides? “Into the streets” may be less a euphemism and more or a real challenge. General strike time? Who would organize that?
Second, the non-Fox media is not an ally — not even MSNBC punditry. Don’t get me wrong, I love Joy and Rachel and Lawrence, but their focus is still the Republican Party. There are no profiles of the Democratic voter who is about to lose their health insurance, or is stuck in a low paying job, or laid off by outsourcing. There are some profiles, to their credit, of particular groups that have been oppressed, but not enough. And some of the coverage is trivial. Yes, the memes of white women calling the cops on children and people of different races/ethnicity are covered, but in a light-hearted manner that belies a troublesome reality: there are many white women who feel like they need to call the police on their fellow citizens for activities that are not harmful at all. What is wrong here? What belief system, besides they are simply racist, is causing them to take this action? If they are simply racist, how did they become simply racist? There are no outlets for Democratic politicians on the Sunday shows for the most part. There is endless coverage of the horse race (Steve Kornacki white board shows — where are Trump voter neighborhoods anyway?) Oh, Maxine Waters gets her airtime I guess, but where are the challenging questions to Democratic leadership about their defense of the Democratic voter? Something to the effect of: What do you say to your constituents who are facing health insurance premium increases when they outvoted the other party and should be in the majority? There is no discussion of the cognitive dissonance among the Democratic voter. I’ve really only heard Stephanie Miller discuss it on her radio show. I saw it on Maddow’s face finally when she broke down in tears discussing the jailing of babies. But she was ashamed of it. I see Bush era Republicans in disbelief, but I find their reactions disingenuous as they led us down this path. Sorry Steve Schmidt and Nicole Wallace I have two words for you: Sarah Palin. Apologize, repeatedly. We need a media strategy of confrontation in my opinion. The New York Times needs to be called out. Washington Post is not much better. The Sinclair group is the single most dangerous thing to happen in many years. It reminds me of the right wing take over of talk radio which I think is the most underrated historical event to change the mindset of this nation. I’ve blogged about it several times on this site. But drive through the flyover country and try not to get hammered with Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and their acolytes. When local television coverage is covered with this propaganda unchecked, your neighbors will continue their descent into anti-fact, anti-science, anti-liberal, anti-cognitive — ism. What do WE do about it? Write a book and appear on MSNBC? Start a podcast? Run for school board?
Third, November. I was so confident in 2016. I had confidence in the American people. I thought the polls would underestimate the rejection of Trumpism. And then I visited an elementary school in the south Texas district I work in on election day. It is in a traditional Democratic area. There were no lines. I asked the poll workers if it had been busy and they indicated no. I began to worry at that point. There were mixed reports across the country. And, then when I got home I saw the look on the faces of Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews and knew that it was bad. I suffered through that night in disbelief, was truly depressed for many months, and still languish in a state of general anger and depression. I find myself most disappointed with good people that I know who openly voice their admiration of Trump. And then I question whether they are really “good” people. I have lost my faith in the judgment of the average American voter for sure. I feel that the Democratic voter has been demonized to such an extent that we are literally more of an enemy to the rank and file Republican than Vladimir Putin. I don’t trust that my neighbors believe in facts. I know from my study of how human brains function that beliefs are the hardest thing to change, and so getting the average Republican to open their eyes to things like climate change and Russian interference may be impossible. So do I trust them to reject Trumpism in November? No, I don’t. I think Trump could shoot a man on 5th Avenue and get away with it. So what do WE do about it in November? Just vote and hope? Well, we have to vote. And we have to make sure we all vote. That’s a given. But we need to prepare for the possible outcomes of the election. All of them. We need to develop a communication system that is not dependent on mainstream media too. We need to talk to each other and have plans made by at least early October I would think. What do you think?
One last thought. I do think we need to adopt a mindset that WE, the Democratic voters of 2016, were the ones attacked by Russia and the GOP Conspirators. WE had our voices silenced. WE are suffering the consequences. WE have to fight back. Positively I think our response has been good: the marches, the Indivisible led actions, the participation by women and ethnically diverse candidates, and the election victories around the country. But is it enough? And what if it is not come November? I think we need to prepare for that.