It’s truly dismaying to watch so many of my fellow Democrats devolve into pure partisanship, as a way of coping with the trauma of Trumpism.
One sees countless Dems suddenly unwilling to hold our own party accountable, uninterested in issues which require more attention than just knee-jerk outrage, and unable to assess media skeptically unless it helps our “team.”
The end result is Dems sounding like either Birchers (crying treason) or a liberal version of Birthers (latching onto any piece of negative info about the GOP even if it can’t be supported by evidence).
Meanwhile, the Democratic base gets more and more disaffected, as leadership serves donors rather than voters. This is a recipe for failing to retake a chamber of Congress in 2018, and for Trump to be re-elected in 2020.
The party needs to stand for something that ordinary Americans actually care about, when they are considering their bills and their predicament around the proverbial kitchen table. (And by ordinary, I mean pretty much everyone who has never attended a $10,000-and-up political fundraiser.)
Stand for a living minimum wage. For health care which does not drain people’s savings while denying them essential medical attention. For an end to predatory lending, including student loans. For the rights of immigrants. For an end to police brutality, and racial equality. For more oversight of our out-of-control “security” agencies, and an end to spying on Americans. For the rights of workers to unionize to protect their incomes and safety. For the meaningful regulation of Wall Street and corrupt mortgage and other banking practices. For the removal of the influence of money on elections.
Stand for press freedom, and protecting whistleblowers who expose government and corporate malfeasance. For a reduced military budget, an end to our seven undeclared wars, and cessation of killing people by remote controlled drones. For the future of our planet, including clean air and water.
Stand for something besides hoping that some distant spooks and cops will relieve each of us of the urgent need for citizens to participate, tangibly, not just symbolically, in reforming our deeply corrupt and distorted democracy.
Demand that candidates take these stands, too, with no hedging and weasel-words, and don’t be conned into accepting merely the lesser of two evils.
