You've heard it. We all have. The pleas or demands (depending on the source) that the opposition to Donald Trump's Presidency "get over it," or "give him a chance." It's just another election. It's just another transfer of power. The people have spoken. Move on.
Well, leaving aside the fact that 54% of the people who spoke didn't get anything close to what they wanted (i.e., a President who at least respected the fact that he's responsible for their interests, even if they disagree with him), there are very real reasons reasons to not move on. To not give him a chance. And, above all, to not get over it.
I'll leave the biggest, and most obvious, one alone for now, although I'm sure I'll be writing about it later: the direct interference with the campaigning and the voting by persons inside this country (including members of the federal government) and outside of it. I suspect that, as time goes on, we'll be learning more about that interference. That is a story that is not going away.
In any case, there's a more immediate story: the morphing of the Republican Party into a criminal enterprise.
This hasn't been a recent or short-term process. Much has been written (including some pieces by me) about the public scandals, like Watergate, Iran-Contra, and the hanging Florida chads of 2000, and the not-quite-as-public ones, like the behind-the-scenes manipulation of overseas events in 1968 and 1980 to ensure the elections of Nixon and Reagan. And this only covers events within my lifetime. To study the history of the Republican Party is to understand why its members are so anxious to be known as members of the party of Lincoln. After Lincoln, and with the notable exceptions of Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower, the history of Republican Presidents is not an inspiring one. Not at the national level, at least.
But what about at the state and local levels, as well as Congress, in isolated cases. Aren't there "reasonable Republicans" who put all of the people ahead of the party, and are willing to forge compromises with their opponents? And haven't a lot of what's best about this country come about as a result of these compromises?
Maybe. But say goodbye to the species known as "reasonable Republicans."
Finding cause and effect relationships in politics is a tricky process. But it's difficult--no, it's frankly impossible--for me not to think that the election to the Presidency of a self-serving con artist like Donald Trump has emboldened his party's basic self-serving, criminal interests.
It was bad enough at the end of last year when the GOP-controlled North Carolina state legislature enacted laws to limit the power of the incoming, Democratic governor. It's even worse when the GOP-controlled South Dakota state legislature decides that the approval by the state's voters, in a direct referendum, of a new ethics law for state public officials is worth of an emergency session to try to overturn the law.
That's right. The good GOP citizen-legislators of South Dakota have decided that the outbreak of a concern for ethics among the voters of their state is an "emergency." I'm not kidding; you absolutely can't make this stuff up. Take a look.
I am honestly shocked that these stories, and others like them, have not gotten more attention. How can we talk about "reasonable Republicans" when the very idea that the voters might disagree with them is just cause to stop the democratic process dead in its track. What the hell is reasonable about that?
Do you get it now?
I'm not "getting over this." I'm not moving on. And I absolutely am not giving these people any chances. Every time you extend a hand to them, they bite it off. While I've still got both of mine, I intend to use them to fight like hell. One way or the other.
My advice to Republicans who object? Get over it. You first. When you stop talking about democracy, and start practicing it (win or lose), I'll consider the possibility of being "reasonable" with you.
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