Impeachment? FUGGEDABOUDIT!

 

Much energy already has gone into whether or not to impeach Trump. Tom Steyer has spent a good part of a year and a lot of money promoting impeachment. Nancy Pelosi has wrestled with her caucus on the issue. Columnists have taken sides and spilled ink over impeachment. My view? It's a distraction from the single most important issue: winning the White House and the Senate, while keeping the House Democratic in 2020.

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Indulge the argument for a moment. Let's assume for this discussion that Trump is:

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O Old, fat and ugly. That face, who could love that face?

O Perhaps the dumbest and most ignorant President of all time.

O Mean and cruel to an extreme.

O Thin-skinned.

O Like a seven-year old name caller in a sandbox.

O Impulsive.

O A serial liar.

O A would-be dictator.

O Ignorant of and disrespectful of the law.

O And, by the way, Racist.

O And, by the way, Sexist.

O And, by the way, guilty of attempting (and failing) to obstruct justice.

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Suppose all of this is true. None of it merits impeachment.

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Trump may have damaged our democracy. He may have alienated and weakened our allies. He may have given comfort to dictators and enemies around the world. But in the end, he merely is pathetic and evil, but not guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors. He has not provoked a great majority of the public to wish him away. He has not inspired the Senate to vote him away. And if he went away there would be Pence. Not an upgrade.

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So, impeachment proceedings would further polarize the country, and waste time and energy better used in mobilizing a massive 2020 turnout to turn him out of the White House.

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FUGGEDABOUDIT! Until he is convicted of tax fraud. Or until he is convicted of bank or loan fraud. Or until a famous woman accuses and proves he is guilty of assault and rape. Or until something else persuades the whole country that he has to go.

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Until then, focus on the one thing that will make him both a disgrace and a minor footnote in history: a massive defeat in 2020. As they used to say in Brooklyn, "throw the bum out!"

Sunday, 21 July 2019

 

The German Lesson

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“How could it happen here?” This question has haunted at least three generations of Germans. How could a country of culture, of science, above all, of reason, go mad so quickly? One factor was regret over the defeat and the ghosts of WWI. Another was the insecurity of the hyperinflation and Depression that followed. A third was the brutality of the Nazi’s and their followers. Yet, I think that something more was at work. The core values and symbols of society were transformed.

 

The Nazi’s came into power with a play-book, a list of everything which had to change to serve its purposes. What is remarkable is the overwhelming detail in that play-book, affecting virtually everything about daily life. Consider these two main areas of the Nazi transformation of German life.

 

1. The saturation of everyday life with Nazi symbolism and rituals.

 

o Routine mass gatherings in cities all over Germany

o Parades and festivals throughout the year

o Hitler’s name and image everywhere, including at least 60 streets renamed for him throughout Germany (Stuttgart at least 8 times)

o Making the party the benevolent provider, including Winter Relief programs, building the national autobahn, and the cheap Volkswagen

o Directing leisure through the “Strength Through Joy” program of vacations and recreation

o Appealing to children through the League of German Girls, the Young Folk, the Hitler Youth, and school sports

o Using films, architecture, music, theater, the press and radio to promote Nazi ideals

o Daily propaganda everywhere, particularly on the cheap radios placed into nearly every household

 

2. Using the power of the State to demonize and eliminate perceived enemies.

 

o Dehumanization of the Jews, the Roma, the Socialists, the Communists, and every other group which was “different”

o Violent suppression of any political opposition

o Public humiliations in city squares

o Confiscation of businesses and properties

o Mass arrests

o Denunciations of suspect individuals

o Suspending the Constitutional protections for freedom of speech, freedom of movement, freedom of the press, privacy of the mail and telephone

o Taking over the courts

 

The Nazi omnipresence simply overwhelmed its opposition and undermined any democratic ideals. Is any of this relevant to the United States? We don’t yet have Brownshirts in the streets attacking their opposition, but many in the alt-right are ready to be vigilantes….

 

Once again, one person is dominating our daily media. Once again, the messages are pernicious.

 

o The law is unfair to us

o The media lies; the truth is a lie

o “They” threaten our way of life

o People of color are un-American, and criminals

o Immigrants are criminals, rapists, and take away our jobs

o Muslims are terrorists (but white mass killers only are individual bad apples)

o Our allies cheat us

o Our enemies are admirable strong men

o The poor do not deserve our help

o Opposition voting needs to be suppressed

o Only our party is valid

o Their party is un-American

o Our religious freedom is more important than their’s, and

o Our religious freedom is more important than equal rights for all

o Government is the enemy unless our people are doing the governing

o Business regulations are job-killers

o Regulation of personal behavior we dislike is fully moral

o The courts must be conservative; liberal judges are not acceptable

 

All this adds up to “doublespeak,” the Orwellian use of language to say the opposite of truth, and to make the lie the new truth. Our best defense is to turn this around, and focus on what is real. Go over the list above, and recognize that not one item is true, or reflects our ideal American values. Properly translating this doublespeak helps us understand these assaults upon our best historic traditions.

 

So, while the damage so far is real, the 2020 election is paramount. And we cannot spend years undoing the damage. We need to be prepared to move quickly.

 

I think that the Democratic Party needs to establish the Department of Madam Defarge (from “A Tale of Two Cities), knitting, observing, and recording every Executive Order, law, regulation, policy, tax giveaway, and individual contributing to the dismantling of the country’s best traditions. In January 2021, the new President will need this playbook to move rapidly to restore the primacy of the people to our land.

 

The Nazis had just such a playbook; and so does the “deep Right” in America that is systematically undermining the social protections and civil liberties gained through the last 75 years. We need to understand the German lesson. A new Presidency had better have its own playbook in order – well ahead of the day.

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Saturday, 8 June 2019

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PoliBits 1: Why Pelosi Has to Go

 

There is just one overwhelming reason for the current Congressional Democratic leadership (Pelosi, Schumer, and more) to be replaced: not one is an effective public speaker. The Party needs articulate, energetic, charismatic, and yes, younger leaders.

 

Pelosi becomes boring midway through her second sentence. Schumer, with glasses low on his nose, head down reading notes, becomes the teacher you fell asleep on. Hoyer and the others, well, any memorable public appearances at all?

 

Where are the dynamic faces of the Democratic Party? In a media-obsessed culture, where are our masters of the media?

 

Replacing Pelosi and the others does not mean losing their strategic skills or their fund-raising experience. Make them the honored mentors and advisors of the new leadership. Now.

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Thursday, 22 November 2018

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