I just felt relief at Trump being held accountable, not joy at triumphing over the opposition, because I believe in a democracy two political urges are in a dialectic, and even though my political perspective is on one side of the spectrum, I believe in the dialectic and democracy.
There is no cult of personality around politicians for me, they're pretty boring workers trying the best they can. Policy, building consensus and communication aren't that exciting.
Tighter gun control will just save lives, it's that simple. The pendulum has swung too far around gun control, and we need to save lives, and have a few wackos feel trampled on. Global warming must be addressed.
Nixon resigned at the whiff of impropriety, and the Republicans were OK because he was a centrist, he wasn't an ideological hack, he wasn't well liked by the base. He was an American president, he wasn't just a republican president. That republicans just cater to their base has been a disturbing trend, no desire to appeal to all Americans as a unified nation.
Trump pushed and pushed and pushed, and the problem with pushing all the time is you don't give up when all indications say, if you move forward, there will be consequences for your past over reaching. He pushed and pushed until he found out. Now he's going to jail on multiple counts of felony, then he can go down to Georgia and face the music there for his crimes.
USA presidents should not be regularly brought up on charges as parties gain power, there should not be political trumping up of charges to criminalize opposition in democracy. Having said that, you still have to obey the speed limit, and other laws.
Cops don't get parking tickets, and run red lights, and to me that is a problem. The laws are for everyone. Until recently cops could kill people with impunity. That was a real problem that is causing the suggestion that we defund them. Everything has been defunded, why not them too? Teachers pay for supplies to teach children out of pocket. There is in general an attack on education by the right because it's seen to undermine their cause. I think that is a mistake. Until republicans can disavow voter suppression, gerrymandering, and other anti-democratic measures in an attempt to gain power, they will be un-American because they are anti-democratic. Republicans have been radicalized, perhaps harnessing despair and discontent to their advantage. Democrats need to learn a rhetoric that appeals to the common man to disempower these un-American forces. Keep pointing out what is at stake. The voters in Wisconsin swung left to point that out, to elect a supreme court justice that wasn't a far right hack. The rise of dastardly tactics is the rise of fascism, of autocracy, of overreaching in a democracy.
Trump is forcing these measures on himself by running for president. Now the dogged spirit that made him not quit has been turned against him, the tragic flaw of hubris brings us all down. Democracy is at stake, not just your political preference. That is what is swinging things left. In the choice between far right and centrist left, the choice is easy even if you're right leaning. The tactic of going so far right you get more right pleasing things is starting to face the law of yin and yang. There will be a rebalancing.
History: Ulysses Grant was arrested for speeding (Wikipedia).
Note on nomenclature: I learned that Liberal means individual rights, and I think the left is better named with "progressive". So the right thinks you have the right not to wear masks and kill people, have guns and kill people. People don't have the freedom to not get covid or shot to death. Liberal can be right or left, and Americans can use words however they want, but I prefer progressive for the left.
Comments
Post a Comment