Getting rid of Trump is only the beginning
I watched the debate last night and had the odd feeling that I was watching a documentary from another time. People were standing up on a stage talking about serious issues with intelligence and empathy. After the events of this week, I felt just a little bit unbalanced by it. It just seemed so weirdly normal.
I had to stop and ask myself what normal is anymore. We’ve become so inured to daily freakshow I fear that informed people talking about policy are the weirdos now. It certainly seemed a bit surreal, at least until I adjusted and started listening and it felt like a comfortable old pair of shoes I hadn’t worn in a while. It was frankly, a relief. They were fine.
Democratic primaries are my least favorite part of politics even though I know they are important and I respect the process. But this time, in particular, I just can’t get too invested in a particular outcome. I greatly admire Elizabeth Warren and I’ll be thrilled if she wins but I made a promise to myself that I would keep an open mind about everyone in the race and try to be enthusiastic about whoever comes out on top. So, watching these debates is a sort of academic exercise.
I am struck with what a monumental job any of them will be facing if they defeat Trump. It’s much more than the aspirational progressive policy agenda, as big as that is. Climate change and income inequality alone are massive problems that simply cannot wait if we are to survive. But he or she is also going to have to rebuild some kind of trust in the institutions of government and reform it from the bottom up. It will take years of effort by the whole party.
Trump has exposed more than the decadence and emptiness of the GOP. He’s exposed the weaknesses in our democracy and those weaknesses are going to be just sitting there waiting for further exploitation unless we take on an agenda of serious political reform.
I don’t have the answers to all that. It’s a gigantic undertaking with hundreds of moving parts. And it’s not as if the other side is going to disappear. (I doubt that they will take losing this presidency with grace and dignity, if you know what I mean.) I don’t know if the Democratic party is up to the task but it’s what we have to work with.
Whoever wins the nomination is going to need all hands on deck to beat Trump and then stay engaged for the hard work it’s going to take to create a new and better country. I might take a few weeks to recoup. But after that, I’m game.
How about you?
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Happy Hollandaise everyone!
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