The late Pulitzer laureate Barbara Tuchman marveled at history’s “endless...ironies.” Today, at least three stand out. One, while coughing up nearly as much for military defense as the rest of the world combined, on 1/6/21 we almost fell prey to mob terror. (While posting troops in 140+ countries, we left ours in thrall to militants that Lame Duck Donald stoked, on Twitter, to go “wild,” and then, on the Ellipse, to “fight like hell.” Nice.)
Two, the intended main beneficiary of that coup attempt had been keenly endorsed (in 2016) by a self-styled “invisible empire” (i.e. terror network); he now awaits trial for allegedly violating (what else?) the “Ku Klux Klan Act.”
Three, for all of Donald Trump’s regressive tax slashing; “do a default” fiscal folly; puerile insults; science smiting; credibly alleged rape culpability; profess “love” for Kim Jong-un; huzzahs for Jair Bolsonaro; pro-Putin canoodlin’; all-but-ceaseless deceit; indictment on scads of felony counts; and jumpsuit-coordinated jowls, he stands a puncher’s chance to regain our White House. (Yikes.)
Highlighting that specter, a recent national poll shows him running dead even with President Biden. This despite- or because of- his incorrigibly brazen war footing. To wit: on 3/12/22, in Florence, SC, he told his base to prepare to “lay down their very lives” for his cause. On 3/18/23, all but verbatim, he reprised his J6 command to “take back our (sic) country.” As if to presage the “martial law” his ex-crony Mike Flynn called for, he now warns he’ll be “coming after” anyone who durst cross him. (Oy.)
As Abe Lincoln once said of U.S. Grant, Trump “fights;” unfortunately, not on our country’s side. (Pity.)
Sigh. Mr. Biden prefers to seek “bipartisan” bonhomie (quoting his press secretary last month). Striving to rise above the fray in a realm where optics move mountains, he winds up looking frayed himself. (Sad.)
So. History repeats. For decades donkeys have resolved the political arena as a rational, collegial confab where “the right policies” (quoting former Virginia governor/national DNC chair Terry McAuliffe) are wont to win hearts and minds and votes. (Yay.)
Oops. With the spray from Trump’s (literally) loaded-for-bear cult barely scrubbed from the Capitol steps, McAuliffe began to seek a second (non-consecutive) term in Richmond. Wafting into the ether of cogently wonky sensibilities, he gallantly refrained from stressing how his opponent was a coy, dissembling ever-Trumper (whose party, as it turned out, soon would salute J6 as “legitimate political discourse,” and so engrave its aim to destroy America).
By failing to define Glenn Youngkin as part and parcel of the force whose platform comprised ‘Trump, Trump, and more Trump,’ McAuliffe seized defeat from the jaws of victory. For Dems, such limp biscuitry has long been par for the course. At least since the late 1970s, donkeys have served as what neuroscientist/business and political strategist/professor/author Drew Westen calls a “party of default.” That is, they’ve stood ready to trot in from the sidelines to relieve such elephantine misrule as Richard “Not A Crook” Nixon’s. George ‘WMD’ Bush’s. Or the ominous regime of the would-be ruler who, on 9/23/20, effectively vowed to “get rid of the ballots” that might not suit him.
For all the Dems’ “mild….pliant” (quoting Dr. Westen), conflict-averse fecklessness on the stump, Mr. Biden’s timing (to date) has been superb. In 2012, blue incumbency and lackluster opposition buoyed President Obama and him; more to the point, in ‘08 and in ‘20, GOP perfidy gave swing voters no real choice.
Beyond that, though, 2020 speaks volumes. Early that year, computer models connoted widespread (and wide-eyed) credit to Big Blonder for the durable, Obama-rescued economy. (Hence, absent Covid-19, Trump no doubt would have reclaimed ‘Cloud 9,’ likely by landslide.)
So now, here’s the thing. Trump’s dead rat bounce (in the polls) could soon fall flat. Or, he and his faithful could hog-tie us once and for all (with rope from the J6 gallows, if you will). Either way, the electorate remains ill-informed; the aforementioned poll results (43% Biden, 43% Trump) effectively equate a reputable surgeon to Jack the Ripper.
Better late than never, let’s get real. The GOP makes no bones about projecting sheer, un-American tyranny. For all our hopes and ideals- so fiercely demagogued by fake patriots, some in high places- this is no country for nice guys. At our peril do we normalize, ‘misunderestimate,’ or soft-pedal Trump and troop. “There are no rules in war,” snorts Ginni Thomas. We must deploy more “force,” roars Matt Gaetz. (Not to belabor what should be obvious, but “war” means “force” of arms, as opposed to business-as-usual. In a perverse way, indeed, the Trumped GOP means business.)
In extremis, our options boil down to two. One, we can hope that, for a change, most voters give due credit to fine policies and high-minded politesse. That is, we can continue to appease.
Two, we can oppose as needed. From the last ditch into which we’ve been putsched, we can resolve to do what’s needed to restore/regain/retain national security. To save and protect our vote-legitimized governance. And to enable a viable modicum of “justice for all.”
Starting with the wrecking ball who would be king. (Ironic, huh?)