Sorry, there is no Yes But to this post. John is exactly right. The Republican response has been, and will continue to be, predictable, self-serving, mendacious, extortionist, shameless, and wrong on both the facts and morality. One does not negotiate with terrorists or the threat of terrorism. Moreover, in terms of political calculus, there is nothing gained or to be gained by the Democrats--even in red states or with "Fox News" watchers--accommodating this Republican call (which is just a rhetorical tactic anyway). Democrats didn't win Georgia by swinging right or by making peace. Instead they activated and added to their base. (Good lesson there for the Florida and Texas Democratic parties.)
John is also still right that the only solution is not less partisanship on the part of the Democrats, but more. Why more? Because on most of the immediate issues (stimulus, COVID response) and on future issues (gun control, voting rights), Democrats have the votes on their side--certainly popular and potentially at district and state levels (note how referendums in red states fared this and the last election cycle, such as on minimum wage).
The question now should not be issues. Democrats are right on this. We're now at tactics. Too often Democrats are bringing knives to gun fights. But you shouldn't have to when you have the voters on your side and good messaging, which they can and do have. (E.g., "Democrats are the law and order party.") You won't get or keep your voters, however, if you show no backbone and bicker instead of deliver. Democrats have lots of tools now in their toolbox to deliver. Republicans know this, hence all the calls for "unity," which are just efforts to shore up their base and avoid Democrats from taking credit on delivering the goods.
In brief, the way to look at this is in terms of carrots and sticks. For Republican voters, the carrots will be the delivery of public goods, even if they don't vote Democratic. That's why I'm not worried about having to make peace with them--nor worried about how they feel about how this Administration (or Congress) should deal with traitors. For traitors, on the other hand, and their enablers (looking at Congressional Republicans), there should only be sticks. So when Kevin McCarthy asks for unity, I do have unity in mind for his voters since Democrats already have something for them: stimulus checks and a vaccination plan. For Kevin McCarthy, however, I don't have unity in mind for him if he thinks there is reason not to expel Lauren Boebert or to fire Peter Robb from the NLRB (as Biden just did).
No, there is literally no downside to the Democrats cleaning house. The only downside would be NOT cleaning house. Seriously, this one is easy.
Here's my "Yes, But:" We haven't seen the media or Dems make any progress against the "conservative" chorus for years. The whole "cancel culture" trope makes me crazy because the RW is so much more effective in finding ways to shut down the Left--including getting people to believe that calling out white supremacy is a "war on white men." We dared not nominate Bernie or Elizabeth to go up against Trump because the Right has "canceled" any progressive idea, even as minimal as asking millionaires to pay a tiny bit more in taxes, by labelling it socialism. I totally agree with you, John, but my soul cries because those "buts" seem insurmountable.
This quote rang so true for me. "If you haven’t noticed, the rhetoric of extortion puts whiteness at the center of politics, so the Democrats must work with the Republicans but not the other way around. If the Democrats don’t play by these “rules,” they’re not quite Americans enough. "
YES BUT we cannot move forward until we stop thinking of democracy as a win/lose binary and instead find ways to move toward the common good. This is deep culture change that will take the media, schools, families, faith communities, cultural institutions, and businesses to stop making everything into a sports contest with winners and losers. I've devoted the past four years to immersion in MLK's Six Principles of Nonviolence. PRINCIPLE THREE:
•Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice not people.
•Nonviolence recognizes that evildoers are also victims and are not evil people.
•The nonviolent resister seeks to defeat evil not people.
We have an opportunity right this moment to test this! I am very excited about the possibility of moving toward authentic reconciliation. The horrible damage of the past four years gives us that opening. President Biden and Vice President Harris may be able to lead us, but we will need pundits, universities, religious leaders, and activists to take a breath and imagine peace instead of the competition that we've been purposely trained in.
Sorry, there is no Yes But to this post. John is exactly right. The Republican response has been, and will continue to be, predictable, self-serving, mendacious, extortionist, shameless, and wrong on both the facts and morality. One does not negotiate with terrorists or the threat of terrorism. Moreover, in terms of political calculus, there is nothing gained or to be gained by the Democrats--even in red states or with "Fox News" watchers--accommodating this Republican call (which is just a rhetorical tactic anyway). Democrats didn't win Georgia by swinging right or by making peace. Instead they activated and added to their base. (Good lesson there for the Florida and Texas Democratic parties.)
John is also still right that the only solution is not less partisanship on the part of the Democrats, but more. Why more? Because on most of the immediate issues (stimulus, COVID response) and on future issues (gun control, voting rights), Democrats have the votes on their side--certainly popular and potentially at district and state levels (note how referendums in red states fared this and the last election cycle, such as on minimum wage).
The question now should not be issues. Democrats are right on this. We're now at tactics. Too often Democrats are bringing knives to gun fights. But you shouldn't have to when you have the voters on your side and good messaging, which they can and do have. (E.g., "Democrats are the law and order party.") You won't get or keep your voters, however, if you show no backbone and bicker instead of deliver. Democrats have lots of tools now in their toolbox to deliver. Republicans know this, hence all the calls for "unity," which are just efforts to shore up their base and avoid Democrats from taking credit on delivering the goods.
In brief, the way to look at this is in terms of carrots and sticks. For Republican voters, the carrots will be the delivery of public goods, even if they don't vote Democratic. That's why I'm not worried about having to make peace with them--nor worried about how they feel about how this Administration (or Congress) should deal with traitors. For traitors, on the other hand, and their enablers (looking at Congressional Republicans), there should only be sticks. So when Kevin McCarthy asks for unity, I do have unity in mind for his voters since Democrats already have something for them: stimulus checks and a vaccination plan. For Kevin McCarthy, however, I don't have unity in mind for him if he thinks there is reason not to expel Lauren Boebert or to fire Peter Robb from the NLRB (as Biden just did).
No, there is literally no downside to the Democrats cleaning house. The only downside would be NOT cleaning house. Seriously, this one is easy.
Here's my "Yes, But:" We haven't seen the media or Dems make any progress against the "conservative" chorus for years. The whole "cancel culture" trope makes me crazy because the RW is so much more effective in finding ways to shut down the Left--including getting people to believe that calling out white supremacy is a "war on white men." We dared not nominate Bernie or Elizabeth to go up against Trump because the Right has "canceled" any progressive idea, even as minimal as asking millionaires to pay a tiny bit more in taxes, by labelling it socialism. I totally agree with you, John, but my soul cries because those "buts" seem insurmountable.
This quote rang so true for me. "If you haven’t noticed, the rhetoric of extortion puts whiteness at the center of politics, so the Democrats must work with the Republicans but not the other way around. If the Democrats don’t play by these “rules,” they’re not quite Americans enough. "
THANK YOU!!!
YES BUT we cannot move forward until we stop thinking of democracy as a win/lose binary and instead find ways to move toward the common good. This is deep culture change that will take the media, schools, families, faith communities, cultural institutions, and businesses to stop making everything into a sports contest with winners and losers. I've devoted the past four years to immersion in MLK's Six Principles of Nonviolence. PRINCIPLE THREE:
•Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice not people.
•Nonviolence recognizes that evildoers are also victims and are not evil people.
•The nonviolent resister seeks to defeat evil not people.
We have an opportunity right this moment to test this! I am very excited about the possibility of moving toward authentic reconciliation. The horrible damage of the past four years gives us that opening. President Biden and Vice President Harris may be able to lead us, but we will need pundits, universities, religious leaders, and activists to take a breath and imagine peace instead of the competition that we've been purposely trained in.
So, YES BUT to this post.
Thank you for this!