The worst possible response is a "this too shall pass." Biden's old instincts would be to compromise, find common ground, and all that other nonsense. He would do far better to have far larger sticks than carrots. Indeed, the only legitimate carrot is a simple "you're either for the rule of democratic law or not." Where you are not--and where you have not been so in the last four years--there is only the stick. That's the minimum requirement, obligation or expectation. It also makes for good politics. If Trump supporters are so desirous of a strong man, I can't imagine Biden having an easier time making use of the fullest extent of the law in its execution. It's what's due to the "law and order" party anyway. In terms of politics, I see no blowback and little viable martyrdom. ("How dare you give me jail time for trashing the Capitol?" Really? I ain't seeing it.)
In short, Biden has lots of room to drop hammers. He easily has the high moral ground; it's good politics to both the progressive base (who want to see these idiots and fanatics punished soundly) and the moderates (who are usually so "all in" for law and order in their own typically mealy mouthed way); it's good management (removing the cancer of Trumpism from within the federal government should be a priority, and politically easy) and its good policy when it comes to ensuring stable government. The one very real trouble point his administration will have is in the one arena that has sorely exacerbated the entire matter: social media. Here he runs headlong into free speech protections, and I think with the right tone in terms of legal argument (penalization for fraud, slander/libel, endangering the public) and political positioning (in short, making social media companies feel the heat and potential regulatory consequences of their amoral profiteering), he has a chance of reigning in the misinformation machinery that social media companies treat so lightly and that endanger us so greatly.
I said to family members yesterday that Hawley's and Cruz's stunts were constitutional terrorism happening inside that reflected the white domestic terrorism going on outside. We'll see if the safe and respectable white Americans are finally shocked enough to quash this anti-American rebellion.
Call me cynical, but having lived in Greenwich for 20 years, they are more scared of a Democratic Congress raising their taxes than they are in the fall of the Republic. Maybe I'm being unfair, and maybe the appalling scenes on the TV yesterday has reminded them that democracy is fragile, but I'm not holding my breath.
Check out Andy Harris's Wikipedia page. He's the worst of the worst.
The worst possible response is a "this too shall pass." Biden's old instincts would be to compromise, find common ground, and all that other nonsense. He would do far better to have far larger sticks than carrots. Indeed, the only legitimate carrot is a simple "you're either for the rule of democratic law or not." Where you are not--and where you have not been so in the last four years--there is only the stick. That's the minimum requirement, obligation or expectation. It also makes for good politics. If Trump supporters are so desirous of a strong man, I can't imagine Biden having an easier time making use of the fullest extent of the law in its execution. It's what's due to the "law and order" party anyway. In terms of politics, I see no blowback and little viable martyrdom. ("How dare you give me jail time for trashing the Capitol?" Really? I ain't seeing it.)
In short, Biden has lots of room to drop hammers. He easily has the high moral ground; it's good politics to both the progressive base (who want to see these idiots and fanatics punished soundly) and the moderates (who are usually so "all in" for law and order in their own typically mealy mouthed way); it's good management (removing the cancer of Trumpism from within the federal government should be a priority, and politically easy) and its good policy when it comes to ensuring stable government. The one very real trouble point his administration will have is in the one arena that has sorely exacerbated the entire matter: social media. Here he runs headlong into free speech protections, and I think with the right tone in terms of legal argument (penalization for fraud, slander/libel, endangering the public) and political positioning (in short, making social media companies feel the heat and potential regulatory consequences of their amoral profiteering), he has a chance of reigning in the misinformation machinery that social media companies treat so lightly and that endanger us so greatly.
I said to family members yesterday that Hawley's and Cruz's stunts were constitutional terrorism happening inside that reflected the white domestic terrorism going on outside. We'll see if the safe and respectable white Americans are finally shocked enough to quash this anti-American rebellion.
Call me cynical, but having lived in Greenwich for 20 years, they are more scared of a Democratic Congress raising their taxes than they are in the fall of the Republic. Maybe I'm being unfair, and maybe the appalling scenes on the TV yesterday has reminded them that democracy is fragile, but I'm not holding my breath.