Ron, I have followed you (and Meidas) quite closely and find that we think very much in parallel. I am going to chew on this posting for a while and get it digested. Your hard truths comments area bit painful for those of us still hurting from the lack of unity shown by those supporting Kamala in this election. At this moment, I want to …
Ron, I have followed you (and Meidas) quite closely and find that we think very much in parallel. I am going to chew on this posting for a while and get it digested. Your hard truths comments area bit painful for those of us still hurting from the lack of unity shown by those supporting Kamala in this election. At this moment, I want to air my concerns with what you ended with.
First, I totally agree concerning the array of leadership talent present in the democratic party, especially among many of the governors and some cabinet members (Buttigieg for example). Your exhortation to basically "keep the faith" and prepare to gird loins for the next battle in 2028 assumes some facts/items not in evidence:
- while trump himself is soulless, totally without scruple, character, integrity or willingness to think through anything whatsoever, he is still now prepping to move forward on his clearly fascist approach to our US democratic institutions. He WILL institute outrageous initiatives that no one can intervene to prevent
- beginning in January, his previous effort to co-opt our judiciary will accelerate, with him appointing a proliferation of young, radicalized loyalists for federal judgeships with a pet Senate which will have no motivation to stop him (or block any of what will become a parade of "Federal Judge Cannons" from ascending to lifetime appointments to the bench.
- There is a high potential for the nomination of 4 replacement justices to the SCOTUS, already a highly-politicized institution that is rapidly moving toward irrelevance in protecting the nation's Constitutional continuity. IMO, the "Roberts Court" will go down in history as the last gasp of a Supreme Court which will have zero motivation to preserving what we once proudly bragged of being ... "a nation of laws." No doubt, trump's nominees for any of those vacancies will include the aforementioned Aileen Cannon ... an inexperienced and ineffectual politicized buffoon whose only characteristic is blind loyalty to the aforementioned trump.
- there is ample motivation for MAGAts and their ilk to enact outrageous laws in state and local jurisdictions that have the effect of victimizing citizens, as we've seen enacted in Texas and other states, attempting to codify the control of women and their bodily autonomy.
These items above are only a small example of the kinds of issues that will impede if not prevent any effective "democratic unity" to gain much of a foothold on the presidency and Congress in 2028 no matter how enraged this electorate may be at what will be a horrendous trumpian administration.
The fascist faction that has just been elected will do their utmost to disassemble the democratic institutions and guardrails that have been the foundational components of our governnance for the last nearly 250 years, and they'll do so for precisely the same reasons the fascists did so in Italy in the 1920s and the NSDAP did in Germany in the l930s ... all leading to the same tragic and preventable outcome.
My quibble with your well-intended urging folks to keep the faith and work toward change through the elections process (in the face of the hard-core fascist planning in Project 2025 and in the minds of trump's enablers) seems a little naive, especially for a long-term operative such as yourself. It sounds good, but having the objective fundamental and democratic means available to do that is a long-shot from my perspective.
Finally, I'm an old guy, stung by what I see as the fascist betrayal of our democracy by a lot of short-sighted, low-information American voters. I am not sure I'll live to see things turn around politically, and I'm absolutely certain that the fascists are going to do EVERYTHING in their power between now and the mid-terms, and then again until 2028 to prevent there being ANY sort of corrective actions available to their opposition. In my pessimistic view, I believe the court system will no longer function as objective arbiters of the law; the elections systems, even as well as they worked in this election, will be jury-rigged to benefit MAGAt candidates by a combination of gerrymandering and voter suppression; I am certain that America is moving not only toward fascism writ large, but also toward oligarchy claiming outsized power to direct national policy, not only endangering us domestically, but creating awful harm internationally ... to our adversaries and erstwhile supporters.
Platitudes about "getting organized and taking it back in 2028" aren't helpful. As my cynical self views things, I do not see a plan in your writing that would enable such a thing to take place.
Rant over with -- in sum, we do need to face hard truths about the democrats' approach to this election as well as the hard truths of the impact this incipient fascism will have on our nation before we can mount a legitimate and legal opposition. Also, keep up the good work -- I mean that. Just because I take a bit of issue with some points you've made I still like what you write!
Ron, I have followed you (and Meidas) quite closely and find that we think very much in parallel. I am going to chew on this posting for a while and get it digested. Your hard truths comments area bit painful for those of us still hurting from the lack of unity shown by those supporting Kamala in this election. At this moment, I want to air my concerns with what you ended with.
First, I totally agree concerning the array of leadership talent present in the democratic party, especially among many of the governors and some cabinet members (Buttigieg for example). Your exhortation to basically "keep the faith" and prepare to gird loins for the next battle in 2028 assumes some facts/items not in evidence:
- while trump himself is soulless, totally without scruple, character, integrity or willingness to think through anything whatsoever, he is still now prepping to move forward on his clearly fascist approach to our US democratic institutions. He WILL institute outrageous initiatives that no one can intervene to prevent
- beginning in January, his previous effort to co-opt our judiciary will accelerate, with him appointing a proliferation of young, radicalized loyalists for federal judgeships with a pet Senate which will have no motivation to stop him (or block any of what will become a parade of "Federal Judge Cannons" from ascending to lifetime appointments to the bench.
- There is a high potential for the nomination of 4 replacement justices to the SCOTUS, already a highly-politicized institution that is rapidly moving toward irrelevance in protecting the nation's Constitutional continuity. IMO, the "Roberts Court" will go down in history as the last gasp of a Supreme Court which will have zero motivation to preserving what we once proudly bragged of being ... "a nation of laws." No doubt, trump's nominees for any of those vacancies will include the aforementioned Aileen Cannon ... an inexperienced and ineffectual politicized buffoon whose only characteristic is blind loyalty to the aforementioned trump.
- there is ample motivation for MAGAts and their ilk to enact outrageous laws in state and local jurisdictions that have the effect of victimizing citizens, as we've seen enacted in Texas and other states, attempting to codify the control of women and their bodily autonomy.
These items above are only a small example of the kinds of issues that will impede if not prevent any effective "democratic unity" to gain much of a foothold on the presidency and Congress in 2028 no matter how enraged this electorate may be at what will be a horrendous trumpian administration.
The fascist faction that has just been elected will do their utmost to disassemble the democratic institutions and guardrails that have been the foundational components of our governnance for the last nearly 250 years, and they'll do so for precisely the same reasons the fascists did so in Italy in the 1920s and the NSDAP did in Germany in the l930s ... all leading to the same tragic and preventable outcome.
My quibble with your well-intended urging folks to keep the faith and work toward change through the elections process (in the face of the hard-core fascist planning in Project 2025 and in the minds of trump's enablers) seems a little naive, especially for a long-term operative such as yourself. It sounds good, but having the objective fundamental and democratic means available to do that is a long-shot from my perspective.
Finally, I'm an old guy, stung by what I see as the fascist betrayal of our democracy by a lot of short-sighted, low-information American voters. I am not sure I'll live to see things turn around politically, and I'm absolutely certain that the fascists are going to do EVERYTHING in their power between now and the mid-terms, and then again until 2028 to prevent there being ANY sort of corrective actions available to their opposition. In my pessimistic view, I believe the court system will no longer function as objective arbiters of the law; the elections systems, even as well as they worked in this election, will be jury-rigged to benefit MAGAt candidates by a combination of gerrymandering and voter suppression; I am certain that America is moving not only toward fascism writ large, but also toward oligarchy claiming outsized power to direct national policy, not only endangering us domestically, but creating awful harm internationally ... to our adversaries and erstwhile supporters.
Platitudes about "getting organized and taking it back in 2028" aren't helpful. As my cynical self views things, I do not see a plan in your writing that would enable such a thing to take place.
Rant over with -- in sum, we do need to face hard truths about the democrats' approach to this election as well as the hard truths of the impact this incipient fascism will have on our nation before we can mount a legitimate and legal opposition. Also, keep up the good work -- I mean that. Just because I take a bit of issue with some points you've made I still like what you write!
randy hagan, Col, USAF Retired.