The Afterglow

Okay. It wasn't a blue wave. And as a Democrat (or more specifically, an anti-Republican), I'm confused, saddened and disappointed. I mean, if our contempt for Donald Trump doesn't unite democracy-loving Americans, what will?

We have a fact-checking report that informs us that Donald Trump lies an average of thirty times a day. About his policies, their effectiveness, his political opponents and what he had for lunch.

We have a president on the verge of killing a potentially damaging investigation into his cozy relationship with a superpower politically hostile to us.

That's an impeachable obstruction of justice, right?

I get it that Trumpers would rather have body parts forcibly removed than admit their guy isn't the swamp-draining messiah he promised he'd be. And that they'd rather he sleep with their wives or abuse their children before they'd ever think of renouncing him.

But for what? Are y'all really that concerned about the financial well-being of the one-percent? Because that's what your boy is working on. That's agenda item number-one. He's toying with gutting your social security and medicare to pay for the latest round of billionaire-centric tax cuts.

Eighty-three percent of the benefits of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act went to one-percent of the population. You know that's not you, right?

But golly—he did send the National Guard down to the border the day before the mid-terms. And that's gotta be worth something.

Exactly what has your hatred of immigrants and gays and women got you? Has it put you in different tax bracket? Are you tooling around in a brand-new BMW? Do you enjoy a heightened sense of satisfaction when you sense that those whom you hate are suffering the outrageous indignities you are?

Does it enrich your own impoverished existence? Does it nourish the parched earth of your soul?

Where is that indomitable Republican will, anyway? Where's that pick-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps self-sufficiency? Or are you just another example of American victimhood?

Oh that's right—you're a Republican. You can't be.

I've admitted that Republicans are expert marketers. And brilliant button-pushers. I laughed when I saw the Trump-whore's text alleging that Democrats had allowed cop-killer Luis Bracamontes into the country and then allowed him to stay.

I laughed even harder when I realized you'd believe it.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: you're a tool, bro. Wait until you see where the car you're riding in is headed.

A wise old man once said be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.

The Black Heart of Republicanism

I loathe Donald Trump. Despite being seventy-two years-old, he is best described as our middle-schooler in charge.

Trump's towering immaturity reveals itself in the issuing of puerile nicknames to the delight of his equally-puerile supporters. Or claiming he was misquoted by the fake news media as he walks back another incendiary statement. Or denies saying it altogether.

Emotionally and intellectually, Donald Trump is a little boy.

So it goes when you're born into wealth and know nothing but privilege. So it goes when you get a pass from the expectations and demands of adulthood. So it goes when those around you consider that wealth an adequate substitute for maturity.

Not surprisingly, the qualities that inform his White House have trickled down to the rank and file, like the fifth-grader who sees a classmate pick his nose and wipe the result on the shirt in front of him and is helpless to try it himself.

But as the estimable Eric Zorn pointed out in Friday's Chicago Tribune, there are Republican office-holders who act remarkably grown-up. Who comprehend the scope and purpose of their position and seek to fulfill it. 

Holding up Illinois' own petulant billionaire (governor Bruce Rauner) in a highly-effective compare and contrast piece, Zorn illustrates the divergent paths he and another Republican governor, Massachusetts' Charlie Baker, took after their respective elections.

To quote Zorn “Rauner chose to go down...a confrontational path. His strategy was to browbeat and insult “corrupt” Democratic legislative leaders into passing items on his highly ideological 44-point pro-business agenda, and, when that failed, to wait until they blinked during a 736-day budget stalemate.”

Baker chose consensus-building. Give and take. Choosing his battles, instead of reflexively fighting all of them. A recent endorsement in the Lowell, MA. Sun said of Baker “Differences of opinion crop up all the time. (But) there is an attitude of respect and collegiality among lawmakers that says adults are at work and we'll get this done.”

You know, just like in Washington DC.

While Rauner's re-election campaign is on the verge of becoming a blood bath (he trails Democratic challenger J.D. Prtizker by sixteen points), Baker enjoys an astounding forty-point advantage over his Democratic challenger.

So everything's great, right? Bipartisan leadership is leading the way and setting an example. Effective and necessary legislation is getting passed. Aisles are being crossed. Partisan gridlock is a memory.

What could go wrong?

In a word—Republicans.

While only ten percent of Democrats hold a negative opinion of Baker, twenty-percent of Republicans do. Right-wing nut jobs (er, organizations) are upset with Baker because he has criticized Donald Trump—and worse. Like supporting the Affordable Care Act and stronger gun control legislation.

And what kind of asshole does that?

A Republican-In-Name-Only. That's who.

So despite the fact that the Republican Baker is successfully leading a historically Democratic state and has consolidated bipartisan support behind him (shining a very positive light on Republicans in the process), party taste-makers consider him a failure. They are furious, to the point where they're urging voters to um, intercourse him on Tuesday.

Yeah.

This is the odorous black heart of Republicanism. The one that doesn't play well with others. The one that doesn't want to cooperate. The one whose core belief seems to be it's my way or the highway. Like their string-pullers at the NRA, Republicans will brook no compromise. Tolerate no free thought. The party line is all.

Or else.

Never mind that Rauner's force-fed electorate is resoundingly rejecting him, or that Baker's newly-unified one is embracing him. It's a mirage. A glitch. Kindly move on.

Three-hundred thirty-two years ago, Sir Isaac Newton formulated his Third Law of Motion, which posited that for every motion there was an equal and opposite one.

Two-thousand years before that, Greek storyteller Aesop told of a struggle between the sun and the wind. Each wanted to prove it was the greater force.

To settle their dispute, they selected a man walking along a road in a coat. Whomever could remove the man's coat would be judged the more-powerful entity.

The wind went first. It summoned its fury and tore at the man and his coat. It howled and it railed and it tried to pry the coat from the man with everything it could muster.

But the harder it tried, the tighter the man drew his coat around him.

Exhausted, the wind stopped and allowed the sun its turn.

The sun gently warmed the air, eventually coaxing the man to remove his coat.

Thus it was proven the sun was the stronger force.

Translated, this means we need grown-ups in Washington DC—not middle-school bullies who feel Lord of the Flies is a how-to manual of governance.

If you give the tiniest fuck about democracy, vote Democratic November 6.

Counting Chickens

"I am not a member of any organized political party. I'm a Democrat."

-Will Rogers


There is a new group of young Democrats emerging in this election cycle. It is probably as inevitable as sunrise following sunset.

And this is a good thing. Without an injection of new blood, any organization, be it a sports franchise, a business or yes, even a political party, will wither and die. So those of us commonly called Democrats should embrace young candidates like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Conor Lamb and Rashida Thaib.

Youthful exuberance and wizened experience creates a dynamic cherished not only in locker rooms but in board rooms and back rooms. The young energize the old and reboot their passion, while the old impart experience and how best to channel boundless energy into useful action.

But as referenced in the Will Rogers quote, things don't always go so smoothly.

As the young are wont to do, they wish to remake the party in their image. Now. It's a case of revolution, not evolution. If Josef Stalin were at the head of the table such impetuousness would not only be prudent but recommended.

But these young Democrats have no such enemy.

Yet in their eyes, House minority speaker Nancy Pelosi is the leaden plow holding them back from recasting the party in a glorious new form. They proffer wan smiles and shoulder shrugs when asked about their support for Pelosi.

It's almost as if they've been listening to the raft of Republican-sponsored, Pelosi-centric attack ads.

The truth (and I hope these young Democrats are listening) is this: REPUBLICANS ARE SPENDING MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ATTACKING NANCY PELOSI BECAUSE THEY ARE AFRAID OF HER!

YOU GET THAT, RIGHT?

THEY FEAR HER BECAUSE SHE'S A WELL-CONNECTED AND EFFECTIVE FUND RAISER. THEY FEAR HER BECAUSE SHE'S A SAVVY CONSENSUS BUILDER. AND THEY FEAR HER BECAUSE IN THIS, THE AGE OF FEMALE EMPOWERMENT, SHE'S A HIGHLY-VISIBLE EXAMPLE THAT RESONATES WITH MILLIONS OF VOTERS.

WHILE THE SQUARE PEG DOESN'T ENDORSE THE OBJECTIFICATION OF WOMEN IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM, THIS MUST BE SAID: NANCY PELOSI IS A WEAPON!

AND SHE PLAYS FOR OUR SIDE!

Whew. OK.

So going forward, maybe we should actually win some seats in the House and Senate before we start the intra-family squabbling.

You think?

There are millions and millions of stupid, angry Republicans who will support the Trump-whore and his putrid collection of sycophants no matter what. The whore himself once said "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters."

Sadly, he wasn't wrong.

Borrowing the victims from the well-known Monty Python sketch 'The Piranha Brothers', Trump supporters would rather have their heads nailed to the floor than admit he wasn't the best possible option for president.

With opposition like this, Democrats need to make a concerted and unified effort to keep their eyes on the prize. As its name implies, the Blue Wave is a singular, overwhelming force.

It is my hope that our fresh infusion of young Democrats understands this before making waves of their own.