Democrats cannot stop Trump's assault on our democracy.
Conservatives -- and there are a few left -- might.
Democrats are largely unified in their opposition to President Trump's policies and actions. They oppose his tariffs, his wars, his abandonment of alliances, his ICE tactics, his politicization of the Justice Department, his attacks on health science, his pardons, and his openly corrupt self-serving grift. Lots to dislike.
Republican officeholders dismiss those criticisms. After all, the critics are Democrats, and the complaints are just partisan politics.
Republican conservatism still exists. The establishment Wall Street Journal and the libertarian-oriented Reason Magazine have partially broken free of Republican party inertia. The Wall Street Journal wants orderly, predictable government to support business; Reason magazine wants liberty. Trump wants neither. Both have been publishing commentary that sharply criticizes Trump for many of the things that Democrats criticize him for: tariffs imposed haphazardly and without congressional approval, ICE operations that ignore Constitutional protections, and crony corruption. Note the headlines in the top stories at Reason magazine the day before yesterday:
Here is the lead editorial for yesterday's Wall Street Journal:
Neither the WSJ nor Reason changes thinking; they reflect thinking. They are bookmarks, showing that some ideas remain under the surface. The lawbreaking, authoritarian, crony-capitalist, corrupt part of the Trump government is offensive to conservatives.
Conservatives don't share the ethnic and religious nationalism that is part of the Trump populist agenda. Trump's expresses a right-populist view of American heritage based on White, Protestant, English and Northern European ethnicity as the real American. Jews, Catholics, Latin Americans, Asians, and non-English speakers are inherently "other" in that view. Without acknowledging it openly, right-populism accepts the underlying premise of the Dred Scott decision: that some people are essentially and forever foreign. You are American by heritage, not by sharing a creed.
Conservatives favor consistency. They understand that if a Republican can abuse the rights of loathed Democrats and if a Republican can take away broadcast licenses of TV networks, and a Republican can play favorites with businesses, then amid the oscillation of political fortune, a Democrat can do the same to them.
Democrats would profit by putting aside some of their own partisanship and see allies where they exist. In a Trump world, conservatives are allies. At some point Republicans who voted for Ronald Reagan, John McCain, and Mitt Romney will wake up and realize they were enthralled by a con man. It is so obvious now that even a Republican senator can see it.
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It’s difficult for me to view republicans as anything but completely compliant to the whims of Trump. Good republicans hide and vote along with Trump, but maybe the Trump thug slush fund will be a line to far. If it isn’t then what would be too far? Just like war, absolutely nothing.
ReplyDeleteIf you allow him to do it, it's on you.
ReplyDeleteThe Republican Party isn’t conservative. It’s a cult predicated on Trump’s Big Lie that’s lost any vestige of integrity or honor. The only thing likely to stop Trump from running further amok is a Democratic majority in the House and Senate – the larger the better.
ReplyDelete“Republicans” is not synonymous with “Trump”, nor vice versa. Same with “conservative”. Old news for some; now official here as well. Progress?
ReplyDeleteSilence is consent. That may not be true for every Republican,, although I could argue it both ways. Silence is consent for candidates and officeholders. Silence is also consent for politically engaged people like LD.
DeleteAs Peter pointed out back on May 5th: “Every Republican is Trump, unless they say to the contrary. And they don’t.”
DeleteAgreed, silence is consent for candidates and officeholders. It is their duty to take an official stand one way or the other, every time out.
DeleteFor regular folks, perhaps silence is more like reluctant or calculated acquiescence. Did those “They LET you” grabbees consent?
This GOPer did not vote Trump in ‘16, ‘20, or ‘24. I genuinely wonder what for instance Greg Walden did the last two times. Abstain, perhaps?
Peter, what constitutes “Silence”? Or better yet, in your mind, what threshold of activism does one need to cross to be considered sufficiently vocal as to not be complicit? It’s a question I seriously contemplate.
DeleteI wrote Cliff Bentz an hour ago, asking for an answer to the question if he consents to the $1.776 billon deal, and if not, what he is doing.
ReplyDeleteI did days ago. No response - no surprise.
DeleteTo John C:. You play an important role, but not one that takes up space that crowds out someone else joining you. That role is that you are a quietly conspicuous person of faith and a Christian. The Christian brand has been hijacked and stolen right along with the GOP brand. Speak frankly that your sense of. Christianity leads you to think that Trump does very unchristian things. Defend your faith. Do it nicely and firmly. Your faith has profound meaning to you, so you have every right to be offended and dismayed that it is being used and misused and transformed by a person and movement so contrary to its meaning and mission. The world had other Democrats to defend their party. Be a Christian who defends Jesus' message and say quietly that Trump is inconsistent with it. I suspect that the less partisan you are, the better. Be a good Christian, and don't be silent about Trump from a religious perspective.
ReplyDelete