The big news this week is that James Comey testified before Congress. I don't have much to say about it, because it was more of the same. We all already know that Russia interfered with the election; we all already know that James Comey was investigating this; we all already know that Donald Trump didn't want him to, because (a) the interference helped him (he publicly encouraged it), (b) he or his associates have been in cahoots with the Russians, (c) he has deep financial ties to Russia that he doesn't want detailed in public; we all already know Trump fired Comey specifically because of this investigation; we all already know that this is grounds for an obstruction of justice case; we all already know that congressional Republicans already know this and they don't care; and we all already know that Donald Trump lies constantly, so it's not even worth considering what he says in his own defense.
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Comey testified. I'm glad all this stuff is on record. I just don't think it changes anything. I didn't understand the hype. Congressional Republicans have made it clear that there is no transgression too egregious and no embarrassment too great for them to turn against Trump in any meaningful way. As long as they have a president willing to sign into law tax cuts for the rich, they will put up with literally anything. If you told Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell that Donald Trump signed over the country to Putin to pay off his debts, their first move would be to Google "What's the marginal tax rate in Russia?"
The unfortunate reality is that we are very likely stuck with Donald Trump for the foreseeable future. We have to vote him out (and vote out his party in the midterms for being complicit). It's our best hope. And even that might not work. Because Trump is shady as hell and will do everything he can to tilt any election in his favor, legal or otherwise, and even if things are on the up-and-up, he's still very popular with a sizable portion of the country. He's certainly more popular than Congressional Republicans, which is another reason why they put up with everything he does. They recognize that if Republican voters are forced to choose between them and Trump, it's not going to go well for them. The only incentive they have to oppose Trump is one of dignity and patriotism, and if you think those are important qualities to Republican leaders, you haven't been pay attention for the past 25 years.
And Trump's base doesn't mind his lying and undermining of democratic norms. They like it even. Because they see it as pushing back against "the deep state" whatever the hell that means. That's one thing that his election has made abundantly clear. A lot of people aren't all that interested in things like honesty and constitutional democracy. They have different values -- or value, rather They're one issue voters: white supremacy. That's it. That's their issue. It always comes back to this, doesn't it?
Yes, I know not everybody who voted for Trump is a white supremacist. But I do think this is the strongest through line of his base. A data scientist name Seth Stephens Davidowitz just put out a new book in which he analyzes behavior based on Google trends, and he argued pretty convincingly (in an interview, I just started his book, so I haven't gotten to the good part yet) that racism was the main driver of Trump's election. Van Jones got it right when he called it "white lash." A decent hunk of the population feels like demographic changes are being shoved down their throats (because things really are changing), and they don't like it. So they respond to somebody like Donald Trump who says openly the things that other Republicans are only willing to convey via dog whistle. It doesn't matter if these things are true or not. The content isn't important; it's all about the context. And the context is pretty clear: Let's keep America a white-dominated country for a little bit longer.
Now, the good news is that most people don't think this way. The bad news is that "most" is only like 55%, not 95%, where it should be. And of this 55%, a lot of them don't vote (when they do, we get Obama; when they don't, we get Trump), and of those who do vote, too many of them are congregated in the same ten or so cities, which makes winning majorities district-by-district and state-by-state an uphill battle. So I genuinely don't know how this ends. I think ten years from now, we'll be in a better place, thinking to ourselves, "God, I'm glad that shit is over." But I don't think it's a sure thing by any means.
Alright, I think I have to wrap it up here. S is out of the country for a while, so I'm on extra dad duty. Her parents came up to help out, which I'm always extremely grateful for, but they can only do so much, because the boys will only let them do so much. Most of it is on me, which is okay, but it means free time for blogging is even more limited than it usually is.
Until next time...
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Comey testified. I'm glad all this stuff is on record. I just don't think it changes anything. I didn't understand the hype. Congressional Republicans have made it clear that there is no transgression too egregious and no embarrassment too great for them to turn against Trump in any meaningful way. As long as they have a president willing to sign into law tax cuts for the rich, they will put up with literally anything. If you told Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell that Donald Trump signed over the country to Putin to pay off his debts, their first move would be to Google "What's the marginal tax rate in Russia?"
The unfortunate reality is that we are very likely stuck with Donald Trump for the foreseeable future. We have to vote him out (and vote out his party in the midterms for being complicit). It's our best hope. And even that might not work. Because Trump is shady as hell and will do everything he can to tilt any election in his favor, legal or otherwise, and even if things are on the up-and-up, he's still very popular with a sizable portion of the country. He's certainly more popular than Congressional Republicans, which is another reason why they put up with everything he does. They recognize that if Republican voters are forced to choose between them and Trump, it's not going to go well for them. The only incentive they have to oppose Trump is one of dignity and patriotism, and if you think those are important qualities to Republican leaders, you haven't been pay attention for the past 25 years.
And Trump's base doesn't mind his lying and undermining of democratic norms. They like it even. Because they see it as pushing back against "the deep state" whatever the hell that means. That's one thing that his election has made abundantly clear. A lot of people aren't all that interested in things like honesty and constitutional democracy. They have different values -- or value, rather They're one issue voters: white supremacy. That's it. That's their issue. It always comes back to this, doesn't it?
Yes, I know not everybody who voted for Trump is a white supremacist. But I do think this is the strongest through line of his base. A data scientist name Seth Stephens Davidowitz just put out a new book in which he analyzes behavior based on Google trends, and he argued pretty convincingly (in an interview, I just started his book, so I haven't gotten to the good part yet) that racism was the main driver of Trump's election. Van Jones got it right when he called it "white lash." A decent hunk of the population feels like demographic changes are being shoved down their throats (because things really are changing), and they don't like it. So they respond to somebody like Donald Trump who says openly the things that other Republicans are only willing to convey via dog whistle. It doesn't matter if these things are true or not. The content isn't important; it's all about the context. And the context is pretty clear: Let's keep America a white-dominated country for a little bit longer.
Now, the good news is that most people don't think this way. The bad news is that "most" is only like 55%, not 95%, where it should be. And of this 55%, a lot of them don't vote (when they do, we get Obama; when they don't, we get Trump), and of those who do vote, too many of them are congregated in the same ten or so cities, which makes winning majorities district-by-district and state-by-state an uphill battle. So I genuinely don't know how this ends. I think ten years from now, we'll be in a better place, thinking to ourselves, "God, I'm glad that shit is over." But I don't think it's a sure thing by any means.
Alright, I think I have to wrap it up here. S is out of the country for a while, so I'm on extra dad duty. Her parents came up to help out, which I'm always extremely grateful for, but they can only do so much, because the boys will only let them do so much. Most of it is on me, which is okay, but it means free time for blogging is even more limited than it usually is.
[S posted this on FaceBook. An undisclosed location in Ghana, where she was stationed for the week. Good for her. She works hard at her job and at home. Any amenities she gets are well-earned.]
Until next time...
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