We thought we were the exceptions to history, the Americans. History didn't apply to us. We could never fight a bad war. We could never represent the wrong cause. We were Americans. Well, in Vietnam we had proved that we were not an exception to history.
That reminds me of a post I wrote a while back. Since November I've been thinking that Donald Trump's election is somewhat analogous in our time to the American experience in Vietnam for my parents' time. They thought that not only could the U. S. not lose a war, but that the U. S. couldn't possibly be on the "wrong" side. And for all my life I've assumed America could never elect someone as unqualified and unfit for the presidency as Donald Trump. For crying out loud, it's not like we're some kind of Latin American banana republic, or even Italy, which seemed to change its government as often as I change my underwear.
But I guess it turns out that maybe we're not so special after all.
I also read a piece in The Atlantic this morning, "How the GOP Prompted the Decay of Political Norms," and it made me think that "norms" are only "norms" until they aren't. Either President Trump's behavior becomes the new "norm" or the old norms are written into law. And I would bet more on the former than the latter.
Unlike the authors of that piece, I think Democrats should stop whining and just plain get used to the new norms. And fight back. And maybe establish some new norms. Maybe New Gingrich was right when he told a group of college Republicans in 1978:
You’re fighting a war. It is a war for power. Don’t try to educate. That is not your job. What is the primary purpose of a political leader? To build a majority.
I actually think Democrats should "try to educate," because they have the better policies. But as for the rest of it, I think Gingrich is spot-on. Maybe all this current polarization isn't such a bad thing. It gives people a real choice between two world views. Let's just hope the better one prevails. But after Trump's election, that's not a sure thing.
I have long said that the fundamental difference between Democrats and Republicans is an assumption - Democrats assume that we are all equal, while Republicans believe in a hierarchy ( with White Christian Males at the top). Changing that is a fundamental belief with people and it is not easy.
ReplyDeleteThe radio host Norm Goldman ( 5-8 pm on AM 820) encourages us to go "transpolitical" - meaning that we don't need to succeed in changing their minds - we just need to get to better policy. As an example - We don't need to sell Universal Healthcare as a "Basic Human Right" to people that believe that a big portion of their fellow citizens are sub-human. But we can sell it as a much more efficient use of tax dollars - better outcomes for less money.