We save democracy by practicing democracy
NOTE from Sterling – A friend of mine from teaching days at the big U asked if he could be a part of OldMen since he now has a second home in the county. Given he’s a retired journalist, retired journalism instructor and a Democrat I said “sure!” This is his first contribution – not his real name of course since we sit in a 75 percent “red” county.
What kind of idiot goes and plays “shoot-em up” at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner? We don’t know yet but the reasoning of assassins rarely makes sense. Early reports indicate he was targeting Trump officials more than Trump himself.
Whatever. Shooting Trump and/or his corrupt cronies is not how we save democracy. That should be obvious, but it also would suggest appealing to reason and crazies don’t live in a world fashioned by reason.
I’ve heard several folks say they wish Donald Trump would keel over dead, even though that would open the door for J.D. Vance along Lord-know-who in terms of handlers to walk into the gilded golden office.
We need to be clear, though, about one thing: Donald Trump falling over dead from Big Mac/Fries is not Donald Trump being gunned down by a lunatic and elevated to martyr status, at least among his cult members.
I’d suggest that those of us who want Trump gone, and who want to preserve democracy, should want him to live to face rejection, humiliation and maybe even jail time.
If we want to save democracy, we use democracy. We do whatever it takes to get turnout in November’s mid-terms so the House and Senate are wrested away from the do-nothings, haters and space-wasters.
Once Dems hold both chambers they ought to send a bill-a-day to the White House, all of them responding to the board range of needs Americans are expressing. Reinstate all parts of the Affordable Care Act; change the tax code so billionaires and corporations pay their fair share; reinstate all tax credits for alternative energy development; raise the tax cap on Social Security and make it solvent for decades; expand Medicare for the poorest among us; reaffirm our support for NATO and struggling democracies like Ukraine.
The list could go on. Notice impeaching Trump is not on it. Yet. While Trump may well be impeachable that’s not high on the needs list for folks struggling to get by in this whack-job economic world Trump and his billionaire buddies have created. Dems need to first show they understand what the nation needs. Send up the bills, let Trump veto them, as he will, and set the stage for not just a rebuke of MAGA in the 2028 presidential elections but a good, old-fashioned butt-stomping.
After 15 or 20 bills have been put on record, then go for Trump and all those who have participated in this shit-show. They are corrupt. They are white-collar criminals. They are anti-American, anti-Constitution swamp dwellers. By all means hold them accountable but first show people you understand what is going on in their lives, that you are listening.
Save Democracy by practicing Democracy, not by trying to gun down the cultist. That just makes martyrs. Personally, I want them all to live in shame, maybe in a cell, their place in history alongside all the dictators, butchers and con artists.
Jordan Jackson is a retired reporter, editor and college-level journalism instructor.