Some of the most progressive Democrats have buyer’s remorse, being not entirely happy with their election choice. Even strong Democrats seem happier to have trump OUT of office than to have Biden IN office. We were spoiled by expectations of “Obama, The Sequel.” That man is a great orator and a forceful extemporaneous speaker. He has attractive athletic youth and a relatable family. And he grew to be wise in a Presidential way. In Joe Biden we have someone more measured, perhaps less bold, and an experienced legislator who expects each branch of government to play its independent role. He may be finding his voice. He’s learning how to jawbone Congress into action.
Recently Obama spoke to Democratic lawmakers about preparing for their upcoming midterm elections. He counseled them against worrying over missed legislative opportunities or outright failures and to concentrate on all the good things they HAVE accomplished. I wrote about some of those things last month. If you missed it, use your smart phone to scan the QR code above.
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Just wondering here. Are progressives increasing our electoral chances simply by being Covid-cautious? When one looks at single-party controlled state legislatures, repuglicans control 12 of the fifteen states with the highest Covid death rates. Of the fifteen states with the highest Covid total case rates, 13 are repuglican-only legislatures. When one looks at the fifteen states with lowest total vaccination rates, all of them are repuglican-led. Dead people don’t vote (despite rightwing accusations to the contrary) and restricting mail-in ballots reduces voting options for hospitalized Covid patients. So, do we liberals just need to wait for Covid to take its toll? Asking for a friend.
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While we’re talking of Covid, here’s a fictional conversation.
She: “Do you know the greatest threat to us from the unvaccinated?”
He: “They fill our hospitals and stress out healthcare staff?”
She: “Nope.”
He: “They push out hospital patients with other important diseases?”
She: “Nope.”
He: “They spread it to us and we get sick?”
She: “Nope.”
He: “Then what?”
She: “They serve as a natural reservoir for the disease so we can never control or eradicate it. Unvaccinated bodies give safe harbor to the virus where it can replicate and mutate, creating new resistant variants that affect us all. We’ll never conquer the disease without better community spirit and cooperation from the unvaccinated.”
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The august Repuglican National Committee has characterized what the rest of the world calls the January 6 violent insurrection to be “legitimate political discourse.” I don’t know which is more embarrassing to our country, the original violence against democracy by avowed Americans or the post hoc attempt to minimize it. Clearly (to me), this is the RNC attempt to pooh-pooh what will be a substantial mark against the deposed ex-president if he chooses to run in ’24. This prospect seems always to be in the air, subject to the latest bleat from Florida or Fox.
Another question is the whereabouts of the rump Republican Party that stood for family values and moral character since its founding (as they always point out) with Abraham Lincoln. Are members of that group hiding in closets, hoping not to face a rightwing primary challenge? Was January 6 violent or “legitimate”? Did we see insurrection or “discourse”? There is evidence that some of that party’s faithful are dipping their toes in the waters of rationality, with the Senate minority leader playing a particularly high-profile gambit. Senators are somewhat insulated by their 6-year terms. House members, though, face their voters biennially and are subject to more immediate winds. We’ll keep an eye on whatever migration occurs. As they say, stay tuned.
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Speaking of tuned, Fox News has turned from a standard pillar of republicanism against Russia (and the Soviet Union before it) to sentimental Putin apologists. The Fox talking heads are repeating the Putin rationales for his troop buildup encircling Ukraine. This seems like a complete rejection of conservative American thinking. Or a planned outrageous position for the sake of argument. Conservativism embraces counterculture. Who knew?