Welcome Republicans!

August 24, 2020

It’s official now… Biden v. Trump. I think Bernie had a better diagnosis of the country’s problems and a better prescription to fix them, and I think the Dems are missing a golden opportunity to reboot our country. I have major disagreements with Joe, a collaborator in dismantling the Middle Class for 40 years, and Kamala, an enthusiastic booster of a militarized police state. Neither offer the long-term fixes America and the World so desperately need. But the Dems picked Biden and Harris, and they’ll get my vote because even fundamental disagreements are trivial compared to the malignancy that is today’s Republican party.

It’s a huge jump for Progressive Dems to support Biden. They (we) know that single payer healthcare, global warming, income inequality, and militarized police are critical needs the Democratic Party has been unable or unwilling to tackle. They also know the alternative is a Republican party that is actively opposed to all those priorities, has become divorced from the needs of non-rich Americans since the 70’s, and increasingly divorced from consensual reality since the 80’s. It’s a huge and disappointing jump, but Progressives realize the stakes.

It’s an even bigger jump for the Republicans, yet they are now fleeing Trumpistan in droves. For almost 4 years the Trump organization offered an escalating series of purity tests designed to consolidate ‘real Trumpers’ at the expense of the rest of America, dividing Republicans themselves into either useful idiots or dead weight. Rank and file Republicans were dubious in 2016 (after all, enough voted for him that he came close to a majority) but a few more dropped off the bandwagon as each new desecration hit the news. The useful Republican office holders literally put party over country, distilling and isolating the Trump toxin until the only ones who can’t taste it are the ones who’ve already drunk the poison. It’s not their granddads’, or even their dads’ party anymore, and more Republicans are realizing the stakes every day.

But no one should mistake Biden’s support, from Progressives or Republicans, for supporting DNC policies. Biden’s a run-of-the-mill back slapping pol with a fake smile and a fuzzy vision of America, but from most reports he also seems to be a generally decent person motivated by recognizable human feelings and limited by fundamental democratic norms. Same with Kamala. And the same with the Progressives and Republicans who are coming over. AOC doesn’t back corporate health care and Mitt Romney doesn’t want a Green New Deal, but Dems, Reps, and Progressives can and must make common cause in support of functional government and basic standards of humanity. Biden’s tepid vision won’t save us, but perhaps he has enough commonality to unite Americans without scaring anyone off, at least temporarily.

Functional government doesn’t mean we’ll all agree; it means that there are limits to the debate. The Republicans fleeing the Trump swamp are setting the rightward bounds of argument, and every one that crosses the line makes the line clearer. Each one leaves the Trumpets increasingly exposed and squirming. The stakes in this election aren’t a presidency, or a tax cut, or some jobs program, the stakes are nothing less than civilization itself. Trump’s horrifying predictions of a Biden presidency are HAPPENING NOW UNDER TRUMP, here and around the world, as direct results of his cabal. A Trump vote will only amplify the horror, not end it. The choice is increasingly clear… Trump or America, and Americans are choosing.

Make a great day,