Tom's Tidbits- Unity, much like respect, depends on actions - Tom Dwyer AutomotiveTom Dwyer Automotive

Greetings,

The Trump era is officially over, and we are a tired and wounded people. Our ‘leaders’ are pushing the balm of Unity, but superficial unity can’t spackle over deep and real discord. Unity, as a goal instead of a result, can be poisonous. For the sake of “ourselves and our posterity” we can’t come together until we’ve set a few things straight.

America’s been wounded before, and we reached for the anesthetic of unity then too. Reconstruction was painful until a fake ‘unity’ paid by newly-freed slaves ended it too early, fueling the inequality and racial injustice protests of today. We were tired when Ford ended our ‘long national nightmare’ instead of holding Nixon accountable, and we’ve dealt with the fallout ever since. We were oh, so tired of George W. Bush until Obama soothed us by looking forward, not backward. The question of America as a torture state still looms.

Wounded and tired again, we face the aftermath of Trump and the ongoing danger of his acolytes. The question of accountability has never been more important and the temptation to pretend unity has never seemed stronger.

But unity with who? Republican cries for unity sound too much like a middle-school bully begging for mercy when his victims finally fight back. All Republicans aren’t MAGA; I’m sure some never wanted any part of this. But Elections DO have consequences, and today’s Republican Party is the direct consequence of voting for Trumps, Hawleys, Cruzes, and McConnells for decades. The new crop includes Boebert, Taylor-Greene, and Cawthorn, people who cling to Q-Anon and Trumpacy even after seeing the results. Unfortunately, in a free and self-governing country, there’s no way to build consensus among people who see government as a useful tool, as a necessary annoyance, or as the source of all evil.

Unity to do what? Biden, who may be a very ‘good guy’, isn’t a man of obvious vision. He collaborated with the DNC to reject the vision of the Progressive Dems and offer a bland, tapioca “not Trump” vision of America. That may be what won the election, but it’s not a path forward. Biden can’t govern as a centrist successfully. We can’t ‘go back to normal’, much less unify or grow, by averaging tepid with traitorous. Biden not only has to bring a baseline of competence and dignity, he’ll have to articulate a vision for action and build a consensus around it. That’s a politicians’ most basic job and it’s what true ‘Unity’ is built on.

No matter the agenda the Dems pursue, “We the People” can’t and shouldn’t follow it if it’s based on pandering to people who tried to overthrow our government. The vast majority of America DOES want to ‘move forward’, but we realize we can’t settle for the false choices of selective amnesia or vindictive witch hunts. Most of us realize that any progress must be based on transparent, even-handed, accountability. Fortunately, politicians don’t lead, they follow, and this time there may be enough of us to lead them in the right direction.

The Republicans want Unity to avoid accountability, the Democrats want it for expediency, but unity can’t come to a people who watch their laws and institutions violated with impunity. Though they’re worlds better than the Trump aberration and slightly better than the Republicans, Biden and the Dems aren’t saviors. I doubt they’ll even try to protect us from the corporatocracy eating our society, but I’m open to being surprised. In this dawn of a new administration, I hope Biden takes his cues from the people he purports to lead and gives us something worthy of the responsibility we’ve placed in him. IF he does, ‘unity’ will follow. If not, our children and grandchildren will be accountable instead… as they were so often before.

Make a great day,

aaazTomSignature