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,
Digging Deeper…
Want to understand the GOP’s problem? Look at its newly elected extremists. Paul Waldman in Washington Post, Jan 2021
It Is Biden’s Historic Task to Reverse Reagan’s—and Trump’s—Reckless Radicalism, Jeffrey Sachs on Common Dreams, Jan 2021
The failures of Reconstruction have never been more evident — or relevant — than today, Alexander Manevitz, Washington Post, Jun 2020
Militant Christian Nationalists Remain A Potent Force, Even After The Capitol Riot, Jom Gjelten on NPR, Jan 2021
The ‘deep state’ of loyalists Trump is leaving behind for Biden, Miranda Ollstein and Megan Cassella, Politico.com, Jan 2021
Biden cannot govern from the center – ending Trumpism means radical action, Robert Reich in The Guardian, Jan 2021
We’ll Never Fix Systemic Racism by Being Polite, Aldon Morris in Scientific American, Aug 2020
What to Do With Trumpists, Graeme Wood in The Atlantic, Jan 2021
An early move from Democrats seeks to undo an ugly part of Trump’s legacy, Greg Sargent in Washington Post, Jan 2021
The U.S. Mustn’t Follow Weimar Germany and Ancient Rome, Andreas Kluth in Bloomberg Opinion, Jan 2021
Sen. Josh Hawley: The Face of New American Fascism? David Rosen in CounterPunch, Jan 2021
The Bitter Fruits of Trump’s White-Power Presidency, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor in The New Yorker, Jan 2021
Insurrection Timeline — First the Coup and Then the Cover-Up, Steven Harper in Moyers on Democracy, Jan 2021
Missouri paper urges disbarment proceedings against Josh Hawley: “He must answer for his treasonous misdeeds”, Tom Boggioni on RawStory, Jan 2021
81 million Biden voters are seething with anger–the burden of ‘healing’ is on Republicans, Joshua Holland in RawStory, Jan 2021
