The Democrats’ Where To From Here Conundrum

“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.  Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”  This is a quote from the late President John F. Kennedy that is strikingly relevant for the situation that Democrats, Republicans, and Independents find themselves in today.  Elected politicians and everyday Americans – whether or not they are of voting age – must make a choice as regards the position that they will take on the issue of “the great enemy of the truth.”

Washington congressional politicians have already decided which side of this issue that they will stand on and their decision breaks almost perfectly along party lines.  The Republicans, minus a few – the number of which can be counted on one hand, have chosen to accept the lies and to believe in myths while the Democrats have chosen to reject them.  To be fair, I must also state that there are a few Democrats who have sided with the Republicans.  I am not sure where Washington congressional Independents stand but they likely stand with the party that they caucus with.  Therefore it is crucial that the American people who are not elected politicians make it perfectly clear to our elected politicians which side of the issue that we stand on: will we accept lies and believe in myths or will we stand for truth and facts and protect the United States Constitution?

Mr. Donald J. Trump of the United States of America is at the epicenter of the conundrum that Washington congressional Democrats and all other Americans now find themselves in.  This “don’t believe what you see and hear, believe me” Mr. Donald J. Trump of the United States of America has capitalized on divisiveness, hate and fear and used it to lull Americans to sleep in his effort to reinforce and continue to grow his political power and personal riches.  And it is obvious that although he is a proven liar, many Americans believe and have accepted the things that he is telling them.  Washington congressional Democratic politicians and all other Americans who believe that Mr. Trump is leading this country in the wrong direction must find a way to successfully address this problem.

So far, congressional Democrats have had limited success in their efforts to fix it.  They have tried almost everything that they can think of, short of opening impeachment proceedings, to stop this Mr. Donald J. Trump of the United States of America from continuing in his refusal to be a Mr. Donald J. Trump of the United States of America to all of the American people and leading the country backwards in order to sustain the support of his political base.  His aide, Steven Miller, says that he already is the [Mr. Donald J. Trump] for all of the American people.  Although many of the previously mentioned congressional Democrats support impeaching Mr. Trump, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has steadfastly resisted this option.

Many pundits say that Speaker Polosi’s opposition to impeaching Mr. Trump is a political decision and is not based on “the right thing to do.”  I believe that her decision is an efficacy decision and not a political one.  It is not that she is not interested in doing “the right thing.”  But instead, she is interested in effectively solving the problem while doing the right thing.  In other words, it does not do anyone any good who is interested in changing things to impeach Mr. Trump if the Senate fails to convict him and remove him from office.  If the Senate fails to convict Mr. Trump – which based on all of the information available right now they would not convict him, then the problem would not be effectively resolved; the process will only have reinforced Mr. Trump’s position and would serve as fodder against those running in the 2020 election who voted to impeach him.

Mr. Trump is a reality show Mr. Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and he likely knows almost everything there is to know about television ratings and manipulating those who generate those ratings.  As a result, he can assure that combined they will have the maximum impact on the audience that he is playing to at any given time.  He is very aware that we live in a world where people (his audience) are more interested in the drama of the situation and loud voices than they are in – to what the majority of Americans might find, the boring facts and the drudgery surrounding comprehending those facts, and then consistently applying them in order to effectuate effective governance.  Because he is a reality show Mr. Donald J. Trump of the United States of America, Mr. Trump is a master of playing to his audience.  And in addition to this because he is amoral, cannot be shamed and has no bottom when it comes to how low he can go in order to win or get his way, this gives him a great advantage over all of his adversaries.  The situation that America finds itself in is just a part of the reality show that Mr. Trump stumbled into in 2016 while trying to create the world’s greatest infomercial; he did not expect to win the election!

As it turns out, winning the election was probably Mr. Trump’s worst nightmare.  And if it is not his worst nightmare, it certainly is that of the majority of Americans.  For those who do not agree with my perspective on America’s current situation, my perspective and the various perspectives of all Americans are something that deserves reasonable discourse by those politicians who we have elected to represent us.  But in order to have effective discourse that has the potential to effectively solve the problem, all constituents must be represented by those who they – by way of majority vote – elected to represent them.  These elected officials, including the Mr. Donald J. Trump of the United States of America, must represent all of their constituents; even those who did not vote for them.  We can and must assure that this is indeed the case.  The best way that we can assure that it is actually the case is through our vote.  So always remember, whether you are a Democrat, Republican or Independent, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line