For as long as I can remember all Republicans and a lot of other people regardless of their party affiliation, have expected Democrats to be the grownups in the room (a.k.a. doormats?) whenever there was a political disagreement and Republicans refused to budge from their position no matter the cost. And that is still the case today. Despite the fact that many American lives have been lost as a result of Donald J. Trump’s refusal to take the advice of medical professionals, scientists and other professionals that are advising him about how to handle the coronavirus pandemic and instead follow his gut, the Republican party continues to support him.
Even now with Mr. Trump suggesting to Americans that they should either ingest or inject themselves with things such as bleach or Lysol or to somehow introduce ultraviolet light into their inner body to rid themselves of COVID – 19, his base and Washington congressional Republicans still continue to support him. While this coronavirus continues to wreak havoc on the United States, The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America is completely focused on himself: he is concentrating all of his effort on his reelection campaign.
Secretary Hillary Clinton got it exactly right when during the time that she was running against him to become president she said that Donald Trump would indeed run this country just like he did his businesses…he would run it into the ground! She said that he would alienate us from our allies and destroy everything that the United States of America has worked hard over almost 250 years to build. If we were to compare what Secretary Clinton said about Mr. Trump in 2016 to the things that he has done during his tenure up to this point in time (the date of this post) and the situation that he has America in today, it would appear that she was clairvoyant: she was spot-on!
America is reeling from Mr. Trump’s leadership (or more appropriately, the lack thereof) and world leaders throughout the world are shocked at how he is conducting himself. As a result, America is disparaged by them and some seem to be reveling in the fact that our great country which has led the world for the past 246 years has come up woefully short during this challenging coronavirus pandemic. To be clear, they are not reveling in the terrible economic and humanitarian damage that this pandemic has done but in the fact that the United States was totally unprepared for it, let alone prepared to lead the world in dealing with it.
Figuratively speaking, for far too long Democrats have brought knives to a gunfight as it relates to their relationship with their Republican colleagues. It is one thing to be the adults in the room whenever there is discord and disagreement over various issues but it is another to let those with whom you disagree run roughshod over you every single time just to keep things moving. It is obvious that Republicans in the House and Senate take these collegiate efforts by Democrats to help insure bipartisanship and keep things moving as a sign of weakness. They have made this ‘weakness’ a part of their tactical arsenal. Again, figuratively speaking, they have regularly pulled their suit coats back just far enough to show their Democratic colleagues their guns and remind them that they only have knives in order to intimidate them.
If there was ever a time for Democrats to get tough, dig in their heels and stand firm, this is it. Mr. Trump has never simply pulled his suit coat back just far enough to show Democrats his gun, he has always brandished it. Because he did this from the time that he was elected and still got away with things like ignoring longstanding traditions that previous presidents have followed such as honoring the emoluments clause and allowing up to 10 years of their tax documents to be made public, he decided to roll the dice with the Mueller Report and impeachment. He got away with those things too when the Republican-led senate opted to acquit him despite the overwhelming evidence against him. This further emboldened him and exacerbated the downward trajectory that led to America’s current situation.
There must be a robust bipartisan effort to save America from The Donald Trump of the United States of America and to put her back on the right track. In light of the Republicans refusal to speak truth to power and subject Mr. Trump to the same checks and balances that all other American presidents have been subjected to, Democrats will have to take the lead to save America. This is not the time for Democrats to dither with pundits’ label and definition of ‘the adults in the room.’ It is time to lead and go full speed ahead in doing everything that they can to save America and put her back on the right track.
The presidential election in November this year will illustrate how Americans feel about Mr. Trump’s and the Republicans’ leadership (or the lack thereof) and determine who will save and lead this great country on the long road back to where it should be; the best leader of the free world that it can possibly be: In the words of the late President Ronald Reagan, the “shining city upon a hill.” Alas, what happened to the Ronald Reagan Republicans? Republicans still love to quote him a lot…but they conduct themselves more like Trump Republicans whose only real goal is to destroy their party.
Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line