Democrats are soooooo concerned about appearing to be non-partisan in their politics that they allow Republicans to run roughshod over them. Democrats have always been this way and they continue to be even though they are dealing with a completely transformed Republican Party led by Donald J. Trump. This new Republican Party, based upon the way it is conducting itself, is arguably now the Anti-Democracy Party (ADP).
Yes, you read it right. The old GOP could now well be the ADP. Can you believe it? Can you believe that most Republicans have circled the wagons around Trump and are supporting him despite the four legal cases and 91 counts that he is faced with? Despite that he said that he would not defend a NATO ally if they were attacked and then encouraged Russia to attack them? Under these circumstances, Democrats are the sole roadblock standing between Trump and his hellbent determination to turn America into an Autocratic country.
Do you remember what James Comey did to Hillary Clinton? Do you remember how Former Attorney General Bill Barr handled the Mueller Report and how it impacted on the truth and the Democratic Party? Do you remember how the appointment of Delaware United States Attorney David Weiss, who was appointed by Attorney General Merick Garland and later appointed Special Counsel in the case, to investigate Hunter Biden impacted the Democratic Party and continues to impact it?
Even if you do not remember any of these examples, surly you remember this recent one. The one where Special Counsel Robert Hur – who was also appointed by Attorney General Garland, included negative, unnecessary personal opinion remarks about President Biden’s mental acuity in his final investigative report. This report was on his investigation into classified documents that were found stored in President Biden’s garage. According to some staunch conservatives, Special Counsel Hur broke long-held Department of Justice rules when he voiced his personal opinion of President Biden in this report.
Two attorneys who reviewed Special Counsel Hur’s report and summarized it with one of their own to make it more understandable to laypersons elicited the following comment from MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell. Every time that [Special Counsel Robert Hur] mentioned innocent or unintentional in his report he couched it in language that made it appear tongue-in-cheek or to mean the opposite. The attorneys who summarized Special Counsel Hur’s report stated that the conclusion in his report to not prosecute President Biden made it appear that this was at his prosecutorial discretion when it was actually because he did not have a provable case. They further said that all this information that brought Special Counsel Hur to arrive at this conclusion should have been stated at the beginning of the report even though it was dispersed throughout it.
Attorney General Garland could have instructed Special Counsel Hur to remove these unnecessary negative remarks but he did not. Had he done it, there is no doubt that he would have received blowback from Republicans saying that his redactions were politically motivated. All things considered, whether you believe that these things were done purposely by these individuals because they are all Republicans or it was simply happenstance is obviously up to you. However – in my humble opinion and, in the vernacular, these things certainly look, walk, and talk like ducks; so…they must be ducks.
The bottom line? These Trump-led Republicans have no shame. Shame is not in their vocabulary so to them shame does not exist. They know ahead of time that they will be ridiculed for their actions but they move forward with them anyway. They do this because they know that once they have said the words they cannot be called back into their mouth; they know that once they have written and promulgated words, they cannot be unpublished; and in the end, it does not matter to them anyway because as Donald J. Trump Toadies, they know that they must win at all costs. The end justifies the means, and these things are simply a conglomerate of means to ends until they achieve their goal. Anytime that one goal is achieved, they focus their attention on the next one and continue to press forward. The process is perpetual.
We Democrats know what Republicans are doing to us, yet our only response has been to wring our hands. This lack of action has garnered negative comments from some Party members. It is hard to hear some of the things that James Carvel and other Democrats are saying about the Democratic Party even though they are true. Among the things that they are saying is that in some ways Democrats must become tougher, more hard-nosed, and partisan just like the Republicans. They need to become less concerned about appearances, especially since the GOP is no longer the conservative Party that it once was but has now become the Trump-led GOP that seems to prefer autocracy over democracy. Instead, they must become more concerned about using all the legal, nonviolent tools available to them to keep America a democracy.
The Republican Party’s primary priority is to maintain its power. Based on how it has consistently conducted itself over the years, it is reasonable to conclude that they view Democrats’ determination to compromise and be as non-partisan as possible to govern as a weakness. Accordingly, they regularly seek to exploit this supposed weakness anytime that it suits their Party’s purposes; it is viewed as simply a means to an end.
As if these domestic problems confronting President Biden and the Democratic Party were not enough of a distraction during this presidential election year, there are global problems which they must contend with as well. All these problems are exacerbated by Republicans for political gain. And to make matters worse while Democrats are trying to address these problems, Republicans are doing everything that they can to block any potential progress. Republicans claim that they want to work with Democrats to govern but all the while they continue to stir this toxic domestic and global Republican brew to assure that as much turmoil as possible will remain in the public eye.
Republicans have proven time-and-again that they are not interested in governing and seriously seeking solutions; e.g., they rejected the bipartisan senate bill that Republicans requested and a bipartisan committee worked on for nearly four months, without even reading it. This bill contained badly needed funding for Israel, Ukraine, and Tiawan. The lack of funding for Ukraine has stifled Ukraine’s progress in their war against Russia – straining the American Ukrainian relationship, and the situation in Israel, with or without this funding that Republicans are blocking, has put President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at odds with one another.
Since this new Trump-led Republican Party is pro-Russia in this war, and because Prime Minister Netanyahu is more closely linked with these Republicans than he is with Democrats, he does not seem to be concerned that he is creating strong, negative backlash against President Biden for how he is handling the war in Gaza. As a result, Republicans are happy to continue business as usual because it is good for Trump. The way that Republicans are conducting themselves is not normal. And that many Americans are supporting Trump even though he has said that he wants to be a dictator, believe that violence is acceptable to put him back in office and say that it is worth a civil war to achieve this is freighting.
Those Americans who want America to remain a democracy must wake up and realize how serious the situation is. Trump is an expert at exploiting chaotic situations and using them to his advantage. He has already demonstrated an uncanny ability to lull Americans to sleep while he works his Trumpian wizardry on them. Reasonable Americans have been mesmerized by him and have become his toadies only to realize too late that he is exactly who he has shown them he is.
Some among these Americans, although they have been lulled to sleep, already know exactly who Trump is but have chosen to ally with him anyway. This is because, out of the human instinct to survive, the impulse to acquiesce to the need to support the divisiveness buried deep within them demands that they submit to the acceptance of the hate of others if that is what survival demands. Accordingly, all of this is driven by their fear, that is just below the surface within them, of the Trump-driven chaos and turmoil which implies that people of color are trying to take “their” country from them. These Americans are terrified by the changing color of America from white to black and its various hues.
Wake up, America; so far, Trump is winning! The verdict that Judge Engoron rendered yesterday, February 16, 2024, against Donald J. Trump was the first step toward Holding Trump accountable for the numerous unlawful acts he has committed. Now it is our turn as voters to also hold him to account as a politician. Using all the lawful, nonviolent tools available to us, we must do our part to keep America a democracy and assure that she remains great! We must turn out and vote in the 2024 election and keep Trump out of the White House!
Eulus Dennis – author, M2: Street Cop To Top Cop, Operation Rubi’s Cube and Living Between The Line