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I always say that there are no moral victories in politics, and the violent stupidity unleashed by the MAGA trifecta has already been a disaster, BUT…
If any good can come from this episode of criminal incompetence, it would take the form of a vigorous public discussion of American values.
1/
We have reached a point where the fundamental question—who are we?—has produced a deep and perhaps unbridgeable rift. Language has been warped and poisoned by rampant dishonesty, and people struggle to maintain their focus in an ocean of crap culture and misinformation.
2/
Lincoln, on the eve of the Civil War, said:
“We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing.”
We find ourselves at the same
juncture once more.
Freedom.
Justice.
Equality.
Democracy.
The meanings of all these are deeply contested, and the same words mean different things on either side of the partisan divide.
3/
#Media and #academia are both reviled by MAGA because these are venues where informed and principled debate and dialogue has normally taken place when key terms, principles, and values are in dispute.
MAGA, sensing victory, would obviously like to break these institutions to ensure that no further discussion unfolds.
But the country is literally dying for lack of decent and fact-based discussion.
4/
The rescue and salvage of democracy will not unfold through war or through “punching Nazis.” Mass mobilization and public demonstrations may or may not serve to correct course.
We need above all a return to values. We’re in the hands of amoral nihilists, and values are the necessary road back.
Every invocation of political values right now demands interrogation and critical inquiry.
5/
Trump looked at the Dems last night and noted that nothing he does can make them “happy.”
But “Are you happy?” is a simpleton’s
approach to governance.
We need, first, a broadly shared understanding of the sources of happiness. A discussion of happiness that is connected to values and to public discourse re: the meaning of our professed ideals.
“Stopping woke.”
“Owning the libs.”
These are not principles, but manifestations of primal pleasure.
6/
It’s true that politics is a question of policy and winning elections.
But in the absence of clearly articulated values, we get the post-human void of Trump, Musk, Vance, etc.
The Resistance doesn’t seem to run through the Democratic Party right now.
Inside that apparatus, we need a Party of American Values.
Media and academia drive that conversation or cede their role in this teetering democracy.
/end
"The Resistance doesn’t seem to run through the Democratic Party right now."
The #DemocraticParty is asleep
The leadership of the #DNC has checked out
The senile old white men of the Democratic party have opened their Golden Parachutes and are softly descending downward to the Golden Years of their retirements
Nothing will touch their world-class #HealthCare, their lifetime #Pensions, their #NetWorth
They've got everything they need
They've checked out, leaving the United States holding the bag