The Witness Chronicles, August 13, 2024
The wind is changing
Intense Dejection to Cautious Optimism
This is the divider’s worst nightmare
This is a bit of a history lesson, but not of history hundreds or even fifty years ago. It is history measured in weeks.
For the past eight years we have been a people divided, and that was no accident. And frankly, American society and voters were exhausted by the hate, the lies, and the hysterical fears; unfounded fears it turns out.
Unfounded because most of them were invented and then blown way out of proportion by one man and his cadre of followers. It’s important to note that most of his early close supporters either became disillusioned and left, or were banned for perceived disloyalty. But as he amped up the paranoia and lies, more people came on board and this time they were people who had become thoroughly indoctrinated by the endless onslaught.
Or opportunists who have used him to further their dangerous racism, paranoia, and hate.
This strategy of using fear to divide the country got him into the Presidency, aided by an unpopular Democrat who ran a tone deaf campaign that seemed to assume her winning was inevitable. Perhaps her biggest gaffe was calling Trump’s followers Deplorables, a name they happily adopted, turning it against her.
Despite these blunders Clinton actually won the popular vote in 2016, but not the electoral college, an outdated American system originally conceived to ensure illiterate or uninformed voters would not be tricked into voting for a terrible candidate. Electors would be the wise decision makers that kept democracy on course.
The electoral college system should be abolished as the dinosaur it is, but it is a political tool that can be manipulated, even these days, and as such, it has remained. And perhaps for the best as Trump tried to corrupt it to steal the 2020 election. And failed, even as he used fraud to convince hordes of followers to storm the Capital to try to change the results via violence.
We saw four years of respite under Joe Biden, who overestimated the electorate’s faith in experience and skills over age when he ran for re-election this year. Despite his first term being one of the most successful in recent history, he was forced to step down from the re-election attempt.
A lot of us assumed there was the possibility of chaos in the wake of the change, chaos that Trump would use to cruise to re-election. And the national mood among those who support our democratic system became even more dejected about the future of that democracy. But two significant things happened that appear to have changed everything, overnight, after Biden dropped out and endorsed his Vice President, Kamala Harris, to replace him.
The Democratic Party has not exactly been known for unity, but something almost miraculous occurred. The party unified behind Harris in ways not seen by this political observer in my lifetime. Simultaneously, the Trump campaign found itself without a strategy that anticipated an opponent who is vibrant, experienced, racially reflective of many Americans not formerly represented, and a professional prosecutor.
The last aspect of Harris is particularly interesting as she is running against a convicted criminal who likely is running primarily to try to avoid more convictions for serious crimes against national security and our Democracy.
We all know this story, so why am I recounting it? Simply put, because this may represent the most unexpected turnaround in American political history and the possible downfall of the country’s worst president, Donald Trump.
I am not filled with glee about this because underestimating Trump and the extreme right is not a great idea, ever. They are currently backed into a corner and that is a dangerous situation when you have a Party that will openly break the law to retain or regain power.
It appears that choosing the path of division and violence is a one way street for the Republicans. Unlike the Democrats, they seem incapable of shifting gears, instead doubling down on the same old insults and mudslinging, though it does not appear to be working this time around.
They know this and we are seeing and hearing more indicators that they will fallback again on the unfounded claims of election fraud, and threaten civil war if they lose. They are packing friendly red locales with their election officials and marshaling an army of lawyers.
It’s pretty scary to think this insane election will continue for months beyond the actual Election Day. But several critical factors are different from the events of the post 2020 election. We now know how far Trump will go to avoid losing. As far as possible, including inciting deadly violence. But this time around we have an Attorney General who is not sympathetic in the slightest to Trump’s plight, but instead will fight to protect the rule of law.
And we have a strong Democratic team in Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, both extremely experienced and a lot tougher than the Trumpies expected. But they bring something to the game that scares the hell out of the Right: a sense of humor, a positive attitude, and no fear of Donald Trump’s tired bullying tactics.
So, hang in there with the cautious optimism. I am.
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Since the Lawyer and the Coach stepped up, I have felt more positive about the possibilities for our country than I have since Obama stepped up. Hope springs eternal.