In this week of Kossack on Kossack crime, Trump self-immolation, and “Dems in Disarray” headlines, it is probably best to start with a unifying standard, a “minimum” upon which we can all agree.
The Kharkiv Theoretical Physics School was founded by Lev Landau in Kharkov, Soviet Union ….
Landau developed a comprehensive exam called the "Theoretical Minimum" which students were expected to pass before admission to the school, ... only 43 candidates passed …In this way his students became proper physicists ...
While I am fascinated by modern theoretical physics, it is obviously irrelevant here.
What is important, for our purposes, is to offer some sort of “solution” to the battles raging across Twitter screens, Kossack Diaries, House Leadership meetings, and traditional old media, some sort of “guideline” or “minimum” upon which one can speak out in support of the progressive movement, while also not blowing the 2020 election before Thanksgiving of 2019.
I think the moment is that important, as this is not a normal summer.
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We have so many moving parts; Epstein-Barr and the incurable implications, Trump’s concentration camps threatening to take out all moderate Republicans, Mueller’s understudied treatise and all that might flow from it, and now a Democratic party at war with itself, or at least its identity.
Anyone telling you that he or she “knows” how it will all play out is lying to you and themselves. It is impossible to know. Einstein taught us that.
All one can do is theorize, based upon observations and past experience, which may or may not be relevant. It would seem to me, that when one is left to theorizing, one best adhere to a theoretical minimum, or be cast out as engaged in pseudo-science, endangering true progress.
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Fortunately, our theoretical minimum doesn’t require years of studying differential equations, only some principles that ought to be second nature to all of us, and yet seem “difficult” when confronted with flashy new issues.
First Law of Poli-Dynamics:
Democracy is not a perpetual motion machine, it does not happen by accident. Self-government can wither and die.
Second law of Poli-Dynamics:
Trump threatens the underlying democratic ideal. The threat spreads far beyond modern American political disagreement.
Third Law of Poli-Dynamics:
This threat must be put down at all costs, including war, if it ever came to it, because the alternative is a modern fascist state as the world’s only “super power.”
Yes, universal healthcare, the planet, minority rights, etc. ARE why we fight. We must never lose those. But we lose ALL those battles at once if Trascism wins. Thus our “theoretical minimum” is that Trump must lose.
Lives, millions or billions of lives, are at stake.
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Luckily, we have an “electoral war” scheduled for next year, as the first, best, and only “weapon” we have right now against encroaching Trascism.
We are nowhere near guaranteed a “win” in that election. The economy is “good.”
Thus, it appears blindingly obvious to me that our “minimum,” from which all our actions should be judged, from Dem leadership on down to us at our keyboards and phones, ought to be strict adherence to the following measure: “Does this assist in defeating Trump and fascism in 2020?”
Accepting this minimum standard means accepting that we stand under the electoral college’s ominous shadow and that some of our most progressive ideals can be self-defeating in that fight. The “center” is both our “weakness” and our greatest force.
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That is not to say we all need to rush to the center In our beliefs. I am not sure where the “center” is anyway, ,and so I’m not pointing in any direction.
What it means is that intra-party wars are ruinous, in that the “winner” has already lost. This isn’t rocket science.
Pelosi should not have got to Maureen Dowd to whisper attack memes over chilled wine, and AOC should not have castigated the interview as an attack on “women of color.” Pelosi was right to come to these women’s defense, but should have been much stronger in her actions, and the “Squad” should not have called a press conference, and really should have left out the call to impeach Trump for another time. (Much as I agree in an impeachment inquiry).
They HAD (Have?) the high ground, and could have used it to move forward as a much stronger “whole” and yet punted it away under the guise of “day to day” political squabble.
These are mistakes of breathtaking magnitude, because Trump is in real trouble.
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Doubt that Trump is in trouble? Doubt that the border is starting to catch up to Trump?
Pence found himself visiting the centers just this last week, and he could not “support” what was happening there:
"To be honest with you, I was not surprised by what we saw," Pence told reporters Friday, citing the humanitarian crisis and congestion. "This crisis is real, the time for action is now."
Pence would not have been there blaming Dems if Trump and company do not feel threatened by the news from the border. And he recognized a problem, or he wouldn’t have blamed Democrats.
Witness Republicans pushing back on Trump’s attack tweets:
Before you state that it is “just a handful,” note that Texas is “overrepresented” in that selection, Texas being a purple state now, and also note just how unusual it is for Republicans to break rank against Trump at all.
There’s this, from North Carolina’s Charlotte Observer, calling out the entire Republican party, and again, this is a NC newspaper, dependent upon NC businesses for ad dollars:
It’s the party where it’s OK to say racist things so long as the next jobs report is encouraging.
If you don’t believe it, listen to the meekness today from Republicans, including those who represent our state. Instead of standing up for who we should be, they’re bowing to the worst of who we are
Even Lindsey Graham’s truly deplorable statement contained an iota of pushback, “aim higher” means “stop this,” in a Graham-perverse world.
Trump IS in trouble, whether his poll numbers reflect it or not right now.
He is at a tipping point under new threats, an angered Mueller went to paper to reject Barr and is now geared-up to come before Congress. Epstein … we just don’t know yet, Trump knows, though and Barr did “come back” to control the case. Bank records, tax records, … We can see why Trump is beginning to buckle under the pressure.
This not normal summer is threatening to overwhelm Trump, but it will NOT unless there is unity in the force lifting him past that point of no return.
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Unlike theoretical physics, this shouldn’t be “hard.” It only gets “hard” when one lets unimportant considerations slip into the equations.
We do not have the luxury of splintering right now. These battles, if they need to occur, must occur in closed rooms, with only unified participants leaving.
Pelosi MUST get a hold of herself, and her inclinations first, SHE Is the experienced one, SHE is the leader, SHE must face the fact that she’s weakened her caucus, on her own, and at the worst possible time. Some genuine self-reflection and a genuine apology (behind closed doors) might go a long way. That will get the ball rolling.
Once she meets with her “Squad” and apologizes, and vows to have their back, the Squad needs to realize that they ARE only four votes unless they can get people behind them. They must grow beyond the Squad, tamper their demands, enlarge their circle of friends, and vow to speak through the larger majority. The entire point of getting a Democratic Congress is to ACT TOGETHER as a majority, a body with real power.
Anything less is putting self-aggrandizement ahead of first principles, putting one’s own “thoughts” ahead of the minimum standard, pseudo-politics.
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The moment is here, and is bigger than all of us. Trump is neither all-powerful, nor omnipotent. He makes “mistakes,” and this summer he’s making more than the usual. He might be making fatal mistakes.
But none of it matters without a unified front.
Yes, it would be cooler to let the “Sense of the Kossack nation” run the country, yet we don’t have that option any more than Pelosi does. So, we ought to support unity in the face of this fascist threat, lest it overwhelm our children.
Anything less is unconscionable right now.
We might call it a “theoretical minimum.” We do not abandon our calls for accountability to the rule of law, our demands to uncage the children, or our defense of the planet, no. But we move forward pledged to common acceptance of the one minimum. At a minimum, we recognize that only together can we defeat Trump, and that’s as non-negotiable as gravity.
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Peace, y’all.
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