It won’t be enough to win the elections in November. Taking at least the House is absolutely essential, but the period between November and January will be fraught with peril.
First things first- I have insisted to anyone that will listen ever since January 2017 that the only answer we have to the blatant corruption foisted upon us is the ballot box. I have done my share of post card writing and Rapid Resist texting. I have been marching in the streets and I have been part of Indivisible (Shout out to Orchard City Indivisible in Campbell CA!). I have seen clearly that the ballot- not impeachment, not Mueller, not shocking revelations in the press- is our way out of this mess. It saddens me to say that I think there is decent chance that even a Democratic victory at the ballot box in November may well be followed by violence in the streets. We are not as far away from this as I once thought.
In the last few days, watching the way that Trump is emboldened by his literally sociopathic approach to things has me increasingly convinced that those in power on the far right will do literally ANYTHING to hold on to power. I think the way that they openly celebrated after virtually shoving Kavanaugh down the throats of America is what did it for me. There is no pretense of civility. There is no pretense of following “Norms” or procedures. There is no pretense of reaching out for healing or accepting that the Democrats have a reasonable set of concerns. There is only the exercise of raw power. They get away with it because they CAN. There is enough of a critical mass of true Trump believers that they feel empowered to say or do anything.
I watched Trump openly belittle Dr. Ford and encourage his hate bots to laugh derisively at her courage and pain. That crowd shouted with glee as they did so. That was chilling. I watched them shout “Lock her up” about Dianne Feinstein tonight. They shouted that about a ranking member of the US Senate because he told them to. He told them blatant lies about her, and they ate it up. Those supporters are in so deep that they swallow any hateful propaganda they are fed. It is frightening to me in a way that I cannot remember in my 60 years.
I see them on Fox News talking about the “Mob rule of the left”. They are laying the groundwork for delegitimizing Democratic wins by making their followers afraid. I can easily foresee a situation in which a Blue Wave comes crashing down on the Republicans in November, only to have Trump and his enablers in congress spew absolute lies and fear/hate driven propaganda for 2 months about the election results. They will tell lies about “Intimidation” at the polling places. They will tell lies about “Voter Fraud”. They will tell lies about anything if it creates that narcotic like mix of fear and anger to which their base has become addicted. They have largely succeeded in devaluing truth and reality to their base.
To me, it seems increasingly likely that the 30% batshit base will believe those lies, and attempt to actively block Democrats from taking power in January. I do not see Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Paul Ryan, Susan Collins (Susan Fucking Collins!!), or anyone else on the Republican side of the aisle standing up and saying “This is the United States and we honor free and fair elections”. Can you? Honestly?
The thing is, even I- a mild mannered 60 year old special education teacher- have had it up to HERE with their blatantly disrespectful ‘Fuck you Democrats- WE have the power!” practices. I find myself getting worked up into adrenaline charged anger that could lead to stupid decisions in the wrong situation. I do not know how else to put this, but if you use me as a baseline for anger on the left, then the justifiable anger on the left is ripe for exploitation.
I say this because I am old enough to know better, I have always believed fervently in nonviolence, and I am by nature someone who seeks conciliation, not conflict. If someone like me is this up in arms, then it is safe to assume that others younger and less restrained than I are ready to fight in the streets if provoked. Trumpsters would like nothing better than violent conflict in the streets because it serves their purpose.
We need to expect provocative resistance to election results. (Mark my words…You will see the word “Resist” co-opted by Sean Hannity.) Our answer cannot be to let our anger get the better of us and become violent- even though we have been provoked. Our answer simply HAS to be to combat that narrative by showing up in huge numbers in peaceful demonstrations in the streets to support our newly elected officials until and after they have taken power in January. We must continue to be highly visible and passionate, but we cannot allow ourselves to be provoked into chaos and violence even though that voice in our heads is telling us that those SOB’s are asking for it. They ARE asking for it- because violence, chaos and confusion work for them. Our work will not be done in November. It will only be just starting. Let’s be ready.