This week was *&^%ing awful. Hearing the President of the United States of America spew that kind of racist garbage at people was soul crushing. Then hearing his mobs echo his calls was equally bad.
and yet…. our week may have been bad, but Trump’s week was even worse. And this week actually gives us a glimpse of how and why we can win in 2020.
Why? Because trump finds himself in the worst kind of racist asshat Catch 22 possible.
Here is what I mean: trump has to keep saying increasingly awful and racist shit from now until the election for three reasons. First, trump is an awful racist himself so that stuff is going to keep coming out of his ugly mouth.
Second, he loves attention and a fight and that is the way he knows to get both of those.
But third and more centrally for him, due mostly to his narcissism, Trump made a decision after the election to not reach out the rest of America but to go with the base that elected him.
His way of “leading” mean that despite the best economy he could hope for, he still can’t get out of the red in approval numbers.
That means he needs to get that base riled up to get them out to vote. They are his only hope.
And a sizable portion of that base loves racism. that is the language they share with Trump. They love the hatred. Trump got elected by playing to racist tropes and he thinks that his how he will get reelected.
and, of course, the usual talking heads are arguing that this is genius
plenty have argued Trump’s got something up his sleeve. It’s just smart base politics, they say. It’s tricking the media and Democrats into overreacting, others say. And then there’s the longest-running bit of amateur analysis: It’s a distraction — from the ICE raids, or his asylum changes, or the Jeffrey Epstein scandal or . . . something.
“Forget the man’s tweets; he’s playing us like a Stradivarius,” Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.) pleaded Wednesday morning on CNN.
but I am here to tell you that trump is not playing some master game with this garbage and it is not good for his reelection prospects. Instead, it is good for OUR chances.
He brought us together, for one thing:
Were it not for Trump’s tweets, that burgeoning civil war would have had a chance to play out. Instead, these Democrats saw their own internal discord papered over. Provocateurs like Ocasio-Cortez were reminded of the common enemy. A momentary crisis was averted. A savvier strategy would seem to be to needle the Democrats into fighting among each other some more, rather than totally eclipsing their infighting and giving them time for cooler heads to prevail.
Also, the vast majority of Americans are onto this level of racist bullshit:
Most Americans call Trump's tweets targeting 4 congresswomen 'un-American'
And independents are disgusted by it.
And this won’t just hurt him, it is going to be a stain on every Republican running in 2020
and this:
and this:
Credulous pundits told us for days that President Trump’s racist attacks on nonwhite lawmakers were brilliant politics, but Republicans disagree: They are widely warning Trump that presiding over a rally chant of “send her back,” directed at a nonwhite lawmaker, is putting the party at serious political risk.
Why is it putting them at risk? Because it forces the entire party to either say the quiet things out loud (which will lose them reasonable independents) or disagree with the president and the rabid parts of his base (which will lose them that contingent). It is a game with no win for them
President Donald Trump and his most ardent supporters have, once again, made the subtext into blatant, blaring text.
Before the rally, some conservatives had hoped that perhaps Trump could separate policy disagreements with the four members of “the Squad” or accusations of misconduct from their ethnicity, place of origin, or race. Other conservatives even argued that perhaps Trump meant that the four women should love America (in a way they deem fitting) or leave the country, and that his remarks didn’t come close to demanding their forced deportation.
But Wednesday’s rally made it crystal clear what Trump meant by his tweets and, perhaps more importantly, how Trump’s biggest supporters interpreted them.
Trump is forcing conservatives to confront the real reason their base hates Rep. Ilhan Omar.
What if it works though, you might be thinking.
Well, it didn’t in 2018. We know he tried this racist shit to win in 2018 (you remember the caravans of brown people crap, right?!) and it didn’t work. Even with the heavily gerrymandered House, we WON and racism was not enough to help him.
Because there are more of us than there are of them. For every awful person yelling “send her back!” at a rally, there are 10 people driving hours to meet Omar at the airport and WELCOME her home.
Just like for every person who attends a racist rally, there are at least 100 who attend one of ours.
He has to use this to fire up his base but it fires us up too and it disgusts the people in the mushy middle.
We are the majority. We are disgusted and energized and united by his racism. Instead of it making us feel helpless and give up, it steels our spines and unites us as one.
He won’t stop being racist and awful and saying terrible things. I wish he would, but he won’t. It’s the only song he knows and, unfortunately, the closer we get to November 2020, the louder he will sing it. He has to.
And yet in that is the seed of his destruction because it won’t win him a national election. Not in 2020. Not after all of us have woken up. We may forget the lessons of 2016 eventually (people are like that), but not by November 2020.
So here is my advice for when he says awful racist things: Don’t ignore it. Despite what people say about ignoring what he says and only focusing on what he does, we shouldn’t ignore this racism and hatred. We should continue to use our voices to show that hatred is not the acceptable language of 2019 (and 2020!) America. We should take on this fight because (a) it is the right thing to do and (b) it is a fight we can win.
He will make this the fight for the election because he has no choice — it is all he has — and we will take it on full steam ahead and win on this awful playing field. It will be awful and scary at times and disheartening, but in the end, we will win because of it.
So that is his catch 22 — he has to play up the racism and xenophobia to have any chance of getting his base worked up and out voting for him, but every awful thing he says and does only energizes those of us on the other side AND pushes independents over to us.
Of course, it would be better if he just stopped with this horrible way of speaking. But he won’t. So get ready. Its going to be a bumpy ride for the next 16 months. But its a ride to the mountain top.
In the meantime, every time you are angry over this, harness it and do something
organize a voter registration drive
write postcards to voters
Donate to Obama’s Democratic unity fund to fund our eventual candidate
Democrats are Amazing
”do nothing Dems” or “Dems are republicans light” are great ways for people who know very little about what is going on to feel morally superior to EVERYONE in the country, but they aren’t based in fact. here is just a small sampling of what Democrats are doing!
House Passes Bill to Raise Minimum Wage to $15, a Victory for Liberals
The House voted Thursday to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025, delivering a long-sought victory to liberals and putting the Democratic Party’s official imprimatur on the so-called Fight for $15, which many Democratic presidential candidates have embraced.
John Kerry: Trump can’t hold a candle to Ayanna Pressley
Of course President Trump’s comments about Representative Ayanna Pressley are racist. But even more revolting is his defense: pretending he’s not attacking her race, but rather her lack of patriotism.Pressley’s entire life has been a story of patriotism: loving her country so much that she wanted to help America live up to its ideals.
A strong woman raised in public housing by a fearless mother who sacrificed to keep her safe? An activist who found in Boston a life of public service and a determination to speak up for people who were underrepresented? That story identifies as more “American” than any mantle this president could ever claim. No wonder Donald Trump is afraid of her.
John F. Kerry
House passes Saudi measures, prepares to send more to Trump’s desk
The House passed two measures Monday aimed at cracking down on Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses, including a bill to impose sanctions on the people who ordered or carried out the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Kamala Harris just introduced a bill to give housekeepers overtime pay and meal breaks
Housekeepers, nannies, and caregivers have long been excluded from federal labor laws. They aren’t entitled to overtime pay or a minimum wage. They can’t get workers compensation if they’re injured on the job, or unemployment benefits if they’re fired. Heck, it’s essentially legal for employers to sexually harass them in most states.
After workers urged Congress to change their second-class status, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) introduced companion bills on Monday to give domestic workers basic labor rights.
The legislation, known as the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act, would essentially amend federal labor laws to include domestic workers. But it would also extend new benefits to them, such as guaranteed paid time off, privacy protection, and a written employment contract.
We the People are Amazing
HOW MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN MAY SAVE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
hy did the massacre at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School inspire so many protests and demonstrations? Why did the public anger erupt to the point where 16 states to date have toughened their gun laws?
Most people point to the fierce and principled advocacy of student survivors. But Theda Skocpol, a longtime professor of government and sociology at Harvard University, argues that's only part of the story.
"I think part of the reason were these networked women's groups everywhere," she said in a recent interview. "They provided a little more oomph behind what the younger people wanted to do. I know of a bunch of conservative places where the existing Resistance networks provided support for a group of high-schoolers who wanted to do something."
Democrats are despondent at the moment, reeling from the realization they are powerless to prevent the very conservative Brett Kavanagh to the Supreme Court. But Skocopol, who has been studying the American political scene for 40 years, sees a silver lining for the left.
Harvard University political scientist Theda Skocpol argues the conservative takeover of the federal government has a silver lining for liberals: It is inspiring more activism.
As a middle aged woman, I approve this message!
‘Nobody Opened the Door’: Neighbors Rally During an ICE Raid in Houston
The immigration raid early Monday morning at the El Paraiso Apartments in Houston was not exactly a major victory for law enforcement.
It was foiled, in part, by 19-year-old Kaylin Garcia.
Shortly before 7 a.m. Monday, Ms. Garcia was sitting in her car near her family’s apartment, in a largely Hispanic section of southwest Houston about 15 miles from downtown. She saw four Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents walk by — one dressed in camouflage fatigues and the others wearing black T-shirts and bulletproof vests. They were knocking on apartment doors. She took a picture of the agents with her phone, posted it to her Facebook page and notified some of her neighbors.
With widespread publicity about the raids, many undocumented migrants have been counseled to avoid opening their doors. Neighbors, immigration lawyers and migrant rights advocates are issuing warnings when any ICE agents are spotted. Following any report of a raid — real or rumored — the news media descends within minutes
At the El Paraiso Apartments in Houston, Ms. Garcia, her neighbors and even workers at the complex said they were proud to have had a hand in making ICE’s job more difficult on Monday morning.
As Wall Street Banks Sever Ties, Private Prison Companies Stand to Lose Over $1.9B in Future Financing
This year, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, SunTrust, BNP Paribas, and Fifth Third Bancorp publicly announced that they would no longer provide any new financing to the private prison industry.
Together these six banks represent an estimated $1.93 billion, or 72% of the total current financing available to private prison companies, CoreCivic and GEO Group. These commitments are landmark victories for the movement to end Wall Street’s financing of the private prison industry. It is the result of years of coordinated action, including the hard work of the coalition of organizations working under the banners of #FamiliesBelongTogether and #BackersOfHate.
Justice is Slow but often Rewarding
Judge: Neo-Nazi blogger owes Whitefish woman $14M
A federal judge on Monday decided more than $14 million should be awarded to a Whitefish woman who suffered a "troll storm" unleashed by a neo-Nazi website publisher in late 2016.
Avowed neo-Nazi gets additional life prison term in Charlottesville car attack
Two weeks after being sentenced to life in prison by a federal judge, avowed neo-Nazi James A. Fields Jr. received a similar sentence Monday in a Virginia court for ramming his car into a group of counterprotesters during a white-
supremacist rally here, killing a woman and injuring 35 other people.
In ordering terms of life plus 419 years in state prison, Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Richard E. Moore imposed the punishment recommended in December by a jury that convicted Fields of first-degree murder and nine other charges.
Republicans are a hot mess
Mark Sanford, SC Republican, former US Rep, considers presidential run against Trump
Almost a year after President Donald Trump urged voters to reject Mark Sanford, the former South Carolina congressman is considering a Republican presidential run of his own against Trump in 2020.
Sanford, in an interview Tuesday with The Post and Courier, confirmed he will take the next month to formulate a potential run against Trump as a way of pushing a national debate about America’s mounting debt, deficit and government spending.
He would run as a Republican.
even that he is THINKING of doing this is a great sign for us. No one with strong intra-party potential challengers has ever run reelection.
Other Good News
Millions have come out of poverty. It’s a reason to hope.
hen the authors studied changes over time in a subset of 10 countries (total population: 2 billion), for which the best data were available, they discovered remarkable progress. Eight of the 10 experienced a statistically significant drop in their MPI scores, which translated to a total reduction of the number living in multidimensional poverty from 1.1 billion to 782 million. Of this 318 million-person reduction, some 271 million occurred in booming, gigantic India, whose total population of 1.3 billion accounted for more than half of the studied group of countries’ total.
So lots of good news and reasons for hope today!
Y’all, I am so, so, so grateful and proud to be in this with you. This is the fight of our generations and we are in it together ✊ ❤️ ✊