Several days ago, a colleague sent me a tweet-storm summation originally written by Seth Abramson. Its contents continue to haunt me. Abramson succinctly explains that Trump directly and the GOP indirectly have forever harmed the US. He begins:
The list of things now officially permissible at the highest levels of our government—because of GOP cowardice—is enough to permanently degrade our democracy: foreign interference in elections; pathological lying without shame; personal conflicts of interest never resolved; more.
Let’s begin with a legal tip: if you’re running a presidential campaign and a Russian approaches you with information on your rival, your next call should be to the FBI. If not, you’re in violation of federal law and the Constitution. Having over 100 contacts with people representing a geopolitical rival in the same election is another problem. And that’s before we get to Trump’s actions towards Ukraine. God knows what else he’s involved with.
From day 1, the issue of emoluments violations has been front and center. And considering that Trump has spent approximately 1/3 of his time in office golfing at his own properties, the issue remains of paramount importance. Yet on that we also have silence.
The level of corruption at this point is grotesque. Yet the GOP blindly plays along because it is not only fearful of Trump’s base but also because the current GOP leadership probably realizes that this is their last political hurrah. The Republican political base consists solely of angry, non-educated whites — a dwindling population.
Abramson than makes this depressing yet prescient observation:
There's one chance—and not even a great one—to avoid this. A historic reversal, revolution, and rebuke arising in the Senate that sends Trump reeling out of office. Would the GOP likely have to sit on the nation's political bench for a few years? Yes. But they could save America.
Obviously, that's never going to happen. And so it's the alternative: a permanent diminishment of America that nothing can stand in the breach to avert. The Rubicon is the Senate trial, and if it's crossed—no matter who wins in 2020—it's crossed, and Trumpism is made *permanent*.
Unfortunately, I think this is correct. First, let’s not pussy-foot around the key issue: the Republicans will hold a sham “trial” and then vote to allow Trump to remain in office. At that point, the damage caused by Trump is permanent. There is no retribution for all the damage caused by Trump, Trumpism, or the Republican party.
As a result …
I don't say this to be cynical or morose. I say it because everyone will have to develop a plan—emotional, physical, intellectual—for how to subsist *long-term* in a nation that will be (even if you always thought America rife with problems) permanently worse than it was in 2014.
I will turn 53 at the end of this month. And for the rest of my life, I will be dealing with the damage caused by Trump. There is no magic bullet that will excise the poison Trump and Trumpism has injected into our country’s politics. It will last for a long time — an actual lifetime.
And this is why there must be a reckoning with the GOP. This isn’t about policy issues like tax cuts or the direction of foreign policy. Instead, it’s about the lengths one party will go to remain in power and implement a system that assumes it is the sole moral arbiter. That is exactly what the GOP has been doing since Obama’s election in 2008. You’ll recall that the GOP acted in lock-step to stop Obama from day 1 of his presidency. The GOP won a majority of state legislatures in 2010 and used those victories to gerrymander political districts so as to depress non-white voting power. The GOP has also led an unprecedented voter suppression drive that targets non-whites. They have played the “we will do whatever it takes to remain in power game” very well.
We need to respond in kind to excise the wound the GOP has inflicted. What does this look like? Here’s a start:
First, it's time to embrace dark money. There are plenty of rich Democrats to fund these efforts. We create giant super packs with a hidden donor list to fund all sorts of electoral shenanigans. The Supreme Court has validated this approach in Citizen's United.
Second, once we control state legislatures, we embrace extreme gerrymandering. Place as many racist white voters into the smallest number of voting districts as humanly possible. If Republicans don't like it, they can sue in court. In response, we'll say the Supreme Court eliminated the courts as the proper path of redress.
Third, we follow McConnell's example and pack the courts while also seeking to impeach the more extreme court placements that occurred under his watch. Start with Kavanaugh.
Fourth, we purge racist voter roles and make poor and stupid white voting hard. The former can be done under the standard Republican template of, "we're just trying to ensure the sanctity of the ballot." The latter would involve things like one voting machine for four rural towns that are hundreds of miles apart. We could also send a decreasing number of poorly maintained machines to these districts. Republicans have been doing this in minority districts for decades.
I’m not thrilled by these realizations. I’d rather that the last part of my life be spent in harmony and peace. But that’s not in the cards. The GOP started this.
Let’s end it.