'There will be enough women on the Supreme Court when there are nine'
-Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg
There is something essential to this political moment in the above quote from Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It has a message for us that I’d like to share.
But for one moment, I’d like you to think about another phrase that represents a powerful polar opposite of Ginsburg’s sentiment:
“Now look what you made me do.”
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“Now look what you made me do” is the language of the abuser, of the powerful. It’s the language of Donald Trump, of Brexit, and, ultimately, the language of those who excuse intimidation and the destruction of democratic norms in order to keep their grip on power.
At its core, “Now look what you made me do” is a flawed attempt to explain away destructive behavior that resorts to threats because it has fundamentally failed to persuade.
There is a solid reason for that.
You can’t persuade when you are advocating the inexcusable.
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When Democrats called out Donald Trump’s bullying of Republicans during Trump’s impeachment trial, Republicans responding by voting against witnesses, claiming they had been so offended by Democrats that they had to give Trump what he wanted and vote for an unprecedented trial with no witnesses and no documents.
Now look what you made me do.
When Virginians voted in a new majority in the legislature and proposed gun sense laws that have majority support, a small minority of activists donned masks and paraded through the streets of the state capital bearing assault rifles.
Now look what you made me do.
As cities have refused to cooperate with the Trump Administration’s child separation and refugee policies, this administration has enacted collective punishment by restricting travel programs for residents of New York State and is now sending SWAT teams to militarize policing on our streets.
Now look what you made me do.
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When there are nine
With this simple statement, Justice Ginsburg is inviting us to think.
What I hear Justice Ginsburg saying is that the leadership of women and people of color makes the crucial difference in both perspective and fairness.
Diversity, democratic deliberation and meaningful power sharing is not superficial window dressing, it is an essential condition for achieving justice.
What I hear Justice Ginsburg saying is that the remedy to centuries of bias preferring white men is not the token advancement of a few into that club, or a rote imposition of new norms from above, but a perspective shift that allows us to imagine a world where women and people of color exercise power as leaders and equals in a new status quo where the white male lock on power is finally broken.
That happens when we meaningfully share power and accountability and put diversity into practice.
But we are far from achieving that today.
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I am heartbroken and angry that the process of selecting the next Democratic nominee to be President of the United States has gradually devolved into a pool of ever older, whiter, wealthier, male candidates.
This is not who we are. This is not our party. And, frankly, the current conversation does not reflect the principles we adhere to or the vibrant diversity that lives at the core of everything we do.
Can someone buy the Democratic nomination in 2020? Maybe.
Can largely white and male candidates stand by as women are talked over and people of color are completely written out of the process? They already have.
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We will not easily address the media bias and outright sexism that was deployed against Hillary Clinton if our response is to nominate yet another white man.
But we are at the precipice of that outcome today.
And the answer isn’t to retreat into building walls. The answer isn’t to divide and blame and threaten.
The answer to move towards hope and to act on our deep principles.
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In the swirling currents of our politics, none of us are immune from resorting to the easy retort of “now look what you made me do.”
It’s tempting.
But political principle takes courage.
Yesterday, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, speaking in her capacity as a Member of Congress, and not as spokesperson for the Sanders campaign, opened up a needed pragmatic conversation about Medicare for All.
I admire and salute her courage to do so.
(In fact, you can support sending additional members to Congress with that courage by donating to Jessica Cisneros and Marie Newman.)
I think there’s a way forward for all of us in what AOC is trying to establish. She didn’t do this by accident. Can progressives come together? Can we be pragmatic and realistic? Can we build a coalition that includes the US Senate candidates we need to take back Congress?
That’s up to us.
But that’s not what I want to leave you with.
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In my experience in Democratic primary politics (which stretches back to volunteering for Jesse Jackson in New Hampshire in 1988) I want to convey how crucial the next few days, weeks and months are.
Now is the time for us to come together, to build our coalition, to debate where we have to, and to agree to disagree where we must.
The impact and consequences from this election will shape our government from top to bottom for the next decade. The team we build will be significant to the outcome we achieve. Will it be truly diverse? Will it reflect who we truly are?
Now is the time to act on our deepest principles and to build the coalition in all 50 states that can put them in motion.
We are fighting against an abuse of power that taunts us with threats of “look what you made me do.”
We will know that we have won our victory when we can point to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s vision not as a remote ideal, but instead as our fundamental mode of operation.
Justice is not something we have to wait for, we can, and must, put it into practice every day.
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