I’ve been mulling over a question posed by Garrett Epps in a New York Times column awhile back.
There were actually a number of questions raised by his column–can we really return to the political/cultural environment we occupied before the election of Trump? Could a Democratic president ever trust Mitch McConnell, et al, sufficiently to negotiate with them in good faith? Can voters learn to trust their government again? Have Americans believed a lie all these years? Have we bought into the “we are exceptional” rhetoric and absorbed a highly selective history in which–despite some unfortunate mistakes we needn’t dwell on– we were the good guys?
Epps starts by referencing a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorn in which “Goodman Brown” is visited by Satan, who opens his eyes to the sinfulness of Brown’s pious neighbors:
how hoary-bearded elders of the church have whispered wanton words to the young maids of their households; how many a woman, eager for widows’ weeds, has given her husband a drink at bedtime and let him sleep his last sleep in her bosom; how beardless youths have made haste to inherit their fathers’ wealth; and how fair damsels—blush not, sweet ones—have dug little graves in the garden, and bidden me, the sole guest to an infant’s funeral …
Brown is never sure whether what he has seen was a dream, or whether “the placid and pious life of his neighbors is merely a pretense.”
Epps proceeds to draw a parallel, suggesting that the admirable democratic norms we thought Americans live by have really just been a “shell game for suckers.”
As Trumpism took hold in the nation in 2015, it was regarded as a kind of temporary madness. But time has revealed that this vulgar spirit is no aberration. It was there all along; the goodly veneer was the lie.
Consider the devolution of Bill Barr, from an “institutionalist” who would protect the Department of Justice to a servant of Donald Trump. Consider the two dozen House Republicans who used physical force to disrupt their own body rather than allow government officials to testify to what they know about President Trump—because to follow the rules of the House, and the strictures of national security, would threaten their party’s grasp on power. Consider the white evangelical leaders who prated to the nation for a generation about character and chastity and “Judeo-Christian morality,” but who now bless Trump as a leader. Consider, if more evidence is needed, the unforgettable moment at the Capitol on September 27, 2018, when Brett Kavanaugh dropped forever the mask of the “independent judge” to stand proudly forth as a partisan figure promising vengeance against his enemies….
These are not victims crazed by “polarization” or “partisanship” or “gridlock” but cool-headed political actors who see the chance to win long-sought goals—dictatorial power in the White House, partisan control of the federal bench, an end to legal abortion and the re-subordination of women, destruction of the government’s regulatory apparatus, an end to voting rights that might threaten minority-party control, a return to pre-civil-rights racial norms. The historical moment finds them on a mountaintop; all the kingdoms they have sought are laid out before them, and a voice says, “All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.”
Epps accepts that Trump is more likely than not to be defeated in 2020, and that in any event, he’ll leave office at some point. But then comes the chilling question–a question to which I still don’t have anything near a satisfactory answer.
What then? Like young Goodman Brown, can Americans unsee the lawless bacchanal of the past three years? Can they pretend it did not happen, and that the fellow citizens who so readily discarded law and honesty never did so?…Can we go back to the world before Trump—and before Brett Kavanaugh and Mitch McConnell, before Bill Barr and Rudy Giuliani, before an invasion of a secure facility at the Capitol, before babies were torn from their mothers and caged, before racist rhetoric from the White House and massacres at a synagogue and an El Paso Walmart—to a world of political cooperation, respect for norms, and nonpolitical courts?
How?
I wish I knew.
We can’t.
Because even if we try, we can’t shake the knowledge that our neighbors, our coworkers, and even some of those we thought were our friends are ever just one big rally away from cattle cars, gas chambers, and final solutions. Any comfort any minority group took in the exceptionalism of America is gone, our bags are forever packed, our passports always updated, our alternatives never far from the forefronts of our minds. We know the person across the street, the partner in the office next door, and the glad-handing politician asking for our money and our votes will always see us as “other,” not true Americans, fodder for fomented fear, not friend.
If it is any consolation, we went through this sort of thing in the 1950s, with Senator Joseph McCarthy. His hearings, supposedly aimed at unmasking Communist spies in our government, drew out paranoia analogous to the anti-immigration paranoia in the “general public” that we see today. His crusade against moles in the State Department was the forerunner of Trump’s tirades against the “deep state.” It took time, and McCarthy’s attempt to slander an icon for the Senate to stand up against him. Too much time. We can only hope that today’s Senate will have enough principled members to do that – sooner rather than later. We can only hope.
No, we cannot go back. We will not be able to unsee the results of the past three years because we will be witnessing the results of this horror for years to come. But! We can learn from all of this and repair and amend what was wrong to begin with and move forward into a better government.
IF we are to move forward, it is very import that Mitch be defeated soundly
“Have Americans believed a lie all these years? Have we bought into the “we are exceptional” rhetoric and absorbed a highly selective history in which–despite some unfortunate mistakes we needn’t dwell on– we were the good guys?”
How has one man virtually destroyed, “we were the good guys”, “…despite some unfortunate mistakes” in less than three years? If it was all smoke and mirrors, why did much of the world’s population look to us for guidance and help during disasters and after wars, which until now we provided? In 2006 my good friend, a gay Catholic Republican, suddenly begin one-sided political arguments with me via E-mail regarding political issues and politicians I had never heard of so couldn’t respond to, he “accused” all Democrats of latching onto the term “relativity” to explain everything. This was of course during George W’s administration; my friend decided our friendship needed a “hiatus” and I haven’t heard from him since. There is truth in the term “relativity” in our elections; whether it is choosing the best of the candidates or the lesser of two evils, it is all relative.
Maybe the question should not be can we ever trust “them” again, meaning Republicans, but will the Republicans ever come to their senses and recognize the destruction they have brought about to even their own constituents?
“Epps proceeds to draw a parallel, suggesting that the admirable democratic norms we thought Americans live by have really just been a “shell game for suckers.”
Trump is the one who is declared to be adept at “the art of the deal” for more than 40 years and the current Republicans are the ones who have fallen victim to Trump’s “shell game for suckers.” I have no faith in Epps’ belief that Trump will lose in 2020; we were suckered into believing that in 2016 as the Republican party bought up the members of the Electoral College in red states. Rudy Giuliani sat grinning as he warned us the “Republicans have something up their sleeve” and the “election will be won by the Electoral College”. I believe we are still the “good guys” but we don’t have to finish last.
We can reject the evils of trumpism and make a government that does represent the values we claim are American: honor, integrity, truth and respect for all people.
No, we can never go back and we can never unsee the viciousness that exists within our population and our state and federal government bodies.
I now recognize that our “exceptionalism” was created by our military ability to conquer our perceived enemies. Those enemies have always had something that we wanted and we have been more than willing to use our military power to steal what we set our eyes upon.
Our forefathers stole this land from the Native Americans. They accomplished the theft both through trickery and killing. Our federal government still abuses the Native American tribes to this day by taking over the precious little pieces of land that they were forced to live on. Our government has and always will make sure that wealthy business owners get what they want.
As an adult I finally learned that the books used for teaching our students about our country’s history were all whitewashed to create false stories about the “Savage” Native Americans and the “Hero” white soldiers who killed those savages in order to take their land and make it our own.
I could go on and on about our terrible history with stories that would take us from the beginning of this country until this point in time, but we all know what has taken place and continues to take place.
We have a country that was built by white wealthy men who had no intention of living peacefully with others. Their goal was to take what they wanted in order to gain power and more wealth. Our country and our federal government was created by human greed.
Forget trusting McConnell and those idiots in the so-called “Freedom Caucus”. During the period of post-Trump, these wretched creatures must be pushed to the back of the room. Their inputs are completely worthless to the repair job before us. They are the worst of the worst of us who huckstered themselves into government with lies, fear, bigotry and ignorance of the Constitution, the law and the necessary compassion required to govern.
The task ahead is daunting, but we have to elect REAL people who are men and women of honor and integrity – real “mensch”. Otherwise, it will be more of the same until we just peter away and leave our children and grandchildren holding a fetid bag. Scalese, Meadows, Jordan, McConnell, Paul, et. al., are part of the cracker coalition that must be a sound of silence.
We can’t go back to a place we’ve never been. Part of our problem is our inability to accept that our country is less than perfect. If we can finally grow up, admit that we have work to do, and start toward that, we can come closer to what we have always claimed to be. We won’t ever be perfect, but we can certainly be better.
Trust has been lost and will be very hard to return. Family, “friends” and others in our work and home communities, including churches, have all shown who they are. We should believe them. Not to do so will perpetuate the underlying fallacy of our grand experiment.
We are learning that even “artificial” intelligence (AI) algorithms, supposedly free of human biases, are full of the biases input by those who code the software. Self-interest, pride, entitlement and power are dangerous attributes of the ruling classes all over the world. We are not “exceptional” at all, but have learned to lie to ourselves and our children about our virtues and tolerances.
I don’t think I need to wonder how the populace will react – hypocrisy is the answer.
The second (and I mean the very instant) a democrat is elected president there will be a hew and cry from Republicans about how there’s no bipartisanship from democrats. About how mean democrats are. A whole “can’t we all get along?” refrain will begin from all comers. Those Republican aggressors will become the put upon. The bereaved. The poor servants of the community being bullied by those mean ol’ democrats.
Democrats, in general, are soft and want to do the right thing. They will bend and compromise (like you should under democracy) and give the Republicans some of what they want.
Democrats will then be blamed by Republicans for every ill in society because “if only they’d given us EVERYTHING we asked for we’d live in a utopia!”
Democrats will then lose elections, returning power the Republicans. The Democrats will say “we compromised with you when WE were in power. Now, you compromise with us and we’ll all move on and get some things done.” Republicans will laugh in their face and call them Communist, Socialist, America Hating Baby Killers (TM).
Repeat. Ad infinitum
Vernon – what you call for is what my project, CommonGoodGoverning is all about. Join our community.
We mustn’t go back; that is what got us here. We must take “lessons learned” and demand that the people we send to DC of both parties get together and make progress on the threats to our democracy/existence: climate change, healthcare access/costs, infrastructure, inequality of opportunity. This work must be done within the frame of American/human values. Extremism and divisiveness must be called out , shouted down and shamed. We need a “Marshal Plan” for American Renewal with all the resources and determination of the moonshot….
“Where does this evil come from, a man wonders. Why is love so perishable?”
were forty years designed to accept the new norm. many who i talk with,were not born yet. history is bypassed by the silver spoon from parents who wanted the kids to have better than they did, hense,someone forgot the talk about how we got there,before reagan,and when the cattle cars dropped off the pagans to be gased. sure,we can say that was above all other performances by dictators,and such,but, the fact remains, under a capitalistic society,and one that lost free speach among the air waves,(rememeber vietnam,we were preotesting,and it was in the local stations,like klos,kmet L,A,Ca.with music of the times) we had a standfast voice to remind us all,were next.now we have suppressed views on air,and laws to avoid that means of political outspeak.we dont have dinner at 6 and family talks about were we were,and are going..we now have dist conversations in front of family with i phone used to ignore…and seek pacification over the needs to be the democratic goverment,and oversee,the future for all,over the few with money.. the politcal landscape has allowed a group of highly educated deemed fit to pursue the takeover,and realignment of laws to suit their needs,while democracy gets kicked to the curb,using courts and legal jargon to be freely used to defeat any attempt to stop this runaway train.i will guess most of us here are boomers,(if someone is trying to use boomer as a bad word,maybe its because they cant wait to be rid of us,so those so called entitlements and past history will disappear) we seen the past,and lived it,and made America a pincle to achive,but who will see us now, and what we are losing from over there,and save us…
What the combination of Trump, Republicans and Putin did in 2016 was to hold a mirror up to American culture and reveal who we had become, not all of us, but certainly the collective we. We who remember pre pervasive advertising/fake news/propaganda/brainwashing entertainment media us recoiled because we didn’t recognize the image of who we had become over time. Too comfortable, too easily maneuvered, too complacent about our liberty and republic, to addicted to stuff in place of freedom.
Putin laughed at his ability to show us who we had become while Trump and Republicans celebrated power for them over United States for everyone.
We who awoke can sleep no more. We who slept and still do through it all will never awake again. The stage is set for a repeat of the Revolution, Civil and World Wars but hopefully this time without the explosive damages.
We who awoke can no longer afford division. We either stand united or fail.
Nancy @ 7:48 am, I would agree with what you have written. Ever since I “served” in Vietnam as a combat infantryman, I realized “American Exceptionalism” was one of those code words and dog whistles for American Imperialism.
I was not only the GOP that participated in this Imperialism, it was the Corporate Democratic Party. Both parties could reach across the aisles to smack down, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya or Syria to maintain America Over All.
As Marx, wrote, “A spectre is haunting Europe — the spectre of communism. All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre: Pope and Tsar, Metternich and Guizot, French Radicals and German police-spies.”
“The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.” Side Bar > Given our campaign finance system, it is not difficult to see the control of the 1% on our political system.
Today, it is the spectre of Democratic Socialism that haunts the Corporate World and the 1%. No matter if it is Fox News, CNN or MSDNC Democratic Socialism is one way or another marginalized, vilified or ignored.
Democratic Socialism is not only a threat to President Agent Orange and Pastor Pence it is a threat to the Corporate Democrats.
I’ve just bundled up!
God help us all if he wins again.
The genie cannot be put back in the bottle. Pandora’s box cannot be closed once its secrets have been revealed. Time and experience continue on. We have a choice—adapt and move forward or stay and be left behind. Each option has its virtues as well as its curses. We collectively get to say if we’re each Henny Penny, Goosey Lucy, or Chicken Little—or perhaps all three at different times. And just as we create our own story, we recapture, retain or relinquish the power that comes with our authorship. Free will, the greatest attribute and the greatest responsibility humans have ever self-actualized or been given.
Well stated, Lester. We do indeed need a Marshall Plan not to rebuild war-torn infrastructure but rather to rebuild confidence in democratic values, in the absence of which we can expect an accelerating greed not only for money but for all power which, if successful, will result in temporary authoritarian rule en route to failed state and perhaps colonial status. I am now more mindful than ever why my old World Politics professor at IU insisted in calling humans “homo saps” rather than homo sapiens, a deserved label as measured by the social conduct of many of us these days – and as history tells us – before.
That said, we start from where we are, and however daunting, must insist that the democratic values we inherited from the agoras of Athens via the library of Jefferson be followed. We need not repair such values; they remain there for the taking. What we need to repair are the ideas and attitudes of the members of our society that currently foster greed, power grabbing and the like as well as their forerunners of racism, class distinction etc. which are designed to give moral authority to such anti-social ideas and attitudes and which, I fear, will be harder to repair than an unnecessary attempt to repair our democratic values. It will take time and perseverance for our repair effort to play out, especially given the last few years when those who would destroy our democracy have dug our anti-social hole deeper than ever, but to reiterate, you start from where you are – and here we are.
Our immediate task is to turn those who are digging the hole deeper out of positions of authority. We need to fill the hole, not dig it deeper. To state the obvious, we must take the shovels away from our homo saps (Trump-led Republicans), break out our own tool kids, and work without ceasing to repair our society’s ideas and attitudes, so let’s get on with it.
Upon review, tool kids in the last sentence of my offering should have read tool kits. Mea culpa.
Do we value our freedom as much as those in Hong Kong do? Baghdad? Syria?
Can we keep our freedom at less than the cost that they are paying to earn theirs?
Here is a funny article from the Guardian Donald Trump Jr, and his girl friend ex FOX analyst, Kimberly Guilfoyle, were booed and heckled off a stage at the at the University of California.
Don Jr was promoting his book, Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us.
It was not some gray haired ex-hippies, Bernie Bots or other assorted Left Wing types that booed Don Jr and Kimberly off the stage.
According to the article: >>> You see, shortly after Sunday’s event kicked off, Trump Jr informed the audience that there wouldn’t be a Q&A because leftwingers would inevitably twist his words. The lack of dialogue enraged a far-right faction of the crowd who believe the Trump administration isn’t anti-immigrant enough and were eager to challenge Jr on this.
“We wanted to ask questions about immigration and about Christianity,” two of the protesters, who identify as American Firsters, told the Guardian, “but [Trump Jr] didn’t want to face those questions.”
The booing got so bad that Jr’s girlfriend, former Fox News personality Kimberly Guilfoyle, had to step in and save him. “You’re not making your parents proud by being rude and disruptive,” Guilfoyle yelled at the audience.
It is tempting to have a good laugh about the disastrous book launch – and, believe you me, I have. Ultimately, however, there is nothing funny about the fact that the Trump administration has emboldened so many bigots that Maga-hat-wearing supporters are now coming after Jr for not being extreme enough.
Dangerous fringe groups have crept out of the shadows and are shouting at the top of their lungs.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/12/donald-trump-jr-book-tour-booing-rightwing-hypocrisy
How you gonna keep ’em down on the farm after they’ve seen Trump Tower? Very smart people like Pompeo will always do whatever it takes to achieve self-aggrandizement, aka power, despite any reforms enacted. People whose intelligence levels prevent them from identifying and pursuing their own and the nation’s interest must be dealt with differently. Since educated democracy lovers appear to be a minority, these individuals who don’t comprehend the value of the rule of law are our only hope.
We must inculcate them with values and beliefs – from the first grade through whatever year they quit school – that support and protect democracy. That may require intensive civics training and repetitive emphasis of the necessary values (all non-controversial since they are found in our Constitution). The legislation to achieve this will have to be passed and signed into law when Congress resembles the just-elected Virginia Assembly. This won’t win all hearts and minds, but it will enlighten a segment of the exploitable class to make them less tractable for demagogues. Without enough people to suborn and exploit, the Pompeos and Barrs and Mulvaneys and Giulanis will be stifled in their efforts to bend America to their nefarious schemes. But they must still be watched carefully.
Despite its weaknesses, democracy remains by far the most desirable form of government for the vast majority of people (ask Hong Kong and Iraq and the Arab Spring participants). If we have to play a little hardball to secure it for future generations, we must commit to do so. And we must do it in a way that does not allow for backsliding. Partisans can then battle over nuances, but they will have to do it in a democratic, not authoritarian context.
If such mandated education helps counter the Republican “Dumbing Down” plan, so much the better. If some critical thinking results, the world will applaud and emulate us.
In this setting democracy will continue to evolve, but in a way that further empowers the people it serves. The alternative is a Putinesque/Trumpian world.
Thanks Gerald. There are no doubt a number of principles that could underline such an effort. I am sure with the brain power of Sheila’s “community” we can find many. One I would suggest is to adhere to the research on crime – what deters crime is not the sentence, it is the likelihood of being caught. We need to ratchet that up significantly for white collar criminals and corruption – like funding the IRS….
Another is to directly engage the next generations in “active civic duty”:
https://www.nj.com/opinion/2019/10/should-all-americans-be-required-to-serve-opinion.html
I think it was on this blog where I learned about how Fox News came about–a captive media outlet that wasn’t there during Nixon’s time, but which came about because of Nixon getting caught–to push back against the truth. I tune in occasionally just to hear what they’re saying so I can understand how their disciples, which is the most-accurate term to describe them, can be so blind to the lying, lack of accomplishments and chaos of the Trump administration. The slop put out by Fox News is truly shocking. They constantly pivot–anything Trump does that is stupid, illegal, ill-advised, any lie he tells–they pivot to claim that some Democrat also did and did first.
The worst thing they do is work to convince the disciples that “lame stream media” lie, are part of the “deep state”, a government conspiracy to take away their guns and their rights, and that nothing they say is the truth, so they cannot be trusted. Hitler did something similar in Germany. He shut down any radio or newspaper that didn’t support him, and eventually took over all media. Then, his regime started the propaganda campaign–blaming every social and economic woe on the Jews, which is how he got non-Jewish Germans to stand by and allow their friends, neighbors, doctors, etc. to be hauled away to concentration camps. Also, anyone who tried to oppose the Nazis got similar treatment.
The point of all of this that even after Trump stops stinking up the White House, Fox News will still be there. The disciples will still be there. I hope not, but McConnell may still be there. They will be looking for another Trump–someone who supports their White Supremacy views–a pushback against that uppity “you-know-what” Obama, and Crooked Hillary. Someone who appoints radically conservative judges, and someone who won’t allow bills passed by the House to become law. Bipartisanship will be just a distant memory–a sign of weakness. That’s what worries me.
Dirk,
Yes, it is a cycle. That cycle won’t be broken until Republicans are replaced with a real conservative movement whose first inclination is to GOVERN instead of just working to get elected. Your sad scenario is fueled by corporate money. Citizens United v. FEC MUST be overturned and eliminated. Thomas, Alito and Kavanaugh MUST be removed from SCOTUS. Otherwise, the diameter of the cycle will become smaller and smaller until we collapse into ourselves.
Just like Nebuchadnezzar, no one took note until the handwriting on the wall. Free speech will destroy this government one way or the other. When some mentally disturbed individual, throws out a conspiracy to cause fear and consternation, is given more credence than seasoned muckrakers who dig for truth, it’s done! One thing we have now that we didn’t have in the 1930s, social media. Instantly, you can communicate with someone on the other side of the globe, you can spread disinformation at the push of a button. Before social media, the nut jobs could only influence their circle of the gullible. Now, the nut jobs can influence anyone who has a phone or computer which is a significant majority.
When people choose to be ignorant, (willful ignorance) you are not going to change those minds at all. They have been waiting a lifetime or maybe even several generations in a family, to be able to flex. They don’t care if it’s a lie, they don’t care if it’s hypocritical, they don’t care if they are committing suicide for their lineage, as long as they can see with their last few seconds of sight and final breath, that they’ve taken the “Others” over the precipice with them. Hypocritical? Yes! Fanatical? Yes! Ignorant? Yes! Evil? Absolutely! They willfully turn a blind eye, they have a wanton desire to do harm, and it goes way beyond feeling left out, or left behind!
They know that they are not alone in their beliefs, they see it on the Internet, they see it on their choice of information, and they feel bolstered and strong. If they have not succeeded in burning the whole thing down, the pendulum will have swung back to the source, decapitating those influencers in front of their adoring hordes.
The religious leaders who have endorsed this behavior have revealed their true leanings, after years of paying lip service to Christian values, they have completely abandoned those Christian values, because they never had them in the 1st place. They have signed the death sentence for their religions, they might as well start wringing their hands now, the whining will be deafening.
Although it will be very hard, we have no choice. The alternative would be an endless downward spiral.
I think we have reached the current deplorable political situation for two reasons: (1) Lack of adequate civics education, for example, many people have never read our Constitution and don’t understand it or the Bill of Rights; and (2) Lack of training in critical thinking. Critical thinking can be tricky if approached in grade school because it tends to make students argumentative, and many school officials don’t want that to happen. Nevertheless, it is necessary if we are to reclaim our democracy.
Of course we can’t go back – time, as we experience it, moves in one direction.
The question of whether we are a good nation that had a bad experience or a bad nation that has finally been exposed – I think that is in the eye of the beholder. I use the Socrates test. Was Socrates a total ass who was just trying to prove how smart he was (a view held by a good friend who always shouted out all of the answers while playing Trivial Pursuit to show how smart he was), or was Socrates someone who was dissatisfied with his contemporary philosophers and wanted to have a better way of finding the truth (my view – I knew the answers and didn’t show off)?
America can have a terrible history and still be great – our ideals are an aspiration – as a nation, we have been coming to terms with our past and, in fits and starts, tried to change – I grew up in a house with a deed that said my parents weren’t allowed to buy it, as did the deed saying that Jonas Salk couldn’t buy his home in La Jolla, California.
Yes, this country was founded by white, male, protestant land owners. Now look at the top Democratic contenders for President
a Roman Catholic
a white woman
a Jew
a left-handed Maltese-American-Episcopalian-gay-millennial-war veteran (Pete’s description)
a bi-racial woman
an Asian American
not at the top, but taken seriously – a Latino twin
The trick is not to “go back” but to move forward with a firm understanding of where we are and how we got here.
Ever since Nixon, but especially since Reagan, the Republicans have been making a mad dash to the right with the Democrats hot on their heels. Goldwater was too extreme for most Americans, but even he rejected the John BIrch Society and the Klan. The current Republicans have moved past that – power at any cost. But as we headed to the extreme right the press, the pundits and the politicians all shouted “both sides”, which normalized everything allowing a further drift – IT WASN’T BOTH SIDES – we have to recognize this and deal with it.
What drives me crazy about the “moderate Democrats” is that they act like their election will return the country to 1970 – it won’t – the are afraid that any discussion of the courts would suggest “court packing” – guess what? The courts have been packed – not only by young ideologues, but also by people who are not competent (per the ABA) – The Democrats have to accept that strong measures are going to be needed to restore some semblance of our American ideals. We will need to overcome and correct the McConnell attack on the American form of government (at least the one we aspire to), even if this means fiddling with the courts and impeaching some bad judges if they give any cause.
I am hopeful that the shock of these past three years will awaken us as a nation. I am hopeful that we will make the corrections — I also fear that a generation later we will have forgotten
Pet fantasy – the final proof that our nation has recovered will be a bill declaring that National Airport will forever be called National Airport and un-named for the man who destroyed the air traffic controllers union and left our skies unsafe through his utter vindictive lifetime ban on them ever working in the field again.