Tomorrow

                My prediction is that the next few weeks will be a test case for just how much of our democracy has survived the Trump presidency.  It is likely that two months from now we will have witnessed the collapse of the constitutional practice of checks and balances as both the legislature and the courts will abandon the rule of law.  When we reach that all but certain conclusion, it is time to stop fixating on Trump and his Republican enablers and start planning what we are going to do next.  The path forward is not the political calculations of a bipartisan government.  Quite probably by the end of January we will be in what amounts to a cultural civil war.  This is no time for polite discourse or timid compromise.  The only choice left to those of us who still want to live in a democracy is to quickly gather our limited resources and plan for battle.

                We are at a distinct disadvantage because the Republicans have been pursuing a minority rule strategy for several decades now.  A long time ago, they abandoned the idea that the majority should govern or that laws and historical protocols should be followed.  Mitch McConnell has been operating in this mode his whole career.  Playing catch-up is never fun, but the longer we wait to start, the harder it will be.  I think the first thing we have to do is to take a sober accounting of the situation.  It makes no sense to me to continue to operate as if our democracy as it existed can be saved.  It can’t.  An entrenched and militant minority of corrupt politicians and billionaires with corrupt intent have weakened it to the point of collapse.  This is no time to wax sentimental over what was; this is time to prepare for battle.

                The Republicans have feigned outrage over almost everything.  It’s time to answer with a righteous outrage of our own.  The only real advantage we have is that they are a minority, and while that doesn’t guarantee their defeat, it gives us a chance.  Along with a demographic majority, we also represent most of the wealth and economic creativity in the country.  Those bright blue dots in the sea of red America are where the cities, businesses and universities are.  We need to organize that power and those institutions for the cultural conflict ahead.  The 2020 election isn’t about candidates or parties, it’s about building a new democracy to replace the old one we let be destroyed by greed and hatred.  The only way to be a patriot in this struggle is to be an organizer, by getting people to vote and getting them to the polls to overwhelm the corrupt plans to suppress and rig the vote.  Trump and the GOP has basically invited the Russians to do just that.

                Our goal has to be to take over as many of the institutions as we can.  Certainly, the presidency and both houses of congress.  But we can’t stop there.  Just as the Republicans have used their gerrymandered power in the legislature to revamp our institutions, we have to be prepared to do the same.  We need to legislate to the wave of new voters we bring into the process and destroy the remnants of the American Right.  That includes purging the judges that Trump and McConnell have installed to validate their corrupt view of the constitution.  It means multiple ethics charges leveled at Republicans who have violated their oath of office.  It means suing Fox News and Brietbart for false and malicious content on their news shows.  It means breaking the back of the control the petrochemical industries have exercised over our politics. 

                It also means new leadership.  The next election isn’t about the old coalitions of government, it’s about a new coalition that will map out the next 75 years the way FDR mapped out the last 75.  This is no country for old men (or women).  This is a time to run head long into this disaster and turn it into a new opportunity to reimagine who we are.  Watch, if you must, the House make the case for impeaching Trump.  Watch the Senate fold and the courts protect the president.  When that’s over and you’re finished mourning our democracy, let’s get ready for tomorrow.