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Everything about Trump, his unfitness, his enthusiasm for authoritarianism, his unfriendliness to the alliance structure that has prevented great-power conflict since 1945 was obvious from the first moment. Americans voted for it. They were idiots, and their decision was immoral.
But living in a democracy means, "You have to accept the outcome of the election, however much you deplore it." He can't be removed from office unless Mueller comes up with evidence so stunning as to persuade the GOP members of the Senate to vote for it.
It is not likely that he will. The GOP Senators are accountable to their voters, who *voted* to destroy the US' relationship with its democratic allies and both align with Russia and become more like Russia. This is what they wanted and still want.
If other Americans don't like this, they need to begin making the case that aligning with Russia and becoming more like Russia are not in our interests. I sure don't see any Democrats making this case in a forceful, compelling way.
In fact, I don't see them talking about foreign policy. But they can't repose their hopes in the Mueller Report emerging and its details scandalizing Trump's supporters, thus leading to his impeachment and removal.
They should focus on winning in 2020, and should do so *not* by avoiding all discussion of foreign policy and offering more isolationism: They should say, "Let's consider the state of the world after twelve years of US retreat and two years of a pro-authoritarian foreign policy.
In 2020: "Do you feel safer than you did four years ago? Do you think your kids will grow up in peacetime?" They must make the case that these faraway problems with which Americans are fatigued don't go away because we're fatigued with them.
We're all on the same planet, and the protection we feel because we have oceans on either side of us is illusory: It's 2019, the fact that we're so technologically advanced means we have a lot more to lose in any cyber-conflict.
And the fact that we're so divided--and so child and credulous--means we're ideal targets for information war. People who say the Democrats should focus on "issues that matter to people" like health care are not wrong,
but if they can't establish that they're serious about national security, they won't win. Part of establishing that is establishing that Obama wasn't. A candidate who could win would have to admit forthrightly that Obama did huge damage.
If no one stands up to lead--to make the case against isolationism, explain why our traditional allies are a vastly better bet than Russia, and make foreign policy the center of his or her campaign -- or worse still, if we elect another isolationist present, that will be it:
We won't be able to recover from four terms on isolationism. The world is too dangerous to allow us that kind of self-indulgence. Democrats need to be the responsible, trustworth party on security and defense. It has been a long time since they have been.
But if they have any intelligence, or desire to stop the world from becoming more authoritarian, brutal, and prone to (possibly nuclear) war; if they believe governments committed to the idea of individual rights are morally better, wealthier, places more people want to live -
They need to make the case for returning to our pre-Obama, pre-Trump levels of involvement and engagement with the word; they need to convince Trump's supporters that this is in their interests, and they need to win a mandate for that policy.
Trump has a mandate for "colluding" with Russia. Americans knew that relationship was not on the up-and up. They knew it full well. And that is what they chose. The people spoke, the bastards, and they knew damned well what they were saying.
