Generally when I push back and ask, "What specifically should Democrats (or 'we') do?" I get vague answers.
DO SOMETHING.
Here's the problem. The Republicans are trying to destroy democracy, so they are breaking rules and cheating.
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For Democracy and rule of law to survive, at least one side has to use democratic means.
If Democrats also break rules and cheat, this would mean both sides are torpedoing democracy.
This would make it true that "both sides are the same."
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My Republican acquaintances save face by telling me that
the "Democrats are just as bad."
As of now, they are not. Why would we want to make it true?
Here's the problem with democracy, and why so many people lose patience with it . . .
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To once more quote @dziblatt and Steven Levitsky: Democracy is slow, grinding work. Change is slow.
Autocracies have a lot of appeal because an autocrat can blow through the rules and get things done NOW.
Autocrats FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT.
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In 2018, a lawyer on Twitter (an outrage agent) announced in bold: If Trump isn't removed immediately democracy will be destroyed.
I pointed out that without the Senate on board, there were no legal means for removing Trump.
She called me a bad lawyer and blocked me.
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It looks like 550 people will be charged with the insurrection. It's possible (I'd say likely) that the instigators of the riot will also be charged.
Trump is facing a very large number of civil and criminal investigations.
Rule of law takes time.
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I know it's frustrating. It may take a few election cycles before we can bring about all the changes we want.
Another problem is the idea that we can "win" this fight, meaning "vanquish the enemy."
Actually, the enemy will not go away.
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Anti-democratic forces have been with us since the start of the nation. They supported the institution of slavery. They made sure women had to remain in the 'private sphere.' They supported racial segregation. On Jan, 6th, they stormed the Capitol.
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We push forward and they push back. The fight never ends unless we give up. Then we lose.
Well, I guess I went on a bit of a Sunday morning tear.
. . . they think nature naturally forms a hierarchy. They think that white men were at the top of the hierarchy for most of our history because they deserve it.
When others want equality, they hear the demand for equality as a desire to replace them at the top of the hierarchy.
This week I talked about how the rise of conspiracy theories in the Republican Party as a way to undermine democracy has deep roots in the American conservative tradition.
Stand by for a transcript, if you prefer to read.
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In other words, Mike Lindell didn't spring out of nowhere.
The Republican base was primed for theorists like Mike Lindell.
I'll do a short Twitter summary (some of this is expanded from stuff I tweeted this week.)
I also talk about how the rise of conspiracy theories is causing a radicalization of the Republican Party: As the party sheds itself of nonbelievers and goes to the true believers for fundraising, the party is unhinging itself more from reality.
I think part of what is causing this is a spiral of radicalization.
As the insurrection and ensuing craziness drive away moderates and traditional conservatives, the leaders turn more to the QAnon crazies, who now form a majority of those who identify as Republicans.
This was one of the Republican Party's most successful propaganda efforts. A way to help break government is to make people hate it. Reagan was a master at this bit of propaganda.
Hamilton understood that the way to give a government legitimacy was for it to help people.
Why did they want to "break" the federal government?
After the Civil Rights movement, the white supremacists, corporate interests, and white Evangelicals found themselves with a common goal: Dismantle the federal government.
Each had their own reasons.
White Evangelicals wanted the church to run people's lives.
White Supremacists resented the Supreme Court's decision to desegregate America and federal legislation that made that happen.
Corporations wanted to dismantle the New Deal and regulatory agencies.
I've been channeling my inner Prof. @dziblatt all this time when I've been saying democracy will survive if enough people want it to and are willing to do the work.
From @dziblatt: “Democracy requires constant mending"
Also from Ziblatt: "Protecting voting rights . . .