When politics had some brain power

 

My congressman when I left Illinois was in his eighth term.  He was a Republican.  I supported him and was a registered Republican, although I sometimes voted for more Democrats than Republicans.  He had been a neighborhood playmate and a schoolmate of mine, so I knew him personally. We served in the Army at the same time, but never encountered each other then.  Although I had jobs in which I could not make open displays of partisan support--newspaper editor and professor--I  supported his positions on many issues and on occasion provided his office and his campaigns information.

I was raised in a household of what were known as Lincoln Republicans in Illinois.  What defined them was not so much their place on the spectrum of left to right politics, but their emphasis on competence, integrity, and forthrightness.  My district in Illinois was a combination of some of the richest farmland in the U.S., which tended Republican, and industrial cities, which tended Democratic.  The congressman took positions on agricultural, labor, and civil rights issues which served his constituents well, and he met the standards of character and competence that people trusted. 

After a redistricting which rather drastically changed the boundaries, the congressman lost a primary to an extreme conservative.  However, the conservative candidate then lost to the Democrat.  Except for one term held by a Tea Party Republican, the district has been held by Democrats since 1983.  

The congressman lost the primary when his opponent emphasized the role he had played in the Watergate hearings.  He voted to impeach Richard Nixon.  He had even worked on the articles of impeachment.  Conservatives resent having their favored officials held accountable for wrong doing, even by members of their own party.  They expect loyal party members to engage in cover ups.

This attitude is one which carried Trump to  the presidency. He claimed Obama was born in Kenya. He constantly calls Hillary Clinton a crook, which elicits the chant of "Lock her up."  Trump leads his rallies, as in Orwell's 1984, in two minutes of hate with Hillary as the focal point. While people may be opposed to Clinton's politics and dislike her personally, no one has specified an  offense she has committed  which could result in a jail sentence.  The Trump followers are quick to  charge others with all manner of wrong doing and are avid about inflicting harsh punishments on them, but they cannot see the crookedness and malice of Donald Trump or the violations of decency committed in his name.  They accuse their opposition of trying to overthrow the government while they are the ones who engage in seditious conduct.  

The difference between the politics of decades ago from today's is in the number of people whose minds have been taken over by a cult, in this case, the Trump cult. Again, as in Orwell's 1984, "The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command."   The incoherence of Trump's is remarkable, and his supporters repeat the lies he makes up and the insults he lavishes in complete disregard of the facts which surround them.  What they actually communicate is deficiencies of mind.  With them, a coherent political dialogue is not a possibility.  It seems that Trump's own incoherence as president is taken as permission for those so inclined to follow his example.  His base lives a fact-free existence.  Even his supporter evangelist Pat Robertson said, "With all his talent, and the ability to raise money and draw large crowds, the President still lives in an alternate reality."    That is a way of saying he has a mental disorder.  He chooses to ignore the factual reality and imposes his whims on the nation.,  His base tries to join the image of the world he projects.  That image is divorced from any reality and is viciously anti-democratic.  In years past, people who were anti-democratic did not try to pass their fascism off as American patriotism.  For Trump's so called base, the purpose of democracy and how it operates is beyond their grasp.

As we approach a new year and the coming of a new president, it is important not to ignore that there are 74 million voters who chose malice and mendacity over peace on earth and good will toward all people.  Our nation has struggled for 244 years to make manifest the objectives set in its founding documents.  The presidency of Donald Trump is the first to stridently deny democratic principles and processes and to deliberately reverse what progress the nation has made.  Our hope is in the 81 million people who support the quest for liberty, equality, justice, and, above all, honesty in our government.  They need to gear up for a huge effort to deal with those who oppose the promise of democracy.  It will be an arduous time for democracy. 

Let's start over.