So the hysteria continues. Since Trump took office it has been a non-stop emergency of the highest order for the Dems and their supporters. Every week, nay, almost every day - there is another catastrophe. And another. And another. This is a tragic day for our country. Every day. Another scandal, each one bigger than the last. Another Watergate.
Insert eye roll here.
Really, it's been 117 days, and every day I guess is the end of the world. I'm exhausted. And I'm also bemused. It would also actually be hysterical if it wasn't so pathetic.
Look, I'm still not the biggest fan of Trump personally. His style and regular tone deafness to the world around him do grate on me quite a bit. But my discomfort over his no filter approach has now been pushed to the bottom of my concerns in the face of the unhinged left. A group that has grown exponentially since the Donald's election.
Growing up in Berkeley, I have a good amount of friends who are super hard core liberal - their default position when a republican is in office is "impeach immediately". So this approach is not new to me at all. They said it under Reagan and both Bushes, and of course they are saying it now.
But I am worried now that it just isn't my far lefty friends, it's also a lot of the regular liberals that I know. Once reasonable, usually thoughtful left of center folks who all of the sudden have drifted towards the fringe - or rather, the fringe maybe has drifted towards them.
This is a real shame.
It's a shame because they would normally say, and I would agree - that a president's success is our success and a president's failure is a failure for all of us.
When Obama was in office - I despised pretty much everything about the way he ran the country. I detested his limp foreign policy, his apologetic approach to other countries and his seeming inability to take action like, ever. Domestically he also was a disaster, not only for his business killing fiscal policies but also injecting racialism into every single newsworthy occurrence. In 8 years he exponentially worsened race relations with his cavalier proclamations and ill chosen words over events that he often had no clue about.
And yet, as much as I thought he was incompetent, as much as I thought he was the most ineffectual president in over half a century, I bore no ill will towards him as a person and not once did it enter my mind that he should be impeached.
Being a shitty president is not nearly reason enough to damage our country by forcibly removing him from office. Not nearly.
My love of my country and respect for the office of the president trumps (see what I did there) my distaste for policy decisions and leadership styles. I couldn't stand Obama, but I understood that for the greater good that he had to be respected and his presidency preserved.
Today there is a complete absence of this basic tenant on a good amount of the left. "Impeach" come hell or high-water, no matter what.
And what exactly then? Trump goes away, then you have Pence - someone who is a hell of a lot more conservative than Trump. By a lot.
If you manage somehow to dispose of Pence as well, then you have Ryan. Another true blooded conservative, born of the tea party and very much set on his principles.
Do you remove him as well? How far down the rabbit hole are you willing to drag our country to get what you want?
Better question - how much are you willing to alienate half the country to get what you want?
Reality check - Trump isn't getting impeached any time soon. I've already done the 'cry wolf' blog post about this simple fact, but I am noting it here again for the record so I can reach the inevitable conclusion of this road that many liberals are determined to go down.
Hatred of the president has exceeded their love of country. This has to be true. There is no point in screaming 'impeach' every 10 seconds unless you want to see the USA fundamentally transformed to the point where the Conservative party is obliterated by any means necessary and we have a one party system.
Rather than recognize that half the country found Obama unbearable, and the election in November was a consequence of this - a plurality (and perhaps a majority) of liberals have decided that Trump has to go, regardless of consequence, regardless of logic or truth because feelings.
My dear friend DSR, the often lauded and often published professional writer, has a new article out that lays out a victory strategy for the Dems in 2018. I am happy to see this, as this is the way to go for someone who loves his country - show your displeasure with leadership at the ballot box, not with riots and relentless calls for impeachment.
But alas, for him, the strategy he puts down is a surefire roadmap for a GOP sweep two years from now. People will not vote for new blood just because the current leaders are crummy - the new blood has to sell themselves as a viable alternative. They can't rely on pointing out how lousy the incumbent is. Hillary tried it and failed. Every time we saw her delightful face she was ranting about The Donald.
She never said how she was going to bring jobs back, she never said how she was going to make things better. But yes, she did hate on Trump in a major way. Managed to convince many of us to vote for him because at least he mixed in a good amount of hope with his Hilary bashing.
If the Dems want to have any chance at all in 2018 (for the record, my prediction right now is that they have NONE) they have to start harping on why they are the better alternative.
So far Trump has done a ton of stuff that conservatives love. Gorsuch plus a hundred new federal judges, de-regulating bloated government departments, down-sizing them as well, pushing a repeal and replace of the disastrous Obamacare and preparing for sweeping tax reform that includes massive cuts for job creators and the middle class. Not to mention swift action against Syria.
If the Dems want to have any hope for 2018, they have to figure out how to reach out to rust belt voters and convince them that they can do even better for tax relief, how they can specifically fix their beloved Obamacare and why they are the best choice for leading the free world abroad.
I'm not holding my breath.
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