A good, bracing reality check from you Bill: A good president can still lose. Thanks for it.
However, I would implore you not to extrapolate said argument too far.
If I understand you rightly, this is where said extrapolation is going:
“Good presidents can lose: Just look at George Bush, who lost to Bill Clinton.”
“Therefore, because Donald Trump is a threat to democracy, we must plan against the possibility of him winning, and run someone other than our good president, Biden.”
“Basically, Donald Trump, ironically by his very nefarious character, is forcing us to ditch a good president.”
Yeah. . . no. Let’s not.
I’m as in favor of brute calculation and raw politics as the next fellow, but that chain of logic—which you didn’t quite spell out, Bill, but didn’t need to—is taking the concept several steps too far.
Yes, a good president can lose. If he couldn’t, this wouldn’t be democracy; it would be benevolent dictatorship at best.
It’s up to us to work to help good prevail, and bad lose—and not to give the bad even more power and impunity than they currently enjoy, much less what they lust for.
That means rewarding a president who’s done a good job, not galaxy-braining him out of the job, out of “age” or “passing the torch” or any other stock phrase that has no substantive meaning. The Democratic Party will replace him—once he’s finished the job we hired him to do, and not before.
Alarm can be good, even healthy. Let’s not act as if it needs to dictate our strategy, tactics, and general state of mind, all the time. Down that road leads the outcome we’re trying to prevent.
It was only yesterday that the news reported that "these gunmen in the Moscow terrorist attack were ISIS and from Afghanistan." (CNN) It now appears that Putin plans to blame Ukraine for this terrorist attack because he was quoted as saying "the gunmen were found near the western border of Russia - the area near Ukraine." (Reuters) In the early days of Putin's reign (he was the PM in 1999) and when he "wanted" to blame Chechen rebels for attacks on Russia, several apartment buildings were blown up in various Russian cities including Moscow. These bombings triggered the Second Chechen War. Over 300 Russians were killed in these apartment buildings and many more injured. (Wikipedia) His handling of these bombings helped Putin's popularity and swept him into the Presidency in 2000.
However, the Russian Duma Speaker Seleznyov made an announcement in the Duma saying he received a report about another bombing in the city of Volgodonsk. A bombing did happen in Volgodonsk - but three days later. Again, Chechen militants were blamed but they denied responsibility along with the Chechen President. (Wikipedia)
I was living in Moscow at this time, and the rumor was that Putin had staged these bombings and killings solely for the appearance and to make his popularity improve during his first few years as the President. He continued to blame and attack Chechnya and many souls died.
The Crocus City Hall in Moscow - the location of this so-called terrorist attack - is owned and operated by Aras Agalarov. This was the location of the Miss Universe Contest held by Donald Trump who partnered with Agalarov. If you think Donald Trump does not have strong ties to Russian mafia - you are wrong.
I totally disagree My family which is completely dependent on Social Security as Reagans VP George HW Bush is the reason we could no longer take vacations as his reform of Social Security cut off money my mom used to buy cheap food.
I don't know, Bill, I feel like the proposal to raise taxes--which was the right decision--after all the "Read my lips" malarkey had more to do with H.W. losing than you'd like to admit?
Thanks to Bill and Andrew for the good work they're doing, taking over a format created by/for someone else, apparently at short notice. Whatever is going on over at the Bulwark, we appreciate all the fine content y'all create and your effort to stand up to the darker forces threatening this country. Personally I try to get my news from multiple sources, don't expect to like every author I read, think "diffrent strokes for diffrent folks" is one of the smartest things ever said, and try to give lots of different sources a try and then walk away from the ones that aren't helping on my particular idiosyncratic path. I miss a lot of people including Charlie Sykes but I don't expect the world to stand still (and suspect it's going to start spinning even faster soon). So my $0.02 is 👍👍👍 the Bulwark.
Now if someone could just explain to me why I'm bleeping retired and STILL don't have enough time to read!
Morning Shots has been a disaster since Charlie Sykes left and you took over, Mr. Kristol. I'm a subscriber to the Bulwark and I will still come here to read Jonathan V. Last, Tim Miller, Mona Charen and some of the other fine political analysts and gifted writers who contribute to this site. But I will not even open Morning Shots to see what vague blatherings you have to puke up on any given day.
You've burned me out and it's been what? Less than a month since you took over?
I think you should thank God that you have the stable of talent at the Bulwark that you've got. If it depended upon you for its survival, it would be going under. This iteration of Morning Shots, under the auspices of you and Mr. Egger (whom I don't know at all. And I only know you for your reputation as the one political analyst whose predictions have never been right once) can't hold a candle to any of the other features on the Bulwark.
It's a tragedy that Charlie Sykes left. I miss his intellect, his capacious grasp of the issues, and his mordant wit more than I can say. You, Sir(s), have none of these. And that's what carried this feature each and every morning, five days a week. Morning Shots was the flagship for the rest of the Bulwark posts, but no more.
I seldom write comments like this, but you have sincerely taken a morning news feature that was a 10 and transformed it to a 2 virtually overnight. If you care about the Bulwark, maybe you should consider giving the helm on Morning Shots to somebody else. You are out of your league.
"There was the simple fact that anybody who leads the institutional party for long by definition becomes “establishment”—a cardinal sin to the Trumpy populist. And there was the fact that the GOP kept losing elections—and who were they going to blame for that, Donald Trump?"
The MAGA cultists are, again, rather confused. Since 2017, Trump**^^^^ has been the de facto leader of the New GOP, no matter who is/was in charge of the RNC. The party has been fully subsumed and has become a fully owned subsidiary of Trump [sic], Inc. Personally, I can't grok how someone who has total control of a party for seven plus years and served as POTUS is, by definition, not "Establishment." The MAGA oberste Fuhrer might be a populist to those who consumed too much Kool-Aid from the faux crystal punchbowl with a yuge orange turd floating in it, but he is in no way a Populist:
IMO, the New GOP is most assuredly not "the People's party." A People's party does not "other" those who disagree. A People's party does not make it harder to vote if you aren't in total lockstep with them. A people's party is not misogynistic, xenophobic, anti LGBTQIA+ or racist. A People's party wants to see all ships rising on the incoming tide, not just a select few. A people's party is in tune with the psyche of the nation, not disharmonic.
As for who to blame for all of the (not) winning since 2018, obviously it can't be You Know Who. He's only responsible for the very limited number of good things that came out of his admin (Operation Warp Speed comes to mind), anything negative is always to be saddled on someone else.
-----
"Marco Rubio on being Trump’s VP: “I haven’t spoken to anybody”"
It makes no difference if Rubio has been in communication with anyone from TFG's campaign committee or TFG himself. Rubio is ineligible to be Trump**^^^^'s running mate, unless either he or Trump [sic] move to a different state. If not, then the ticket would be in direct violation of the 12A:
"The electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves" https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxii
So "Liddle Marco" is out of the running. (Even if TFG has made it abundantly clear that the US Constitution needs to be scrapped in favor of a document that would let him do whatever he wants, with no legal consequences.)
Bush was perhaps the most successful president as far as policy goes of the last 40 years. Biden actually has similarly large legislative accomplishments. I've been saying to my wife for over a year that their administrations are very oddly similar.
Both ran as moderates. Both were absurdly portrayed as radical by their opponents. Both produced several bi-partisan wins. Both were poor orators whose real skill was long experience at the job of politics.
"administrations are very oddly similar", but not the individuals - Bush was a war hero/Yale Honor graduate - Biden ranked 76th in a class of 85 students in Law School.
Greetings from a bleeding hearted anti-illiberal liberal, college professor and huge fan of Sarah and jvl. I come to you for real advice: I have many students who are utterly and often admirably opposed to the Biden Administration on Gaza. I’ve made a few arguments that have gotten through. Let me give you an example of one such argument that made some impact, since it may be helpful to anyone else searching for the right arguments. Several of my students came to me with the news about Schumer, exulting about the effect of their presence and pressure. “The democrats are only doing it because they know they will lose if they don’t make more daylight between themselves and Bibi “, one of my students remarked, as if that revealed the utter corruption of the Party.
“My young friend,” I said, “what you regard as the soullessness of a political party is its impersonal virtue. Beyond the corrupting hand of big donors , a Party must get votes. How good will you feel in twenty years when you look back on your choice, directly or indirectly (by not voting) against the chance of ever voting again?”.
The value of this line of argument is that it does not depend on believing in anybody in particular. These students, some themselves, Palestinian , all of them sincere, despise Biden . I suppose my sympathy with them aspires to be analogous to the extraordinarily efficacious sympathy with trump voters: your sympathy allows you to understand and respect them.
Anyway, I’d love to hear any ideas about strategy for reading and reaching a suddenly drastically consequential demographic.
Tell them about the role divisions on the left played in enabling Hitler's rise to power.
Read Yascha Mounk's "Persuasion" Substack.
Find them examples from history of people who made wrenchingly difficult compromises. Examples that they might be able to relate to -- eg Palestinians, Israelis, students in the anti-Nazi resistance, Timorese students in the 1980s/1990s anti-Indonesian resistance, women in the anti-Vietnam War movement, animal rights activists, anybody who's been to war, anyone they're especially likely to admire (US civil rights movement actors?) ...
Don't try to convince them the party isn't corrupt; the party is a god-awful mess, but it's the only realistic option right now. Don't shy away from real criticism or they'll just discount you. They need an honest touchstone more than they need you to explain the right answer.
If the subject you teach and the course format allows it, put them through a bunch of role plays /on other topics/ that will force them to think through difficult choices involving purism vs effectiveness.
Don't lecture them (not implying that you do currently) and don't call them "my young friend."
Listen. a lot. unflinchingly. reinforce whatever you honestly can. A confident thinker is more likely to be open to different ideas.
Have realistic (whatever that means in this day and age) expectations. The attitudes you're describing are normal (tough to counter) among young people, and nowadays there's plenty of middle aged and even old people who are stuck in that attitude, so it's gonna be a pretty tough nut to crack.
Remember your job is to make them stronger and more skillful thinkers, not ensure that they end up thinking a certain way.
Love this! I teach Victorian Literature and the history of the essay form in English from Bacon to James Baldwin and Mary McCarthy, so I do get to versions of what you are getting at, though I do my best to avoid inflicting my partisan views of course, which I you are not proposing.
Here's the real answer. In America you don't get to vote for an issue. You don't get to vote for a European style slate. You vote for an executive to represent you.
Regardless of what you do one of two men SHALL be president. Adulthood is one humiliating choice between imperfect options after another. Your choice here is between Biden (whose position you despise) and Trump who moved the embassy to Jerusalem, banned Muslims from the country, plans to institute detention camps, and supports the full annexation of the West Bank.
You don't get to choose Edward Said. Your vote cannot lead to an independent state for Palestinians. You get to choose the slate of policies that most closely resembles the world you want to live in. If you want to live in a world where the West Bank is annexed and there are huge migrant detention camps then vote for Dr. West or Ms. Stein or Donald Trump.
If you DON'T want those things you have one choice. This is what being an adult means.
Thanks. You’re right of course. I think it’s going to be important for those of us who lean sufficiently Left to actually listen to these people, much as Sarah does with the Trump voters, since as we all know, the only way people ever actually listen is when they are actually optimistic that they are being heard.
This condition of felicity (mutual listening) is of course only a necessary , not a sufficient condition. By the way I obviously completely agree with you.
I'm using this, with your permission of course: "In America you don't get to vote for an issue. You don't get to vote for a European style slate. You vote for an executive to represent you."
Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards. ― Vernon Sanders Law
The good noted in this column, regarding President 41 are true. I will add his experience as a WWII veteran, who was shot down over the Pacific. His experiences influenced future decisions concerning the Gulf War and his relations with Gorbachev, resulting in the reunification of Germany.
Trump was an unknown quantity in 2016. He can no longer hide behind that shroud. His public character is already baked in. The intensity of dislike, pertaining to Trumpian policies, is intense. Much more than it was with Bill Clinton.
We are entering a time of "changing of the guard." Similar as it was for H.W. Bush. WWII was in the rear view mirror. The economy and civil rights were contemporary issues. My current events includes MLK (civil rights); JFK and RFK (civil rights and Vietnam). It is time for younger people to determine what American spirit they want to inherit. Trump represents a white supremist political strategy. It has been reported that Trump is displaying signs of cognitive decline. The pressure on him at this time is substantial.
The attack ads are just beginning. Let the election play out.
Hi Linda: I too am surrounded by Trump supporters on all sides and across the street. Our community even has a small group of Nazi supporters who drive around with swastika flags on the back of their pickups. I could not even begin to surmise what or why your neighbor is loyal to Russia, but his history of Russia and Ukraine is almost correct. Records say that Vladimir the Great of Russia was baptized in Kiev which is now the capitol of Ukraine. (www.Wikipedia.org)
When Victor Yushchenko was the President of Ukraine in 2008, he created a holiday for the Day of the Baptism of Kievan Rus. Yushchenko was poisoned by a chemical called dixon found in "agent orange." In an interview with WTTW News in Chicago, the former Ukrainian President Yushchenko talks about "Putin and Poisoning" (Chicago Tonight, 09/19/2023). He also discussed the "Holodomor" - a genocidal famine imposed by Stalin's Russia that killed millions of Ukrainians from 1932 to 1933. Ukraine declared its independence from the USSR and Russia in August 1991 - along with many other former Soviet satellite countries. Since 1991, Ukraine has been an independent country striving toward democratic reforms and leadership.
In fact, in 1992, I was asked by the U.S. Embassy, the division of the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service in Ukraine to help them with the Russian-Ukrainian transfer of technical information. They said "It is our hope that your bi-cultural expertise will assist both Russia and Ukraine with the capacity to move Ukraine toward independence." This was a very difficult consulting assignment.
Your neighbor - apparently like so many other Republicans is just repeating something that Trump has said. I was at a book signing event in a Barnes and Noble in Tucson, AZ. and a middle-aged woman came up to me and said "I think Putin is a smart and great leader." I could not even respond to her due to the shock. These were the same words spoken by Trump the previous week and right after Putin invaded Ukraine. This is known as BRAINWASHING - which is defined as repeating lies over and over until they are perceived as the truth. Once a person is convinced, there is little to no independent thought. If the lies contain "hatred" then the human brain releases a chemical to enact violence - like what we saw on January 6th. Trump uses coercive mind control methods in every speech. He apparently acquired this skill from Putin - who spent his spy years in East Germany and absorbed the methodologies used by Hitler. Hitler, as you know, converted an entire peaceful nation into mass murderers - turning neighbors and families against each other. Sound familiar? While "brainwashing" began in totalitarian countries 100 years ago and spread throughout most of eastern Europe, it is now found in the United States and is used daily by Donald Trump.
A federal 15 week abortion ban legalizes elective abortions and criminalizes medically necessary abortions. Biden should say so.
It legalizes abortion for the the mistresses of Republican politicians, and would criminalize it for a mother who finds out her child has fatal issues at an ultrasound, or who goes into heart failure, or needs an abortion to save 1/2 of her twins (this happens).
For anyone who understands the nuances of abortion policy, it's abhorrent. If you are pro-life it's abhorrent.
I don't disagree with you, but I think Dems need to come up with a counter for the exception argument. Cause exceptions for the life and or health of the mother are going to sound reasonable. And I suppose they could be. I suspect that in Europe, often held up as a place with more restrictions than Roe, reasonable common sense likely does prevail (at least in the real liberal democracies in Europe). The crux of the matter is, who decides on the exceptions. For Alabama it is going to be that wonderful supreme court, as an example. Why in hell would anyone trust crusty old Republican men to decide in a conference room what your mother, wife, sister, or daughter has to risk before getting proper care.
Another angle to hit is the idea that Republicans want it both ways. 6 week bans in their states, 15 week bans imposed from above in the rest. I'd literally run with, "These lying bastards used to say, "Let the States decide". Now here they are wanting to strip rights away nationwide. Don't remotely trust them."
You missed one really important thing about why HW Bush lost; the racist dog whistle he used to beat Michael Dukakis didn't work nearly so well on Bill Clinton.
A good, bracing reality check from you Bill: A good president can still lose. Thanks for it.
However, I would implore you not to extrapolate said argument too far.
If I understand you rightly, this is where said extrapolation is going:
“Good presidents can lose: Just look at George Bush, who lost to Bill Clinton.”
“Therefore, because Donald Trump is a threat to democracy, we must plan against the possibility of him winning, and run someone other than our good president, Biden.”
“Basically, Donald Trump, ironically by his very nefarious character, is forcing us to ditch a good president.”
Yeah. . . no. Let’s not.
I’m as in favor of brute calculation and raw politics as the next fellow, but that chain of logic—which you didn’t quite spell out, Bill, but didn’t need to—is taking the concept several steps too far.
Yes, a good president can lose. If he couldn’t, this wouldn’t be democracy; it would be benevolent dictatorship at best.
It’s up to us to work to help good prevail, and bad lose—and not to give the bad even more power and impunity than they currently enjoy, much less what they lust for.
That means rewarding a president who’s done a good job, not galaxy-braining him out of the job, out of “age” or “passing the torch” or any other stock phrase that has no substantive meaning. The Democratic Party will replace him—once he’s finished the job we hired him to do, and not before.
Alarm can be good, even healthy. Let’s not act as if it needs to dictate our strategy, tactics, and general state of mind, all the time. Down that road leads the outcome we’re trying to prevent.
Elizabeth G. Houde
From:
graham1elizabeth@aol.com
To:
The New York Times
Sat, Mar 23 at 5:59 AM
It was only yesterday that the news reported that "these gunmen in the Moscow terrorist attack were ISIS and from Afghanistan." (CNN) It now appears that Putin plans to blame Ukraine for this terrorist attack because he was quoted as saying "the gunmen were found near the western border of Russia - the area near Ukraine." (Reuters) In the early days of Putin's reign (he was the PM in 1999) and when he "wanted" to blame Chechen rebels for attacks on Russia, several apartment buildings were blown up in various Russian cities including Moscow. These bombings triggered the Second Chechen War. Over 300 Russians were killed in these apartment buildings and many more injured. (Wikipedia) His handling of these bombings helped Putin's popularity and swept him into the Presidency in 2000.
However, the Russian Duma Speaker Seleznyov made an announcement in the Duma saying he received a report about another bombing in the city of Volgodonsk. A bombing did happen in Volgodonsk - but three days later. Again, Chechen militants were blamed but they denied responsibility along with the Chechen President. (Wikipedia)
I was living in Moscow at this time, and the rumor was that Putin had staged these bombings and killings solely for the appearance and to make his popularity improve during his first few years as the President. He continued to blame and attack Chechnya and many souls died.
The Crocus City Hall in Moscow - the location of this so-called terrorist attack - is owned and operated by Aras Agalarov. This was the location of the Miss Universe Contest held by Donald Trump who partnered with Agalarov. If you think Donald Trump does not have strong ties to Russian mafia - you are wrong.
Elizabeth Graham
http://www.democrazy2020.org
I totally disagree My family which is completely dependent on Social Security as Reagans VP George HW Bush is the reason we could no longer take vacations as his reform of Social Security cut off money my mom used to buy cheap food.
I don't know, Bill, I feel like the proposal to raise taxes--which was the right decision--after all the "Read my lips" malarkey had more to do with H.W. losing than you'd like to admit?
Thanks to Bill and Andrew for the good work they're doing, taking over a format created by/for someone else, apparently at short notice. Whatever is going on over at the Bulwark, we appreciate all the fine content y'all create and your effort to stand up to the darker forces threatening this country. Personally I try to get my news from multiple sources, don't expect to like every author I read, think "diffrent strokes for diffrent folks" is one of the smartest things ever said, and try to give lots of different sources a try and then walk away from the ones that aren't helping on my particular idiosyncratic path. I miss a lot of people including Charlie Sykes but I don't expect the world to stand still (and suspect it's going to start spinning even faster soon). So my $0.02 is 👍👍👍 the Bulwark.
Now if someone could just explain to me why I'm bleeping retired and STILL don't have enough time to read!
Your comment puts me in mind of the notorious slogan of the worst parts the French Left: “Better Hitler than Blum!”.
holy carp is that actually a thing? sobering.
Morning Shots has been a disaster since Charlie Sykes left and you took over, Mr. Kristol. I'm a subscriber to the Bulwark and I will still come here to read Jonathan V. Last, Tim Miller, Mona Charen and some of the other fine political analysts and gifted writers who contribute to this site. But I will not even open Morning Shots to see what vague blatherings you have to puke up on any given day.
You've burned me out and it's been what? Less than a month since you took over?
I think you should thank God that you have the stable of talent at the Bulwark that you've got. If it depended upon you for its survival, it would be going under. This iteration of Morning Shots, under the auspices of you and Mr. Egger (whom I don't know at all. And I only know you for your reputation as the one political analyst whose predictions have never been right once) can't hold a candle to any of the other features on the Bulwark.
It's a tragedy that Charlie Sykes left. I miss his intellect, his capacious grasp of the issues, and his mordant wit more than I can say. You, Sir(s), have none of these. And that's what carried this feature each and every morning, five days a week. Morning Shots was the flagship for the rest of the Bulwark posts, but no more.
I seldom write comments like this, but you have sincerely taken a morning news feature that was a 10 and transformed it to a 2 virtually overnight. If you care about the Bulwark, maybe you should consider giving the helm on Morning Shots to somebody else. You are out of your league.
"There was the simple fact that anybody who leads the institutional party for long by definition becomes “establishment”—a cardinal sin to the Trumpy populist. And there was the fact that the GOP kept losing elections—and who were they going to blame for that, Donald Trump?"
The MAGA cultists are, again, rather confused. Since 2017, Trump**^^^^ has been the de facto leader of the New GOP, no matter who is/was in charge of the RNC. The party has been fully subsumed and has become a fully owned subsidiary of Trump [sic], Inc. Personally, I can't grok how someone who has total control of a party for seven plus years and served as POTUS is, by definition, not "Establishment." The MAGA oberste Fuhrer might be a populist to those who consumed too much Kool-Aid from the faux crystal punchbowl with a yuge orange turd floating in it, but he is in no way a Populist:
"populist:
(initial capital letter) a member of the People's party" https://www.dictionary.com/browse/populist
IMO, the New GOP is most assuredly not "the People's party." A People's party does not "other" those who disagree. A People's party does not make it harder to vote if you aren't in total lockstep with them. A people's party is not misogynistic, xenophobic, anti LGBTQIA+ or racist. A People's party wants to see all ships rising on the incoming tide, not just a select few. A people's party is in tune with the psyche of the nation, not disharmonic.
As for who to blame for all of the (not) winning since 2018, obviously it can't be You Know Who. He's only responsible for the very limited number of good things that came out of his admin (Operation Warp Speed comes to mind), anything negative is always to be saddled on someone else.
-----
"Marco Rubio on being Trump’s VP: “I haven’t spoken to anybody”"
It makes no difference if Rubio has been in communication with anyone from TFG's campaign committee or TFG himself. Rubio is ineligible to be Trump**^^^^'s running mate, unless either he or Trump [sic] move to a different state. If not, then the ticket would be in direct violation of the 12A:
"The electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves" https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxii
So "Liddle Marco" is out of the running. (Even if TFG has made it abundantly clear that the US Constitution needs to be scrapped in favor of a document that would let him do whatever he wants, with no legal consequences.)
fnord
Bush was perhaps the most successful president as far as policy goes of the last 40 years. Biden actually has similarly large legislative accomplishments. I've been saying to my wife for over a year that their administrations are very oddly similar.
Both ran as moderates. Both were absurdly portrayed as radical by their opponents. Both produced several bi-partisan wins. Both were poor orators whose real skill was long experience at the job of politics.
It's somewhat uncanny in several ways.
"administrations are very oddly similar", but not the individuals - Bush was a war hero/Yale Honor graduate - Biden ranked 76th in a class of 85 students in Law School.
Yes, obviously Bush was a very different man with a much more impressive resume.
Who is we? And at what point did you or others understand that Putin's government was a threat to Europe?
Greetings from a bleeding hearted anti-illiberal liberal, college professor and huge fan of Sarah and jvl. I come to you for real advice: I have many students who are utterly and often admirably opposed to the Biden Administration on Gaza. I’ve made a few arguments that have gotten through. Let me give you an example of one such argument that made some impact, since it may be helpful to anyone else searching for the right arguments. Several of my students came to me with the news about Schumer, exulting about the effect of their presence and pressure. “The democrats are only doing it because they know they will lose if they don’t make more daylight between themselves and Bibi “, one of my students remarked, as if that revealed the utter corruption of the Party.
“My young friend,” I said, “what you regard as the soullessness of a political party is its impersonal virtue. Beyond the corrupting hand of big donors , a Party must get votes. How good will you feel in twenty years when you look back on your choice, directly or indirectly (by not voting) against the chance of ever voting again?”.
The value of this line of argument is that it does not depend on believing in anybody in particular. These students, some themselves, Palestinian , all of them sincere, despise Biden . I suppose my sympathy with them aspires to be analogous to the extraordinarily efficacious sympathy with trump voters: your sympathy allows you to understand and respect them.
Anyway, I’d love to hear any ideas about strategy for reading and reaching a suddenly drastically consequential demographic.
Tell them about the role divisions on the left played in enabling Hitler's rise to power.
Read Yascha Mounk's "Persuasion" Substack.
Find them examples from history of people who made wrenchingly difficult compromises. Examples that they might be able to relate to -- eg Palestinians, Israelis, students in the anti-Nazi resistance, Timorese students in the 1980s/1990s anti-Indonesian resistance, women in the anti-Vietnam War movement, animal rights activists, anybody who's been to war, anyone they're especially likely to admire (US civil rights movement actors?) ...
Don't try to convince them the party isn't corrupt; the party is a god-awful mess, but it's the only realistic option right now. Don't shy away from real criticism or they'll just discount you. They need an honest touchstone more than they need you to explain the right answer.
If the subject you teach and the course format allows it, put them through a bunch of role plays /on other topics/ that will force them to think through difficult choices involving purism vs effectiveness.
Don't lecture them (not implying that you do currently) and don't call them "my young friend."
Listen. a lot. unflinchingly. reinforce whatever you honestly can. A confident thinker is more likely to be open to different ideas.
Have realistic (whatever that means in this day and age) expectations. The attitudes you're describing are normal (tough to counter) among young people, and nowadays there's plenty of middle aged and even old people who are stuck in that attitude, so it's gonna be a pretty tough nut to crack.
Remember your job is to make them stronger and more skillful thinkers, not ensure that they end up thinking a certain way.
Love this! I teach Victorian Literature and the history of the essay form in English from Bacon to James Baldwin and Mary McCarthy, so I do get to versions of what you are getting at, though I do my best to avoid inflicting my partisan views of course, which I you are not proposing.
Here's the real answer. In America you don't get to vote for an issue. You don't get to vote for a European style slate. You vote for an executive to represent you.
Regardless of what you do one of two men SHALL be president. Adulthood is one humiliating choice between imperfect options after another. Your choice here is between Biden (whose position you despise) and Trump who moved the embassy to Jerusalem, banned Muslims from the country, plans to institute detention camps, and supports the full annexation of the West Bank.
You don't get to choose Edward Said. Your vote cannot lead to an independent state for Palestinians. You get to choose the slate of policies that most closely resembles the world you want to live in. If you want to live in a world where the West Bank is annexed and there are huge migrant detention camps then vote for Dr. West or Ms. Stein or Donald Trump.
If you DON'T want those things you have one choice. This is what being an adult means.
Thanks. You’re right of course. I think it’s going to be important for those of us who lean sufficiently Left to actually listen to these people, much as Sarah does with the Trump voters, since as we all know, the only way people ever actually listen is when they are actually optimistic that they are being heard.
This condition of felicity (mutual listening) is of course only a necessary , not a sufficient condition. By the way I obviously completely agree with you.
I'm using this, with your permission of course: "In America you don't get to vote for an issue. You don't get to vote for a European style slate. You vote for an executive to represent you."
Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards. ― Vernon Sanders Law
Please. I'm very frustrated by voting as a form of self actualization rather than the grubby means of incrementally moving the ball forward.
The good noted in this column, regarding President 41 are true. I will add his experience as a WWII veteran, who was shot down over the Pacific. His experiences influenced future decisions concerning the Gulf War and his relations with Gorbachev, resulting in the reunification of Germany.
Trump was an unknown quantity in 2016. He can no longer hide behind that shroud. His public character is already baked in. The intensity of dislike, pertaining to Trumpian policies, is intense. Much more than it was with Bill Clinton.
We are entering a time of "changing of the guard." Similar as it was for H.W. Bush. WWII was in the rear view mirror. The economy and civil rights were contemporary issues. My current events includes MLK (civil rights); JFK and RFK (civil rights and Vietnam). It is time for younger people to determine what American spirit they want to inherit. Trump represents a white supremist political strategy. It has been reported that Trump is displaying signs of cognitive decline. The pressure on him at this time is substantial.
The attack ads are just beginning. Let the election play out.
Hi Linda: I too am surrounded by Trump supporters on all sides and across the street. Our community even has a small group of Nazi supporters who drive around with swastika flags on the back of their pickups. I could not even begin to surmise what or why your neighbor is loyal to Russia, but his history of Russia and Ukraine is almost correct. Records say that Vladimir the Great of Russia was baptized in Kiev which is now the capitol of Ukraine. (www.Wikipedia.org)
When Victor Yushchenko was the President of Ukraine in 2008, he created a holiday for the Day of the Baptism of Kievan Rus. Yushchenko was poisoned by a chemical called dixon found in "agent orange." In an interview with WTTW News in Chicago, the former Ukrainian President Yushchenko talks about "Putin and Poisoning" (Chicago Tonight, 09/19/2023). He also discussed the "Holodomor" - a genocidal famine imposed by Stalin's Russia that killed millions of Ukrainians from 1932 to 1933. Ukraine declared its independence from the USSR and Russia in August 1991 - along with many other former Soviet satellite countries. Since 1991, Ukraine has been an independent country striving toward democratic reforms and leadership.
In fact, in 1992, I was asked by the U.S. Embassy, the division of the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service in Ukraine to help them with the Russian-Ukrainian transfer of technical information. They said "It is our hope that your bi-cultural expertise will assist both Russia and Ukraine with the capacity to move Ukraine toward independence." This was a very difficult consulting assignment.
Your neighbor - apparently like so many other Republicans is just repeating something that Trump has said. I was at a book signing event in a Barnes and Noble in Tucson, AZ. and a middle-aged woman came up to me and said "I think Putin is a smart and great leader." I could not even respond to her due to the shock. These were the same words spoken by Trump the previous week and right after Putin invaded Ukraine. This is known as BRAINWASHING - which is defined as repeating lies over and over until they are perceived as the truth. Once a person is convinced, there is little to no independent thought. If the lies contain "hatred" then the human brain releases a chemical to enact violence - like what we saw on January 6th. Trump uses coercive mind control methods in every speech. He apparently acquired this skill from Putin - who spent his spy years in East Germany and absorbed the methodologies used by Hitler. Hitler, as you know, converted an entire peaceful nation into mass murderers - turning neighbors and families against each other. Sound familiar? While "brainwashing" began in totalitarian countries 100 years ago and spread throughout most of eastern Europe, it is now found in the United States and is used daily by Donald Trump.
Hope this helps, Elizabeth
Still not up to going into the fray, but this did give me a smile: "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene files motion to oust House speaker amid fighting over funding bill": https://www.politicususa.com/2024/03/22/marjorie-taylor-greene-appears-to-make-move-to-fire-mike-johnson.html Also report at: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/3/22/2230952/-Marge-Greene-has-filed-a-Motion-to-Vacate-Mike-Johnson-from-the-Speaker-s-Chair?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/federal-government-shutdown-03-22-24/index.html
A federal 15 week abortion ban legalizes elective abortions and criminalizes medically necessary abortions. Biden should say so.
It legalizes abortion for the the mistresses of Republican politicians, and would criminalize it for a mother who finds out her child has fatal issues at an ultrasound, or who goes into heart failure, or needs an abortion to save 1/2 of her twins (this happens).
For anyone who understands the nuances of abortion policy, it's abhorrent. If you are pro-life it's abhorrent.
I don't disagree with you, but I think Dems need to come up with a counter for the exception argument. Cause exceptions for the life and or health of the mother are going to sound reasonable. And I suppose they could be. I suspect that in Europe, often held up as a place with more restrictions than Roe, reasonable common sense likely does prevail (at least in the real liberal democracies in Europe). The crux of the matter is, who decides on the exceptions. For Alabama it is going to be that wonderful supreme court, as an example. Why in hell would anyone trust crusty old Republican men to decide in a conference room what your mother, wife, sister, or daughter has to risk before getting proper care.
Another angle to hit is the idea that Republicans want it both ways. 6 week bans in their states, 15 week bans imposed from above in the rest. I'd literally run with, "These lying bastards used to say, "Let the States decide". Now here they are wanting to strip rights away nationwide. Don't remotely trust them."
Another point that needs made is that
You missed one really important thing about why HW Bush lost; the racist dog whistle he used to beat Michael Dukakis didn't work nearly so well on Bill Clinton.
reneging on "Read my lips, no new taxes" was the deathblow to his reelection chances.