We seem to be living a dual existence. One part is normalcy, whatever that means. There is worry about the pandemic, the economy, Ukraine, and other concerns as well. But these things weren't going to disappear from our awareness just because we wanted them to. There are always some worries. Day to day existence for most folks hasn't changed that much, say since January 1. This is what I mean by normalcy. The other part, however, is quite different, at least in the United States. We seem to be in a virtual civil war, but Democrats are only waking up to that now. Take this line seriously - all is fair in love and war. Consider Republicans in Congress as virtual soldiers in that civil war. Putting two and two together gives a way to make sense of their behavior. Ditto for the talk show folks, who act as provocateurs and rabble-rousers rather than as analysts of what is going on in our politics for viewers to get a better understanding.
If this description of a dual existence is reasonably correct, then many questions follow for ordinary Democrats, who are now seeing the situation for what it is. And here let me bring in some bits from higher education, particularly about the mental health crisis for students, which predates the pandemic. There will be parallel mental health issues for ordinary Democrats, who will see this virtual civil war as the system failing...big time. One possible way to manage one's own mental well being is to withdraw from the politics and live a heads down existence. Obviously, this is far from perfect. But it does allow one to not be constantly consumed with anger. The opposite would be to fully engage in virtual civil war activities. If most family, friends, and work colleagues are not yet doing that it could be a very lonely undertaking, at least initially. It may make you appear fringe to others who know you. The malaise I'm referring to in the post title comes from being unsure of which of these paths to follow or if there is yet another way that combines a sense of agency about this virtual civil war with a calm rather than angry presence. Searching for that elusive third path can contribute to the delay in making a choice and makes the malaise that much greater.
Before I get to what fully engaged in virtual civil war activities might mean, I want to take a step into the past, about a post I wrote back in late September 2020. At the time of the post the NY Times had recently uncovered Trump's tax returns and the take away from that was startling. In particular, Trump held a massive amount of debt and being President helped him service that debt and in the future might help him roll it over. I wish Democrats kept up hammering on Trump being so financially in the hole from then to now, because it is a big deal and the public needs a constant reminder of it. Yet, as with much that is Trump, the latest news seems to crowd out past transgressions. As far as I know, the connection between Stop the Steal and Trump's tax returns hasn't been made in the NY Times or elsewhere. It needs to become a commonly discussed matter, perhaps the center of attention.
The other big thing at that time was that Amy Coney Barrett had been nominated to the Supreme Court, but the vote on her approval had not yet taken place in the Senate. This was less than six weeks before the coming Presidential election. The post I wrote was called Honor Among Thieves And Among Supreme Court Justices. The post discusses the following question. If Supreme Court candidates nominated by Trump were aware of his financial indiscretions as well as his obstruction of justice during the Mueller investigation (and how could they not be so aware) what is their subsequent responsibility regarding accepting the nomination and then making rulings on the court? This is the penultimate paragraph from that post.
However, I know many people who feel now that America is going to hell in a hand basket. Trump has dramatically accelerated this decline. Creating real surprise by going against the forecast in a way that is personally costly but also evidently aimed at respecting the rule of law, might be a way for America to get past this dreadful moment. For that to happen, Trump needs to lose this election and the Supreme Court needs to certify that. Sacrificing the national well being so as to get rid of the Roe v. Wade decision, also can't happen. It's clear that has been motivating the recent rapid pace of Federal judicial appointments. But it is equally clear that the myopic focus on this objective is bringing the country down.
That was then. This is now. The country has been brought down, way down. One further observation needs to be made. The system provides instruments to discipline those in government who have violated their oath of office. But clearly the system is broken now and we simply can't expect it to fix itself. In particular, impeachment can't work in a country where the President, Members of Congress, and Justices of the Supreme Court put politics before country. So, other forms of punishment are needed if there is to be a credible deterrent to future egregious violations. These other forms would amount to ordinary citizens taking the law into their own hands. Under normal circumstances, that is to be avoided. The Ox-Bow Incident, a book and movie from long ago, offers a grim reminder of the terrible things that can happen. One need not focus exclusively on the events of January 6, 2021 to consider this issue. But if we are truly in a virtual civil war, these other forms of punishment will become necessary as a way to operate, because nothing else will work as credible deterrent.
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Democrats are playing a game of catch-up in prosecuting this virtual civil war. Further, since ordinary citizens taking the law into their own hands will be illegal much of the time, it can't be the Democratic Party itself that sanctions these activities, at least not initially. So I am going to imagine a not-yet-formed parallel organization whose purpose is to wage this virtual civil war on the part of Democratic voters and those who care about particular issues, notably abortion, without otherwise being affiliated with a party. It might be useful to name this organization so people can more readily identify it. I am not great at coming up with names, but I will offer this one up as a placeholder - the Minute Women.
Some of the goals I'll suggest for the Minute Women are as follows:
- To get the three Supreme Court Justices appointed while Trump was President off the Court, either voluntarily or otherwise.
- To get the Republicans in Congress who openly or tacitly endorsed Stop the Steal to confess their wrongdoing and then accept punishment for it, either by paying a hefty fine or by serving time in jail.
- To have Congress pass new legislation that embraces the precepts of Roe and to have the newly constituted Supreme Court find that law Constitutional.
- Likewise, Congress needs new legislation to undo the Citizens United decision as well as the Shelby County vs. Holder decision on the use of the Voting Rights Act. That act needs to be used vigorously in all states that have recently passed voter restriction legislation.
- Ultimately to create child organizations in each state to fight the right-wing agenda at the state level.
This list could be made longer, but it suffices for the sake of illustration. The question then is how the Minute Women should act in ways to realize these goals. I will get to that in the next paragraph. First I want to make the following assumption, which I think is reasonable. While the Republicans in high political office have found it acceptable to wage a virtual civil war, they do not want it to escalate into a real civil war. They will lose if this happens, on a personal level because there are many perqs of office that would no longer be forthcoming, and on a national level because they are really the minority party, as the popular vote in recent Presidential elections demonstrate. This is not to say there is no risk of escalation into an actual civil war. Both sides have incentive to push as hard as they can, as long as it remains a virtual civil war. So, there are elements of a game of chicken here.
The Minute Women will actually be two distinct units. The first, the overt arm, will make the case as publicly as possible that it's not just Trump who is a criminal. The Republicans in Congress who embraced Stop the Steal are co-conspirators, lending a cover off legitimacy where there shouldn't be any. And the Supreme Court appointees made under Trump are tainted, remarkably so. The honorable thing for them to do is to step down on their own accord. Right wing media can also be part of this case, as they've shielded their followers from the illegality of what has been done.
The second, the covert arm, will act to terrorize a small number of these Republicans, to pressure them to step down, in the case of the Supreme Court Justices, or to admit their culpability, in the case of Members of Congress. Further, they will make it evident that the terrorism will persist until the goals, as articulated by the overt arm, have been met. The hope would be that once that threat is evident, many Republicans will become compliant and/or quit, to avoid themselves becoming victims.
For this to work, there must be highly skilled professionals in each arm, fully versed in the mission, with a skill set that is capable of achieving the goals. And the overt arm must have at most tacit knowledge of the covert arm's existence, so it is not legally responsible for the actions taken by the covert arm. The details on how to do this are well beyond my knowledge. But I trust that it is doable. The issue is whether there is the will to go this route.
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Maureen Dowd's most recent column, The Radical Reign of Clarence Thomas, is disturbing in highlighting the role that Joe Biden played in Thomas' confirmation, as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, ultimately discounting the testimony of Anita Hill in the process. In the present circumstances, it seems that Biden is a liability as President. Ultimately, he too may have to step down, for the work of the Minute Women to succeed and ultimately the Democratic Party will have to embrace the tenets that the Minute Women put forward.
What would an ordinary person like you or me do in service for the Minute Women. I am not sure but I can say this, based on the small sample of friends I have in Facebook who have commented about the recent political events, invariably expressing their dismay and frustration. Those feelings don't translate immediately into an endorsement for the Minute Women as a concept. But, I think, people would be open to arguing the point. When I say people here, I mean already friends in the Facebook sense. I, for one, don't want to have such arguments on the open Internet with people I don't already know a little. But maybe I can encourage others, who are younger than I am and have more energy than I have, to do just that. I also expect there to be a fundraising aspect to this, though exactly how that would work I don't know. And then somehow, there would need to a feedback loop created onto the usual Democratic politics.
Would I feel in over my head if I did this? Maybe I would. The malaise I feel is real enough and there are reasons for that. But, now that I've gotten this post out of my system, I do feel a little bit better.
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