Okay, we all wake up today to two “new” political realities in California, regardless of our personal sensibilities. Gavin Newsom’s political chess move has successfully put Trump’s king in a temporary, very difficult check. No, the situation is not yet a stalemate, but the Republican strategy now needs to delve significantly deeper than its initial plans.
The advertising and messaging in California worked very well. Regardless of the sense of having to take hard, nasty-tasting medicine of our own choosing to shock our systems back on the road to recovery, the vast majority of California voters on Tuesday, November 4th, chose to temporarily freeze the state redistricting plan in favor of one clearly biased towards electing Democrats into virtually all of the seats to Congress in the coming midterms.
Score one for making the hard choice now to save democracy in the future. It’s now the Republicans’ (Trump administration’s) move, and it will most likely not be pretty, and maybe not even above board. In this contest, those still wedded to being gentlemen and ladies in the conflict will continue to face those who will do anything to win–legal or not. Trump will continue to send federal monitors (aka political troublemakers) into “enemy” states to bedevil Democrats and neutral civil servants, though constitutionally, voting regulations are in the hands of state governments, not the federal government. Trump will continue to threaten military takeovers of ballot boxes, and to end mail-in voting, etc.
The point is, the real fight is definitely on now. Not just the fight for the most delegates and representatives, but the fight to preserve democracy in America, per se. Somebody should write and produce a movie blockbuster. The action and intrigue will be immense, even more so than expected.
Since there are several large countries very interested in the U.S. falling from its current perch as the world’s strongest, richest and most envied, there will be much help and interference from the sidelines. Whatever the outcome, it is certain that the U.S. will be weaker and less prepared to defend itself when this fight to save democracy is over. Clearly, the 1.5 percent majority of voters in the country who put Trump in the White House again did not understand that Trump and his ilk would be willing to “tear the whole house down” in order to prevail as long as he and his allies financially profit individually.
It is my hope that some individuals are diligently documenting all of this so that future students can study and learn from it. Every civilization known to man has eventually grown stale and fallen. Is the U.S.’s number now up? Will we survive the Trump War on civilization and eventually rise from the ashes better and stronger?
We should understand the depth of the trouble we are really in. The fight for the soul and essence of America has now been enjoined. And remember that at least one of the combatants has no respect for any rules of the contest. That means they may blow it all up if they don’t think they can win.
Hmmmmmm.
Professor David L. Horne is founder and executive director of PAPPEI, the Pan African Public Policy and Ethical Institute, which is a new 501(c)(3) pending community-based organization or non-governmental organization (NGO). It is the stepparent organization for the California Black Think Tank which still operates and which meets every fourth Friday.