{"id":4800,"date":"2021-09-27T11:29:39","date_gmt":"2021-09-27T15:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=4800"},"modified":"2021-09-28T06:16:13","modified_gmt":"2021-09-28T10:16:13","slug":"its-clearer-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/09\/27\/its-clearer-now\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Clearer Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Preface<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

“Stop worrying about \u201cTrump\u201d, was what I was told.  A friend noted that there\u2019s plenty to talk about with the flaws in the Biden Administration. So I went back and looked at the week\u2019s essays. I wrote one piece about the polarization of America (This Dis-United States<\/a>), one about the media and Biden (Creating Division<\/a>),  and one about Biden foreign policy (Business is Business<\/a>),  The essay that generated the comment was about Trump and his staff knowing that the \u201cstop the steal\u201d campaign was a lie from the beginning (No New News<\/a>).  And the last was about the obligation Democrats have to reach an agreement in the Congress (My Fellow Democrats<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, like many in the past five years, is critical to America.  Democrats will either show that they can govern, or they will fail to act and give the Party of Trump a huge boost to winning back control.  So I will be writing about \u201cTrump\u201d once again, and Democrats, and where we will go from here.  It\u2019s too important to ignore, and as new information is revealed, it\u2019s clearer now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Week<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is a big week in politics. The Democrats in Washington are either going to find a way to work together, or surely they will turn the government over to Republicans in 2022. I hope that the stark image of the \u201cParty of Insurrection\u201d in power will drive the Progressives and the Moderates into each other\u2019s arms, even if they don\u2019t particularly like each other. But my Party is certainly capable of screwing that up. As Will Rogers said, \u201cI\u2019m not a member of an organized party, I\u2019m a Democrat\u201d (Thanks Doug<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What We Know<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s hard to imagine that it\u2019s only a short ten months since the attempt to overthrow the Constitution. We are now learning that behind the \u201cInsurrection\u201d were multiple plots to stop the legitimate election of Joe Biden. Trump Advisor Steve Bannon said it in his Washington hotel \u201cwar room\u201d on January 5th: \u201cWe\u2019re going to kill it in the crib, kill the Biden presidency in the crib.\u201d (Rolling Stone<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s still unclear what exact plan the Trump cabal had in mind. Trump lawyer John Eastman believed that Vice President Pence could, by simply recognizing both Biden and Trump electors from the same state, confuse the results. He could then throw those states out, reducing the \u201celectoral majority\u201d from 270 to 228, and declare Trump the winner. After the inevitable protests, Pence would then declare that no candidate reached a majority. His only choice then would be to send the election to the House of Representatives, where Trump would be elected (CNN<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another Trump lawyer, Sidney Powell, hoped the Insurrection would delay Congressional election certification. That would give her long enough to get a Supreme Court injunction to stop the process from one of the most conservative Justices, Samuel Alito (Newsweek<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No Accident<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Trump team was \u201call in\u201d on stopping the Congress from acting on January 6th, the day the President sent his crowd to march on the Capitol.  We knew then, but now know even more, that his election fraud claim wasn\u2019t real. And more recent revelations show that the Trump team knew that too.  They were lying, with direct intent to stop the Constitutional process. It didn’t work. Pence wouldn\u2019t throw out the state ballots. And Speaker Pelosi\u2019s insistence that the Congress return and finish the certification that night amidst the destruction of January 6th countered the injunction attempt.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet no one in authority has borne the responsibility of that destruction.  The entire leadership of the Republican Party is \u201cbehind Trump\u201d.  Those Republicans with the courage to stand up to the truth of the Insurrection, have been ostracized from the Party.  Our nation faced the greatest Constitutional crisis since the Civil War, and yet the perpetrators haven\u2019t been punished.  In fact, many remain in office, and they may regain the power to govern.  Unlike the Civil War, when there was a ten-year Reconstruction Period before the rebels were rehabilitated, these Insurrectionists are in still in office after ten months. And the Party that remains enthralled with Donald Trump can even anticipate political victory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minority Rule<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Republicans are already trying to consolidate their position nationwide.  Republican controlled states are restricting the vote based on the \u201cinsecurity\u201d of the election process.  There is no such insecurity. Even the Cyber Ninjas in Arizona were forced to admit that.  But in spite of the Arizona results; Texas, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania all are looking to \u201caudit\u201d the 2020 results.  It\u2019s not about accuracy or finding fraud, it\u2019s about creating the appearance of \u201cinsecurity\u201d to justify draconian voting restrictions.  And those restrictions will keep voters who would normally chose Democratic candidates from voting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Combine that with the ongoing Red Map gerrymandering project, and Republicans are moving to consolidate their power in the states, even as a minority party.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duty<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not just about whether the \u201cBuild-Back-Better\u201d agenda gets passed or not.  It\u2019s not about whether Bernie Sanders and Joe Manchin can reach a truce.  And it\u2019s not even about Mitch McConnell refusing to participate in governing.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democrats in Congress have an affirmative duty to protect the nation.  That duty includes preventing the Insurrectionists from regaining power, power that would allow them to consolidate their gains to change America into something \u201cless\u201d than a democracy.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Damn-it Democrats: figure it out.  I don\u2019t care if Manchin and Sinema are \u201ccloset Republicans\u201d in ideology, or Sanders and Jayalpal are \u201cun-closeted socialists\u201d.  Get it together and govern.  This might sound hyperbolic, but it\u2019s absolutely true.  Failure may mean the end of the American Experiment as we know it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Preface “Stop worrying about \u201cTrump\u201d, was what I was told.  A friend noted that there\u2019s plenty to talk about with the flaws in the Biden Administration. So I went back and looked at the week\u2019s essays. I wrote one piece about the polarization of America (This Dis-United States), one about the media and Biden (Creating Division),  and … Continue reading “It\u2019s Clearer Now”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nIt\u2019s Clearer Now : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This week is a critical in our history. 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