Thanks Bannon<\/p>\n
There is a \u201cnew\u201d term favored by the media: tribalism. This is the catchall for what has happened to the United States; for the inability of Americans to speak and hear each other. We can\u2019t accept that others\u2019 views might have merit, and we aren\u2019t willing to bend our own.<\/p>\n
Tribalism: we hear it on Fox News (and I suppose others would say I hear it on MSNBC.) There are two completely different worlds of facts: as I focus on the next \u201cmove\u201d by Mueller; they focus on the \u201cbiased texts\u201d of FBI investigators. But it goes even farther than that.<\/p>\n
Steve Bannon has corrupted the Republican Party. He brought his alt-right nationalism to a party bereft of a principled core: they have lost their soul to money, and Bannon\u2019s extremism has filled the void. Iowa Republican Congressman Steve King is the latest example of Bannon\u2019s ideology, tweeting:<\/p>\n
Diversity is not our strength. Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban, \u201cMixing cultures will not lead to a higher quality of life but a lower one.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Presidential aide Stephen Miller made the same point in his infamous discussion of the Statue of Liberty with CNN\u2019s Jim Acosta. Miller discounted Emma Lazarus\u2019s Colossus, \u201c\u2026the huddled masses yearning to be free\u2026\u201d saying the United States was only a monumental example, not a promise to the people of the world. In his rant from the press podium came an undercurrent of anti-Semitism (a trend in Bannon\u2019s \u201ctribe\u201d seen again in Kayla Moore\u2019s statement for \u201c\u2026 the fake news: one of her lawyer\u2019s is a Jew.\u201d)<\/p>\n The American tradition of the \u201cmelting pot;\u201d the idea that we are all immigrants brought together to work together for a common good, is not a part of Bannon\u2019s racist tribe. He believes that we should close our borders and ally ourselves with the other members of the \u201cNorthern European Tribes.\u201d That helps explain his affinity for the Russians.<\/p>\n It is this tribalism that has changed the nature of political defeat. In the last year, losing hasn\u2019t just meant the loss of a vote or a seat: it has felt like the loss of the American creed. Last night tribalism took a hit when, by a slim margin, the next Senator from Alabama will be Democrat Doug Jones.<\/p>\n Doug Jones ran against the concept of \u201cthe tribe.\u201d He campaigned by being willing to work together with Republicans (as he had to given Alabama\u2019s voting profile.) He will enter the Senate as the first Democrat from Alabama in twenty years. Democrats need to give him the flexibility to represent that state. Alabama has made a small step, and a giant leap, away from extremism. Jones, like Joe Manchin of West Virginia, must represent his constituents, not be forced into some Democratic version of \u201cthe tribe.\u201d The Democrats who suffered the calamity of 2016 must be willing to maintain a \u201cbig tent\u201d and not force some tribal litmus test.<\/p>\n My Republican friends will say that of course Roy Moore would be defeated. His political views, much less his deviant acts, should have assured his defeat. But the Alabama Republicans chose him to run for the Senate, and the Republican Party came back to support him despite his history. \u00a0They picked him, over others.<\/p>\n The real danger for the Republicans is that Bannon will continue his corruption of the Republican soul. His \u201ctribe\u201d is not done; Bannon promises primaries across the country to further his capture. And while I suspect he will have some victories, Alabama has shown the way to his defeat.<\/p>\n Democrats have extremists as well. If they cannot accept the good faith differences of those who share similar overall goals, then they will fall into the same trap the Republicans have found. But, if the Republicans allow themselves to be \u201cprimaried\u201d into extremist candidates, and if the Democrats can remain the home of Elizabeth Warren AND Joe Manchin (and Doug Jones) then Democrats won\u2019t have to depend on Special Counsel Mueller to change our nation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"