Far, far across
Part of me does not like it, but the pragmatic response to a divided country must include some outreach to the other side.
But that does not mean Mitch McConnell or any of the deranged opportunists who have fed the Trump monster. Instead, Biden should reach out to Republicans who support the Constitution and who want the country to grow and be strong.
His idea for a special bipartisan commission on the judiciary is a good one, for instance. But he should be willing to define what “bipartisan” is.
We are in a very bad place, with a politically significant fraction of the population that is mentally ill. It’s not unreasonable to suppose that some genuine conservatives could play a positive role in restoring a political system with a chance of producing democratic, reality-based outcomes.
I am not a GOP-ologist and do not have a list of “good” Republicans. I would expect to disagree profoundly with these people on many issues.
But if they really were never-Trumpers, if they really did not try to ride the tiger to get their grubby court picks installed, if they acknowledged Biden’s win back when he won it, if they did not rub their hands with glee at the Merrick Garland business, if they never threw gasoline on the national dumpster fire, then perhaps they are true patriots who would make common cause to save the country.
This will triangulate opportunists like McConnell and nutjobs like Toomey. It might be the nucleus of a group that would try to clean house in the GOP—or start a new political party.
And yeah, as long as McConnell wields power, it will be necessary to treat with him. But that piecemeal negotiation is not what I am talking about. Rather, this would be an ad-hoc, longer-term alliance.
As I said, I do not like this idea. But I think it is necessary.
Biden should reach across the aisle—and keep reaching, until he finds some patriots on the other side.
Photo: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
I think it’s very unlikely that any such effort will accomplish anything except give up even more ground.
These craven Republicans are driven by even more craven — deplorable is an excellent characterization — people. I think there is absolutely NOTHING that Democrats can do, in terms of policies and proposals, that will make even the slightest difference. It is like trying to tell a jealous husband that his wife didn’t do anything at all — he won’t believe you. This is especially true when that husband is a philandering womanizer himself.
We MUST find a way to discourage electronic media from spreading absolute lies. In my opinion, it was a mistake to exempt website owners from the “editorial control” provisions that hard-copy publications have always lived with. If the owners of Breitbart could be held liable for explicit lies that their participants publish, then there would be fewer lies.
In my opinion, a thorough and full investigation of the GOP, Donald Trump, and the leadership of the GOP is a vital part of establishing a foundation of facts for all parties to work from.
The explicit threats of violence against the duly-elected government — such as the shameful piece by Dan Crenshaw (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi2yvpdtz1M&t=3s) — should treated as sedition.
The Trumpists have already declared civil war against the rest of us. They are being assisted by Vladimir Putin — as even a cursory glance at the “SolarWinds” shows. It’s time for Democrats to face the reality of how grim this situation is.
The time to reach across the aisle to any Trumpist or GOP is AFTER — not before — that individual has renounced his or her utterances and behavior.