The Democrats are taking power in the House and preparing the long process of choosing a candidate to nominate for President, Trump is beginning year 3 of his tenure and Robert Mueller continues to push forward on his mob-boss, Russian infiltration, obstruction of justice investigation. Now is as good a time as any, before the heat becomes even more intense, for us to try to figure out in black and white our political allegiances.
I’ll go first.
This is what I tell myself:
Stephen Greenblatt says we must beware of our inner fascist, that creeping certitude that “I” alone know what is best for a nation, and by God, if “I” were in charge, I would make it right no matter the opposition. Hubris will cause any person to believe this. Our corruption begins, as Auden knew, close to home: “the desires of the heart are as crooked as corkscrews.” So, the first rule of my political system is to reject the conviction that I possess the certainty of wisdom, and that my visions of the best polis are the best. In other words, this first rule warns me to always be on guard against even a hint of megalomania.
Second, always strive to be aware of the complexity of human beings and thus of the complexity of political solutions. Promising utopian solutions to intractable problems creates both cynicism and fanaticism, the twin demons of political life.
Third, do as little harm as possible. Good politics requires trade-offs and sacrifices and always some degree of loss. Make those losses as small and painless as possible and move heaven and earth to make them fair.
Fourth, stand with human life against the inhuman; stand with victims against executioners. Stand with life, and thus stand with the Kurds and with the Syrians who continue to resist Assad. Stand against the slaughter in Yemen. Therefore stand with MLK and his ideals. Stand with all refugees everywhere for we too may travel that road someday. Stand with the ideals of civic decency and justice, especially as regards the use of entrenched power to destroy the daily lives of the poor and the dispossessed. Thus, be wary of corporate and governmental power. Fight to end gerrymandering and to restore and strengthen voting rights. Stand with telling the truth no matter how unpalatable, a necessity for every politician — voters know if a pol is lying or being condescending. Please do not let any suits tell me that tax cuts are magic, corporations are my friend, we can have everything we want and not destroy the planet, that I can have free college and free medical care, and on and on.
I believe in threading the needle and thus am both pro-life and pro-choice. I believe in self-reliance. I believe in respect for the military grunts who bear the pain and who embrace a love and loyalty for each other we would treasure if it came our way. Thus, damn all systems that make commodities out of human beings, damn all white supremacists, especially the mealy-mouthed ones in suits, damn for eternity all who use, abuse or allow harm to come to children.
Children before adults, always.
Renounce all purveyors and adherents of political purity, another term for ideology. Ideology is anti-human. Left or right, fascist or totalitarian, it crushes people so that they conform to its rules. Ideology produces fascism, inquisitions, torture. Ideology is a death cult.
Therefore, reject forever the wannabe heir of Mao and maker of 21st century concentration camps, Xi Jinping of China. And the killer Putin and all his ilk: Kim Jong-un of North Korea, Orban of Hungary, Erdogan of Turkey, MBS of Saudi Arabia, Bolsonaro of Brazil, all tyrants everywhere, including the little monsters we have produced, Trump above all, and his minions, and Wayne LaPierre of the NRA and Murdoch of Fox and his own stable of mini-Goebbels, Hannity and Ingraham, etc. and ooh, the leadership of Republican Party, a collection of Trumpites, amoral power mongers (McConnell and Ryan) and cowards. And please let the Clintons fall forever into the silence and anonymity of Chappaqua.
Stand with life and thus stand with ANWR and the Defenders of Wildlife and Audubon. Stand with wolves and bears, with the Sage Grouse, with wilderness everywhere, with the Grand Staircase Escalante, with songbirds and raptors and shore birds and owls and vultures, with wolverines and the big cats.
I have no idea who will win the Democratic nomination nor how Mueller’s investigation will end. I do know that Trump and his Party are doing such damage to this country that we will not be able to calculate the losses until they are gone. I do know that hatred of Trump can be as blinding as adulation. Whatever else occurs, I know that the struggles to see clearly and think independently, and to keep one’s heart open for strangers are the most important virtues we can hold onto in 2019, in what promises to bring us more intense, more grotesque and more alarming events.
