Fight for Democracy: 2020 is the Battleground

In any sane world, one where our leaders possess the merest of morality and conscience, any one of a dozen scandals/improprieties/illegalities would have already ended the Trump presidency. The open disregard of constitutional dictates (emoluments clause) and flaunting of political norms (constant lying about anything and everything) would have brought down any Democratic politician. The known criminal violations (felony campaign violations his personal attorney admitted to, credible reports of sexual assaults he bragged about, decades of financial misdealings) would be enough for a trial for anyone other than a President who handpicked the Attorney General who decides such issues. The many forms racism (shithole countries/border invasion), the attacks on the free press, the divulging of secret intelligence to our adversaries, the embarrassing gaffs and utter ignorance in everything from foreign relations (he ‘loves’ Kim and Duterte, not to mention Putin), the economy, the government and even how to buy things in a grocery store - all worthy of invoking the 25th Amendment to replace a clearly incompetent man. But that is not our world.

We live in the world of politics where the Republicans have abandoned any rationality (climate change denial) or consistency (increasing debt to cut taxes on the wealthy) and even any semblance of trying to play a fair game (Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, gerrymandering, voter disenfranchisement, Citizens United). They’ve turned into a cult whose only clear purpose is to hold onto the power they’ve managed as a minority, knowing full well their tribe is shrinking and demographics will eventually overcome them. The problem is Republicans writ large, at all levels, and every single one who votes for them.

The Mueller Report was never going to solve our political problem. No amount of indictments (34 and counting) or clear evidence of wrongdoing would fix this. Our problem is the entire political party who supports an openly corrupt, probably illegal, definitely immoral Administration and it’s not an issue of illegality but of anti-democracy. The Republicans control the Executive Branch and the Senate despite winning fewer votes than the Democrats, votes representing only around a quarter of the population. When the leaders of the party (Trump, McConnell), the rank and file representatives (Nunes, Graham), and the base itself all abandon democracy to grasp desperately at any advantage regardless of cost to our institutions or their souls, the only way out is overwhelming force at the ballot box.

So if you’ve felt let down this week. Disappointed. Frustrated or uncertain. It’s understandable but it’s wrong. We should never have given our hopes to someone else, especially a lifelong Republican, a longstanding cog in the machine who was limited and controlled by the system we hoped he would bring down. We should have held onto our hope dearly and realized the only chance for success lies within ourselves. We are the People and we have the power.

So as I’ve said before, devote your anger and energy to mobilizing for elections. Give your time, money, and attention to the Democrats (at every level). Speak up when you hear anyone, anywhere peddling the racist, immoral, impractical, and just plain untrue garbage spewed by the Republicans. It’s not enough to vote. Get your neighbor to vote. Your cousin. Phone bank and get some random person in Ohio to vote. And let them why they need to vote: to save pre-existing conditions, to stop locking children up in cages, to rebuke the white supremacy that leads to events like in Christchurch. The data is very clear: an informed populace, voting their conscience and on a reasonable interpretation of policy and position, with equal turnout across the board, would lead to an overwhelming Democratic victory. We don’t need to change the world, we just more of it to engage. Carry on the fight!

Analogies: The Legality of Border Crossings

When it comes to immigration, a lot of conservatives fall back on the legality argument: they aren't against immigrants (they aren't bigots), they support legal immigration. It's the illegal immigration that's the problem. The people who break the law must be detained. They must be separated from their children. It's just the law, and we are law followers in this country. Right?

No. First, let's understand the basics. Most of the people coming into our country through the southern border are seeking asylum. The legal way to apply for asylum is to show up at the border, at a designated checkpoint, and ask for it. So all those caravans coming across Mexico are actually following the legal procedure. But then we turn them away at the checkpoints and say we're too busy to let them apply - which many folks consider illegal under international law, so we're the ones breaking the law here. Faced with no way to legally request asylum at the border, many of these people cross the border (which is technically illegal, though a misdemeanor) and turn themselves into a border patrol asking for asylum, which is perfectly legal. So we are forcing people to break a minor law, which is normally penalized by a $10 fine, in order to follow the legal pathway to asylum. So is it really the law-breaking that's the problem here?

Let's try an analogy. Let's say your child is sick or injured. You know, high fever/loss of consciousness/lots of bleeding/their-life-is-in-danger kind of trouble. What do you do? Call for help? But what if that help takes too long? What if it never comes? I bet it's the conservative men out there who would be the first to say they'd take their kid to the hospital themselves. We're doers in this country: we take action and solve our own problems.

Great! So you load your kid into your 4x4 because it's a stormy night and the roads are rough and you head for the hospital. But do you conscientiously follow the speed limit? I mean, speeding is breaking the law. But somehow I'm guessing you feel speeding would be justified in this situation. Maybe even a little 'reckless' driving if necessary to avoid downed trees or washed out gullies. You have to save your kid - f@ck the speed limit!

Okay, fair enough, but as you approach the hospital you find the Highway Patrol blocking the road. It's closed, they say. Too dangerous and crowded. Maybe try again later. Well, they are the law, so I'm sure you just sit and wait, even if you can see the road looks totally open. No!
You're the hero of this damn analogy! You do whatever it takes to save that kid. You drive around - over? - those road closed signs and you get your kid to the ER. If Johnny Law wants to stop you, you'll deal with him after your kid is safe.

Well done! You arrive at the hospital and you turn your kid over to the staff who promptly dump them in the waiting room (or a steel cage). Armed security escorts you to a cell, which you willingly accept because you broke the law. They keep you in there for weeks, without telling you what happened to your kid, and then decide you're to lose custody of your kid. I mean, you broke the law! You deserve to be permanently separated from your children. We have to follow the law, otherwise we're a nation of chaos!

If that scenario sounds ridiculous to you, ask yourself why? What does the one parent seeking asylum at the border lack that the parent driving to the hospital has? Does their nationality really matter in this situation? The color of their skin? Of course we're a nation of laws, but that's only a good thing when the law is followed by those who enforce it and its reach and punishments are proportional to the offense.

We also used to be a country of morality and compassion. We held ourselves out as a beacon of decency and opportunity. When we deny the humanity of others, when we close ourselves off and defend our unwillingness to help with absurd justifications based on technicalities, we lose who we are meant to be. Remember: the hero in the story is always the one trying to save the children. The villain always pursues their self-interest at the expense of others. Choose who you want to be.

Analogies: Who's Responsible?

Let's say you belong to a kayak club. The club is for all types of kayaking: sea kayaking, whitewater kayaking, kayak fishing, even a few surfskiers. You're a sea kayaker. The club was founded by sea kayakers and they still represent the majority of the club. One of your buddies is a whitewater kayaker and he mentions one day that the club isn't very fair to his kind. Huh?

He points out that the officers in the club are almost all sea kayakers. That the club has arranged for discounts with sea kayak manufacturers, but nothing for whitewater kayakers. The club's big summer party is always scheduled on the same day as a popular whitewater release so they have to choose which one to attend. The club offers discounts on sea kayaking courses and actively recruits new members at sea kayak events - even offering a discount for people who own their own sea kayaks (but not for whitewater boats).

You never really thought of it, but he has a point. Your defense is that all those decisions are voted on by the club, so it's only fair to represent the majority. He points out that the club charter states it's a club for everyone and explicitly states that every type of kayaking deserves the same club benefits. You don't really have an answer for that.

You say that he should bring this up at the meetings. Maybe he should run for the board and try to make some changes. He says he and his whitewater friends have been asking for changes for years. They do run for the board but the sea kayakers always elect sea kayakers. Whenever whitewater folks bring up these issues they get ignored. Most sea kayakers, like yourself, never even think about such things. They have tried to make a change but they don't have the power.

But you do. You are part of the majority. If you think the situation is unfair, your voice carries more weight than theirs. Your friends (the other sea kayakers) are the ones who serve on the board and make the decisions. The only way the situation will change is if enough of the sea kayakers recognize the unfairness and are willing to sacrifice to make it better - sacrifice meaning giving up their unfair privilege. They will have less control of the board, maybe get less financial support from the club for their own events. They might end up with more whitewater kayakers (and others) in the club. They might even lose their majority. But you know what's right and you want to be fair. The question is: what are you willing to do about it?

If a situation is unfair, who has the responsibility to change it? The people who are disadvantaged and lack power? Or those who have the power through unfair means? While we easily accept it's human nature to take advantage of a situation when it favors us, we all really know, deep down, what's right and what's wrong, and who is responsible for fixing it. We're all just one big kayak club.

Analogies: Is the Game Fair?

Imagine you have a kid - maybe you really do so this will be easy. Your kid loves basketball. She practices every day and is the star of her traveling team. They have a huge tournament over several weekends, and she is super excited and hopes to help her team win the whole thing.

But in the first game you notice that she's getting called for fouls a lot. Fouls she isn't committing. And the other kids are not getting called when they foul her. It's unfair officiating and she has a bad game. Afterwards you console her and agree that it wasn't fair. But she should shake it off. Keep working hard and doing her best and everything will work out. But the same thing happens in the next game: the refs single her out, treat her unfairly, and she doesn't do as well as she's capable of.

So you look into it and hear the refs are doing this to some other kids too. All kids with blue eyes like your daughter. There doesn't seem to be any good reason for it, but the stats prove it's true. Blue-eyed kids are being called for more fouls, fewer fouls are being called against them, and all the statistics show that blue-eyed kids are not performing as well as other kids or as well as they have done throughout their career. The whole tournament is unfair to kids like yours. What do you do?

First, you probably repeat your inspirational speech to your kid. Life isn't always fair but you do the best you can in the circumstances you find yourself in. You just have to play harder and be better than the other kids. Try to keep yourself out of situations where they might call a foul on you. Don't let the fouls other commits get to you. Let it go and focus on your own actions and if you don't win realize it isn't your fault. You know you tried your best.

Good parenting, but is that all? I don't think you'd just accept an unfair tournament. You'd probably complain to the rules committee. Maybe organize the other parents. Carry signs. Yell at the refs. Maybe go so far as to boycott a game. And if you did everything you could and the tournament was still biased against your kid I bet you'd definitely skip that tournament in the future. You would do everything you could to ensure your kid gets treated fairly, that they have an equal chance to win as every other kid out there. They deserve it.

Now, what if your kid had brown eyes and they weren't the ones being discriminated against? What if instead of a basketball tournament it was life itself? What would you do to make sure it was fair? We all know the right thing to do, we just have to be motivated out of self-interest to do it. We should be better than that. All kids deserve it.

Fight for Democracy, Part 27: Why I vote

I grew up in a small farm town in Minnesota, was raised by well-educated parents, and faced very little adversity. We weren’t rich. We didn’t live extravagant lives or take fancy vacations, but we never really worried about putting food on the table or keeping the roof over our heads. I worked summer jobs to buy a cheap car in high school and got through college without loans through scholarships and work-study. All pretty typical for a white guy in the midwest. I never really cared much about politics because it meant little to me personally.

Sure, it was worth an intellectual discussion. Did American Democracy influence Europe nineteenth century development or did European ideals of aristocracy and pre-eminence distort the Constitution’s ideals of liberty and equality? Were the budget deficits of the 80’s worth it to end the Cold War or did they usher in a new era of perpetual debt and mistrust of government? But actual laws passed, which Party governed my state or country, those had little impact on my life.

The unemployment rate never touched me because I was a well-educated white male who could always find a job - or fall back on my extended support system of family and friends. I didn’t face discrimination of any kind or lack the rights of other people. I knew that if I called the police for help they would come quick and assume I was the good guy. If I didn’t get health care through my job I wasn’t worried because I was young and healthy. I didn’t rely on public transportation, didn’t need childcare, and made enough money, though not too much, so that my tax bill was a minor inconvenience at worst.

I lived my life according to the virtues I’d been raised with: work hard, be honest, treat everyone with respect, and give everyone a fair chance. I looked at the society around me - mostly people similar to myself - and it seemed like my neighbors did the same. I didn’t see discrimination (I didn’t see many people of color, either). I didn’t see bigotry or racial animus (most people treated me fine). People seemed to be respectful to women (in my presence) and immigrants were welcomed (in so much as they were gainfully employed doing a lot of the grunt work to make our lives easier). So while it was clear that much of our political rhetoric and policies weren’t nearly so egalitarian, life seemed okay and it was easier to simply be a good person and not waste my time or energy fighting the evil in the world.

As I grew older and experienced more of life, I broadened my horizons. I got to know people who were unlike me - less privileged, less white, less male. Social media came along and made it easier to hear the personal stories of lots of people like that. I started paying attention to those stories. I saw the penalties for crack cocaine (used mostly by poor, black people) were 50 times harsher than those for powdered cocaine (used mostly by rich white people) in spite of it being the same drug. I heard arguments that gay people should not be allowed to marry because they didn’t deserve the same rights as ‘us’. I worked with poor people whose health suffered because they couldn’t afford care.

Then I got married. And had a daughter. The future suddenly held much more importance and the rights of women (and other disadvantaged groups) became personal. I watched as my country elected a man who bragged about sexual assault to the highest office of the land. I listened as he spewed racist and sexist rhetoric and a large proportion of our society cheered. I felt helpless when more people made it very clear a woman’s trauma is less meaningful than a judge’s partisanship, that her sincerity and credibility still count less than his blatant dishonesty and deception. This is not the society I want for my daughter.

Women are paid less for doing the same job with the same experience as men. Women-dominated professions have lower salaries than male-dominated ones requiring the same education. Women are still doing most of the care work for children and households and are still grossly under-represented in higher levels of business and politics. They pay more for reproductive health care and shoulder a higher burden for birth control, yet many in our society want to limit their choices over their own bodies.

When I talk to other privileged white people like myself, many bristle at the suggestion that we are privileged, though they don’t have any real argument with the data that proves it. They also talk a lot about how much better things are for the marginalized than they used to be - as if ‘better’ is good enough. Or claim the best way to help anyone is to improve the economy (which they often measure by GDP or the Stock Market). And they are quick to assert that they are colorblind towards people and ‘respect’ women - though they’re still somehow more worried about the .005% of men who might be falsely accused of sexual assault instead of the 15% of women who are assaulted. It’s all just excuses to say that the inequities and discrimination in our society are not their fault because they aren’t personally discriminating or disrespecting anyone. But they do vote.

And a vote for Republicans is a vote for a party that has made it perfectly clear that women are not meant to be treated equally or fairly. They oppose the Equal Rights Amendment. They oppose maternity leave requirements. They won’t reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. They want to allow employers to deny insurance coverage for women’s reproductive health. They vote for men who disparage women and they attack female candidates in a sexist manner.

Democrats aren’t perfect, but they run and elect many more female candidates. They support a woman’s choice and many laws to ensure equality. They advocate for maternity leave, childcare support, reproductive health coverage. They fight against gender discrimination, unequal pay, and systemic bias against women. By and large, they treat women with respect, not just personally but as an organization. They are working towards the ideal (equality) instead of away from it.

I believe electing women to office, especially Democratic women, not only improves the lives of women but everyone’s life, including my own. When women are included in leadership we get better decisions and better results. In general, women help. When women are allowed to fully contribute in the workplace our economy does better. When women are paid equally and supported in childcare their offspring - our future - do better. Our society benefits when everyone gets a fair chance. Equality may feel like discrimination to those currently receiving advantage, but it’s time we all put the good of the many ahead of the privilege of the few.

For my own sake, for my wife’s sake, and for my daughter’s sake, I actively support the only side in politics which will treat women with the respect they deserve. There are many reasons I vote for Democrats, but none are more important than my family’s future.

Who are you voting for?