With Trump in the White House and Republicans controlling Congress, and America still trapped in a two-party system, Democrats are inherently the party of resistance now. There is, of course, one cardinal rule that Democrats must follow to fulfill this role.
Democrats must resist.
Frustratingly, Democrats are practically falling all over themselves to fail at this one simple task, and it’s probably going to doom us all.
We’re now in a post-Kavanaugh world, and it’s a tense one. Democrats have lost trust in the Supreme Court (which seems a natural, if delayed, reaction to Republicans deliberately destroying the judicial confirmation process). Establishment Democrats like Hillary Clinton are finally calling for Democrats to stop being “civil” and start fighting back.
Of course, right-wing media is now misrepresenting her comments as, literally, “a declaration of war and a license for violence“. This deliberate lie is meant to prime Trump supporters for a pogrom against liberals, possibly liberal women in particular. (Not that they need much more priming; the Trump crowd’s chants of “lock her up” have now expanded beyond Hillary Clinton to include Sen. Feinstein, too.)
This is how fascism becomes violent; it falsely blames the victims for initiating or provoking the violence. By the time violence erupts, the public is primed to accept it.
A few moments ago, Sen. Susan Collins declared and defended her vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, all but guaranteeing his confirmation. Her excruciatingly long speech, loaded with gaslighting and propaganda, will be a permanent scar on her reputation. More than the “yes” vote itself, her speech will be remembered for legitimizing not only the confirmation of a sexual predator, but Republicans’ long-planned hijacking of the Supreme Court.
It’s important to note and remember how Susan Collins betrayed America today. But it’s also important to understand why, as a “moderate” white woman, her betrayal is only a symptom of a larger disease.
