Hard to gain perspective in the middle of a fight, but we can do it. All part of moving from defense to offense.
It is not a metaphor to say the old power structure still sees America in black and white while the emerging one sees in color.
While not in combat, those of us who every day pay attention to the political news in America experience something like the fog of war. The volume of incoming news, news of dangerous consequence to our democracy, makes it difficult to see the big picture. Many of us end up talking about one outrage, then the next, then the one after that, and in that way find ourselves always on the defensive.
I’m like everyone else. I want to talk about these outrages. I will talk about them. But several years into this fight, I am ready to go on the offensive. And that means taking the time to gain perspective.
In his excellent new book, To Risk it All, former Admiral and NATO Supreme Allied Commander, James Stavridis instructs us that whenever the pace of events quickens, the threats multiply and surround, that is precisely when the very best commanders slow down, breathe, and call upon deep wells of experience and preparation. He writes about men and women under great stress in theaters of battle and says the best of them find ways to slow time down, to give themselves the space needed to respond rather than react to events.
Two weeks ago, I thought I had made progress. I took some time to think about the rule of law-- the critical difference between a system of law adopted and amended by the people and one where law is imposed by those with the power to do so. I wrote that imposed power sometimes wears the clothes of democratic process and gave the example of the imposition of unpopular restrictions on books in Florida. I knew more examples would follow, because terrible as it has been while they were winning, the misery MAGA will impose in their rage and despair while losing will have great and lasting costs.
Then last week happened. And we were all thrown back into the stories of the day.
In Tennessee, where a shooter entered a school and slaughtered little children as well as adults, the legislature took up the always difficult question of gun legislation. They did not pass gun legislation. They did expel two Black legislators for not showing the proper decorum on the house floor.
In Washington, another Black man received different treatment. Justice Clarence Thomas, we learned, has been gifted literally millions of dollars’ worth of high-end vacations, with private yachts and private jets, all in the company of like-minded individuals who sometimes turn out to have matters before the court. Never mind disclosure.
In New York, a Black district attorney indicts Donald Trump. The United States House of Representatives, considering the weaponization of government, has stepped in to investigate the district attorney and his office.
How do we respond rather than react? What resources can we call upon to help us?
A scene in Ralph Ellison’s 1947 novel, Invisible Man, comes to mind. Early in the book the leader of an all-Black school in the south tells the nameless protagonist, that there are lies people want to hear. The lies he is talking about are all about race, and the position of Black Americans in the power structure.
Almost 80 years later, we see this in Donald Trump lies about election security, In Jim Jordan’s lies about weaponization of government, in Ron DeSantis’ attacks on the most vulnerable Americans.
In all these stories we see the desperate measures of an old power structure, now under real threat by an America that is diverse, strong, and paying attention. That America, the one the rest of us live in, no longer wants to hear these lies.
It is not a metaphor to say the old power structure still sees the world in black and white while the emerging one sees in color.
When they are not just barking, GOP apologists tell us we are a nation of rugged individualists. They hate the left for thinking collectively about the public good. Yet they are the ones determined not to see individuals or even to make room for the differences that come from our individual experiences. They pretend that history does not matter, that no child today feels the weight, let alone the brilliance, of their heritage. They are certain that a descendent of slave holders experiences America in exactly the same way as a descendent of enslaved people. Young Americans know better. They see each other as individuals, and they see strength, not division, in our differences.
Every time has its power structure. Some are more stable than others. But in time they get stale or corrupt, or insular. In America, in this most dynamic society the world has ever known, old power structures adapt, or they get swept away.
There is no evidence the old guard has any interest in adaptation. They are, instead, engaged in a raging counter offensive- against women, against, against people of color, against any who do not conform to their worldview.
They hide behind a dishonest culture war and claim to be fighting for popular values against a determined effort by the rest of to impose- fill in whatever their polling says their base can be wound up about at the moment. Take a deep breath. Do not engage. Do not get distracted.
Our cause is actually the most popular and one of the world’s oldest- we only ask that every American be treated as we would want ourselves to be treated. In the end, that’s all anyone wants, and why (along with the hard work of organizing) we will win.