In May of 2017, Texas Democratic Congressman Al Green called for the impeachment of the President. This was in response to his [Trump’s] ‘confession’ on national television that his firing of former FBI Director James Comey was meant to curtail the Russia investigation. Democrat Maxine Waters of California has described the President’s administration as a criminal enterprise. She has more than once called Trump and his legislative cronies the “Kremlin Clan.” Yesterday in an interview on the TV program ’60 Minutes’ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pulled no punches and labeled the President a racist when asked by Anderson Cooper, her response “Yeah. Yeah, no question.”
None of the above statements are the result of some clairvoyant prescience but are based on the behavior of the President. The declaration made last week by newly elected Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, “And when your son looks at you and says, ‘Mama, look, you won. Bullies don’t win.’ And I say, ‘Baby, they don’t.’ Because we’re gonna go in there and we’re gonna impeach the mother***er,” is not out of the realm of possibilities. Reflexively Democratic leadership bowed their heads in each instance and talked about premature judgments and the “unfortunate” usage of language. The last circumstance really concerns me. The concentration was not on the substance and realism of impeachment but that she used the word motherf***er. President Trump has abused and misused the language to such an extent, that world leaders literally laugh at him.
I am sure before the day is over Nancy Pelosi will be asked about Ocasio-Cortez calling the President a racist and we will hear what Democrats have said in the past, ‘I don’t know what is in the President’s heart.’ Instead of the word-dance that generally follows-up the question of Trump being a racist, “He likes to make some statement in his tweet about no place for racism, and engages in it constantly,” Pelosi said. “It’s shameful,” she went on to say. Why not acknowledge the truth in simple language? AOC, as the Congresswoman is affectionately being called, did not talk about no place, shame or engagement she just said it, ‘yes he’s a racist.’ I mentioned Nancy Pelosi but I want to balance her political response with political reality. Nancy Pelosi became the stalking horse for the Republican party and Democrats took up the cudgel and vilified her as well. Why are so many Democrats willing to run away from effectiveness? Sure, the Speaker is old school, she is not a product of the Twitter age but she is much more substantive than a meme. That is precisely why Republicans fear the tidal wave effect of her power and Democrats fear drowning in the wake of her longevity.
Democrats are too often dragged along by the wave of impossible perfection…
The first salvos have been fired at Elizabeth Warren with nonsensical articles written about her “likability.” Democrats involving themselves in panel discussions about this is nonsense. Women and people of color should not have to audition with a nice hairdo or head-turning smile. Even Joe Biden fell into the trap, once describing candidate Barack Obama as, “…the first sort of mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a story-book, man." No one legitimately believes the former VP to Obama is a racist but Democrats have to stop letting the Republicans decide how they define themselves, their candidates or their party.
Vote in 2020 for Change.