Today, we learned that Rick Perry didn’t know what the Secretary of Energy did when he accepted the job. He thought it meant he’d get to gloat about oil and gas all around the world. Why did Trump pick him for the position, anyway? Because Trump most likely didn’t know what the job entailed, either.* Yesterday, we learned that Betsy Devos, the nomination for the Education Secretary thinks we should allow guns in schools because you never know when you’re going to have to shoot a grizzly bear. We’ve also learned that Tom Price, the nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services says people will be fine without the ACA because they can get other insurance. Insurance that wasn’t there in the first place. We’ve learned more than that, of course, but I’m trying not to lose my goddamn mind over these picks, so I’m keeping it brief.
Right after the elections were over, Ian and I played a very morbid game of ‘Name the Worst Possible Candidate For Each Position’. We weren’t doing it to be unfeeling or flippant, but because we were in shock and needed to deal with the trauma somehow. We’re both sarcastic, mordant people, so this was our way of coping. Remember, this was a joke between us, not something to be taken seriously. We watched in horror as Trump either met or exceeded** all our joke picks. We knew it was going to be bad, but with every passing day, it got worse and worse. I avoided much of the news in the past two months, but I’ve been paying closer attention in the past week because I felt it would be cowardly of me to just put my head in the sand and pretend what’s about to happen isn’t happening.
I’m mortified by the new administration. I look at all the high quality people in President Obama’s administration,*** and I want to weep at the steep downgrade we’re making in each position. Call me an elitist, but I want the most qualified person in their area of expertise to head each department. What’s more, I want someone who’s not actively hostile to the department they’re being chosen to lead. That was part of the game Ian and I played. Who would be the person who’s the most disdainful of this position? For example, the EPA. We both were like, that climate change denier scientist duded. He’d be perfect for the position! Lo and behold, he’s the one who was chosen, and it just went downhill from there.
Despite the introductory paragraphs, this post is not about Trump, his picks, or how fucked we are. Believe me, there will be plenty of those posts in the future. No, this post is about how fed up I am with some of my fellow Democrats on social media. I’ve written before how one of my biggest gripes about my party is the fucking in-fighting. I noticed it during PBO’s first term with the progressive/pragmatic split. To clarify, I’m progressive in ideology, but pragmatic in nature. I believe that we have to work with what we can actually accomplish while keeping an eye on the bigger goal. Therefore, I viewed Obamacare as a solid first step towards single-payer because I knew we couldn’t go from what we had to single-payer in one leap. There were problems with the ACA, but it was provisionally better than what we had. I couldn’t get with the far lefties who were howling, “single-payer or nothing!”, because I knew that too many people would be hurt if we stuck with the status quo. In addition, progress is rarely all or nothing. It’s baby steps. It’s give and take. It’s two steps forward and one step back. I found myself aligned more with the pragmatics than the progressives, even though I was more sympathetic with the latter.
I watched the two sides battle it out during PBO’s two terms, and I grew more and more disgusted. I’ve been a Democrat since I was born, and I feel like the parent who pulls the car over to the side of the road and tells the kids in the backseat to knock it off or I’m turning this car around, I swear to god I will. I want to make it explicitly clear that I don’t think disagreement is a bad thing. In fact, I think too much of an echo chamber can stultify the party. The problem is that there isn’t an honest discussion going on between the two sides. Each side is hunkered down, hackles raised, not listening to what the other side has to say. Even worse, each side misrepresents the other side, attributing the worst motivations to their statements possible.
One good example is the position of DNC chair. There are two candidates who are in the running. Keith Ellison (Minneapolis, represent!) and Thomas Perez. Keith Ellison is a progressive congressman who is always championing for the underdog and members of oppressed groups. Thomas Perez is the current Secretary of Labor and has been a civil rights lawyer in the past. I’ve seen Obama supporters deriding Ellison in a way that is bordering on racist, and I’ve seen progressives proclaim that Perez isn’t pure enough. I’m more familiar with Ellison, obviously, but from what I’ve read, I think either candidate would be a quality choice. Again, I don’t mind disagreement. I don’t mind discussion. I do mind each side thinking the other candidate is the devil. My tweet:
As for the DNC chair, I think either of the two main candidates would be a good choice. Am I allowed to say that?
— Minna Hong (@asiangrrlMN) January 18, 2017
Yes, it’s tongue in cheek, but it also a swipe at the recalcitrant attitude I find permeating the Democratic Party. I’m turned off by the ‘my way or the highway’ attitude I find on both sides of the party.
Look. I know we’re like a family and that we’re going to fight each other. That’s just the way we are. But, and listen carefully, we have much more important things to focus on right now. Trump’s administration is filled with incompetent and/or greedy nominations, and it’s up to Democrats to draw that line in the sand. We know that Republicans sure as hell won’t, and our democracy depends on us holding that line. I know most of us are still reeling over the election results, but we have to get our shit together and present a united front.
Real talk. We are better at destroying than creating sometimes. If I want to put a positive spin on it, it’s because we’re more analytical, and we can find the problems more quickly than other people might. I know because I’m like this myself. The problem is, it’s depressing to always point out the problems, and this is coming from someone who is known to be a Debbie Downer. I’ve noticed it particularly in the past few years that any time anything is suggested, it’s immediately shot down. One recent example that stands out in my mind is the safety pin thing. Briefly, the idea is that allies would wear safety pins to signify that they are safe for oppressed people. It’s taken from progressives in the UK after the Brexit vote, and it became a thing here after the election results came in. Predictably, ‘woke’ liberals declared it insulting, embarrassing, and a whole slew of other uncomplimentary things. There were think pieces about why the safety pin idea was misguided at best, and it died an undignified death.
I said at the time and I maintain it now that I was mostly pro-safety pin if the person wearing it understood that it wasn’t just a statement or the way to feel good about themselves–it was a commitment to step in every time it was needed. I didn’t think the vitriol was necessary, and telling people that something positive they’re trying to do isn’t good enough over and over again is not helpful if you don’t also suggest something they can do instead of that thing.
Another example is the Women’s March on Washington. Women from all over the country are gathering in DC on Friday to protest the inauguration. Again, I think it’s a mostly positive thing. One thing that is needed in these dark times is to show that what is about to happen is not normal and is not acceptable to a sizable portion of the country. In addition, knowing that there are others who feel the same way you do and to be surrounded by them is a powerful thing. I saw a post on Facebook saying what’s the point? If it’s only a feel-good thing, then why do it? I can’t say I’m surprised to see such a post, especially from this person, but it was just the straw that broke this camel’s back. People in the comments rightly pointed out that we can’t know what will come from it yet, and even if it is just to put a face on the protest of for solidarity, how is that a bad thing? The OP pooh-poohed all that and said you couldn’t compare it to Rosa Parks or anything like that.
It may seem as if I’m picking on this particular person, but I’m not. It’s just indicative of the mentality by certain Dems that I’ve come to abhor. Let’s sneer at everything suggested in a superior way without ever offering a viable alternative. I know I’m being slightly hypocritical in saying this because all I do is rant away on my keyboard from the safety of my own living room. However, I am mostly supportive of the various protests that Dems are taking against this upcoming administration. I don’t see why we need to slap people down when they are trying to do something positive in the face of so much negativity.
I know that one of my own biggest obstacles is my own hopelessness. For many reasons, I don’t think my opinion matters at all. Plus, I have a very hard time talking on the phone, especially with people I don’t know, so the one thing that is urged upon us–calling our congresspeople–is not something I’m going to do. In addition, my representative (Betty McCollum) rocks my socks, and I rarely have any disagreement with how she votes. My senator is Al Franken, and he’s been fucking awesome. My other senator is Amy Klobuchar, and she’s the only one I have any doubt will be a progressive voice against Trump because she’s very much middle-of-the-road/do whatever is most politically expedient. My shameful confession: One reason I don’t participate in protests is because I don’t think I can make a difference no matter what. Politically, I’ve had twenty-plus years of being ignored by the Democrats, so why the fuck would they listen to me now? That’s why I appreciate most of the ideas that the Dems have come up with–at least they’re doing something. I do hope that the Women’s March isn’t one and done, but we’ll have to wait and see what will come out of that.
I know this is useless of me to say, but my wish in the upcoming months is that we follow the lead of our *sob* outgoing president and work together to do what’s the best for our country. A grrl can dream, right?
*It has to do with nuclear energy, by the way.
**Exceeded in a negative way. Our bar was very low, and he slid right under it.
***Including him and Uncle Joe, of course.