What The Hell Is Wrong With Everyone?: A Critique of the American Political System

The following appeared in an opinion article I wrote for the college newspaper, The Gettysburgian. I made some additions and edits in light of recent events. If you google it and accuse me of plagiarism, you didn’t read this.

Donald Trump has solidified himself as one of the most divisive figures in American politics that we’ve seen in modern history. His rise to power has been met with stronger opposition than what we’ve seen since Vietnam. He’s made quite a turbulent debut in his first 100 days in office and has been met with both high praise and high opposition.

As a Democrat, I’m thrilled to see other Democrats step up their game and increase their engagement with politics. State and local politics are just as important as federal politics, even if they come off as less sexy and have less star quality.

I’m really excited to see that people are marching against injustices perpetuated by this administration. The grand scale of the Women’s March inspired many other marches- for science, for climate change, for truth. These are causes I agree with. I love this energy that’s been invigorated into the Democratic Party. I want you to keep engaging.

However, there’s still work to do, and we are only four months in. Donald Trump is probably not going anywhere for a while. There’s another year until midterms, and three until 2020 (I’m not touching the impeachment idea here – mainly because I don’t think it’ll happen).The previous champions of the Democratic Party are aging and are about to step out of the limelight for good. And young Democrats, I urge you to remember this is not a sprint – it is a marathon. Pace yourselves and remember that there’s a long way to go. We’ve only made it an inch through this presidency and I don’t want our steam and energy to be worn out by the time it’s truly needed. That energy needs to be harnessed to power the Democratic Party through an identity crisis as we face aging heroes and search for a new hope like what we saw in President Obama.

Democrats, our bench is fairly weak, and the superstars are reaching 70, or in the case of Obama, has no political future. We did make a mistake in putting all of the eggs in the Hillary Clinton basket.

The Democratic National Party is now faced with the divided party that we thought the Republicans would be facing when Hillary won. Bernie Sanders widened that divide and when Hillary won, several of his voters jumped ship to the Trump Train because they didn’t think the establishment worked for them.
A few names are cropping up (Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker), but none are gaining as much star power and that star power needs to consolidate. Don’t force Biden or Bernie to run to buy them some time- what they need are more rising stars and more people that will engage and harness the newfound energy, and keep it going until the elections. In the meantime, the young crop of Democrat officials are now being forced to take sides on a more progressive path like Bernie, or take a moderate path like Hillary.

That choice is being delayed in favor of framing the party as “The Party Trump Isn’t A Part Of.” I don’t think this is the right answer at all. Treat Trump like you would treat any other Republican politician with questions of policies and not his character. Attacking his character was not a strategy that helped them. Focus on the policies, where he went wrong and where the GOP went wrong, and remind his voter base where Trump screwed them – healthcare, tax reform, coal, etc.

As we continue to look back at one of our greatest failures, more and more issues come to light about where the Democratic Party went wrong.

I see recurring themes of a lack of a clear economic message- and while Hillary Clinton had one on her website, it was never pushed or sold as much as it could have been. Find that economic message: pick one side or the other, or preferably reach a compromise, and hit it hard. That was one of Trump’s biggest advantages. Address the Wall Street elephant in the room- the speaking fees can wait until after you’re done being president.

Trump is temporary, but an identity crisis can last for years. Solidify an identity and that can engage people for years to come and lessen the damage Trump causes, and keep that momentum going.

Otherwise, come 2018 and 2020, the GOP is going to look at an aging party laying on napping snowflake millennials and laugh all the way to the U.S. Capitol and the White House.

Then, there’s the other other, more literal elephant in the room- The GOP.

I can appreciate what you stand for from a distance- freedom, protecting constitutional rights, limited government. In practice, that turns out a little wonky. Limited government… unless it comes to a woman’s reproductive system then fuck you, you’re keeping that baby because the government says so.

You might have more of a case if you can find some people with some goddamn human decency somewhere in there.

I’m not touching the policy part here anymore, but it might slip in by accident. I’m talking more about the fact that your representatives are getting increasingly violent. Greg Gianforte bodyslammed a reporter. Donald Trump mocked a disabled reporter, has several rape allegations against him, and has a very explicit tape where he says “grab em by the pussy” and says anyone will let him do anything. Those are just the two highlights right now.

https://twitter.com/pattymo/status/867747816092950528

Bill Clinton had impeachment articles drafted about him regarding lying about a BLOWJOB. You all claim to be the party of principle, yet you cannot grow enough of a spine to condemn anyone’s most egregious actions. Honestly, what the actual hell?

Also, start condemning attacks by white supremacists. Start calling it what it is- white terrorism. It is violent. It is associated with Nazis and the KKK. Racism, homophobia, and islamophobia should not be a platform you should endorse. Remember, your president was endorsed by the KKK?

I watch every day as the layers to the new president peel off like an onion wrapped in Onion headlines. I keep wondering – where is the line in the sand? Was there ever one to begin with? Does Donald Trump need to shoot someone in the face like Dick Cheney to have anything happen to him? Does the fact Trump and the gang have committed numerous felonies already as far as perjury, obstruction of justice, and various false statements under oath not merit any condemnation?

Stop holding party over country. Grow a backbone, slow down, and think for a second. I honestly cannot fathom that you are that hardened to believe that any of this is actually proper behavior. Most of you are grown ass, professional men who served in the military, went through law school, learned some manners somewhere down the line. I don’t know where you ditched those manners, but good lord I hope your mother is disappointed. If not, I sure am.

See, here’s Space Mom being disappointed in you. I think this is an adequate substitute. She’s disappointed in you too, Democrats.

Also, regarding my earlier point about reproductive rights, an issue you want to fix- if you want to minimize abortions, give people proper sex education, remove the stigma around sex, and improve access to birth control so none of this happens to begin with? Honestly guys. You’ll kill more people if you keep doing this.

Rant over. I’m not going to singlehandedly change politics in my current position as an undergrad, but maybe my disdain will translate into more disdain and more changes. In the meantime, I suggest you be that annoying person who contacts your congressmen and tell them to cut the bullshit. The more people who do, the more likely they are to listen.

Make good choices,

Britt