Dr. StrangeWorld (Or How Liberals Should Stop Worrying About Trump)
Trump Needs Them To Make A Fuss. Without Them, He's Nothing but a Wimp
I love the movie Dr. Strangelove. It’s probably one of my all time top 10 films. The Kubrick black comedy classic is so on point, when RAND Nuclear Analyst Daniel Ellsberg1 came out of the film he commented to a coworker, “That was a documentary.” The movie is not really about nuclear war, it’s about how people THINK about nuclear war and how they rationalize decisions of immense consequence they are obligated to make. When everything seems like its at the most ludicrously catastrophic moment, it’s when Strangelove (played by Peter Sellers in his best role, even though he has three within the film) steps (or should I say rolls?) forward with a way to rationalize it further as a good thing, or at least far more appealing to the people in the war room to the point they accept the new reality.
I bring this up because liberals, despite having the wind knocked out of them by Kamala Harris’ loss in November, are worrying about what the next four years will bring and are starting to organize some form of resistance/protest movement again. To that I say “Stop already.” There are many reasons for this, but the biggest one is that Trump NEEDS liberals to get all unhinged again. It’s what his base wants. It’s what excites them when he sticks it to liberals time and again. When everything is going off the rails in his administration, he points to the most unhinged on the left and says “At least the country’s not being run by THEM!” and many in the political center kind of nods. It’s why he and the right make villains of AOC and the Squad more regularly instead of the more grounded members of Democratic leadership. Dems need to stop playing into his hands.
But there’s another aspect of this; Trump isn’t really after liberals. I mean, what would he do without them? Who he is REALLY after are those with intellectual authority, integrity and the courage to stand up to him. It’s how he’s purged any dissenting Republican from the GOP and made pariahs of them. It’s how he’s neutered much of the neocons who now routinely speak out against him, and now cater to a liberal following. It’s the Jim Comeys, Liz Cheneys and Jack Smiths of the world who seem intent on enforcing the rule of law against him that he wants to shame. Because without a sane, logical, centrist middle of the electorate, all that’s left is his word and the words of professional protestors that few hard working, middle class, blue collar people in the middle of the country relate to. The center doesn’t hold, the best no longer have any conviction, the worst are fueled by passionate intensity, and anarchy is loosed upon America. Anarchy is Trump’s friend.
Instead, liberals need to have faith in the American people again. They can’t force people to agree with them, like they’ve been trying for the past 8 years, slamming people’s faces into every minutiae they disagree with. They need to sit back, let events play out and when things go wrong as they always will, merely say “We told you so.” Trump is no genius and the people he is appointing are dumber than he is. They can’t handle the reins of power, they’ll flail in the worst ways imaginable. Trump can’t ensure markets or calm world order. Whatever fires erupt around the world, the only thing he’s capable of doing is throwing more kerosene on them. Yes, things will get horrible. But again, all liberals need to do is say “We told you so.” Instead of screaming at people who voted for Trump, ease back, welcome them with an open hand, and let them join with you. You attract more bees with honey than with vinegar.
This is what happened after the 2004 election with George W. Bush. Liberals in a post 9/11 world were utterly perplexed and in disarray of what to do. Then in very short order came the following:
The Abu Ghraib scandal. Though initially reported on in April, 2004, much of the details didn’t come out until after the election. As hearings and further reporting demonstrated, the policies of the Bush Administration were horrible in this instance. The photographs and the scandal are still a stain on US Foreign policy 20 years later.
Al Qaida in Iraq. Though there were no Al Qaida in Iraq before the U.S. invasion, and the Bush Administration was still saying “We know there are WMDs in Iraq, we just hadn’t found them yet,” Terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi started causing all sorts of havoc in Baghdad and around the country. Shiite shrines were blown up in attempts to start an internecine holy war. Sunnis, now in the minority, started pushing back on the Shiite led Iraqi government. Every night on the news, IED explosions and mounting American casualties took it’s toll. General Powell’s mantra of “You broke it, you bought it” when it came to Iraq was coming around, and the Bush Admin didn’t know how to fix it.
Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a boy killed in Iraq tried to talk to George W. Bush and was turned away. So she set up a camp a mile down the road from Bush’s Crawford Ranch and basically said she’d leave if Bush talked to her. He never did. What did happen though was that the press played it up as Bush unwilling to talk to a Gold Star Mother and the camp increased in size over the months of July and August, 2005. Here was a very passive form of protest that unified the anti-Iraq War forces for the first time in a very human way.
Right on the heels of the summer of Sheehan, came Hurricane Katrina. If anything ever demonstrated administrative incompetence better than the response to Katrina, I don’t know about it. Bush and his cronies looked out of their depth and he never recovered.
All these things added up. It wasn’t any one of them on their own, but the momentum provided by all of them. They all appealed directly to the middle of the electorate as well, in ways they could rationalize and internalize. People questioned “What are we doing” and “Is this the direction we should be going?” Protesting liberals yell at middle of the road voters their answer; instead they need to just let them get the evidence and come to that conclusion on their own. When they do, and liberals welcome them into the fold, that’s when Democrats turn the corner. You don’t even have to say “I told you so…” instead say “I get it, welcome aboard.”
I have no doubt in my mind the next four years will be rough. But I also know, without hesitation, that Trump and his administration are far too incompetent to make it through a term unscathed. Shit will hit the fan. Trump won’t know what to do about it. He’ll dig himself further into a hole. And at that point he will lose all faith from the American people. It’s as predictable as the sun coming up.
And all you have to do, is stop worrying, accept it’s going to happen, and when the time comes be a part of the solution.
PurpleAmerica’s Obscure Fact of the Day
Dr. Strangelove was the debut movie for James Earl Jones, who plays one of the men aboard the bomber.
PurpleAmerica’s Final Word on the Subject
Here we go….
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Footnotes and Fun Stuff
Who would later become famous in the Pentagon Papers scandal.
Really great read. I think you nailed it.
I think the key is to avoid the phrase "I told you so." We hate it when our spouses, parents, or children tell us, let alone anyone else.
"I get it, welcome aboard" is perfect. Just so.