What Is to Be Done?

Quite a few Democrats look forward to 2022 with fear and trembling. Things are so ominous they mute Rachel Maddow and open a bottle of whatever mother’s little helper is handy. What accounts for the gloomy outlook?

Ironically, it is due to the main stream media, which have conceded November 2022 to the Republicans, to be followed by the triumph of the Trump regime two years later.

At this point, is there any way the Democrats can escape their worst nightmare: the end of the political system after which they named their party? One alternative is the politics of position and maneuver, of bare knuckle tactics, of the end justifies the means as long as the only end is power with its perquisites and privileges. The classic example is Sun Tzu, The Art of War. Always popular with corporate CEOs and armchair generals, its advice tends to emphasize the use of terrain, the maintenance of morale and group cohesion, and the surprise massing of troops when and where the enemy does not expect them. Republicans have demonstrated their mastery of such tactics, especially in their accumulation of institutional power in the red states like Texas.

In particular, consistency of character — of actually being who one presents oneself to be — is simply another tactic. Like any mere tactic, it is deployed only as long as it contributes to winning. As in the “triangulation” of Bill Clinton and the corporate centrists who announced that the era of big government and the welfare state as we knew it is over - that social justice and the New Deal were no longer the Democratic brand and that the time had come for Democrats to go GOP Lite.

Or, to take an example closer to home, evangelical preachers told their congregations that Trumpism — the lies, the racism, the sexual predation — was acceptable. Trumpism was merely their God using Satan as his tool to build an extremist judiciary.

Some Democratic strategists say their party should take this direction. Like their opponents, Democrats should bend or break any rule that impedes their accumulation of power. In contrast, other Democrats believe the “message” is the alternative. They say there is a pool of voters out there somewhere. Nonvoters, independents and Republicans in name only can be reeled in if the right message delivered through the right media persuades them. The “right” message is rational, heavy on the facts, and appeals to self-interest.

A third, alternative strategy can point to many historical models. They include the American movements for workers’ rights, minority inclusion and a sane foreign policy. These movements relied primarily on mass direct action, organized outside the electoral system but intended to steer that system in the direction of its founding principles at their best.

So, Democrats, pick your poison. You can become Republican and be willing to win at any cost to your integrity, in the sense that you no longer play fair and now ignore the unwritten rules of the game. Or, you can begin the endless refinement of words and symbols in a vain quest to convince someone who would rather not pay attention. Or, you can take it to the streets, where inevitably the Kyles, the Proud Boys and rogue cops will make you wish you had stayed home with Netflix.

Tom Denyer has resided in the county since 1979.