The Fight for the Protection of our Democracy
By Quardricos Bernard Driskell
The year of 2018 is percolating with potential for turning into one of “those years.” That is to say, years that come along maybe a time or two a century that serves as pivots from one view or state of the world to something notably different with serious turbulence along the way. Think 1492 (a lot more than Columbus), 1861, 1914, 1939, or 1968.
In 2018, we mercifully are not at the precipice of a major war. However, we do have the separation of families because of Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy on immigrants crossing the borders; the Supreme Court’s affirming imposition of a travel ban of dubious justification; the potential threat of an enigmatic and erratic North Korea (even with the President , having met with Kim Jong Un, anxious to proclaim otherwise); trade skirmishes “of choice” flirting with world trade free for all for the first time post WWII; and the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh. All this is piled into a first half of the year make it seem that America is living in the twilight zone struggling to find its way out. Did I forget to mention the lurking Mueller investigation seeking to make a coherent assessment of an extensive cast of characters, encircling the President, that is exceptionally compromised at least ethically, if not legally?
If all this was not enough, July 16, 2018, was a truly defining moment in our democratic republic as everything that happened in Helsinki was treasonous.On the question of who hacked our election, Trump said, “I don’t see any reason why it would be” Russia. In a bit of shocking moral equivalence, Trump added of the United States and Russia that “We are all to blame… both made some mistakes.” Trump said exactly the same, “both sides are to blame” in Charlottesville with “good people on both sides.” He has a pattern of false moral equivalence.
Trump purports to, or presents as, loving that which he really loathes and comes into relationship with that which he does not really even know. His bone-deep narcissism allows him contact only with that which reflects back to him the self-image that he adores. Has he even tried to reach out in other directions to find some common cause with folks who have some differences with him and who are not part of his preferred reflecting surface? There is a serious character flaw resident that should have been disqualifying for the role into which he fell.
This is overwhelming evidence that the President, for the first time in our country’s history—either deliberately, through gross laxity, or because of his own twisted personality—engaged in treasonous behavior. It is behavior that violates his oath of office to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
The reality is that truth is under attack. Our democracy is under attack. The law is under attack. The press is under attack. Minorities are under attack. Minority faith traditions such as Judaism and Islam are under attack. Christ is under attack by Evangelicals who place politics before Christ. Moral depravity seeps in from on high in the White House. Therefore, the question I pose is “What is the church, more specifically the Black Church, going to do?” People, even the most progressive among us, can see a problem but do not know what to do about the problem. Thus, they get accustomed to the problem as if it is normal.
Moreover, the sad reality is that Congress is not going to do anything substantive about this either. They have no idea what more they should be doing against what they have already done particularly with sanctions against Russia.
Be clear, the divide in our country existed long before Trump. He is just the post-child to what began in the 1980s with the Moral Majority, the rise of the Tea Party, the Internet, and a 24-hour news cycle that allows us to be more soloed. For the longer term, there must be a resolution in an evident crisis of moral leadership.
As such, the biggest problem with our government is that it makes decisions based not on facts but on politics, emotions, and ideology. This leads to huge problems in governance because instead of creating smart policies we are creating partisan ones.
The 2018 election will perhaps be the most consequential midterm in the lifetimes of all Americans at least under the age of 70 and, arguably, even going back farther than that. Americans, to be clear, are deeply divided on all sorts of issues—abortion, guns, immigration, climate, and race. Moreover, on some of those issues, public opinion is significantly more conservative than liberals often like to admit. A majority of Americans lean decidedly left on taxes, healthcare, minimum wage, and education funding. However, the share of Americans who distrust their government is an astounding 74%, with only 19% satisfied with it according to a 2016 Gallup poll. My intuition says that this likely has not improved. This means American leadership has been preoccupied with what is not important to the average everyday citizen in America. The American people want solutions, alternatives to the current norms. They want to be able to provide for their families, send their children to a strong school, and live according to our liberties and freedoms.
Where are the centrist politicians concerned with the middle class? Was a mere tax cut sufficient to sate their appetites on the Republican side for governance? The fight for our federal republic will be a tough pit bull fight. Will it all get worse before it gets better?
Langston Hughes is one of my favorite poets. In 1935, he wrote in his poem, “Let America Be America Again,” Hughes writes, “Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain. Seeking a home where he himself is free.(America never was America to me.)”
Perhaps Langston had a point. Of course he did! America certainly is not America to me when children are separated from their parents at the border. America certainly is not America to me when the Supreme Court affirmed the Muslim “travel ban.” America certainly is not America to me when the president of the United States sold America down the river to Russia. Will America ever be American again?
The Rev. Quardricos Bernard Driskell is a federal lobbyist and an adjunct professor of legislative affairs and religion and politics at The George Washingto University Graduate School of Political Management. Follow him on Twitter @q_driskell4.
