WHO READS YESTERDAY'S PAPERS?

No matter how badly Republicans have screwed up over the past 50 years, Beltway pundits can’t seem to help themselves.  They believe, as an article of faith, that Republicans are masters of governance.  Republicans are pros, and Democrats are amateurs.

Never mind the Watergate scandal, Iran-Contra, and the disastrous wars in the Middle East.  Let us not speak of the racist, know-nothing elements that now form the majority of the GOP voting base.  Let us also ignore the GOP’s abandonment of core principles such as family values and fiscal responsibility.  Not even Donald Trump’s obvious collusion with Russia to steal the 2016 presidential election is enough to derail the narrative. 

Inside the Beltway, Republicans are assumed to be the adults in the room.  Republicans were born to rule. 

A half-century of real-world events have made it clear that Republican leaders are corrupt and/or incompetent.  But Beltway pundits can’t process that, so they just look the other way.  But even when they look the other way, they still see the world through the decades of Republican spin.  They can’t make sense of the evidence in front of their face.  That’s why, when forced to concede that there was, in fact, a Blue Wave in the 2018 mid-term elections, they’ve turned to their favorite fallback narrative – Democrats are in disarray. 

My take:  Democrats are not in disarray.

Why do I believe this?  Well, first of all, there’s the actual election earlier this month, in which Democrats did remarkably well.  They picked up at least 39 seats in the House of Representatives, the largest mid-term gain since 1974.  If the party that picked up 39 seats is in disarray, how would you describe the party that lost those 39 seats? 

The Republican Party is about as homogeneous as you can get in these here United States, c. 2018.  Democrats are a diverse bunch, and that means they sometimes disagree about tactics, strategies, and even about policies.  Beltway pundits see that as weakness.  Their heroes are manly men who impose their will on everyone else.  No thanks, fellas. 

It’s no coincidence that the Democrats who are taking the most flak from the punditocracy are women.  After two years of scapegoating Hillary “lock her up” Clinton and Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren, Republicans and their friends in the media have focused their ire on Nancy Pelosi, who, at the age of 78, was a much more effective House Minority Leader than Paul Ryan was as Speaker of the House during the first two years of the Trump regime. 

But it’s the 28-year-old newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who has conservatives absolutely frothing at the mouth.  OMG – she’s not only a woman, but she’s young, and also Puerto Rican.   

Republicans and the punditocracy are mostly older, wealthy, white, and male.  They’ve spent their lives expecting deference from women, minorities, and young people.  When they don’t get it, they’re angry and hurt.  Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.  Welcome to the 21st century, guys.

Last week, Politico’s Michael Grunwald tweeted “Can someone explain why Republicans gleefully investigate imaginary corruption while Democrats seem afraid to investigate real corruption?”  Hold on there, bub.  Grunwald is dead right about the Republican penchant for trying to cover up their own corruption by investigating Democrats.  But he’s dead wrong about the rest of it.  Democrats are NOT afraid to investigate real corruption.  Don’t believe it?  Wait until after January 3, when the new House majority is sworn in, Robert Mueller has unsealed a few more subpoenas, and Adam Schiff starts issuing subpoenas.

Oh, sure, you can find timid Democratic voices – politicians in swing districts who feel obliged to tone down the rhetoric, or old-timers who are stuck in the go-along/get-along mode.  But there aren’t many of them, and they won’t be making decisions for the party. 

I went to bed on election night feeling OK about the results.  A solid win in the House, and a good effort in the Senate, where the odds were stacked against Democrats – and where Mike Espy has a fighting chance against the awful Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi.  As days passed, and more close races were won by Democrats, I felt even better. 

The hard part is waiting.  As I write this, we’re 40 days away from January 3, when the new Democratic House majority will be sworn in.  We know that congressional Republicans will do their best to pass pernicious legislation while they still have a majority in the House.  We can be confident that Donald Trump will behave erratically.  He’ll say and do silly things, stupid things, and evil things.

We can also be confident that Robert Mueller will keep calm and carry on, and that he has contingency plans ready for whatever Trump throws at him.  He steadfastly refuses to show his cards, which is a good thing – albeit a frustrating thing for people like me who are eager for him drop the hammer on the Trump crime family. 

My advice (in case anyone cares)?  Our job right now is to be patient.  We won the battle we had to win.  Come January 3, the balance of power will shift further in our direction.  Sooner rather than later, aspiring presidential candidates will begin jockeying for position.  Let’s give all of them a fair hearing. 

Above all, let’s not succumb to the temptation to re-litigate the 2016 Democratic primaries.  If you see people on Facebook or Twitter trying to resuscitate the Clinton-Sanders feud, assume they’re either trolls or Russian bots.  Don’t get sucked down that rabbit hole. 

The good Lord willing, neither Bernie nor Hillary will be the Democratic standard bearer in 2020, and that’s a good thing.  I’m a baby boomer myself, and it’s time for my generation to let go.  Both Sanders and Clinton are right about a lot of things, and good for them.  But their window of opportunity has come and gone.  In 2020, I want to vote for someone younger than I am. 

I endorse the sentiment expressed by President John F. Kennedy in his inaugural address:“Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage—and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.”