I was wrong. But I told you so.
During the election I predicted that the nomination of Trump would be the downfall of the Republican party. I thought the Tea Party wave had crested and there was nowhere to go but down. The party was paying the price for their constant racial dog whistle by seeing their parties nomination go to a guy that traded in that whistle for a bullhorn.
I was not unique in any of these predictions.
I thought it didn’t matter who the Democrats nominated. There was no way HE could win. They could’ve nominated ME and won. I actually switched (pivoted?) during the primary from the safe pick of Hillary Clinton to the more progressive Bernie Sanders because I thought “well this thing’s all sewn up, why not go for the moon shot!”.
I was wrong. A lot of people were wrong. Right up until election night, the question wasn’t who would win, it was how historic the landslide would be. It was the first Woman president. Three straight terms of Democrat leadership. Then it happened. Almost every day I am reminded how wrong I was. My “facebook memories” are full of jokes and gloating about how easy the GOP was making it. Boy, was I wrong.
I still think I was right about one thing though. I think Trump is the downfall of the GOP. I think we are watching the Republican party as we know it set themselves on fire in front of our eyes. Maybe the fire won’t be out in 2018. Maybe not even 2020, but it’s burning.
Most people were painfully aware of the racist element of Trump’s campaign from the moment he announced. As it played out, more and more examples came to the forefront. From implying that the mother of a fallen US soldier wasn’t allowed to speak, to “Look at my African American!”. We knew that he was playing on racial fears and hate to gin up his base. The prevailing wisdom at the time was “we don’t know if he is a racist, but he’s definitely speaking their language”. The outright support of the KKK and far right made it pretty obvious that they agreed.
Fast forward to the last few weeks and we have our answer. Donald Trump is a racist who knows that there are some “Fine people” chanting “Jews will not replace us!” and “White Power!”. He sees people pushing and shoving or throwing punches at Nazis, and he sees white supremacists running over a crowd of people with a car and decries the “violence on both sides”. He is now complaining that removing monuments to slavery is somehow going to diminish our history and culture, knowing full well what culture he refers to, and what he means by “our” history. The President of the United States has gone full racist. That is objectively true, yet still shocking to type. Anyone still supporting him has signaled that at the very least, blatant racism isn’t a deal breaker.
Where are GOP members of congress standing up against racism? Where was the rash of cabinet resignations? I don’t want to hear about their self serving “statements” either. Those have about as much actual impact as this rant that nobody will read. Actions speak louder than words, and in this case, the inaction is deafening.
Again I stress, maybe not tomorrow. Maybe not next week. But the pendulum of progress toward equality is past the halfway point. If for no other reason than we are only a couple decades from white people no longer being the majority. It will take decades to undo the system of racial oppression sewn in to the fabric of this country. Generations maybe. One thing has been made clear though by this administration. We’re not going backwards. For all the hatred and rallies and marches, Donald Trump has accomplished nothing as President. Donald Trump will accomplish nothing as president. At this point, making it to the end of his term is his ceiling. The GOP has thrown their lot in with this President. They have chosen the wrong side of history. All that’s left now is to watch it burn and keep our hands warm.
And Resist.