Consequences Be Damned!

There has been a lot of talk lately in the press about what the Democrats are going to do to stop Trump.  All the discussions tend to be about how they lost the election, what their plan is going forward, how they are going to win back the working class, etc.  It is insinuating that this is the Democratic Party’s quandary and if Trump is not stopped, then the blame will be on them.

All media*, TV pundits (Yes, I am speaking to you MSNBC), podcasts, bloggers,  as well as print media  tend to do this.  Take a look at these 2 articles to see what I mean.  The Nation published an article titled “How to Save the Democrats” while the AP published one titled “ Democrats enter a Trump Presidency without a plan or a clear leader”.

Let me clear here.  What the Dems need to do now, is…..wait for it…. NOTHING!  Let me repeat NOTHING!

Trump is the one who is at fault for what he does and for what he proposes.  The media* and all democrats need to stop analyzing the Democratic Party and wondering how the Dems are going to overcome the MAGA movement and fix their party.  Let’s not waste time discussing how to change the party or move far left or more center at this time.  There is a time for that down the road.

Trump won and the voters put him there.  Full stop.

The Dems are not going to overcome anything.  They should not have to. It is not their responsibility.  The voters elected a president.  They wanted Trump whether you can stomach that or not.  When they become disillusioned with Trump, we should not allow them to blame the Democratic Party for Trump’s failures.  The voter knew exactly who they were getting and chose him anyway. (check out my post on the election for my views on why Trump won the 2024 Presidential election)  The voters put Trump in office and they need to hold TRUMP responsible for the consequences and ramifications that are bound to happen.

The media* needs to stop giving Trump a pass by transferring the Harris loss on to the Democratic Party and simply admit that Trump won.  Trump won because people liked what he said, not because Harris and the Dems did something wrong. The voters need to understand that the onus is on them to change those things in government that they don’t like.  It is not just the media* doing this.  While the Trump supporters appeared to be brainwashed into thinking he is this magnificent change agent who is going to ”Make America Great Again”.  The non-supporters have been brainwashed into thinking that Trump’s win and all the ramifications of Trump’s plans and proposals are failures on the Democratic Party.  NO!  The Dems did not fail.  The Trump supporters were not accepting of the Democratic message rightly or wrongly.

I am not saying that the Democratic Party had a perfect message and did not screw up parts of the campaign. I do feel that they put too much emphasis on identity politics and had too many ridiculous slogans like ”Defund the police” which caused them to lose MANY voters.  But that does not give them the blame for losing the election or blame for any future consequences.  The voter simply chose what they preferred.

We all need to change our thinking and blame TRUMP (and his republican colleagues in government) for his ideas and actions.  AND blame the voters for putting him there.  In all other presidential elections, the press always blamed the president not the losing party for all the presidential actions.  Consistently insinuating, ‘well, if the Dems would step up and fix their party, then they would have won/could have won an election’ is not accurate or helpful.  It removes the blame from Trump and puts the onus on the Democratic Party to stop him.  It basically says that Trump did not win, that the Democratic Party loss what was rightfully theirs.

What should we do now?

Whether you are a talking head on TV or in discussions with family and friends, we should all be doing the same thing now.  We should be in response mode right now and not action mode. We need to stop trying to change the past, by discussing the future. What I mean by this is that we need to stay on current issues and stop discussing future elections. We are on the precipice of real change, and failure to do this can result in a change in our country that no one wants.  We can do this by just tweaking your thinking and how you speak when discussing the issues.

We need to stop trying to change the past, by discussing the future.

Every talking head on any type of media* needs to concentrate on the ramifications and consequences of all and any Trump initiative.  Currently, our media* gives us a description of what trump wants to do and then discussion about if it is illegal and how the Dems are going to stop him.  Many people don’t care if it is illegal if a change is implemented for the better. That is why many voters supported Trump because he is considered a change agent.  The problem is that they are judging the Trump initiatives naively, without all the information. It may sound good on the surface, but once presented with how this will affect them and their daily lives, they most likely will feel differently.  What is missing in the discussions are the real effects in how Trumps plans will affect them.  I see most Trump voters viewing Trump’s policies on how they will affect other people and not themselves directly..

(e.g.  Mass deportation of illegal immigrants.  The voter feels that illegal immigrants are deserving of deportation.  The illegal immigrant is TAKING from the voter.  The voter does not understand how the illegal immigrants are the ones who are working in the fields picking our food.  Discussions in the media* need to show the effects of the loss of those workers and how it will affect the voter’s pocketbook and availability of food.)

I propose that the media* should introduce the Trump plans and initiatives and then state in simple and realistic terms how that will affect the people, the voter directly.  Do this first, before discussing if it has congressional support or will get challenged in the courts.  If you do this first, you get the voters’ attention. The media* tends to report on too high a level, but needs to be more in the weeds.  While many people (voters) understand an issue in general, they lose the connection on how this affects their lives.

Trump wants to eliminate FEMA

For example, Trump recently proposed getting rid of FEMA and have the each individual state government take responsibility for disaster relief.  What would that mean for the public?  Instead of reporting on whether this is legal or how he would get this through congress, the media* should report on the consequences of Trump’s idea. A few non-exclusive examples:

  • First, the media* could explain that all state and local governments have fixed budgets, that they cannot overspend for disaster relief like the federal government can. (remember all the talk about raising the debt ceiling). There is no exception for this. The state government will need to cover disaster relief with other dollars that come from another part of the budget, (e.g., schools, roads, social services, etc.).  Huge disasters could wipe out an entire state’s budget.  The media* needs to say this and not assume that everyone understands that.
  • The discussion should then go on to discuss, what this means if you are in a state that has no state income tax, or are considered a poor state. Where will the disaster relief funding come from? The federal government will no longer help the state recover from these events.  The state government cannot possible aid the recovery.
  • A discussion about insurance for disasters and how ALL states carry the burden of higher insurance claims whether you have disasters or not. This is touched upon in reports, but does not get into the nitty gritty about how Midwesterners are paying for higher insurance premiums due to all the hurricane and fire claims for example. Straight talk is needed in this topic.

Do you see the difference?  Many don’t care if FEMA is dismantled if they don’t live in an area with frequent natural disasters.  Many don’t care if something is court challenged if they feel the change is needed.  But they could change their opinion of the issue if the realistic consequences are presented to them so they understand the connection to their daily lives.  This will hit their pocketbook.

Returning America to Common Sense Again (RACSA? anyone).

While that may seem idealistic, it is at least a start.  There are voters out there, that may need to get burned before realizing any consequences.  Remember when you were a kid and your parents repeatedly told you to not touch the stove because it was hot and you would get burned?  The problem is that when you are really young you did not know what “burned” meant.  Some kids would touch the stove anyway and they found out what “burned” meant by dealing with the pain.  I think there may be some people who need to be burned a few times before they wise up to what is happening.  We don’t want them to transfer the blame for Trump’s initiatives to the media* because the media* did not inform them of the consequences.  The media* needs to tell the Trump supporter when there is danger and how they will get burnt.  The Trump supporter may need to feel the pain of being burned before wising up and realizing what Trump is doing to our country.  The last thing the non-Trump supporter should do is be overprotective and try to save the Trump supporter from the pain.  It is necessary at this point.

What this all comes down to is that the Dems just need to sit back and inform the public when needed, but do nothing to stop Trump.  Congressional leaders still need to vote for/against issues that they support/oppose and they shouldn’t give in unless they get something in return.  But everyone needs to stop all the discussion about trying to convince the Trump voter that they voted against their best interest.  The consequences need to show the voters that Trump IS against their best interest.  They need to get burned to learn their lesson just like the little kid and the stove.

Our country is so far into the MAGA movement, that it is not productive to fight it.  The result is that the MAGA followers simply scapegoat the Democratic Party, liberal ideals, and the media*.  We simply need to do nothing to stop MAGA, and allow it to burn itself out.  It is not changeable at this point. Our role should now be to inform and make sure people understand that elections have consequences and to point out the consequences proactively and when they happen.  That will be our only chance of Returning America to Common Sense Again (RACSA? anyone).

Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys

So, what should everyone do now that Trump is in office and trying to implement his policies?  Not much.   The Dems and other non-Trump voters  need to sit back and wait for the consequences to happen (while hoping that these consequences can be reversed in the future).  The only pro-active thing to do is point out the potential consequences ahead of time, and thenfollow up with discussion about how these consequences will affect the voters directly.  The Dems need to be there in the end to save the country from itself, not prevent the country from following someone they now believe and CHOOSE to follow.

We need to stand back and allow the country to get burnt, while hoping that it does not get scarred for life

Personally, I am not going to march, protest, or do anything proactively to stop him.  Those days are done.  I am not going to argue with people over whether Trump is a fascist or not.  My activist days are behind me. Elections have consequences. I am just going to write this blog, point out the consequences, and discuss the consequences, but have no interest in trying to prevent anything from happening. It needs to happen in order for voters to  appreciate the country they now have.  If the 2024 presidential campaigns could not convince voters to not vote for Trump, there is little campaigning that can convince anyone otherwise.  We need to stand back and allow the country to get burnt, while hoping that it does not get scarred for life. I decided to take a “not my circus, not my monkeys” approach to dealing with the Trump administration.

-MOTL

*I use media* to cover all forms of press, TV, print, blogs, podcasts, etc.

 

“Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune.”

~William James