On on, Mr. Blow. We need your reminders and will continue to need them.
Those of us who like me have worked hard their entire career, as civilians, in support of national defense and national security, must be alert to what seems to be happening in Washington these days. My brother, who served in the Army during WW II, might be troubled - even though he was a Republican.
MAGA? More like MADA: Make America Divided Again.
8
If, as people here suggest, this war goes back to the 1930's were JFK, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and perhaps JFK Jr., victims of this war?
2
Let's start with Priority No. 1 on Donald Trump's 100-day action plan to Make America Great Again - what he called a contract between himself and the American voter. He promised his administration would immediately pursue several measures to clean up corruption and collusion.
The first item on the list: a Constitutional Amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress.
We are still waiting for it, President Trump!
3
The fact of public record is plain and irrefutable. The states long ago satisfied the requirements of Article V for an Article V Convention call. See: www.foavc.org. They have done so 11 times. Congress has refused to obey the Constitution and call the required conventions. So, when you read columns like this remember what the author is really saying is the government should have the power to veto the Constitution and he supports such efforts. Liberals accuse Trump and others of vetoing the Constitution. In fact both political sides support this effort. It should come as little surprise to anyone therefore that the effort is succeeding.
3
Please, don’t keep publishing these dire predictions without concrete prescriptions. We can’t take all the doomsaying anymore unless we feel there is something to DO about it all.
12
Yo Blow, say Hello to the newest SC Justice, Brett Kavanaugh. And in the course of the next two years, say hello to future SC Justice, Amy Barrett, who will be replacing RBG. How’s that working out for you?
17
Sorry, but it's too late democrats, independents and liberals. Kavanaugh is just the noose being tightened. The coming November elections will be the nail on the coffin. The GOP is now blaming China without evidence. They are planting the seeds for invalidating elections. The GOP is in power, they pull all the strings.
There will be no blue wave. After November, many on the Dems side, who know they can't defeat the other side, will just join 'em.
4
Sorry but using the word “war” is a dog-whistle term that advocates violence against your political opponents. Instead of walking onto baseball fields and shooting at Republicans maybe Democrats should re-connect with the middle and get back to kitchen tables issues like jobs and national security instead of obsessing over “-isms” which does nothing but make our culture toxic.
24
Bad ol rich w/m’s are targets now,eh. Does that give us working class w/m’s some slack for a change, maybe? Maybe not! We will continue to be the easiest ones to use as whipping boys and dummies in commercials and jokes until one day we all decide to quit and dropout when pot becomes legal. Then who will pay the taxes and serve.....?
11
The GOP knows they really only represent the 1% and that can't win an election. They had/have a long term plan to control states and courts at all levels. Its working. If the Democrats, in theory, represent the "people" and "Liberal Democracy", they need a long term plan to reverse this. Aim for the goal of "one person, one vote". Do this by setting an example in primaries and Democratic controlled states. Make it so good and fair that people in Republican states will want it too.
5
We've been at war for a long time in this country. It's not a hot war, though one side thinks it is for all the sturm und drang for the right to possess weapons of war. However, this war is more like the Cold War, with one side working really hard to bury the other side. No mercy for minorities, college-educated liberals, labor unionists, single payer health advocates, moderate judges, and anyone else who gets in General McConnell's way.
The liberals in this war aren't really interested in guns or shovels to bury those on the other side. All we want is to figure out how we can all get along and accommodate our differences.
To do that, however, we need to mobilize, pick leaders who will not stand for right-wing craziness, and, for God's sake, get them elected. I hope enough liberal citizens, or maybe just enough reasonable people, are motivated to vote on November 6.
No more waking up to the disaster that befell us in 2016. And if the liberals win this time, it won't end the war, it will just be an important battle. It is one I am sorry to say will have to be fought over and over in every state and every election until, perhaps, demographics finally puts this terrible era in our history to rest.
7
Charles points out: “There are two ways that amendments to the Constitution can be proposed: One is by a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate, and the other is by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the states.”
That is an alarming statement when you consider more than half of State Legislatures are under GOP control, and most of them by right-wing evangelical sympathizers. In sum: a constitutional convention to make the USA into a so-called “Christian” nation is within reach, stressing dignity for ... ? Fill in the blank.
4
“Laws mean something.”
Laws that came into existence — going back to colonialism — as oftentimes, the slave owning class established arbitrary rules to be rigidly adhered to and enforced in their presence.
So when the US Constitution was amended to “end slavery, except for prison,” they made prison a legalized form of slavery and just changed the label. By using legislation and the enforcement of the penal code allows a legal way to ensnare, entrap and enslave unsuspecting people along with the truley guilty ones.
Entire communities and generations of families have been besieged by infractions (to distractions - Serena.) Then there is this entire cottage industry of jail, bail bondsmen, bounty hunters, lawyers and parole boards all wanting their cut into your life, money and freedom.
The Originalist-Texutalist view of the Constitution may also be held side by side with those who believe the Bible to be taken literally.
Their literal interpretation of textual and originalistic thinking at the time of drafting the Constitution completely clashes with the concept of human conception and life going forward. If that’s the case, then one’s place in the world, their future and entire potential all are bound to the circumstances at the time of their conception.
1
Part one:
The “Electoral College” was the result of delegates at the constitutional convention of 1787 trying to sway The South into accepting the constitution.
The South had a smaller population (of wealthy white men) so there was no reason for them to accept a bi-cameral legislature with one house elected on basis of population, another with equal representation when just New York and Massachusetts could outvote the entire South every time. Then they were offered the three-fifths compromise, allowing them to count their slaves, who could not benefit from or take part in this system, per 3/5 of ONE person for THEIR own representational purposes, and the electoral college, which provided for indirect executive elections by states, based on, you guessed it, total number of representatives from both houses of congress.
The lie is that the electoral college provides a check and balance against people, the “general electorate,” who could be easily misled. This is nonsense. The people writing this constitution were among the only people allowed to vote at the time: Rich white men who owned substantial property and who would never assume themselves to be “stupid” or “easily misled.” It was purely to give The South representation on par with The North by counting slaves. It’s no coincidence that four of the first six Presidents were from the South, Virginia specifically, and each served two terms, for a total of thirty-two years to eight years.
5
Couldn't have said it better. This is what frightens me the most. We're seeing a tree being torn down while the entire forest is aflame.
4
Listen to him:
THIS IS ABOUT POWER. Nothing else.
But we have raised so many generations, now, who haven't the slightest idea what real, hard-nosed political and military power is--who have never read nor even know who Machiavelli, Hobbes, Burke, and Bismarck were--that they are useless.
The new generations of Democratic candidates don't matter: they will get to Washington and be swallowed by the old machine, and be as useless as Schumer, Pelosi, and Feinstein.
This all ends badly; more badly than any of them can suspect.
The nation is on the verge of civil war: be ready for it.
9
The rich and powerful on the right are just plain scared of the changing demographics in our country and scared of loosing their influence over the political process. People of good conscience from all sides of the political spectrum must unite and vote the sycophants, who support the oligarchs, out of office. This is class warfare sometimes masquerading as racism.
7
Blow simply does not see his own preoccupations and how they affect his perceptions.
Race is not a biological reality. People use that wonderful ability to communicate and to then imagine what only exists in their minds to think and to act. We call it pretending when we are children. When we are adults it becomes much more serious but it's still our imagination at work. Race is just that. So much harm which could have been ended so simply. Just wake up and see.
Wake up and see.
6
Charles, you continue to be my favorite columnist. You understand better than most that Republicans will stop at nothing to suppress the will of the majority. They can do this only if they continue to win elections. My fear is that people will absorb Trump, McConnell, Kavanaugh, and the current Republican dominance and give up. Instead, this is exactly the moment when the majority must speak as it has never spoken before. This is more critical than even the Obama election of 2008. If Trump and the Republicans are soundly rejected in November, this whole saga will simply be the last gasp of angry reactionaries attempting to hold back the tidal wave of modernism. The voters must make it happen.
6
Isn't it about time to tell the truth. Our country was founded on the belief that "all men are created equal". WHITE MEN. No one else. The lighter you are the more equal you are. Now the only difference is the greener you are the more equal you become. The rest is and has been obviously unequal. WE must fight! Fight back! Vote Democratic Vote!
5
There are 84 million millennials that are eligible to vote in a month. 80% of the females are Democrats. They will be our salvation if they only show up!
4
I’m an outsider who follows events in the USA closely and has travelled extensively there for more than 50 years. I’m struck by your country’s dual tradition. When Americans build huge tools of mastery, whether material or cultural, they appear liberating at first but soon display their terrifying essence. Then resistance takes shape and grows, nourished by successive revelations of damning facts. Resistance has, at important junctures, become overpowering - strong enough to win the allegiance of the great majority and shatter part of the mastery asserted by the dominant tradition. A standoff ensues; resistance eventually is beaten back and forced underground or into well defined corners. But it never dies out.
From abroad we see both Americas - the builders of railroads, nuclear arsenals and digital network traps, and the resistance: indigenous peoples protecting land; black slaves, freedom fighters, radical performers and intellectuals; white labour organizers, socialists, communists and musicians; feminists, environmentalists, prison reformers and abolitionists; defenders of social justice and human rights; journalists and scholars unearthing the facts that power persuasion, organization and action. Many of us prefer this latter America: the brilliant rainbow of resistance spanning your country’s history. We hope to see shining moments in the near future, in the spirit of the words on Woody Guthrie’s guitar: This Machine Kills Fascists.
11
This is a perceptive and important column. Mr. Blow recognizes that Republicans are playing a long game -- 48 years, if you date it from the 1971 Lewis Powell memo to the US Chamber of Commerce. We Democrats are usually playing catch-up, trying to minimize the damage that the Republicans have caused. It's hard for us to get ahead of them on that, so don't feel bad.
Republicans are helped in this long game by their party discipline, which is much more conformist than in the Democratic party. As a Republican, you vote the party line, or else.
I hear some Democratic voices in the Comments sections say that they want a Constitutional Convention to do away with the Electoral College. And, as Mr. Blow accurately observes, a Constitutional Convention is exactly what the Republicans want.
So please, take Charles Blow's advice and do everything in your power to remove Republicans from office (including your local school board and town council), and do everything in your power to prevent a Constitutional Convention.
And vote on November 6, and encourage everyone you know to vote.
6
Liberals aka Biden, Sanders, Clinton, Obama, Schumer, Pelosi etc aren't built for war.
How did" going high when they go low" workout?
How are Clinton's and the Obama's fighting by collecting and counting their coins earned from their public service?
How many votes did being bipartisan and moderate win for the ACA aka Obamacare and for Merrick Garland?
How are liberals going to fight Benjamin Netanyahu Vladimir Putin and King Salman?
7
This is not war, this is a time of persuasion. The balance of power lies with independents. Unless the vitriol and talk of violence transforms to the voice of reason, you can expect the majority of independents to vote for stability. not structural change.
For too long we have focused on the radical not the rational, divisiveness not cooperation, force not fairness. The writer has it exactly wrong. Most of America is better than that. Our first President said, "the survival of a republic depends on its virtue." Only when we respect each other, lose or win with equanimity, and appeal to the greater good, can we tip the scales towards a "more perfect union."
12
Two points, one minor, one major.
Minor: The quote by the Washington Post that "each indivvidual Wyoming vote weights 3.6 times more than an individual Californian's vote", likewise other comments noting that voters in low-population states have disproportionate voting power, is true but misleading.
The Founders debated long and hard over whether the individual states should have equal voting power, or whether such power should be in proportion to their populations. In the end, they settled on both - a Senate where states had equal voting power (2 Senators per state) and a House where the number of Representatives of each state was proportional to its population.
Major point: I entirely agree with Blow's overall point. Yes, Kavanaugh controversy is but one battle in a larger war, over whether power and money accrue to only a few (the historical norm) or to the many. In that context, a constitutional convention called by two-thirds of the states, while valid, is a scary proposition if you disagree with whatever unifies the two-thirds.
All that said, a supermajority is a deliberately difficult hurdle. Both Dems and Reps have, replaced it with simple majorities, to the country's detriment. Democrats, unable to confirm federal judges, were warned by Republicans not to replace a required supermajority (60 votes) with a simple majority. They went ahead and did it. Republicans then did the same for Supreme Court justices. The supermajority discouraged judicial extremism.
5
Thank you, Mr. Blow, for your brilliance.
1
Originalism is piddle-paddle. The federalists don't REALLY believe in it. For example, the 7th Amendment says: "In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law." Yet they push to force these lawsuits into arbitration, where no jury sits, an arbitrator gets repeat business from corporations, and there is no judicial review. How is this originalism? Not much dispute about what "Shall be preserved" means. But somehow the same people who piously proclaim their fidelity to the words of the founders are fine with ignoring them where it hurts the rich and the powerful. You should laugh at anyone who professes to be an "originalist."
6
@paulg
Original Intent was a stick wielded by one supposed intellectual titan to beat down everyone who stood in his way. Scalia was a pea-brained bully who used intellectual intimidation to beat down anyone who had the "nerve" to question him or his "intent." And everyone fell for it.
Intellectual titans never resort to things like "Only and idiot would assume......" as Scalia did.
5
Long-term we need to establish thriving cities in every state. Cities vote blue, cities are the incubators of democracy and liberalism. Let's start with Wyoming, it has the lowest population of any state, about half a million people, Donny took it by only 120 thousand votes. Can we get that many people to move there from cities? An average house is about 200 thousand, which many Silicon Valley folks would find affordable. I doubt there are a hundred thousand jobs there, but perhaps we can recruit people who work from home? Two more Democratic Senators would be worth a whole lot.
3
@Jennie Suppose citizens of Wyoming like their beautiful state the way it is? Suppose they don't want you to destroy it?
8
Yes, stereotyping people by race is the right way to proceed, We should round up all these rich white people and all of our problems will go away. I have an even better idea, let's harass, censor, and violently attack the people we are trying persuade, because our bullying and intimidation have worked in the past. We must force others to think like us. We will not brook any dissent. There is no room for debate and we will not tolerate opposing views. We must be strong because we are never wrong. Yes, let us double down on what we have been doing because eventually it has to work. Stay strong my liberal genders, together we will force those who oppose us to join our cause even if it means tearing this nation apart. Damn the consequences of our actions, full torpedoes ahead!
17
Until all Fifty States require by *law verifiable paper ballots *with printed receipts for the voters, voting is still a game for children bcuz even children can hack the standard electronic voting machine.
Many States outlaw having the voting machine software examined by an impartial observer just *before the balloting begins, which means that the machines may be *pre-hacked for the convenience of corrupt electioneers !
Many States also *outlaw paper ballots and/or verifiable receipts. The bulk of these State laws were proposed and passed *by Republican State Legislatures.
People - when we have LAWS on the Books *preventing a fair vote,
let us not pretend surprise when there IS no fair vote taking place.
Similarly, in a Country were it is *LEGAL TO BUY Elections, (Citzen's United Decision) let us discontinue our disingenuous surprise and
outrage over the fact that our Elections *ARE being bought (often by the same people who develop and then protect by law, the illegally programmed electronic voting machines on behest of *their corporate masters).
We wonder why SO few people get out to Vote ?
We need to provide REAL elections in which people *can participate.
As long as we stick with Corporate Sponsored Potemkin Elections,
People who see thru that *crap WILL *quite understandably stay home. We can no longer have it BOTH ways.
Trump is correct in *one statement. The System IS "rigged" ..... rigged in favor of Corporate Criminals and the 1%.
2
Hey, Blow. "This is war?" You need guns to fight an actual war and you Libs don't like guns, remember? What's your plan, have all the Libs join the NRA? LOL!!!
9
@Mike
You don't understand war very much, do you?
6
Charles Blow can speak for himself but I’ll tell you how I’d solve it: Millennials. 84 million of them are eligible to vote in midterms. 80% of the female millennials are Democrats.
3
@Mike -- I'm a liberal, I don't "like" guns. I suspect I know a great deal more about military weaponry than you do, including how to use it.
You need to go learn some military history, about revolutions and counterterrorism. You should reflect on the Civil War ... and why the north won. You should understand why the Viet Cong and the NVA could throw the USA out of Viet Nam ... and why Al Queda and ISIL found out very quickly that they could not fight US forces even with guerrilla tactics ... and retreated to IADs.
But most of all, you need to understand why fat old white men and armed with Glocks and AR-15s aren't going to be anything but the quickly-dead.
When you do, you'll stop the braggadocio.
5
We must avoid the constitutional convention at all costs. Let us create the constitutional amendments necessary to force our world upon the conservative judiciary. We can start with terms for supreme court justices, roll back Citizens United, and clear up the right to regulate arms.
3
Apparently, Russian operatives have hacked the NY Times and posted a column under the byline "Charles M. Blow".
15
Pathetic excuse for journalism... This country has a constitution, I know democrats hate our constitution, but that is too bad. The Supreme Court is not your tool, it exists to interpret the constitutionality of laws. People like you are pushing this country dangerously close to tyranny acting like a wild mob of animals rather than civilized human beings. You tore a guys life apart based on unsubstantiated claims with ZERO evidence. This is a new low from you guys. I hope you all lose big in November.
17
@Brian
AND people like you claiming one half of the entire nations hates the constitution? You are? Take a good look in the mirror, pal. You want "tyranny?" We've already got it and it wears a racist republican hat.
Kavanaugh's life wasn't torn apart, or even scarred. He got the job he didn't deserve without EVER arguing ONE cause in court. It's a new low from you regressives when you "feel sorry" for someone whose professional life you know nothing about, but still assert is worthy.
4
@Brian it seems to me Republicans in the US have resorted to so much projection that even they believe their own lies. The Republican party elects a buffoon for president and proceeds to refer to everyone else as fools and clowns and stupid; they support a man who lies during confirmation hearings and elevate to him to the Supreme Court, yet his accuser is portrayed as the liar; Lindsey Graham screams and hollers like a lunatic during the Senate hearings, but the "libs" are uncivilized; the Republicans have all 3 branches of government and control most State legislators, yet the "libs" want tyranny? Wow. That's rich.
11
Um, OK. So Mr. Blow thinks we are in a race war. That conservatives want a race war. Good gracious.
8
Word.
2
yeah-keep on playing the race card. all the while you lose sight-intentionally, no doubt-about what it takes to make an honest living, white, black ,brown, green, yellow, whatever. your whining about the white man is foolish and misses the point. maybe, charles blow, you need to get the h out of nyc and figure out how the rest of this great country works.
11
King Vittorio Emmanuele III invited Mussolini to be prime minister and Paul von Hindenburg named Hitler as Chancellor of Germany—both were thought to be useful idiots who could be controlled. History didn't work out that way. Is Trump a useful idiot or an idiot savant? I would say the latter. He has no acumen for policy but an innate talent for demagoguery. The establishment Republican wheel behind the wheel is every bit as pernicious as you say. But we should not dismiss Trump lightly.
10
Oh great, adding fuel to the identity politics fire. Can the NYT at least rise above reductionist critical theory "power relationship and identity" analysis? Apparently not. I know, white men started it. They wrote the constitution to oppress you.
13
@Mathias Yes, they actually did. The original framework of the US Constitution is designed to ensure that rich white men hold on to power. Did you not read it? It's only 4 pages long, not that hard to understand. Give it a go.
6
@Alice PS- You may have heard that it has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to be broader that that now.
Try replacing the words "white men" with "Jews" in this article and see how it sounds.
21
You missed the point, and profoundly so. The emphasis is not upon white men, but powerful white men- the patriarchy. There is an enormous difference, largely based upon class.
3
With Clarence Thomas I thought misogynist sexual predators were adequately represented on the Supreme Court. Why do we need Brett Kavanaugh?
7
There is no longer any doubt that the left is a mob of fascists. They have repealed due process and now openly demand armed conflict (that's Webster's definition of "war") between Americans. They have never liked freedom or democracy, and their temper tantrum since losing a free and fair election to Donald Trump has driven them over the edge into genuine clinical insanity. Donald Trump IS the resistance, protecting our democracy and ourselves from these unhinged fanatics
18
@Larry
Dude, there's no doubt in anyone's mind that you're a complete fool.
Fascists? Repealed "due process" during what? It was a JOB INTERVIEW, not a trial.
Besides, Trump LOST that election, by THREE MILLION votes.
And Fascists such as yourself are RIGHT WING. Not the other side.
6
If this is war, won’t my country turn into Syria or Yemen? This is dangerous and unacceptable. You are feeding the fire that will consume everything that you love and hold dear.
4
@Ben
Southerners who are so content to read articles in this publication seem to have no grasp of metaphor.
3
Republicans have all the power now; they will not give it up without a fight. Vote out Republicans to save America. Ray Sipe
5
"In other words, the idea that law means something, it has determinate meaning. And that’s the trend that I think this president wants to continue.”
Seriously..."this president" ....?
Someone would have to look up "determinate" in the dictionary for "this president." "This president" has never had one thought about the "philosophy of law" (or any other philosophy) in his life.
Nor would "this president" have any inkling what the goop you're talking about.
4
What?
I see the elevation of Kavanaugh to the Court as a problem for a lot of reasons. He'll help the Court give more and more power to corporations, make it harder to protect the environment, further maintain our Darwinian economic scheme, may act as a shield for Trump should he actually come up against real charges, he'll further erode the right to an abortion. Etc.
But that this is all about protecting powerful white males? Really?
That's just weird.
Charles Blow, I guess if the only tool you have in the tool box is a hammer to condemn white racism, every nail looks like white racism.
12
What a great article, Blow! I even read it from the bottom up because I want to fully understand and learn. I'm bright, but it is all still hazy for me and I'm sure for lots of others who now want to get things to a better level.
Can you explain more about what this constitutional convention is? Make it clear so everyone who isn't a professor of political science CAN STILL UNDERSTAND -- and get it?
Aloha!
1
Maybe Mr. Blow has never been to an active war zone or even an area partially destroyed after a war. I have been to the latter and can say that war is a terrible waste of human, animal and plant life and it also destroys the environments where it is fought. War should never be encouraged even in an OP ED column. I am very upset about Judge Kavanaugh being confirmed to the Supreme Court. But this is nothing to go to war about. Shame on Mr. Blow for this type of rhetoric calling for violence.
12
The democrats fight with silk gloves and the republicans with knuckle dusters. This is no win for the democrats. The republicans are street fighters and the democrats are believing in arguments and truths. This is also not a win. Dear democrats it is war and you have to arm yourself to win.
6
Not war.
Simply get those red state voters to realize they have much to gain in a liberal democracy and much to lose in a country that starts to look more fascist. Get them to stop voting against their own interests.
I know easier said than done when economic insecurities, and xenophobic, racist and sexist instincts are so easily exploited. But win back the state houses and we win back the country. And by we I mean most of us. Including those white, blue collar Trump supporters.
Like Patti Smith said: “People have the power to redeem the work of fools”.
3
At war? Hmm - I feel like folks need to chillax a little bit, maybe switch off the phone, computer and TV, spend time with family, go outside and chat with the neighbors, go for a hike. I don't know - seems like everything is always turned up to 11 on the panic meter.
9
The Times' declaration that this could well have been the best week for the Trump presidency is coupled with the caution that a good week for Trump is a bad week for the nation. For every issue, Trump is at odds with what's good for the country: his dismissal of climate change as folly, his exacerbating the divisive nature of the Kavanaugh appointment, his turning his back on our allies while praising Kim and Putin, his tax plan that flagrantly favors the rich over the middle/working class, his relaxation policies on essential protection of our natural resources. The list seems infinite. The answer: Get to the polls next month and stymie any further destruction Trump may wreak.
4
However the war is going to be fought, state legislatures can act to get rid of the Electoral College now so its malevolent reach can no longer poison what's left of our political life. See https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/
3
re: originalism: “The idea that law means something, it has determinate meaning” is sophemoric (if not rather mindless).
Any academic humanist will agree that being “textualist” is subtle and relative to contemporary interests.
We retrojectively cohere the past to serve our future interests and needs.
We make origin stories to help children understand, not to lead generations to greater flourishing and ecological humanity that no founding parentage confessed to anticipating.
@gary e. davis I can spell 'sophomoric'.
By the way, re: Originalism. One cannot find in the original Constitution any reason to have an Originalist reading of it. Easy to see is that the Constitution is intending to institute open process for unforeseeable futures.
1
White men are even more powerful today than they were in 1787. There were no nuclear weapons in 1787, or dams or aqueducts or airplanes or giant prisons or multi-billion dollar corporations. Slavery and genocide of indigenous people in the U.S. was horrific but nothing compared to the devastating effects around the world of the rape of the environment and advanced weaponry of the modern "man".
4
Rev Al made an odd claim on MSNBC about justices nominated by president that didn't win the popular vote.
John Roberts - Bush 2004 50.7% popular vote
Clarence Thomas - Bush 1988 53.4%
Ruth Bader Ginsburg - Clinton 1992 43.0%
Stephen Breyer - Clinton 1992 43.0%
Samuel Alito - Bush 2004 50.7%
Sonia Sotomayor - Obama 2008 52.9%
Elena Kagan - Obama 2008 52.9%
Neil Gorsuch - Trump 2016 46.09%
Brett Kavanaugh - Trump 2016 46.09%
What was interesting is that Wikipedia doesn't list the popular vote percentage for Bill Clinton.
1
If you don’t like the Constitution, voting is not going to fix that.
4
This is just so over the lot. Just so much more bellicose rhetoric. I hope it makes Mr. Blow feel better, but it does nothing to advance any important issues facing our country. He has become no different than Trump. Just on a different side.
7
"Liberals, This Is War"
This is war? Really? Charles, wake up and smell the gunpowder. It's been in the air for 30+ years,
The "war on liberalism" was invented in 1984 and running full bore by the end of that year. It's been with us in its present state all that time.
That year Rush Limbaugh broadcast his first politically themed talk show from Sacramento California radio station KFBK. That was the start and escalation of this "War ".
3
Completely predictably Trump and the Republicans are starting the mopping up operations. Trump calls Dr. Blasey "a hoax." Collins now says that Kavanaugh didn't assault Blasey, somebody else did.
Many comments here say "no evidence" (victim testimony is evidence; a lot of black guys are in jail and some executed with nothing beyond victim testimony)
Many comments take the position that the vote of the senate proves that Kavanaugh is innocent ... and that everyone must accept that as truth.
6
Yes, it is a war and we need to fight back just as ruthlessly as Mitch McConnell who cares not one iota for ethics, hypocrisy, or the norms of the Senate he routinely flaunts to get his agenda accomplished. Our Democratic leaders must decide to fight fire with fire or render themselves completely irrelevant. And if they won't fight back, then please step aside for candidates who will.
You might not like his tone or his tactics, but Michael Avenatti has the right idea. To quote him from his Twitter account: "We cannot prevail against Donald Trump and his henchmen by being loving, gentle, and kind. Trump is a thug with a singular focus on winning at all cost. We are in a fight for the very survival of this republic and what made it America."
Exactly so.
4
What a racist column! This is not a "plan by conservatives to fundamentally change the American political structure so that it enshrines and protects white male power even after America’s changing demographics and mores move away from that power." It is not a game either. Obama put 2 justices on the court. That wasn't a game, was it? Even though many do not agree with the bias that those 2 justices exhibit, they are justices and are legitimately on the court. For life. Kavanaugh was found to be more than competent after 6 weeks. I don't agree with all of his politics, but he demonstrated the qualifications Congress was looking for. Then comes a confidential letter that was to be anonymous, and 'someone' leaks it at the end of the vetting period, right before a vote. Hmmm. Then, after another 3+ weeks of investigation by both the committee and they FBI, you seem to think he's guilty anyway? Guess until the decision meets your agenda, it's false. Wow. Please do not claim this is about 'white men.' It is not.
7
I do not doubt you in the least Mr. Blow in this column and your many other op-ed pieces as to the intent and motives of the Republicans. Having said that, I still find it hard to convince myself that the Republicans and their followers are moving to destroy America as we have known it.
Thus, I urge you to convince folks that his is true - it really, really is happening. Deep down I now it's true, but it is so hard to accept; keep convincing me and others.
1
Judge Kavanaugh told his "truth" and Senator Graham argued HE (Kavanaugh) is telling the truth and the confirmation process had to be brought to an end because we (the country) must not ignore the risk posed by ignoring the foundational legal principle of "the presumption of innocence". Immediately, or at least soon, thereafter, I wish even one, any, Democrat has shown the courage to say SHE is telling the truth and we must have a broad and deep investigation of Kavanaugh, because we (the country) must not ignore the risk of putting an attempted rapist on the Supreme Court. No Democrat did so, even though it is the obvious set of counter-arguments to Graham, because Democrats themselves refused to fully embrace the obvious implications of Dr. Ford telling the truth and demand the needed follow up...even as many Democrats argued, in sideways fashion, in favor of the need for both. Dr. Ford was clearly telling the truth. The fact Republicans tried to ignore and discredit her is unsurprising. The fact Democrats did not stand up for her, FULLY (because of fear about the optics of doing so despite the clear logical implications of her testimony), is to their eternal shame.
1
I am a liberal who votes Democratic. I learned about racism and elitism and religious hypocrisy and self centeredness posing as rugged individualism long ago. I also learned that race is a fraud used to excuse human cruelty to other humans. White supremacy was a lie. White solidarity was once more true than not but not anymore. Thoughtful people understand that to control others means not being free oneself. I am white and a male, raised in the upper middle class, and college educated. I am not the source of your problems. Trump and his supporters are not out to defend privileges for people who are male and white. Those days are history. The actors now have other priorities in mind. You forsake support by mistrusting people citing old concerns that are no longer relevant.
7
Whatever happened to "All we are saying, is give peace a chance?"
4
I would re-title this column: "Americans, This Is War"
2
Margret Mead, renowned cultural anthropologist, was asked how social values were passed on thru time. She responded it was through a society’s institutions.
In 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court established the judicial basis of Jim Crow “separate but equal” laws in Plessy v. Ferguson. Culturally, it established black Americans as human refuse for white Americans.
This mass murder was the outcome of, yet another, racist U.S. Supreme Court decision inflicted on our democracy.
That white community institutionalized racist murder sticking together in their self-righteous entitlement.
In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court gifted Southern whites by gutting part of the Voting Rights of Act of 1965 stating the law was 40 years old, not that the racist culture had changed. Five years later a 1,000 polling places had been closed in minority communities.
In 2016, stoked by Trump, the white community stuck together and continued its racist tradition as Republicans.
In 2018, the entitled white Republicans stuck together and put Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court.
Trump mocks black athletes protesting white police gunning down black people.
The DOJ refuses to open old records on a mass murder of black people.
These are the values we are institutionalizing, passing into the future, as our national values.
Long past time for Democrats to stick together raising hell to permanently secure, and institutionalize, a decent equitable way of life for all working class and middle-class Americans.
8
I can spell 'sophomoric'. Please correct my point. Thanks.
1
I am ashamed of what has become of the Democratic Party...an hysteria-driven, increasingly Leftist totalitarian faction hellbent on overthrowing their adversaries by any means possible. Progressives?....that’s laughable. Just look around the cities and states where Democrats are in control....San Francisco, for instance (see today’s NYT article). Guess whom we won’t be voting for come November....
13
@Shenoa You're ashamed, America is disgusted
4
This divisive narrative has run its course and the tank is dry, much as it was at its auspicious recent start. Launched with a fuselage of false accusations bereft of details and corroboration, this gender war instigated by a Stalinist left is exposed.
Demonstrating a solidarity of nihilistic nonsense is narcissism at its core. Unable to accept the truth of any kind and as recourse, resort to rehearsed slogans repeated by sheep in solidarity, a brigade of bimbos blockaded buildings and did their destruction as only the self-absorbed can without accountability or penalty despite the damage left in their wake.
Mr. Blow knows little of originalism or the Constitution and only plays one card believing that is the divide he wishes to inflame as the gender bias has been another flame out.
Unable to experience the true beauty of this world and the people in it, the media, like the fools they follow, experience no light but instead only their inner darkness.
12
Charles, please take a vacation. You have lost all perspective.
14
@HozeKing Along with his mind
6
The NYT notes that comments are moderated for civility, yet Blow's piece (and nearly all editorials and news articles) are filled with lies, slander, innuendo, hatred and now calls for violence.
13
This talk of war - it would be the civil variety I guess - is the best possible way to keep Trump in office. He polarises by design, revels in partisanship, flourishes as things get vicious. Dems can't win by following that lead, and shouldn't want to either.
After the nomination battle does anyone think that the Senate is in play any more? The losing battle to block Kavanaugh won't just stymie Mueller, it will give Trump an open path to re-election in 2020.
To beat Trump, Democrats actually have to persuade some of their opponents to change sides, and to do it in places the party seems to have given up on. But that would require self-control from the party's leaders and thinkers way beyond anything on show these last few weeks.
6
Oh, please. Of all the loathsome Trumpist fantasies, the loathliest may well be the “swept in on a massive mandate!” bit. Complete nonsense.
As for the bit about self-control, compared to whom? trump? Kavanagh? Lindsey Graham?
And yeah, Dems to remembr that it was the working folks who brung them to the dance. Prob is, some of them are Klansmen.
1
Susan Collins. A very clever fraud. A Republican. A vicious politician.
5
I don't like the title, but the article is a very clear analysis/statement about the state of our nation and people. In an important sense, the Civil War never really ended. The struggle by the holders of power and wealth have never ceased to be the dominant force ... white males, and white privilege. The catastrophe of the depression yielded only partially under FDR, and the post-WW II years stand out as a historically unusual time in which prosperity was more equitably shared. It was the era of my youth and the foundation for our successful lives. The years since the 'Great Recession' have given little basis for, or confidence in 'recovery'. Irregardless of the 'booming economy' and 'full employment', the majority have not really recovered. Rising stock prices and multiple part time jobs are not good measures of our country's health
Since the days of McCarthy and Nixon, there has been a steady increase in the domination by wealth and power. The John Birch Society gave birth to the ideas of Charles Koch, which have become more and more powerful. Today they have infected and changed our system of government. The power of the ultra-wealthy currently control all components of national government. In our state, they have destroyed Wisconsin's proud progressive history, and erased future centered government. Our younger fellow Americans are our biggest source of hope, and worry. We must help and support them in any ways we can.
2
@mfh3: Political vandalism can be very lucrative in the US.
1
Your point is well taken but the system is already rigged so that those in the smallest, most rural, least educated, least productive, and least employed regions get to decide things for the rest of us. New York City has more people than HALF of the states in the U.S. California has more people than the 20 least populous states added together. Yet, they get 40 senators and we get 4. Their votes count 10x as much.
No matter how encouraging you may try to be, at this point it makes no difference. At this point, just ignore the federal government as best you can and vote for people who will make sure your states do the same.
2
@JSR: I think their claim that this all happened because God made the US is what they step on in their barns.
1
Stop with the white male stuff already. As a white male I find it absurd that you group us all together. Can you not be more specific?????
12
@John Willis Hatred and division are all Blow's got. He's a one-trick pony
10
@John Willis
When we see white men catch up to how the majority of women in this country view education, violence and guns, the choices they make in the voting booth and how they view their fellow human beings, in general, then we we can address your concern about this “absurdity.”
1
I know the “white guy” he’s talking about.
I’m a white guy too but I ain’t THAT white guy and don’t feel put off by this.
5
Reading Mr. Blow's article - and the responses to it - should be eye opening for any American. More who do not regularly read NYT should do so.
"War" might not be too strong a word to describe the situation - at least not eventually. While many people in the United States remain relatively non-political, the those who are are increasingly divided between two very different camps.
On one side, we have those who hold to belief that the United States is, basically, a good and great country. Imperfect? Definitely. We can and should always strive for improvement, while still holding to the values that made us great.. While politically active, many of those who hold to this viewpoint are less than fully engaged for now. For most of them, there is still life outside the political.
On the other side, we have those who now believe the United States is not merely imperfect but evil - fundamentally flawed from the beginning. Nothing less than a complete transformation of our government, and our whole society, will be sufficient to bring about justice. They believe that transformation must be accomplished by any means necessary. For them, the personal IS political - life is all about politics who so (supposedly) does or not have "power". There is no life outside of the political struggle.
It is very difficult to imagine much common ground or any ability to, or reason for, compromise between these two groups.
3
"Liberals have to look beyond emotions, beyond reactionary electoral enthusiasm, beyond needing to fall in love with candidates in order to vote for them, beyond the coming election and toward the coming showdown."
Since when has "I'd sure like to have a beer with him/her" become such a qualifier for office? I couldn't care less whether I personally like the candidate or not. Is the candidate honestly interested in serving the public (ALL of the public), or just looking for a way to enrich himself/herself? Is the candidate smart enough to actually do the job? (How many office-holders are you aware of that have NO business being in that office?) Does the candidate know what issues need solving? Does the candidate have a plan for solving those issues?
You don't have to LIKE the candidate. You just need to HIRE someone who can do the work that needs to be done to benefit the most people. They're supposed to work for ALL of their constituents, not just the ones who vote for them, or the ones who contribute the most money to their campaigns.
4
A war needs adversaries on each side of an issue or cause. The Democrats have been siding with Republicans on their agenda for decades. Obama's Grand Bargain to cut Social Security and Medicare is a perfect example. Tax and trade and military policies, all in lockstep and passed with Democratic help. So please Charles, spare me the rallying cry to unite behind our fearless "leaders" Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi. I have no desire to go charging into the Republican camp only to sit down and compromise with them. Again.
5
We need to focus on the issues that will allow oligarchs to fleece society where every gender and race has the right to work for nothing. The Founders believed constitutions and bills of rights protect personal liberty, but they also believed that common and natural law as understood during the Enlightenment have important roles, repudiating Originalist belief they ascribe to the Founders. Federalists opposed the Bill of Rights until it became obvious Americans wouldn't embrace our new government without the "legal check...into the hands of the judiciary" as Thomas Jefferson wrote. Federalists argued a bill of rights would limit liberty since we could never know all rights to enshrine. Jefferson and Madison, who reluctantly agreed a bill of rights was necessary, knew they must be statements of principle that future generations were at liberty to interpret. I was amazed some senators questioned Kavenaugh about his opinions of the Federalist Papers knowing full well the Constitution and Bill of Rights are our only legal papers. I was equally appalled that Judge Scalia said on 60 Minutes that the Federalist Papers helped guide his judicial opinions. We must recognize the Federalist Society and their conservative patrons simply want a government that allows oligarchs to fleece our great nation, and as Ben Franklin said, let us hang alone rather than hang together like the recent Supreme Court decision to gut unions and memorialize arbitration.
4
@Keith: No right or power reserved by the people appears anywhere in the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights is actually a list of restrictions on how Congress may use the powers delegated by the Constitution to Congress.
2
All of you, use the word 'war' carefully. Remember the last time America had a Civil War. Think about the weapons you have now. The more you talk about something as war, the more likely it is to become one.
6
@Paul Hinder
Ironic isn't it. Trump has made most of the country think and act with vitriol and disrespect towards anyone not seen as part of their group. He has driven the golden rule out of the minds of supporters and adversaries, a like. A shallow man like that transforms a nation into one of anger and misanthropy.
1
Yep. That talk-talk always comes from people who dunno what it means, and expect to remain at a nice safe distance while somebody else gets their arm blown off.
Same crowd that was all-in for Iraq from 8000 miles away.
1
I've been advocating a straight Democratic ticket for a long time, since even when I agree with an individual Republican on an important issue, the Republican party does crooked, evil, stupid, disastrous things when in power, much worse than anything the Dems do. But, this midterm election is special. I'm concerned that, if the Dems win the House, trump will veto almost any debt limit increase with the threat of default, to try to extract incredible concessions, not just building the stupid Wall, but ruining social security, closing down the FDA and EPA, twisting the voting laws, rewarding wealthy criminals, taking away civil rights, and so on. And the strong republican minority in the House, not to mention the probable republican majority in the Senate, will prevent an override of his veto. You have to realize how evil, stupid, or both, that modern Republican politicians are.
3
Sorry Mr Blow, but your generalization and somewhat racist remark about rich white men is off the mark.
Recent studies show that today, though many people don't like President Trump's personality and character, the majority go along with his policies. They overall support his economic policies and much of his agenda. So though you may want to portray the political situation being that a small group of rich white men are pulling the wool over the rest of the country, it is quite the opposite--a small group of liberals, making up about 25% of the population (including much of the choir your paper preaches to) are complaining they are not getting a fair shake and stating they need to "go to war" to change things( including what the majority is content with).
Given the shootings at baseball practices, mobs not allowing republicans to dine in peace, or speak at certain venues, and Antifa violence,I suggest a different term than war be used.
It is really a matter of being careful what you wish for.
7
@Mister A
I guess the white “mister” was alsleep during all the Trump hate rallies; believed the ludicrous assertion that there were “good people” on both sides at Charlotteville; grossly distorts outleries like random shootings of congrssmen; never had to fear for one’s life from a trigger happy cop at a traffic stop; never had to contend with the shame and hopelessness after being raped; never had to worry about healthcare; never been called rapists and murderers by a president due to the color of their skin and the language they spoke and never figured out that it is not just “liberals” but ordinary white moderates like me that are fed up the cluelessness, the bigotry and the tribalness from so many white people in this country.
4
Democrats should not give up on the low-population states. Those states are not thriving these days, and they certainly won't do so in the future under Republican rule. Most of the group of rich white men Mr. Blow writes about don't live there, and if they do, they have second, third and fourth homes in other swanky locations. As Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says, Republicans have the money, but Democrats have the people. All that Democrats need to do is convince the people in low-population states to vote for their own best interests.
2
@Jeff
Good luck in thinking you can change the minds of GOP -dominated rural America using arguments from a big city democratic “socialist” who doesn’t have a clue about the political and social dynamics of white, rural America.
3
@Mike M.
Democrats should start locally by finding good candidates from each congressional district to run for office. In fact, that is exactly what they are doing right now. More than anything people want a better life and hope for a better future. They don't find that with Republicans in rural areas. Just look around.
When you live in a red state and your TV market serves two states, both red you really know you're at war. Day after day hateful, dishonest advertising which castigates "liberals" calls dreamers "illegals" flood the airways.
This election is a war, and those of us in the minority are getting hammered day after day. I'm still going to vote and hope that others with a chance for an electoral win does the same. Every vote counts , vote!
4
Dudess, look up mens rea. And here’s a question: they break more laws than Trump and his family have? You know, like laws against tax fraud?
I don't see why you think another Constitutional Convention is worrisome. It's just what we need to reaffirm our allegiance to our first principals. After all, 50 states can send delegations, and 50 states must ratify any change. Yes, I know the Republicans have been working on the changes they want to see. Call it the fascist view of America.
Why not let Democrats (and allies) come up with our own proposed changes? Call it the socialist view of America. Load it up with all the things we dream about: popular vote for the Presidency; equal rights amendment; term limits on Supreme Court appointments; voting rights; gerrymander limits; campaign finance reform; Puerto Rican statehood; accommodations for a multi-party system; etc.
Let the Convention put out two proposed documents, one for each vision, and let the states vote. If neither side gets enough votes, the 1789 Constitution stands. Maybe with that feedback we can find changes that we can all agree on. (Well, most of us...)
@Brian Noonan
You may not like the outcome, because the game is already rigged.
First, rural small state America has a definite numerical advantage.
In addition, let’s not forget that two thirds of the state governments are in GOP hands.
There is a way out and it is not the fantasy of constitutional conventions, but either waiting it out or consider something akin to what we saw 150 years ago.
1
I could not agree more with Mr. Blow.
By analyzing our current political environment in historical terms, we see a Republican party lead by the former southern or "Wallace" wing of the modern or 1960s version of the Democratic Party. And the roots of that party are the Virginian led(Jefferson and Madison) Democratic-Republicans who protected Slavery and States Rights.
The modern Republican party is the most reactionary political organization in our history. It is a danger to our way of life.
4
When you hear from the media that our only hope is now for Justice Roberts to become more like a swing vote, it's really sounds pathetic and desperate, is it coming from meek democrats, who still don't know how to fight fire with fire, after all these years and direct assault from regressive despicable right wing majority.
If democrats not planning to fight the real street fight, if they don't have any meat in the game for democracy, then go home, you don't deserve to govern!
5
Yes, this is war. We should have let the south secede way back when and FAIL as a country, because slavery was not only morally and ethically hideous, it was stupid economics. Now, here we are, beset with the progeny of slave lords and their minons, and they are about to have their revenge.
3
After "Kavanaugh Week," I'm out. I hope y'all can solve this sometime down the road. Good luck.
I'm off to enjoy what's left of my life and our planet. Hopefully I've still got about 40 years, and there's not planetary destruction over that time. Good luck to the young ones coming up behind me. No more loaning my headspace to the crazy people, the righteous people, the media, the politicians, the right, the left, the abused, the abusers, the hate mongers, the beer lovers ... no more.
I'll vote in November ... all female ... all democrat. But I'll not delude myself that there'll be a change for the better ... not with climate change well underway, which no one can turn back now. Besides, the people who have the power to do it now believe more radiation would be good for us.
There are still sights, places, people to enjoy in this world. That's where I want to look now. Now to contend with my internet and news addiction, and conquer it.
167
@P H
Here we go again.
Someone who didn’t learn the lessons of 2016.
You certainly have a rght to be angry.
But all “female” candidates??
Did it ever occur to you there are plenty of qualified men on the ballot?
Because, you might find out that leaving races blank, due to your sexism, is a vote for the GOP.
Think about that.
1
@Mike M. ... Well, heaven forbid any man be left out of anything.
For your information, I will NOT be leaving any races blank, female candidate or no female candidate. NO Republicans will get my vote.
You can take your "sexism" label and stick it on your own lapel.
P.J.- Please take me with you. I’m tired of losing.
1
This is a war. Now, where do we enlist?
Thanks again Charles
3
@sjj
if it has anything to do with a real bloody war don't expect to see Trump in the queue ...
2
There's a recruiting office near you in Miami. In which branch do you wish to serve your country?
2
The article clearly shows that the left sees immigration as a means to change the American population more to their liking. There are too many white men for the left, they need to import the people from other countries who would vote for socialism.
Oh, and one more thing - the author apparently does not know that the Constitution made slavery illegal....
4
@Hyphenated American Another Republican lie. The
Entire Republican Party is dishonest, manipulative and
never of right action.
3
Mr. Blow is so far off the rails, right along with so many on the Left, that it boggles the mind. If he is at war, it is with the Constitution and with reality. So many of the claims about Kavanaugh are blatantly absurd and baseless that it is stunning that anyone can actually believe them. But for Mr. Blow to come up a statement such as this? This is deranged.
7
@RichardC Blasey-Ford knew it was Kavanaugh who was
on top of her. They had been casual acquaintances for months. She was 100% sure. She passed the lie-detector test. She had discussed the violation, years ago, with her friends. She had discussed it, years ago, with her therapist and Kavanaugh's name is in the therapist's record. There were only three people in the locked bedroom. No one else would have known anything.
Republicans are mental lightweights and can be manipulated by any lie their Party promulgates.
Kavanaugh, with his ready acknowledgement of drinking,
should have had his liver tested for alcoholic fatty liver syndrome.
3
The title to your editorial is shrill and an embarrassment. It trivializes legitimate concern about current trends into a cartoon caricature of exploding liberal heads. If our fellow conservative Americans can stand the mess all about, I guess we liberals can stand it too.
Everyone needs a nap, an aspirin and a walk in the park. Then vote!
1
@Rudy Hopkins: Let them bawl like Kavanaugh. We've got more grit.
1
"Putin, this is Trump. I think we're going to get clobbered in 2020. I need an incident so I can declare martial law. It needs to look like we're about to go to war. We can wind it all down when I finish rigging the district borders and suppressing the voters. The suckers will never know what hit them."
"You've had 4 years to get ready. Do I need to send advisers? But how about I schedule some exercises near the Latvian border, you send in some Americans, and we'll have a cross-border incident. Will October 15 give you enough time."
"What is Latvia?"
"Just watch the news. Your staff will tell you where to send your people."
"OK, will do. Thanks."
(Hangs up)
Putin: "Christos, what an idiot!"
Trump: "I sure manipulated him. I'm the greatest."
4
Wake me up when the civil war starts. Because, until that time there will be nothing but people yelling at each other and accomplishing nil, especially if you are a member of the Democrat party.
Did anyone catch Chuckie Schummer on the Senate floor during the vote Saturday. He looked like he was at an office birthday party just having a good laugh chatting away with some of the other useless men and women of Congress.
3
@zigful26 The Northern Strategy is forming.
2
This whole article is really dumb but the funniest part is calling liberals "high minded." Does that include all the people screaming, cursing, and dancing like wild animals because they didn't get their way?
7
'“In fiscal 2017, which ended Sept. 30, the largest number of visas went to citizens of African countries” while applicants from European countries and from Asia received fewer visas than before."
"The effort to demonize the lottery program is an effort to preserve America’s white majority, against the statistical eventuality, for as long as possible."
What?
6
@Harlod Dickman -- you omitted one critical word: "diversity."
The DIVERSITY VISAS did indeed go to African applicants by a narrow margine this year -- they are about 5% of all the green-cards issued.
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/23/applications-for-u-s-vis...
Why is it that you need to lie about the facts here?
2
The mask has been ripped off the so called conservative republicans, showing the face of greed, self-interest, contempt for others, disdain of women, racism, criminality, perjury and a do whatever it takes to attain and keep power and wealth. All of it accompanied by a litany of phony patriotism, self-righteousness and religious hypocrisy while blindly following a criminally crooked president born with a silver spoon in his mouth and enriched by yearly deposits of millions dollars into his bank account to this day, and who never did a day's worth of honest work in his entire life and does not have an iota of decency or empathy or compassion. The republican party may stagger on for a while behind McConnell and the other apparatchiks, but it's doomed. Many, many Americans will never vote for a republican ever again. I certainly won't.
9
@wanderer It is always good to see Republicans reveal their true and vicious colors. It influences young voters each
generation.
1
The good news is that our rapidly deteriorating climate may soon render our present political challenges irrelevant anyway. Mass extinction will make civil war seem like a cakewalk.
6
@617to416 Just for your information, the East Coast will go before the West Coast. This message came through
one of the nation's greatest mediums in the 1980's.
A tyranny of the majority is bad. A tyranny of the minority is even worse. How long will the American majority consent to absolute rule by a minority? The present situation is not sustainable, and this house divided will not long stand.
4
Make no mistake. This is not about another "conservative" on the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh and his apologists are not "conservatives," they are far-right extremists.
The current incarnation of the Republican Party is to the right of the old "John Birch Society" and as far right as any movement in the history of American politics.
These people are the heirs of southern segregationists and no-nothings. They are far-right and entirely WRONG for America!
5
@Eroom
My apologies...make that "know-nothings"
'Institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him as a boy as civilized society to remain under the regimen of their barbarous and sisters.' Thomas Jefferson.
The current so-called originalism is merely an excuse to send us back to the time of our barbarous ancestors.
2
I get so discouraged at Democrats. So many have the attention span of fleas. This week it is Kavanaugh; recently, horrific treatment of children at the border; months ago, gun control; sporadically, treatment of women or environmental issues, or health care; but always these issues spike interest for a day or two, and then the Democrats go back to sleep.
Republicans, by contrast, are dogged about suppressing immigration and minority rights, guns for all, restricting reproductive rights. and on and on. These hate-driven issues create sustained, burning fervor that wins elections despite lack of majority support for these issues.
How do we light a fire under the Democrats? As much as I love President Obama, his laid back style didn't fire up anything beyond identity politics. Maybe women will be our saviors, but unless Democrats get some fire in the belly, they will lose both the House and the Senate in November.
And I will seriously consider moving to Canada.
5
@William O, Beeman: As I recall the election of 2010, Obama did nothing anything like what Trump is doing right now, to mobilize his supporters to vote in that critical census year election. That's what made his remaining 6 years so futile.
4
Based on many of the comments, it's apparent that the right-wing comment generators are out in force. Mr. Blow must have struck a nerve.
3
What does that even mean? "Adheres to the meaning of the constitution"? It isn't like everyone agrees on the meaning and then someone says, "let's do something different".
For 200 plus years, people understood that the President nominates Supreme Court Justices. The senate provides advice and consent. Pretty straight forward.
Until Mitch McConnell decided that he didn't want to do that. He simply said, "No, the President doesn't get to nominate a Supreme Court Justice if I don't want him to". For a man who swore to uphold the constitution, how is that anything other than treason?
So now how does it work? Republicans have wiped their backsides with the constitution. If the law of the land isn't the law of the land, what is?
The constitution said the people choose the President. In 2000, the Supreme Court said, "We've heard from enough Americans. Bush is the president." That isn't in the constitution. That is actually prohibited in the constitution.
But the thing is, as evil as the Republicans are, the Democrats are their enablers.
"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
3
The New York Times has already incited hundreds of attacks on Trump supporters, not to mention the attempted mass murder of Congressional Republicans last summer. Now the unhinged Times is ratcheting up the rhetoric hoping to incite one of the many crazies that reads their rag for even more violence
7
@Larry: the vocabulary requirements to read here screen out many Trump supporters. Do you have an AR-15 too?
3
@Larry women tend not to shoot people ... maybe you have noticed?
It's usually takes getting them really, really mad before they do that.
2
@Larry
Hundreds of attacks?
You have to wonder and ask yourself do right wing folks take the same math as the rest of us?
3
The comments section is moderated for civility, but that's what the column itself lacks.
7
@Steve: I come here to bask in the hostility for liberals.
4
Remember way back when Obama was president and the Tea Party used "extremist" rhetoric like "It time for war" and someone yelled "liar!" during the SoU or protesters where agitated against D pols over the ACA? Now, the NYT is cool with it...as long as it violence and extreme rhetoric against the right. Hypocrites!
4
@Bill My fave was when Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito mouthed the words "That's not so!" as Obama described how messed up US politics would get by the "Citizens United" one dollar one vote judicial renormalization of democracy.
Charles Blow is writing checks that others will have to pay. This is incredibly irresponsible and frankly cowardly. I can't believe the NYTimes thinks running this is a good idea. Wars end with people being dead.
6
Why are we fighting so hard to maintain nation states?
Nation states are an outdated form of government, created during a different economic time (eg merchant marine), and represent the *first* escape from monarchies. We are still in a beta test! Our current nation states are unwieldly, too large for democracy, and concentrate power so much they offer an irresistable temptation to despots, corporations and gangs--er political parties.
The only thing a nation state can do that a city-state cannot is raise an army... to guard against other nation states' armies.
Instead, what if we used all this political energy to imagine and build the *next* version of democracy? Like direct voting via our cellphones or liquid democracies? What if we escaped the domination of fiat and "empty interest" creating a selection of diversity currencies to circulate goods, services and trust (just like our bodies create a selection of fluids (lymph, blood, cranial-sacral), to circulate nutrients)? What if we worked on building sharing-based communities that center humans and ecology rather than capital, complete with tool libraries, shareable cars, and prevention-based health care?
We have outgrown these beta 1.0 nation states. Time to shed them like old skin, and graduate into Democracy 2.0
7
@Rebecca: Every empire that ever was functioned as a regulated trade zone.
1
My concern is that US political dysfunction is not just a local issue which I guess I could live with as the country sorts it out for another 10, 20 years.
The world has a global emergency and all hands on deck are needed, while the majority denies scientific consensus as a hoax. Immediate action is needed and there are major, historic choices to be made, like now.
California for example is the world's 5th largest economy and probably ranks up there in carbon emissions. There's a good chance the population here will vote for massive cuts in emissions. The planet isn't going to wait for years for lawyers to haggle in courts over it.
If it takes breaking up the union to save the planet, most thinking persons will unfortunately have no choice. These are extremely high and existential stakes.
All moral people must stand up and tell the GOP that if they don't want to listen to anyone else, fine we can disagree on that, but they absolutely must listen to scientists and let them offer reasoned and fact-based opinion and testimony, and to tell their guys to stop attacking you or we will all be fried in 2040 by the climate.
Economic costs will be in the hundred to hundreds of trillions. Who's going to pay for that?
The GOP has maneuvered itself against science in order to get around the issue that most scientists are moderates in their politics. They're facing the prospect now of being on the wrong side of human civilization itself.
4
As ever, good points, Mr. Blow. May I add that, as we go along, the concept of "race" continues to blur, and rightfully so. We mix, we mingle (to steal a line from a Christmas song) and "They" can't make us stay white anymore. They can try, but they're the ones on the losing side. The so-called recent hear-ings illuminated how it used to be, not how it's going. A long slow slog but, but here's to the future.
1
James Madison, one of the principle architects of the Constitution, was not a friend of strict interpretation. In Federalist #37 he argues that laws gain meaning through interpretation as they must since no law can anticipate all of the conditions which it must meet.
5
@LES Linguistic ambiguity in laws and contracts produces almost all non-criminal litigation.
Odd. Most of us have known that the left was at war with the rest of the nation since 1968. That "The whole world is watching" thing remember?
It is the left that poisoned our politics with their identity politics.
You see when you are fooling, er, selling to someone that they are a victim then logically there must be an oppressor. And that oppressor just happens to be everyone that isn't a left.
And that's even stranger.
4
Well, that column certainly put a spring in my step this morning...........
4
We not only must vote, we must organize, lobby, protest. Join your union or a political or social organization that you support. Run for office. Get off the couch.
And the people we vote in must do what they promise on the campaign trail. Pass anti-corruption legislation to combat Citizens' United. Put stronger protections on voters' rights. Pass Medicare for All. There are a list of issues that need to be addressed once liberals regain control (no one party stays in control forever).
This country has become a kleptocracy. And a significant portion of the electorate is either a part of the Fox News Cult or too apathetic to do anything. Many are so busy simply trying to keep a roof over their head that they are unable to do anything else. So how do we change this?
4
@Patty O: Begging for money is the full time job of US politicians. Legislating is overtime.
4
If you read all the holes in Ford's story, you'll quickly come to realize something is very very wrong.
She's afraid to fly, yet flies all the time, even for fun.
She's put in a second front door out of fear in 2012, but county building records show the work she had done on the house was in 2008 and not 2012, and the second door was used for a renter.
She can't remember how she got to the party, how she got home, and those she said were at he party say they were not.
She refuses to release information from her therapist or from the polygraph test which could prove she is telling the truth, or lying I suppose.
There are many more holes in her story look them up and be woke.
6
@I Am The Walurs: Kavanaugh challenged none of it. He just bawled about how victimized he felt that it came out.
3
Reading of the Constitution text as was written is common sense. Screaming that this is somehow racism and white supremacy is a poor excuse to engage and argument and incites hatred and violence. Sad.
5
@Tony: How learned are you about the prevailing norms and idioms of colonial times?
1
@Tony
and yet despite what was written in the US constitution , American politics and abuse of power was about sticking the heel of the privileged onto the necks of the many
So basically they wrote a constitution and then decided to wilfully ignore the fundamental principles ......
Yeah ...that would make typical American sense ..??
Why am I reading about "white male power" from black writers? They expose themselves as nothing more than "Ethno-tribal Warriors" fighting for their own ethno-tribe when they do that. If this is the impression the NYT wants from their writers, then that's what they got. And for the record, the "white male power structure" FOUNDED this country. What country does Mr. Blow prefer over this one? And other than Haiti which is the definition of a debacle, what other country in the Western Hemisphere was started by the "Black male power structure"? The "white male power structure" got that way because they HAVE THE MONEY. And they still have the money. And the growing "diversity" of this country (which is a dog whistle to mean "Not white people like you") doesn't change the lack of funds problem that leads to not being in charge in the first place. Remember the Golden Rule?
7
@No big deal
Oh my....the President would just LOVE your comment!
1
@No big deal: nobody does to others what they don't want done to themselves better than you guys.
2
@No big deal: I don't claim to know the mind of anyone whose ancestors came here involuntarily. Mine chose to do it. So I read Charles Blow.
The war started a long time ago. This present incarnation has been in full swing at least since the '80's Moral Majority. So many Americans have been slow to take it seriously.
Declaring war against it is futile. Conservatives hold the territory, which in our system of government gives it the advantage over liberal's greater numbers. They also have religion and guns on their side. Going head to head against it will not win.
Mr Blow is wrong to diagnose the problem as racism by rich white men. The real problem is American Mythology - the stories we tell ourselves about who we are. That we are successful because we are free, good, hardworking, Christian, capitalist, individualist, ... Trump's populism works because he feeds into popular myths.
Rather that go head to head with conservatism, it would be better to go beyond it. Racism is bad not just for blacks, but for whites too. Black experience shows that hard work is not the intrinsic good that the white protestant work ethic says it is. It can be exploitative, to the point of slavery. There are millions of whites working ungodly hours without health insurance under the false belief that there is something good about it.
Freedom will only work when coupled with it's twin, responsibility. individual action with cooperation, religious belief with a healthy understanding of the fallibility of belief.
120
@S.R.: So you compare working for a company which does not pay for health insurance with slavery in this country. Correct?
In other words, a black slave on plantation in 1800 was no worse than a student who flips burgers at McDonalds today.
1
@S.R. Paying no taxes at all is apparently the most moral thing to do in the US.
1
@S.R.
Actually, it began Nov 22, 1963.
No joke, all major events in US History since then have been in reaction and counter-reaction to the Kennedy assassination, orchestrated by Allen Dulles.
Reading some of the more unhinged comments here makes me think the right will decide the left is too violent and moblike to share a country with and right leaning states will try to secede in a constitutional convention.
We could only be so lucky. Sorry Lincoln, that we couldn't close the deal.
7
@Sarah: It's like we have all their guns, so they need more guns than we have.
1
This might be a good idea.
Especially since New York and California have been literally feeding these flyover states via the federal budget and paying for their opioid addiction.
Agenda Number 1 once the Democrats regain power of congress is to dismantle the Electoral College once and for all. This antiquated system has been weaponized by the right and places a disproportionate amount of power over flyover country. During presidential election years, I am sick and tired about hearing about the concerns of blue collar workers in Ohio or Iowa or Michigan. Or the concerns about single mothers in Florida or Wisconsin. You never, ever hear about the concerns of voters where most of the country lives - the coasts - because voters there are taken for granted. Why should Ohio, Iowa and Florida singularly dictate what happens in our country's halls of power?
7
@Ed: Senate maapportionment is every bit the problem the lack of any popularly elected public office is in this funny farm of squabbling states.
@Ed did you ever consider ....... people in the Midwest, Midsouth, Gulf Coast..... and I can ensure you that people really do live in these areas ... feel exactly the same about your political concerns?
This post is exhibit A for the perception people outside the urban areas have for NYC/LA dwellers: arrogant, condescending, insulting.
We are seriously headed for bad times if we cannot, all of us, get past these divides, and come together as a nation, differences aside, political AND geographic.
p.s. I would give up the delusion of "dismantling the Electoral College" right now, that will happen when Civil War II erupts, and I can assure you people in "flyover country" are very adept at living off the grid, greenly, in a sustainable way. How's your chainsaw, shotgun and generator working Ed?
1
Yes. Since the GOP lit the fuse on its assault on the majority's rights, it is time for a new Declaration of Independence. One that guarantees 100% equal rights for all people, including women, including 100% 13th Amendment freedom from slavery, including reproductive slavery (i.e. legal abortion as a constitutional right), one person- one vote (i.e.end the Electoral College and disparate Senatorial power of rural areas over densely populated areas), and a constitutional amendment that specifies that only actually born human beings have freedom of speech and religion, and barring money from governing out political processes. That would be a good constitutional start.
Remember: The Founding Fathers did not create a democracy. They created an oligarchy that gave only 6% of Americans legal and human rights. The current GOP and its branch in SCOTUS share the goal of a countermajoritarian assault on the rights of our majority to return to an oligarchy of a tiny percentage of ultra-rich white men.
It is time to stop them and enshrine all citizens equal rights.
9
@Jennifer Hoult, J.D.
HAHAHA...another pipe dream. The seriousness of the Left has been inverse with the legalization of weed.....
4
@Jennifer Hoult, J.D. You're right, the Founders didn't set up a democracy, but they didn't establish an oligarchy either. They created a Constitutional representative republic. And that Constitution has a designated amendment process. If you want the above changes you can follow that process to accomplish that. I don't think you can, not because there are too many ultra-rich white men to stop you but because I don't think you can get the majority (or super majority as is needed for parts) of your fellow citizens exercising their existing equal rights to agree with you. But you have the freedom to try. Good luck.
1
James Madison, one of the main architects of the Constitution, in Federalist No. 37 is not a friend of strict interpretation. He argues that laws gain meaning by interpretation as no law as written can foresee all the circumstances in which it will be called to operate.
1
The Kavanaugh confirmation circus was indeed a wake-up call for this country. Do we legitimize mob-rule? The leftist demonstrations over the weekend reminded me of old southern lynch mobs trying to string up some poor innocent, not because of what was proven, but because of what was alleged.
Don't go all racial on this one, Mr. Blow. The fact that Justice Kavanaugh is a white man has nothing to do with the outrage from the left. It's the fact that the left cannot dictate via the legislative process the societal control it needs to assert power, just due to the structure of Congress. No, they NEED a leftist (not liberal, there is a difference...) Supreme Court to implement their desired changes via judicial decree. If not for, of all people, Donald J. Trump, the leftists would have a solid 6-3 majority on the court and free reign to implement controls on individual liberties, free speech, gun rights, and other levers for societal control. That is why the left is apoplectic.
There is indeed a war being waged for the soul of this country. The left desperately wants to change the Constitution exactly because it protects individual freedoms, enshrines rights of less-populous states to have a say in national governance, and provides the checks and balances of governmental power. The right recognizes the desire for the excesses from the left and must work to counter it for the sake of the future of this country. Not about race. It's about the very concept of America.
5
The left are the ones trying to fundamentally change our country, not the conservatives. A judge to adheres to the meaning of the constitution is not changing anything.
6
@Dave Dufour: I think separation of church and state teeters on the brink from you guys.
6
Mr. Blow, you are once again on target, and I agree with just about everything you have written, except about Trump being a useful temporary anamoly. Everything in Trump world is about power, wealth, privilege, and control, and chaos is one way to maintain control. It is about white male dominance, but he is the catalyst that is allowing the "inner Trump" to be okay for all too many. He is a cancer metasizing. We are in a war, not a skirmish or a fight, but fighting cannot be cathartic energy, it must be effective, and we have not been. They outsmart us, they out market us, and their lack of conscience means they take advantage of our ethics and integrity. Fighting a war means having a leader. Where is our leader? Where is our counter-point voice every day he spews his vile? Your words, and the good words of many other good people are motivating to those of us who believe and understand, but we need to reach the decent people who voted for Trump and we need to reach all who voted for Bernie, and create a common message of hope, and of effective action. We need a leader... where are you? A dvided nation turns its eyes to you.
5
Charles -your liberal and progressive values are in full display in today's NYT article on San Francisco's Hyde Street. I will never understand why progressives wish to create lawless and tolerant liberal cities like San Francisco. Conservatives work for a law abiding and less tolerant city which promotes family values such as Tulsa, Oklahoma. I will never understand why influencers like you strive for the breakdown of western civilization.
7
@Ivory Tower
Racism and misogyny are not FAMILY VALUES. Republicans do not follow the rule of law or the constitution or trump would already be in jail and impeached.
9
@Ivory Tower: The Enlightenment appears under attack to me in the US now.
4
@Ivory Tower
How many people would rather live in Tulsa, than San Francisco?
My folks were born in Tulsa. They decided to start their family in San Francisco. My folks were very smart and loving people. I thank God every day for their wisdom.
the insane, unhinged, unglued fanatical left is so crazy with Trump Derangement Syndrome they can't even function as humans anymore. Reality check: Justice Kavanaugh has already appointed a record number of female law clerks and has already matched Ruth Bader Ginsberg's record of hiring black law clerks. The unhinged left like Blow cares nothing about results, they just want to spew their hate-filled bile
12
@Larry: Peace and love, man. Have a nice day.
5
Which side does David Duke support? Which side Alex Jones support? Which candidate swore not to let Alex Jones down? Whose flags do neo-Nazis wave when they march, in addition to the swastika? Who was the first president in history to side with a hostile foreign party against American law enforcement? Who was the only president ever to publicly sympathize and praise Nazis?
Go ahead and scream about how the left is “unhinged.” It doesn’t distract from the fact that Republicans are traitors.
1
Poor Leftist Charles Blow, He can't get it, there are very few that think like him! And most of those few read his paper! He should maybe travel to the place of deplorables and actually write an article on what he finds not what he perceives! Oh wait it may not fit his agenda!
8
The problem is gerrymandering. It's the only problem. Get rid of it, and we have a representative democracy, one that closely resembles the plurality and diversity of our nation.
But that would require the party in power to vote to strike down their power and voter ID laws. Only when states successfully sue to overturn gerrymanders, the way NC did, will we see real change.
Oh, and let's deep six the Electoral College while we're at it; five slaves doesn't equal three freemen anymore.
8
@R Mandl: the states are a permanent gerrymander and Senate apportionment bears no resemblance to "one person, one vote". Democracy looks quite fake to me here.
7
@R Mandl get rid of "gerrymandering" and the e.c. and politics will shift. Progressives always assume ceteris paribus, nothing else will change. Make all districts competitive, alliances will shift, platforms get shuffled, but Americans will not elect a majority that wants everything wacky leftists want. There will always be a majority opposed to crazy, self-defeating, demoralizing, illogical, hedonistic, lawless, anti-human leftist policies. Gerrymandering or not, electoral college or not. The founders feared a mob. The mob will not win.
1
@Trump, I think the majority of "wacky leftists" are, in reality, adult enough to realize that politics is about compromise and thus they won't get everything they want. I would argue that the "right" is the group that wants everything its own way.
1
By returning the country to the 18th century strict textualists will return the nation to what it was then: a former colony still operating as a plantation economy and an insignificant economic power with little to offer.
Our nation began to achieve true greatness after the Civil War, which ended its 18th century colonialism and the surge of immigrants began. Immigrants not only brought strong hands to build transcontinental railroads and factories but new citizens who looked at long-standing problems differently and solved them. We became a nation of immigrants. That was and is our strength.
Pulling up the ladder of immigration will starve us economically, and institutionalizing the demeaning of women, minorities and the non-rich will lead us back not to 1787, but to 1860, where the struggle will be to end the New Colonialism the originalists are imposing on us.
8
@Tom Beeler
so Americans welcomed immigrants after the civil war because of enlightenment ...?
the US blocked Irish catholic immigrants until the civil war , welcomed their ships and put them all in union uniforms ..meanwhile the wealthy white folk were able to buy their way out of being drafted ..There must have been a few early Trumps around at the time (although I know Trumps grand father came to America to avoid military draft in Prussia ....
(Some things never change ...must be the genes ..)
and ye call yourselves patriots ....pull the other one .
1
I have long struggled with conservative judges who espouse the notion of "strict interpretation" and "original intent" of the Constitution. Any time one uses words such as "intent" and "interpretation" by definition, their interpretation of what the founders intended is subjective and contextual. Clearly as a nation, we have evolved from the original intent of the Constitution. Otherwise, we would have had no need to enact articles banning slavery and guaranteeing equal rights. Even today we argue the "original intent" about the right to bear arms in a nation where we no longer have a need for civil militia and whether the right to bear arms includes any type of weapon. So lets stop trying to hide behind a catch-all phrase that only conservative judges are "strict Constitutionalists" and "true patriots" and work to a point where we can restore faith in our judicial system.
4
@Lorraine H.
On "original intent" of the constitution about militias, there were two types. One was rallied to round up runaway slaves without killing them; they were valuable "property". The other was to kill Native Americans, and perhaps thereby to collect a bounty by retrieving their scalps as evidence for their claim to the bounty from the local authorities. That information should be all that is needed for "strict constructionists" to repeal the Second Amendment. Interested? Read Dunbar-Oritz.
2
@Lorraine H. Reading the minds of the dead makes one a serious authority in the US.
2
The dems have already been at war...with anything remotely moderate or conservative; with integrity; with honesty; with facts; with the constitution....and if you want to change the constitution, try to find someone smart enough to understand why it was written the way it was in the first place; it's not based on 18th century cultural phenomenon. It's based on human nature. That hasn't changed in the last 250 years.
I hope that the average American is smart enough to see through the crass and callous attempt to sandbag Kavanaugh. Apparently the only factual criticism that couple put on him was that his parents were wealthy. Didn't know that was a crime, or a disqualifying item for the SCOTUS. (Second thought: plenty of rich kids get nominated by the dems; I guess the only disqualifying attribute for the SCOTUS is a conservative idealogy.)
Leaking Dr. Ford's story at the 11th hour, the way the dems did is really nothing short of dispicable. What they did to her, and to all the women with believable stories is immensely disturbing. It was a political hack job, first and foremost. With zero regard for what this would to to women in the future. If it were possible, the democratic leadership should be ashamed.
5
@Dan It still looks tailor-made for greedy slavers to me.
1
If Kavanaugh's appointment wasn't enough to chill your bones please remember that Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 85.
Trump may get to appoint a third Justice.
9
Don't hold back Blow. You are part of the problem, not the solution.
9
Meanwhile, the author is such a bad judge of character that he supporter the worst, most pathetic Democratic candidate in over 100 years. The author supported a corrupt, dishonest Wall Street institutional politician who was so bad that she could not even win the states President Obama won. Millions of Obama voters were so upset with the author's Democratic candidate that they voted for a vulgar barbarian instead of the author's candidate. I just hope that, in 2020, the author does not support another corrupt, dishonest pathetic institutional candidate, lest the vulgar barbarian wins another term.
8
@Tony, nice try. She won the popular vote by 3 million.
8
@Tony
Right on!
2
@Tony The US obviously is a nation of vulgar barbarians transference-projecting on the whole rest of the world.
Mr. Blow now announcing that it's time to release the dogs of war... This is getting tawdry.
5
Mr. Blow, have you ever considered the consequences to blacks with a pure democracy? Think about it before you go and change the constitution.
1
@JDL I don't have any confidence that the Supreme Court will hold Congress within the boundaries of the powers delegated to it by the people anymore.
1
@JDL That is perhaps the most accurate and saddest comment, I will read today.
1
Hey — how come the supposedly horrible, rich, abusive white guy new Justice is the only one with four female clerks, for the first time in history? Even the almighty female democratic, partisan Justices haven’t done that. Where is their support for women? Why is the brand new Justice making history?
2
@Isavelives
Because he promised to be nice to females in the "future".
This is him....trying.
1
@Isavelives I guess you didn't read the article about the Yale professor who only submits eye candy female graduates to Kavanaugh for clerks because that is all he ever chooses?
3
No, this goes too far!
So disheartening to see the Democratic Party self-destructing! During national elections in towns along the Delaware River outside Philly one would see mostly Kennedy, Johnson and Carter yard signs, and later, Clinton signs. The dads were union members working at the Westinghouse plant and the oil refineries. And if you looked in on the Catholic Churches around Philly during those years, you would find mostly registered Dems there on Sundays, just like their Democratic parents before them.
The big Westinghouse plant is gone and the refineries have shut down or cut back. In October 2016, I drove through a few of those river communities and saw a sea of red Trump signs. And I'm guessing those Catholic church pews accommodate lots more Republicans these days. But I felt confident Clinton would win Pennsylvania -- until she didn't!
The Democrats' have lost their core, working-class constituency. It's too easy to say they're all racists, misogynists, and "irrelevant, old white people." Those folks believe the Democrats don't give a damn about them. I can't say they're wrong.
Meanwhile, my elderly, evangelical sister can't wait to vote on Nov. 6! She believes Kavanaugh was treated unfairly. I guess she's one of the "stupids" I now must "go to war" against, along with other family members and lifelong friends I disagree with politically.
Not doing it, Mr. Blow! And I suspect the Dems' myopia is going to lead them astray yet again in 2018 and 2020.
8
@C. Pugh
Beautifully put. Is this so hard to see?
2
I just checked the "Convention of the States" webpage and found that my state (Louisiana) actually committed to a "convention of the states" in 2016. A quick look in my hometown paper from that time span found no mention of it. How's that for a complete lack of representation?
1
"Many of the founders owned slaves; in the Constitution they viewed black people as less than fully human" - indeed this was the unfortunate foundation on which the country was built. The real reason for the Revolution was to preserve slavery against the challenge issued by the Somersett Decision (1772) by England. Republicans are still trying to preserve slavery, in essence if not in name, and the long shadows of the nation's origin still loom.
2
@Paul Adams,
Before you get too damp eyed towards England, please recall that that nation was one of the earliest and most important players in the slave trade, in concentration camps, and in forced medical experimentation on residents of the concentration camps.
England did give us the Magna Carta, but it also gave us attempted genocide in Ireland, forced continuation of opium addiction in China and a lot more.
1
So, Charles: If someone agrees with every word of this; if they have been writing to their friends in exactly these terms for months, can they claim to be as smart as you? You are so right on target.
1
The etiology of this political viciousness is the willingness of the Supreme Court to make up laws rather than interpret them - Roe v. Wade being the most obvious example. The most Catholic country in western Europe just legalized abortion by a referendum - in which 66% of the voters supported decriminalizing abortion. Thus the outcome is accepted.
Pundits like Mr. Blow do not understand this. If our judges are going to insist on being legislators, the confirmation battles are going to be blood sport. It's that simple.
3
Many of the left-bashing comments here are showing up in the Washington Post with eerie similarity. I keep seeing the same mention of left-wingers accosting public officials in restaurants. This is the new meme--"proving" that the left is violent and hates freedom of speech! We engage in frenzied hysterics and are the real dividers! We have no clue what "real" (read: white) Americans go through. Comments like these are being ratcheted up for the midterms, and unfortunately, after the Kavanaugh fiasco, they're working. Never mind that the Republicans cheat, lie to people's faces, and attack rape victims. It's the left who is morally bankrupt. Democrats are hysterical snowflakes, yet Lindsey Graham can throw a fake tantrum and Brett Kavanaugh can be a combative, whiney bully--and somehow, that's okay--even admirable. After seeing how the Kavanaugh hearings have rallied the right, who just love seeing themselves and their representatives as victims, I am not hopeful for the midterms. Up is down. Down is up. Peace is war. And Americans fall for it every time.
5
@ajbown, exactly. Today's GOP would find Martin Luther King's acts of civil disobedience to be acts of terrorism by haters of freedom.
3
@ajbown
The question is who is falling for it. The truth is coming out. Let's not change the standards so we can see where truth was lying and who was duped. If Trump seriously colluded with the Russians to influence the election, as emphatically claimed over and over again, I will feel duped and will need to re-evaluate many things.
1
Why hasn’t Senator Manchin been expelled from the Democratic Party and why is he still receiving millions from the Democratic National Committee ? Democrats in West Virginia should refuse to support him for his betrayal of Democratic values . Why has he not been condemned by Senator Schumer and President Obama ?
It is shameful that the Democratic Leadership has overlooked his support for a man who abuses women.
5
@Common ground, I too have been puzzled by the Manchin situation. Maybe "liberal" in West Virginia is akin to Susan Collins' folksy brand of faux "centrists."
1
Would it not be wise to look a little closer at exactly what the states that have voted in favor of a Convention have included as issues to be voted upon in that Convention? A big highlight is the Balanced Budget Amendment, which doesn't need to be argued over politically, it's just stupid economics. Among some of the other issues are limiting the power of the federal government (conservative), term limits for federally elected officials (I think almost everyone agrees with that), regulation of federal campaign donations and expenditures (explain where that one is bad, please) and a countermand amendment voted only by Alaska regarding the fed. gov't's refusal to assist in construction of a road from King Cove to Cold Bay (don't fully understand it, not sure anyone outside Alaska cares). Now, it's true that technically a Convention can't be limited to only the purpose for which it was formed, so sure, secession or any other crazy idea like renaming the country Boaty McBoatface could be put forth by all states' Conventions. I'm just not sure that, even though our politics have gone off the deep end, either is all that likely. Finally, a state doesn't necessarily need a Convention to secede, it needs only enough votes in favor of secession. The point is that it's not necessarily these Conventions we need to fear.
Mr. Blow, you are spot on. Trump once said he could murder someone and his base would cheer him on. As I watch the televised drama, I realized that this is true about the Republicans in Washington and their base. This whole thing is about power, about retaining the privilege of the rich at all costs. Lucky for them they have a base that holds the line tight, unable or unwilling to see or hear anything but fear and lies. My daughter called me completely distraught at what she had just witnessed. She said she felt hopeless that she would simply have to stop voting, or that she would have to keep constantly fighting for basic human rights. She said she was tired. I told her that I live in Texas and that for the last 30 years I have no hope that my vote makes a lick of difference. What I stand for hasn't won an election in 30 years.But try as they may, I will continue to vote as I have and when there is a protest, I will march. I told her not to make it easy for them to destroy common decency, or the truth. This country says you have freedom: No. It has made everyone earn it every single day: African-Americans had to wait over 400 years to be seen as humans in this country. Native Americans struggle everyday just to keep what they have from continually being stolen, including their language an culture. Immigrants have their children kidnapped and women had to fight to vote. Keep going forward mi'ja. Don't expect Republican women to help.
3
Interesting that for all his justified moral outrange, Blow never mentions how we turn over our campaign financing to the corporations and mega donors. That's what sets our political norms, and blocks progress in all things.
The rw and GOP are well organized and financed. The corporations are well 'unionized' for their interests, while average working citizens are hardly unionized at all. Then the rw enflames the racial divide that their economic policies help worsen, as living standards go down for Americans.
We need comparable effort, organization planning, and financing for the progressives-----those who are called progressives but which should be centrist in any modern democracy. But both parties vie for funding from same wealthy donors. Change is blocked until we get public financing of elections.
And our media doesn't publicize voter suppression and gerrymandering. That should be a daily topic of TV pundit panels and columnists --relating cause and effect. Give it comparable attention to all the other stuff they obsess about 24/7.
When will a NYT columnist start discussing campaign finance---such as, how we did it in past vs now, and how other countries pay for elections. Jimmy Carter said we veer to oligarchy now, since it costs millions to run for any office.
Elections for judges cost plenty. What effect does this have on our justice system's norms and politics? Where's a column on that Charles Blow?
3
@Meredith, did you forget that it was the conservative Roberts court that found that corporations were people and therefore corporations can fund elections? The only reason why the Democrats resort to corporate financing is that, thanks to the GOP, that is the state of play in today's politics. You're not going to bring a slingshot to a gun fight.
Please stop with this ridiculous false equivalency.
3
@Ed....plz...of course we all know the Robts court passed Citizens United. So Dems are forced to raise money from mega donors---obviously. No other reason needed. What does this do to the party and our political norms controlled by big money? Where is this underlying factor discussed in the NYT op ed page.
See Jimmy Carter quote. What's to be done?
I hope the country wakes up before it's too late. The Far Right's invasion into the federal judiciary means many laws which will be enacted to advance the cause of freedom will wind up being struck down. America's judiciary is one of the great checks and balances against tyranny by the majority against the rights of the individual and minority groups. If it's lost to the far right America will become a meaner, crueler unjust country where our ideals are a joke.
Wake up before it's too late.
6
War - nice to know the newspaper of record, within whose pages we found that printers marks on a map were a incitement of violence, now countenances this type of rhetorical excess.
With the many violent actions by the Times' reader base, see Steve Scalise, I'm sure it won't be long until blood actually flows and Mr. Blow's self-fulfilling prophecy will be true.
6
@Rob, uh, "many violent actions by the Times' reader base?" Are you serious? Do you think a Times reader was driving the car through a crowd in Charlottesville?
1
The author cries out for new Americans to change America by the vote; to enforce socialism and redistribution of wealth. It seems seditious to me. Creepy.
3
@Kristof Berlinger, fake news. You can cover your ears and keep repeating FAUX News talking points to yourself until they become true (hint: they won't). The only redistribution happening at the moment is from the middle class to the wealthy thanks to the big sloppy wet kiss in the form of a tax reform from the GOP.
3
@Kristof Berlinger
He's no socialist. He creates dissention and conflict in order to sell more papers, increase advertising revenue, make people buy things they don't need (or, rarely, know about). Democratic socialists want to "redistribute" income opportunity, i.e. make the game fair to everyone. Wealth would presumably shift over time if things are unfair... Is this wrong?
One of the New York Times picks for this column argued that the Democratic Party needs to go back to work for the "little guy" a la the FDR coalition.
I take it the writer's use of "little guy" meant the underserved poor, and the lower and middle classes.
Unfortunately, the white "little guy" is long gone for Democrats. He and, indeed, she are safely in the Republican column and they ain't coming back. They are the ones who most feel threatened about losing the one reliable demographic marker that gives them their identity and sense of worth..their whiteness.
They said as much in poll after poll after the election. Voting for Trump wasn't about their pocketbook. It was about their unease with African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, gays, and others now increasingly in evidence in the U.S.
Take a look at the folks behind Trump at his rallies. That's your white "little guy."
But the good news is that they in no way make up a majority voting bloc. The Democrats need to stay laser focused on getting minorities, educated Millennials, women, the LGBTQ community, and urban and suburban white voters to the polls.
And remember, just 70,000 votes in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin swayed the 2016 election! Those deciding votes were largely cast by the white "little guy."
Now it's our coalition's turn to show up and outvote them!
1
Right on the mark, Mr. Blow. Except that this is a war that has been long in the making. The Conservatives onslaught on American democracy dates back from the the post-Nixon era. Today the frontline is, let's say, more obvious, with enemies clearly identified: ehtnic minorities, women, and the poor. The Conservatives do not even attempt to hide their agenda, as we saw for instance when they blocked president Obama's pick for the Supreme Court, or when they passed a tax bill for the super rich. Now what are true American patriots to do? Whine and stand by the sideline, or get invloved with convictions and power? The moral ground is just that, the moral ground that at every election cycle turns into quick sands. Democrats must learn to fight fire with fire.
2
Maybe, Charles, but I think it's work. You've got to get people to the polls. We're past the inflection point, past the frustration, past the inequality. We must make America America again. MAAA! I'm tellin' ya, mom!
You can: register voters, fill out postcards, call voters, go door-to-door with your candidate, tell the millennial checker at the grocery or your wait person at your favorite restaurant to vote - whatever it takes. MAAA!
2
Charles Blow's arguement should have been at the forefront of the debate over Kavanaugh's nomination. Although very important and a major consideration to Kavanaugh's temperament, the focus on beer drinking and assault, stoked the culture wars, rather than the substance and implications of what Kavanaugh's nomination really meant in regards to the future of the United States system of governance and how citizens will play a role going forward.
Say the words Liberal vs GOP and a majority of Independent voters will side with the GOP (and some Democrats too!). That's how extreme the hatred of Liberals and the term liberal. It has successfully been demonized. So in order to not fire up the right more than it already is why not just refer to the Democrats Vs Republican War. Thanks for the article Charles.
3
@bingden
What you're saying isn't true, although you'd like it to be. The fact is, liberals are for social justice, fair wages, etc, but I'm not going to explain it to you. If what you say is true, Trump would have won the popular vote. In case you missed it, he didn't.
I think it was a Cherokee story that explained the perpetual battle.
From my somewhat sketchy recollection:
A disturbed, misbehaving youth was taken for counseling to a tribal elder who explained the source of his distress and confusion.
"Within our spirits there live two wolves, a good one and an evil one. They fight to take control of our minds and behavior. If the good wolf wins, it makes us honorable persons who bring credit to ourselves and our clan. If the evil wolf wins it turns us into demons that bring only harm to ourselves and others."
Stricken by the elder's revelation, the youth asked, "What decides which wolf wins?" And the elder replied, "The one you feed."
On the verge of despair, the youth cried, "But I don't know how."
The elder replied, "It is good that you admit that. Now, go and humble yourself before your Grandmother, the healer, and ask for guidance."
In time, her prescribed path of reparations for himself and others led him to a place of inner peace and a clarity of vision, much to the benefit of all those he touched.
For those willing to seek, to see, to listen, leaders will appear with answers and guidance. Else, the void awaits.
2
While I agree that the Constitution is flawed, as were the men who wrote it, the bigger problem I see is the absurd notion of "originalism" promulgated yet abandoned when necessary coupled with the naked power grab underway by Republicans. The only life, liberty, or pursuit of happiness they care about is their own and their masters.
Mr. Blow is no different than the rest of the media who peddle hate and division. Media companies benefit financially by keeping us at war with each other. Venting with likeminded feels good in the moment but real problems can't be solved without unity. Please don't let Charles Blow or Sean Hannity or any of their ilk turn you into their minion, fighting a battle for the benefit of their Corporate Media interests. Legislators are no different. If they keep us divided they have cover for not solving real problems.
9
Be sure to study up on the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. It provides a way to a popular vote winner for presidential elections and just . might . work ...
2
@Chris McMasters Hear Hear, Thanks for the reminder 23 states have passed it with more on the way. The end of electoral college chicanery.
1
"This is war." Cliched and not true as any one who has been in a war already knows. Mr. Blow, have you ever been in a war?
I've been there, done that.
7
@Dick Watson
Just a friendly reminder. Black people in America are in a war ever day -- whether they like to, or they want to be, or not.
Think not?
Read the news.
5
@N. Smith
I know many black people and they certainly are not in a war every day. They lead very peaceful and productive lives.
1
@Driven, they are not likely to tell you the many tiny injustices they face daily, because you wouldn't believe them anyway.
1
Liberals have lost reality and think very selfish.
It was war when the conservatives lost their control over the Supreme Court and America. Dont forget that the USA was a 100% White.
And now we have:
Impeach Trump because he beat us (ignore the 63 million voters)
Impeach Kavanaugh (because he is a rapist and he is not one of us)
3
@Anil from India -- "Dont forget that the USA was a 100% White."
Wow. You write English -- you clearly know nothing about American history at all.
1
You know, there are a lot of opinion writers who write for the Times, representing a fair-decent range of views. And with the possible exception of Paul Krugman, not one of them—not even one—draws the kind and volume of screaming anger plus wacko, fake, fact-intolerant posturing that Charles Blow draws.
I dunno, maybe it’s his overuse of adjectives. Maybe it’s his intelligent anger at the way Trump and Trumpists are running up a big, big set of bills (not just talking about money, either) that we’re all gonna pay.
But when I look at his photo, I wonder what else it might be. Thinking caps, thinking caps.
3
@Robert I think you need to stop lying to yourself, and comes to terms with the reality of the situation. When an author continually denigrates "white people" (what % of Blow columns don't include a ref to white people in quotes?), fixates to the point of psychological pathology on all things Trump, THEN incomprehensibly titles a piece "This Is War" , which is essentially his bullet-point plan to ensconce the US urban centers in overlord-like control over the rest of the country (hmm look at the picture and put your thinking cap on and ruminate about THAT one), maybe you should think a bit more about why there is such pushback here.
Signed, 2x Obama voter, non-Trump voter/supporter
4
Politics is a thing that affects everyone's everyday life more than any other thing but because it's hidden. People say "I don't have any interest in politics". Actually, we all do.
It took so long to get that interest, called voting, it's like we get to choose who sits at all the chairs at the board of directors table, and the rich resent that enormously. Voting came at such a cost and will again to get it back. but to just let voting rights go so easily is mind blowing to me. If the republicans minority gets a constitutional convention up and running, then I fear a Roman Empire style horror show for a couple of thousand years. We already have "The Games", and the "Reality Show" crowd in place to distract us. They are locking up children at the border into concentration camps right this very second. Immigrants are the stool pigeons now, but these same hateful people always end up going antisemitic, so we have that to look forward too, along with locking up the insane and other undesirables to "cleanse" the country. Same old playbook. Just wait for a generation or two to go by and forget then pull the same fast one.
1
The only thing is, the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the SCOTOS has nothing to do with racism nor is it the opinion of Mr. Blow. So why he is making it a racial issue I'm not sure.
5
Charles Blow did more than any single American outside the Trump campaign itself to get Trump elected, & by extension, Kavanaugh onto the supreme court, & by extension again, guarantee an arch-conservative court for generations.
Let's not whitewash history. It is almost singlehandedly Mr. Blow's fault, & time's tendency to revise, muddle events &obscure critical details, should not give Mr. Blow a pass. I believe his pangs of guilt may account for the limited coherence in today's anguished rant, a rant reminiscent of a guilty child's helpless wail while receiving a beating he inwardly believes he deserves.
I've posted this argument/summary several times, giving the simplified/shortened because tired of writing it:
Mr. Blow systematically conned the black community into thinking there was something especially "black" about Hillary Clinton (worth giving her a pass on her corporate/Wall Street toadying & venality, & underlying so-called 'New Democrat' neoconservatism) & too white about Bernie Sanders. Mr. Blow's message: it was unblack to support Sanders; Blow calculated racial & ethnic identity politics would create an unstoppable minority (including gays) coalition, sacrificing/selling out economic liberalism.
Blow opposed black cultural leaders, notably Spike Lee, Cornel West, & Danny Glover, all heroes of 2016, who said race isn't everything, that the true continuation of the civil rights movement/legacy is a multiracial focus on economic disenfrachisement/inequality.
8
And guess who swooped in with a message of economic populism to sweep the rust belt states, where Hillary had less than zero credibility.
Good job Mr. Blow. This is your doing. And no one to blame but yourself.
Hopefully the kind of black voices that will be heeded in the future is not Mr. Blow's but Spike Lee's, Cornel West's and Danny Glover's. Oh man, did those men have it right, and Mr. Blow wrong.
Mr. Blow, your impact was a calamity of historic, epic proportions. Though your betrayal of the civil rights legacy (in the sense that the aforementioned heroes got it right) can never be excused, you owe the world an enormous nea culpa.
When I think about it, your politics seems to be driven by animus (hesitating to use the word "hatred," though it may be more accurate, precise) towards non-gay white men; you probably never could've supported Sanders on that basis, however great he might have been for blacks, gays, and women. There's no evidence you harbor antisemitism, but nor are there signs to the contrary I might add. In other words, your politics seems to be driven by supporting those who are most like yourself, regardless of character, policy stances/views/commitments, or accomplishment record.
One you establish the proper overlap of categories (preferably black or hispanic, gay or at least female), you convince blacks, hispanics, gays, & women you've got the candidate for them.
2
At war FOR WHAT? Wars have objectives beyond just wanting power. What in the world are you fighting FOR, Mr. Blow and accomplices on the left? Because after witnessing Democrats' behavior, not to mention the mobs of leftists, it ain't American values. It makes me think we're not capable of sustaining a republic. Repeating the trivia about founders and slavery as if that takes away all the legitimacy of the Constitution is quite revealing. zzzzzzzzz...slavery no longer exists according to the Constitution, and the Founders, many of them were against it anyway. You have nothing to fear from following the law and participating peacefully in our political process. Using courts to impose Progressive policy on everyone is undemocratic. Learn the meaning of democracy. Hint: it's not mob rule. Tell your mob to go home and read the Federalist. Go back to high school and learn what it means to be a citizen of a Republic like ours. Get a life.
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@Trump
Have you noticed that we have a government that is controlled by a minority?
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@Trump
Coming from our President who believes (not sure how) that we should follow the law 'cause HE folows the law?
That would be funny if not so SAD!!!!
Where do you get time to Tweet? Should you not be doing something about those poor locked up children?
Your wife had to go all the way to Africa to hug some children!
Like I said....not funny.
5
@Trump
"Using courts to impose Progressive policy on everyone is undemocratic. Learn the meaning of democracy. Hint: it's not mob rule"
Using Courts to deliberately block justice is both undemocratic and abuse of privilege ..
eg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbott_v._Perez
Mob Rule ?? like a Trumpian Presidential rally ? perhaps
inciting violence and division ??
like a Donald Trump speech you mean ..
in any other democratic country ,Hilary Clinton would have been the winner of 2016 because more people of the US voted for her then Trump .
Finally the word EDUCATE comes from the latin verb "Educare "
meaning to lead forward , to acquire personal enlightenment and from thence to make progress .
Republican education does not embrace education in the strictest sense ...rather it is to embrace distorted historic conservatism ...
why is that .??....because it suits their cause and the logic behind such pathetic reasoning ...
Kavanaugh may have received his appointment to the SC ,but he is neither worthy nor have the character for the post .
He is the ultimate definition of a Republican -Trumpian stooge ..
6
Still trying to hang an election message on a hook that fell off the wall a long time ago, hmm? Sure, go ahead, ignore actual issues and try to use a story with more holes than Swiss cheese to paint Republicans as anti-women, I'd LOVE for us to keep control of Washington for another 2 years. How stupid you must think your readers are to assume that they would think a baseless accusation will outweigh the economy this year...fair assumption for the extreme left echo chamber, but 25% is far from a majority.
2
We are losing the war. The game plan which got Clinton and Obama elected no longer works. Democrats need to provide a new alternative to a whites only American society which attracts not only minority voters (by definition a minority) but everyone else as well. How will Democrats make life better for the average American family? Hillary had no answers. The Democrats still don't.
5
@Richard F. Kessler
May I suggest you take a closer look at the Democratic candidates out there now?
They're young. They're energetic -- and they're not content to sit back and complain that nothing is happening.
1
@Richard F. Kessler The average American family has to work. Work involves jobs. Jobs require a thriving economy--NOT government regulation, welfare, unemployment, food stamps, etc. Democrats are the party of the non-working; Republicans care about work and workers. Democrats ONLY talk about raising taxes to increasing government giving to the poor. That's why they have no message for the average American family. And impeaching Trump and impeaching Kavanaugh challenging the very existence of the president and supreme court are just stupid. Get the votes or be quite!
2
@N. Smith
A generational shift is in its incipiency. The young and energetic to whom you refer still have to seize control from the party's establishment. This will not happen in the next 60 days. It is more likely to take two presidential cycles or longer.
1
What is it about Americans and their preoccupation with so called history for a country so young .
McConnell speaks in terms of republican justification for their actions based on historical precedent So what ? Just because some bunch of men back in the early 19th C did it in a certain way then the present crowd in control gives them precedent ??
These early day statesmen were big into deprivation of liberty for many ,including minorities and 50% of the white population ..if we follow original precedent should we uphold such conduct in the present time ?
The US constitution is described as the greatest works on liberty and human rights .Ther US describes itself as the leader of the FREE World and yet American history is full of Paradoxical examples where its a case of say one thing but do another .
Civil rights movements ,.....Women's rights in every aspect of life are4 relatively new establishments ...and if the male descendents of the so called founding fathers had held control ,such may not be the case ..
What about LGBT issues ...improvement ish but still work in progress ..
But what remains a major outrage in terms of true democracy is the ongoing present day abuse of and by the Supreme Court .
Take the case of Abbott v Perez https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbott_v._Perez
What right has a Federal Supreme Court got to do with the justifiable decisions made by the highest Texan state court , it is a state issue ..NOT a Federal one .
Stop the abuse of LAW.
Overreact much? Libs aren’t just sore losers, they’re hysterical ones. Stop whining and go win some elections.
You all are like a losing baseball team who complains that the rules are unfair and need to be changed and that the umps are biased. It’s very unbecoming and will get you nowhere.
14
@John
Sure thing that's all you people can do, and have is the same talking points over and over. We've had republican presidents before, but it doesn't take long for people to wake up to the racist garbage that the republicans have.
We'll see who the sore losers are come November. Just so you know, the GOP is going to lose the house.
Please, please, please read Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America Paperback by Nancy MacLean.
It's real and is terrifing. And I'm an old, white guy.
6
@IT Guy Just read the NYT review, Good synopsis. According to MacLean she found the principle players by serendipity.
Charles Blow did more than any single American outside the Trump campaign itself to get Trump elected, & by extension, Kavanaugh onto the supreme court, & by extension again, guarantee an arch-conservative court for generations.
Let's not whitewash history. It is almost singlehandedly Mr. Blow's fault, & time's tendency to revise, muddle events &obscure critical details, should not give Mr. Blow a pass. I believe his pangs of guilt may account for the limited coherence in today's anguished rant, a rant reminiscent of a guilty child's helpless wail while receiving a beating he inwardly believes he deserves.
I've posted this argument/summary several times, giving the simplified/shortened because tired of writing it:
Mr. Blow systematically conned the black community into thinking there was something especially "black" about Hillary Clinton (worth giving her a pass on her corporate/Wall Street toadying & venality, & underlying so-called 'New Democrat' neoconservatism) & too white about Bernie Sanders. Mr. Blow's message: it was unblack to support Sanders; Blow calculated racial & ethnic identity politics would create an unstoppable minority (including gays) coalition, sacrificing/selling economic liberalism.
Blow opposed black cultural leaders, notably Spike Lee, Cornel West, & Danny Glover, all heroes of 2016, who said race isn't everything, that the true continuation of the civil rights movement/legacy is a multiracial focus on economic disenfrachisement/inequality.
3
It's good to see that Blow is aiming his discontent at RICH and POWERFUL white men, and not just white men.
Many white men who support Trump are neither rich nor powerful, and they are not all bigots: 6 to 8 million Obama voters voted for Trump.
But the non-rich, non-powerful white men are overwhelmingly working class. It's the working class that the Democrats have failed to excite when they trot out establishment candidates like Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden whose allegiance is to big money -- the rich and big corporations.
Establishment Democrats have deserted the working class by neglecting a guaranteed living wage, affordable higher education and healthcare, and viable labor unions. The Democrats need to regain the support of all of the working class, and that includes working class white men.
127
@Steve C
I hear/read that argument many times over the last two years and at one level it makes sense. But what I never hear/read is how Trump & the GOP have better served the working class with "a guaranteed living wage, affordable higher education and healthcare, and viable labor unions" in the least bit.
2
@Steve C Are the rich, powerful men who happen to be Democrats somehow in a different moral category? Half of Wall Street is Democrat. Come on! The donor class in this country isn't restricted to the GOP, although heavy-hitters like the Kochs and Mercers don't have counterparts in the Democratic Party except maybe Soros.
The problem is not white males or power, per se, but the legal infrastructure that has allowed corporate money to saturate electoral politics drowning out the voices and concerns of all else. If you want to call that "white male power" then I'd suggest that that is less the case now then before, and will continue to be less the case in the future. What I do not see changing is the the cozy relationship between mega-coorporations and government on all manner of things from lobbies and pacs to surveillance.
2
@Steve C
You can blame Democrats for neglecting a living wage, affordable higher education and healthcare and viable labor unions, but name me one single piece of legislation benefitting the working public that was ever passed by Republicans.
If you're expecting the party of trump to do anything that doesn't benefit corporations, you have been asleep since the New Deal.
2
Yes -we are witnessing a long-term coup that is the triumph of a concerted war on the constitution. Nothing the Far Right has done is in the service of democratic ideals; it is, as Mr. Blow writes, all about raw power.
If only we liberals were half as united and determined on two to three turnkey issues, if only we recognized this as a war that the far right has been fighting for years and fought back with the same fierceness and urgency that they do.
I don't believe that the Far Right cares more about what's at stake than we do, but they are far clearer about what they want and, critically, far, far more ruthless in what they'll do to get it -- Justice Kavanaugh being the most recent example.
What bothers me the most about the Kavanaugh appointment is that there were so many against him (including myself) who thought that because so much about the candidate and process was wrong, Republicans like Collins would put what was right before their mandate for power. We have got to be smarter, and I wish I knew what that means in terms of action.
Of course, voting is critical. But then what? My worry is that if there is a blue wave in November, we will waste it -- sitting back, congratulating ourselves and believing we are done, while the Far Right adjusts their strategy, builds up troops and waltzes away with the presidential election in 2020 -- followed shortly by a constitutional convention.
Thank you for this clear call to arms, Mr. Blow.
1
From one perspective, McConnell, Cornyn, Graham and their ilk are self-satisfied lords of the manor, savoring their moment of triumph even as they gaze out anxiously over their restive domain. In the long and maybe even the short run, they’re toast. But I think this gets one thing seriously wrong. Many Americans who enjoy little or no power still identify vicariously with the powerful. It pumps them up to know they’re part of the biggest, wealthiest and mightiest thing there ever was. Not for nothing is the tribune of populism in our time a gaudy billionaire. Didn’t we all think he could never be elected president? (I felt in my bones he would be.)
Even as I wholeheartedly support the #MeToo movement, I think it’s a strategic mistake to identify progressive politics too closely with victimhood. By motivating women and minorities to go to the polls next month, it could give Dems a majority in the House (forget the Senate). But that triumph, too, would be short-lived. Progressives have to learn to appeal beyond their base. In the meantime, it wouldn't hurt to take off the gloves and expose the cynical game the GOP and their bankrollers have been playing since the 1970s.
2
@Fidelio "Progressives have to learn to appeal beyond their base." That would be a waste of time. There are more progressives than conservatives in this country. Conservatives have been able to ascend to power due to gerrymandering election districts, limiting minority voting rights and leveraging arcane voting systems, e.g., electoral college to give conservative voters the upper hand. The way for progressives to win is to turn out in high numbers in the upcoming mid-terms - at the local, state and federal level - and finally reforming the voting systems in this country. Abolishing the electoral college is priority number 1.
@Ed
I mostly agree, but we need to get beyond sectarian issues if we want to have lasting political influence.
Voters elected majorities to most state and federal houses and senates. And governorships. Trump won the presidency according to the Constitutional rules. You can't change the Constitution if you can't win elections. Run better candidates with better ideas. Until then, get over yourselves. It's Elites vs. Normals and there are more of us than you. We don't want nanny state socialism, high unemployment and 2% economic growth.
3
@Retired, "We don't want nanny state socialism..." that is, until your Social Security and Medicare programs have dwindled. Or your house gets flooded by once-in-500-year-floods that now happen every year. Or the 5th Category 4 hurricane of the season blows over your trailer. It seems that the biggest proponents of small government and low taxes are the first in line with hat in hand after a natural disaster. Whatever happened to personal responsibility??!!
Also, why is it considered an "entitlement" when white people receive government benefits, but it's "socialism" when the recipient is a person of color? Just asking for a friend.
@Retired, I am a "Normal" and I support having a strong social safety net. So you get over yourself; you don't speak for me.
2
"Liberals, This is War"?
War's over; we lost.
Too late for rah, rah exercises in moral building. Even winning the 2018 and 2020 elections won't begin to make up for the effect of a solid 5-4 right-wing majority on the Court. For starters, expect a 5-4 decision holding Trump exempt from prosecution...
6
@NYer
Sorry. That sounds like all the more reason to keep at it.
Only those who give up have lost.
1
"A useful idiot." If that isn't the perfect label for that guy in the White House, then I don't know what is! Unfortunately, idiot or not, he has a lot of power. Much of it has been cheerfully handed to him by old-white-Republican-dinosaurs. Lots more is brashly stolen and supported behind a wall of bellicose noise and attitude (Tax returns? Emoluments? Stormy Daniels et al? The newest details about Daddy Fred's tax swindles?) that has yet to be addressed by our legal processes". The only hope is that, on November 6, the people who have not been conned will VOTE. Let's start the process of ending this Idiot's Tale.
3
Mr. Blow's weekly racial polemics have lost their zingyness.
He used to have eye catching alliterations like "hysterical histrionics" peppering his polemics. Not so much these days.
His calls to arms used to have some real conviction. "Fight! Fight! Fight!" That was the old Charles. Not so much these days.
One thing hasn't changed these days.
Tayshawn Lee. R.I.P.
4
The future can be delayed but can never be stopped.
In delaying the future the reactionaries condem generations to oppression and misery.
I do not accept this. I will not accept this.
I, a white male, say, Let loose the dogs of war!
2
Yes, no question of the racism behind much of this policy, but sure would like to see a serious discussion of just what the optimal population of the US would be--300 million? 400 million? a billion?
Everything you're saying is essentially correct, but its liberal's racism, not conservative's racism that motivates the Republican 'long-game'. Because many conservatives believe, given the power, liberals would imprison me because my daughter's favorite color is pink and you'd imprison my son because he was born with blond hair and blue eyes.
3
@Rich Skalski, oh yes, white people getting imprisoned for being white is such an epidemic in this country. NATO should be deploying troops in the U.S. to end this travesty.
1
I don't think it is just white males, rather males in general.
My son who is certainly more reactionary is also young and holds the desire for whatever these old guys are seeking. Tough to think he might aspire to Mitch and Company with a straight face, but who knows?
No spring chicken, regardless the occasional delusion, these tired eyes have watched myself among other men go through our paces and if my response to experiece is normal we all have a bit of changing in order.
This isn't to say women are above reproach but in their defense few men walk around with black eyes and bruises as a result of a domestic skirmish.
I'm not sure men actualy disrespect women as to simply not understand; we are different in almost every aspect, but one, and that is to however infrequently it may occur be desired, wanted, needed, seen as valuable, seen as a reason to exist.
Women have the ability to feel from the very inception, stirrings of life which we men will never value, treasure, fear or rue and too often disregard.
We men need to change, not dramatically but enough that we stop considering women the "weaker sex".
Women don't lead us to war or promote unfounded beliefs and I think most men know these are both tools of control. They must be seen as such if we are to bring our children into a world of a free people.
I'm just as guilty as the next guy or I wouldn't be having discussians with my son.
1
You are absolutely right. Power wants to consolidate itself, it has always been like this. Power restores itself even after revolutions, the only moment in which progress can be made. The French revolution represents the beginning of the moder era with its Liberte Egalite Fraternite but then Napoleon came and then look what is left ot that egualite when the richest one percent becomes richer by the day, and of that fraternite with the various border walls. the Belin wall was just a little thing compared with the walls that are in place now or somebody wants to build.
Thit is why more and more enphasis is put on the empty word liberte, as long as the 1% can get richer and more powerful. Panem and circenses... goes back the Romans elites...
Been wondering these past two years. Why do many Republican women get so excited and not disgusted by Trump? White women, because I have never seen any other color in his rallies.
Why do they seem to forgive him so easily?
4
If this is war thanThe Left needs to fire its generals.The Right out plays The Left at every turn. When The Left is sent packing all it can do is whine about how unfair the game was. Now the president is labeling the people protesting last week as a mob. Where is the counter message from liberal saying we are not a mob we are victims of sexual abuse? It is ridicules that a group of old men on The Right can have their way with The Left at will. In 2008 when Obama won it was predicted The Republican Party was dead. Well maybe The Democratic Party has to die so it can be reborn. To think that joe Biden may be the best hope in 2020 should be very troubling. Can’t win a war with wimps. Kavanaugh was replacing a mostly conservative judge was it worth the egg on the face the Dem’s are wearing now?
2
Thanks Charles for the wake up call. Yours is one of the few articles that I have read on the site after taking a few days hiatus from the news. Another was the editorial piece. Like the sign says, this is not over. I for one plan to work and vote like I’m on fire, because I am on fire. White hot. If the past few weeks has taught me anything it’s that I have to be in this for the long haul, that I have to make alliances of many different stripes and colors, Democrat and Republican, Black, white or other. No matter what your political affiliation I don’t think a rational person could possibly feel satisfied with our current situation.
1
Arthur
NM
Three authors worth reading right now: Madeleine Albright, Timothy Snyder, Nancy MacLean. Charles Blow elegantly summed up all three of their recent books in a few paragraphs. So, one can read 1000 pages or take to heart this morning’s opinion. The dangers are clear.
1
If I were to distill this article and the supporting comments to a single word, it would be: Comical.
"War", "Dissolve the Union", and of course the boogy man "rich, white men."
Sounds more like the a plotting scene from "The Life of Brian"..."we demand the immediate dismantling of the Roman Empire." How will they know we're serious? "we shall send them a body part of the kidnapped Empress, every hour, on the hour."
8
Charles Blow accuses Republicans of trying to "fundamentally change the American political structure so that it enshrines and protects white male power even after America’s changing demographics and mores move away from that power".
But that only begs the question: Who was it that changed America in the first place so that Whites would become a minority in their own country?
The answer is that it was liberals, who changed that.
Even worse, these same liberals attack Whites for wanting America to be majority White as “White supremacists”.
But if that is true, wouldn’t it be obvious that wanting America to be majority Non-White is “Non-White supremacy”?
The question that liberals never seem to ask themselves is what makes Non-White supremacy any better than White supremacy?
4
@Chris M. "But that only begs the question: Who was it that changed America in the first place so that Whites would become a minority in their own country? " Answer: Whites are still very much the majority in "their own country." You're welcome.
It's essays like this one, which characterize political opponents as the unredeemable "other", who work toward illegitimate and even evil ends and who pose an existential threat to all good people, that are a step along the road to civil violence. For Blow, winning is everything - by any tactics necessary. Both sides in this conflict will justify their increasingly dirty tactics as self-defense because "the other side did it first". Once those tactics become mutually violent - riots, property destruction, murders - it's hard to see what can turn it around.
4
@PWR, Both sides with dirty tactics? Uh, no. What dirty tactics have the Democrats employed?
@PWR once those tactics turn violent, which I pray to God it never does, it will spell doom for this country, and it will completely obliterate the dream of a multi-racial, peacefully coexistent melting pot that was the great dream this nation was founded on. The irony being, the racially-driven animus constantly spewed by the author is serving to move the discourse in that direction, which would have catastrophic consequences for all of us, but most especially minority communities.
2
@Ed, the Republicans for sure started the nasty trick of stalling Pres Obama's court nominee, but the Democrats certainly repaid it in kind with the Dr. Ford accusations, which were completely devoid of any convincing substance regarding Kavanaugh's involvement (I believe her about the assault but she did NOT have credible evidence to implicate Kavanaugh)
Also, the Republicans use of political money from donors to skew voting is also replicated by Democratic backers, if not on the same financial scale.
This says nothing of the Donna Brazile debate cheating episode from '16 pres election (which amazingly to me almost never is talked about??), nor Ms. Clinton's private courting of Wall Street money while positioning herself as "tough on Wall Street" in the public eye.
*Both* sides have dirty tricks, and it's splitting hairs to try quantify who uses what more.
1
Please, I beg you, continue this "war". Stay angry, emotional, and irrational.
Today (and for the last 10 days) Trump's approval rating catapults to the highest levels since March 6, 2017. Now besting Obama by a full +13 points in the same mirror time frame.
High brow, over-educated, coastal leftists are proven have the lowest levels of common sense. That translates to not having the ability for introspective thought or the realization that they made a horrendous miscalculation primarily because of the inability to understand true Americans. The truth is, the left has no soul and is at war with itself.
5
@Regis, fake news. He has a higher approval INDEX rating that is 12 points higher than Obama's second year. What does that mean? It means that Obama's second year ratings were lower compared to Obama's first year. Trump merely flatlined because his first year ratings were mediocre to begin with. Facts are not your friend.
2
Does nobody else find this column, and the accompanying school of bitterly hyper-partisan race-baiting thought, to be unproductive and unhelpful?
According to Mister Blow, anyone advocating for originalist jurists are ACTUALLY advocating for white supremacy, the tangible value of whiteness, a return to the 3/5th's standard, and other despicable and ridiculous allegations.
To quote Senator Graham 2.0: "You want to pick the judges? You need to win the White House."
11
@Jeremy Cohen
We *did* win the White House -- and Mitch McConnell, in his undemocratic bid for absolute power, refused to consider Merrick Garland's nomination.
And don't tell me to get over it. That move by Mr. McConnell was a big step toward destroying democracy in the US - forever.
4
@democritic
damned right.
Most Americans won't admit it, but oligarchical control is built right into the Constitution, via the two senators per state rule and its derivative, the Electoral College. These structures give vastly greater power than is appropriate under majority rule to the small rural states, a vestige of the days of slavery where the lightly populated south (that is lightly whitely populated) feared the populous north would ban their most cherished possessions...black slaves. Maybe it is time to hold a convention to modernize the Constitution, but only if representation is based on population. Otherwise 40 rural states would dominate the 10 that hold most of the nation's citizenry...even if you count their corporations as people. Of course under that proviso, one of the greatest powers on earth would be the Cayman Islands.
2
Yes, Mr. Blow, this is, indeed, war.
It has been so since November 9, 2016, and its continuation on to the present day is a consequence ONLY of the Democratic Party’s willing—eager, even—descent into a childish, rabid, frothing-at-the-mouth, hold-my-breath-until-I-turn-blue temper-tantrum in response to its subsequent losses regarding Trump’s successful appointments of Gorsuch and Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.
All I can say is “Keep it up, Democrats!” Americans can recognize a political party that has truly “stepped off the deep end” and is truly unfit to govern.
As an old, white—but hardly rich—guy, I look forward to even greater Republican victories in the near future, even though I’m not a registered Republican.
It’s only because Democrats have proven themselves unfit to govern a landfill, let alone this nation.
5
"As an old, white—but hardly rich—guy..." Shocking!
@Ed—
And that was supposed to be a clever reply?
Mr. Blow has an amazing command of the obvious. This war has been going on since the end of WWII and it has been the main project of the Republican Party for 75 years. It finally erupted into visible war when Newt Gingrich torched the historic norms of the House in 1994 and Mitch O'Connell torched the historic norms of the Senate in 2015. These men were southern war leaders who valued party and culture over the constitution and the welfare of the American people. It is impossible to image that either man thought that what they were doing would not tear down the fabric of democracy and propel us toward a new civil war and a new Appomattox. This time, these two southerners promise, the south will win. And so far they have. Its not the liberals who need to be warned, they know well that they have lost their jobs, pensions, and security due to the new southern onslaught. (Clinton was from Arizona, Carter was from Georgia, and Obama was raised in New Zealand) We have not had a northern Democratic President since JFK and they shot him in the head in a southern state. That was as clear a sign of war as could be conceived but most people outside of the south missed it. There they see this as justifiable revenge for the north winning the civil war. It is good that a black writer sees it now. The only group of politicians that still don't see it are the embarrassing and worthless leaders of the Democratic Party in Washington. The DNC is the greatest gift the Confederacy ever had.
3
This sort of hysterical demonizing of the big, bad, rich guys is totally counter-productive. I sympathize with Charles Blow's rage, but I'm getting sick of all this race-baiting from the left about "white" privilege, "white" power, "white" paranoia, etc. It may feel temporarily good to let go on all this stuff, but doing so won't play in November, when it counts.
7
Republicans are reaping the rewards of a decades long effort in local and state politics, as well as the courts, coupled with a shameless propaganda campaign from entertainment (Fox News) to the "intellectual" (Heritage Foundation).
It's not going to be easy to counter and the left shows no signs of even realizing the work that needs to be done to fundamentally set the stage for a similar advantage. It's all just about getting to the next election and hoping the courts hold up the good work of years' past. It's not sustainable and we're reaping the "rewards" of that too.
For the Supreme Court I believe the idea of term limits for the justices needs to receive serious consideration. As the court has become highly politicized over time the time may be coming when term limits need to be imposed on the Supreme Court.
That way it ceases to be such a prize for partisan maneuvering as we've seen in the Senate under the leadership of Mitch McConnell.
This Senator is the one who denied even a hearing to Merrick Garland thus demonstrating that the Republicans are every bit as partisan as Democrats when it comes to nominations to the high court. If he had only not done that he might be able to claim the high ground in this process, but as he did deny even a hearing to Merrick Garland he can never claim the high ground when it comes to the process of considering and confirming Supreme Court nominees.
6
Finally, someone succinctly puts it all together. And yes, it is war. And it is going to get even uglier.
2
Oh for Pete's sake. Why are so many liberals on this column complaining about the use of the term War. This is the definition of why liberals don't win. There is no winning instinct. Just endless naval gazing and virtue signaling.
I loathe Republicans, but I am not hopeful about the ability of Democrats and their voters to reverse this tide.
The reality is that the majority of the population in this country is white. Therefore, Democrats are not going to win this war if it keeps attacking whites as racist. If they were, Obama would not have won twice, twice! So accusing whites of racism is not going to help. That's how Republicans won the election for the presidency. And now, accusing all men of sexual harassment is not going to help, either. Many women have sons they want to protect. So, we need to stop all these issues that are dividing our country and deal with them on a local level. On a national level, Democrats need to address the issues that affect everyone: we need well-paying jobs and we need affordable health care. And need real leaders that show integrity and character. We need leaders that sets this country back on the track of equal opportunity and freedom for all, not just corporations.
4
We’re attacking people who vote for racists as racist.
1
Let Democrats keep in mind our own failings, especially the horribly run 2016 ("can't lose") election. The Hillary campaign was poorly run, poorly focused & unwieldy. Hillary herself could have been a much better candidate & had the ability to do so. Un-doing the damage Trump has done will take decades, & a new generation of leaders.
2
@Bob, please do not discount the influence of Trump's Russian overlord. Literally a few votes per voting district in MI and PA decided the election.
1
I taught college back in the early 2000's and regularly was confronted by students who didn't agree with their grade. Basically they said it was my opinion of their performance that didn't align with their opinion. We had fallen into subjective truth. But there was always a fact based truth muddied by a right wing concept that only one side of a story was being told.
The awful thing is the waters are so muddy now that many cannot see the truth. In an effort to be non-partisan even the NYT adds to the confusion as much as it clarifies. How does one proceed without falling into the traps set out to further distort and confound a truth?
In the Kavanaugh case we hear the right complain of a liberal tainting of a process but the fact was the right obliterated the intended process long before Brett. Withholding their advise and consent duties (which is not something the Constitution said they could do) mutilated the process. They went further destroying the stipulation in the Constitution that states 2/3 of the senate needs to confirm a jurist.
There was clear will by the framers that the court should not be a political body and yet 50-49 should never have been. People can say the treatment of Bork started the modern controversy but he was still voted on and denied. Arguments made that his treatment went too far may be true but his views were unsettling to the majority who denied his nomination including 6 republicans.
All is not equal and the blame is one sided
2
“In the Electoral College, each individual Wyoming vote weighs 3.6 times more than an individual Californian’s vote.” This is bad enough, but it is even worse when one considers the Senate (which among other things confirms Supreme Court nominations). California's population is 39.5 million and Wyoming's population is 580,000, which means in a Senate race each individual Wyoming vote weighs 68 times more than an individual Californian's vote. I have often wondered why liberals don't organize mass moves to small conservative states in advance of elections to register to vote in those states. People could then move back to blue states after the election. It's an obvious power move that would have a real impact in the current cold civil war. There are more liberals than conservatives (millions more voted for Clinton than Trump for example); it's time to stop minority rule.
7
@Richard
Constitutional amendment, Rich...the U.S. Constitution provides you with a remedy allowing you and like-minded citizens to abolish the U.S. Senate, and the Electoral College, too...if so desired.
The left needs to talk less about war between and among U.S. citizens, and more about redressing its grievances through the process provided by the founders.
Stop your silliness and get to work...get busy, Rich.
@Lorraine Nothing unconstitutional about individuals moving to other states, and voting in the new state's election. We are all guaranteed freedom of residence in any state as citizens of the United States. Perhaps you don't understand history. The Union prevailed in the Civil war, not the states in rebellion. Read the Constitution: as in the last four words of the Tenth Amendment. We the People are the ultimate power.
1
@Raconteur No Amendment is needed, since there is nothing unconstitutional about individuals moving to other states, and voting in the new state's election. And by the way, I am busy working on the election and happy to say the Arizona Senate and my Congressional district are going to flip blue. ;-)
1
"Liberals, This is War"
A bit late to wake up to that. The Republicans have been fighting a war for years but the Dems approached each battle as if it were a scholarly debate.
I voted twice for President "no drama" Obama but was immensely frustrated at his reluctance to actively engage the Republicans as if it really mattered. Can anyone imagine a Republican president meekly surrendering the Merrick Garland nomination with hardly a fight? He shouldn't have remained above it all, and Hillary and the Dems should have endlessly hammered the GOP over it during the campaign. But then, they never took the balance of power of the Supreme Court seriously, and now they will be paying the price for generations - as will many Americans who were not careful what they wished for.
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@mancuroc Quite so. It's hard not to see Obama's essential weakness and aversion to confrontation as anything but an open door to Republican hubris, absolute obstruction and, now, the Cult of Trump, which revels in the hatred and lies that gave it power. Obama gave the public too much credit for ideals they just don't embody; Trump gave them credit for the lack of character and intelligence that they do.
It strikes me that we suffer from a Constitution that, though born of Enlightenment idealism and hopeful optimism about the essential character of regular human beings, it allowed for too many compromises with evil (slavery, limited suffrage, de facto oligarchy, a lifetime Court, unrepresentative Senate, the executive pardon, etc.) and now, 242 years later, its flaws have become magnified by numbers and wealth and it is at a breaking point.
It will probably take a major, perhaps world-wide catastrophe and substantial breakdown of society and civil strife to arouse any movement to a more enlightened system of governance that was embraced by regular folks; the form it would take is hard to envisage from here. But that upheaval would also probably take us farther down into the depths of Hell before anything good arose from the ashes, so it's hard to wish for it.
In the meantime, we resist. And, as we need leaders, we look for champions.
3
@mancuroc
Couldn't agree more. It made my skin crawl when Obama derided the "professional liberals." And look where "going high" when they "go low" has gotten us....
Democrats have the right policies, which are supported by the vast majority of Americans. What they lack is an understanding of how to undercut Republican propaganda. You are right--it can't be done with a professorial argument. It has to be done by appealing to the emotions. Eg. I cannot understand why Democrats have given up on talking about the children the Repubs put in cages--who are still there....Because Matt Schlapp came up with some stupid falsehood that "Obama did it"....? This is the fight
Dems need to wage. Why don't they get it?????
2
@mancuroc 100% agree. and not to mention all those federal judges Obama should have been appointing in 2008-10. That misstep will have generational impact, much like the two SCOTUS appointments this year.
1
We should start planning on a permanent division of the country.
A constitutional convention is the place to start,
Otherwise the strife will never end.
2
I don't understand why the systematic disenfrachisement of minority, poor, and urban voters through voting restrictions and gerrymandering has not inspired the same degree of anger as the Kavanaugh affair. I don't belittle the passion aroused by the latter, just the lack of passion among voters and attention in the media given the former.
While the Electoral College and two senators per state understandably strike many as unfair Democrats have controlled the Presidency and both houses of Congress as recently as 2008 under the current system and many of us remember the Warren Court. Changing the Constitution is not the answer and would be extremely dangerous in the current environment. Say goodbye to the Bill of Rights except for the Second Amendment.
One big reason for our current position is that conservatives have been planning and organizing for years while the left has convinced itself that its moral superiority will speak for itself. The issues favor Democrats; what is needed is comparable effort and planning.
416
@Jack Kashtan The GOP base is angry & will turn out in huge numbers. The Republican base has shown up in every off year election since 2010...pretty much guaranteed after this messy judicial hearing. The GOP base isn't mad because Kavanaugh was under assault. They’re mad because they saw this as Democrats trying to sink the nomination outside of the rule of law. There’s a reason why the burden of proof sits with the accuser. Without that burden, any accusation can be used as a political tool. We can't have a functioning government where every congressional activity is held hostage like this. We're already starting to see blowback. Stacey Abrams & Andrew Gillum two African American Progressive candidates running for Governor in Florida & Georgia were ahead in polls a month ago. Now both GOP opponents have caught up & are perfectly positioned to win their races. At this point, few analysts of either party expect the Democrats to make major gains at the state legislative level around the country. The recent drama with Kavanaugh will motivate many to come out — not just the conservative base, but fair-minded Independents who are outraged that Democrats have waged an opportunistic political war. Any possibility that the Democrats could retake the Senate is already out of reach. This eerily feels like the 2016 over-confident predictions about the"inevitable" victory of HRC. The tide is turning in the wrong direction. The left is going to regret how they over played their hand
2
@Jack Kashtan - I think the answer is simply that people have always been more easily inspired to be angry with a specific person than with a specific idea or concept. If we personify the voting restrictions with a person (let's say, Mitch McConnell, for example) it will be easier to generate the anger to fight against the reduction in voter rights that the GOP has been pressing.
@Jack Kashtan....this is the point....that the rightwing are well organized and financed. The corporations are well 'unionized' for their interests, while average working citizens are hardly unionized at all. Thus the transfer of power upward.
We need 'comparable effort, and planning---and financing. Both parties vie for funding from same wealthy donors. Change is blocked until we get public financing of elections.
And our media doesn't publicize voter suppression and gerrymandering. That should be a daily topic of pundit panels just like the other stuff that's on 24/7. But we rarely hear about it.
1
This is not a war within a democratic system where liberals and conservatives are matched against each other. It's a war between systems--a democracy in one corner and an oligarchy in the other. My fear is that the oligarchy has already achieved major victories through its attack on Obamacare; its insertion of trickle-down economics into our tax laws; its anti-unionism (Judge Gorsuch); and the appointment of Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
505
@Bursiek Not to mention the creation of a vast propaganda machine based on lies and false logic, underfunding and subverting the education system, instituting legalized bribery of public officials, and transferring more power to business interests over the electorate.
4
@Bursiek As Blow says, and you demonstrate, we seem to have a problem seeing the forest for the trees. These things you mention are battles, not the war. What if Democrats had used their possession of the White House and Congress early in Obama's administration to do the kind of power consolidation and bulwarking the Republicans are currently doing, rather than blowing all their efforts on Obamacare first?
@Bursiek
All too true.For myself, I am going on 90 years old and do not expect to see much change in my remaining years. My concern is for my adult children grandchildren, and my four great-grandchildren.
Somehow “we” must find a real-life “Ernest Everhard” to begin the infiltration of the Oligarchs organization in order to effectively counter their campaign to destroy governance by and for the people.
Changing the Constitution's structural elements is a fruitless exercise. The small states will not give up power. Electing presidents by popular vote may have a chance. Still, the strategy of winning majorities in both houses and having decent presidential candidates is much more constructive. A start has to be getting rid of gerrymandering and, at this point, this will probably work only on a state by state basis. Also, Susan Collins just reminded us that Republican senators in places like Maine, no matter how much they pretend to be "reasonable," are luxuries we cannot afford.
490
@arp, the small states governed by proto-fascist Republicans will gladly eviscerate the 14th Amendment, which gives birthright citizenship. I suggest they will introduce some kind of grandfather clause for citizenship or voting eligibility that requires (extensive) documentation, thus eliminating at a stroke a large part of our poorer and more recent citizenry from the franchise.
32
@Thomas Zaslavsky In what parallel universe are you living? I don't know a single Republican who wants to take away ANYONE'S right to vote! What I do know are those on the East and West coasts who would love to figure out a way to disenfranchise "flyover" country so they could always elect our President. Thank God the Founding Fathers felt that changing the Constitution was something that should only be done for such big issues that the entire country would be in favor, and made it extremely difficult to so without that mandate. It ain't going to happen - the Electoral College is here to stay.
2
@India, every word you say is fantasy. First, abolishing the Electoral College cannot possibly disfranchise "flyover country" or any other place. That is simply bad arithmetic, actually no arithmetic at all. Second, you may not know the Republicans who are busy taking away people's vote by making up unnecessary requirements for voting that disfranchise hundreds of thousands of citizens to deal with a few dozen illegal votes. Your Republican politicians have forgotten what I learned in school: "Better a hundred guilty persons go free than that one innocent person go to jail." Not that we should take that literally, but Republican state governments have reversed that principle, gladly depriving tens of thousands (or more) of the vote to stop (ineffectively) each of the handful of improper voters. These are readily verified facts. As for making the Constitution difficult to change, I'm with you, but you have the wrong people in mind.
4
Yes to all of this: This is a war that dates to the 1930s, got amped up with Reagan and Gingrich, and has now established huge beachheads of power.
Charles is right: this is about a constitutional convention. Read Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's book if you want to know what they're planning: An amendment that allows states to declare any federal law they don't like as unconstitutional is central. Expect amendments on abortion, the press and business regulation, too.
The goal is to get 38 red states; once they have that, they can rewrite with impunity because the other 12 won't matter. That's why they've gerrymandered so assiduously in states where you might not think it mattered so much. The magic number is 38. If they get that, the country is well and truly gone -- and frankly, I doubt it would ever come back.
The country is basically gone already; we will need a miracle on our side to save it, but at least, as Charles says, we should be clear-eyed about what we're up against.
588
@Rex
Yes, returning the United States to a union of sovereign States rather than a unchecked central government is indeed the goal.
4
@Rex
34 states is 2/3 of states. So, it would take about the same number of states that are in full Republican control(26) plus 8 or the same number of state that voted for Trump(30) plus 4 to call for a Constitutional Convention. It would seem very unlikely.
1
@Rex It was a shock to me when i stumbled onto the constructional convention ideas a couple of years ago.
It is depressing, backwards we go to those times of 1857, hey there Dred Scott, here are your chains again.
I notice Kavanuagh like his mentor Trump failed to perform the real public service of military service or the badge of a Conscientious Objector [for better or worse depending on ones view of that].
us army 1969-1971/california jd
1
Charles, if Republicans are willing to do whatever it takes, now that they have shown willingness to do whatever it takes to seat the likes of a Kavanaugh, what makes you think they won't do other things like misreport midterm election results or even cancel future elections outright?
As the NYT editorialized following the Kavanaugh debacle, the Trump virus has now permanently infected all three branches of government.
You say Trump is not the problem, he's only a blip on the GOP march to power.
To which I respond, useful idiot or not, he's serving his paymasters well, including finding a permanent solution to the Russia investigation with this latest SCOTUS pick.
Today, I head Mitch McConnell call Democratic protestors a "mob." Joyce Vance, a respected former US prosecutor, was horrified the head of the Senate would call lawful protest a "mob."
Democrats need to do far more than play by the old rules of politics. If this is a war, they'd better master the moves, the tools, the words and the technology of war instead of fighting each other.
The time for weeping is past. The other side has shown its true colors, and which doesn't include reaching across the aisle.
What I fear most about Democrats is by the time their anger reaches a boiling point, they will have become completely defanged.
As much as I hate to say this, they need to act more like Republicans: ruthless, laser-focused and willing to tolerate party dissent to win the larger war .
825
@ChristineMcM; Alas, the Dems will continue to fight each other, as the many issues that should unite us end up keeping us apart. Defenders of the environment; the pro-choice fanatics; the labor leaders; the defenders of minorities -- each cares only about its own issue, thus creating divisions rather than unity. Until we have a genuine coalition, nothing will change.
6
@ChristineMcM
-and it takes Unity. If Hillary had run with Bernie Sanders as her running mate, she never would have lost just enough votes to Jill Stein, Gary Johnson or to staying home to allow a Trump upset. As much as I like Tim Kaine, he was not a plus for getting more votes. Self inflicted wounds are something Democrats are good at.
3
@Penningtonia- Very well said.
We’ll all hang separately if we don’t hang together.
1
Charles, this may be be your most important column ever! Yes, it IS war, and while the Kavanaugh fight was bloody, it was just one battle. And you are especially right to point out that conservatives adopted the generational view back in the Sixties when they nominated Barry Goldwater and so many laughed, but the laugh was on the smug Democrats who became complacent and took for granted that their core constituency of the working and middle class would always vote for them even when they sold them out to the donor class.
Now the Dems need to roll up their sleeves and get back to basics, returning to their FDR roots, and fighting for the "little guy", regardless of their demographic address. They need to get back to getting out the vote, the way the old time Democratic machines did, and not mistaking campaign donations for votes.
Yes, this latest battle was lost, but the war is still raging, and it will take perseverance and the long view to win it. The next battle starts in November.
1212
@Kingfish52 While I largely agree with your thinking, as an independent voter who watched, starting with the Clintons, the Democratic Party, as you correctly stated, sell out "to the donor class", how will the Democrats convince anyone that they've changed? And maybe more fundamentally, given their current leadership, can they actually change?
I fear that all of politics is now so polluted and corrupted by big money that even the Democratic Party we all remember so fondly may be functionally incapable of breaking their addiction to dollars.
What to do?? Vote in November!
5
@Kingfish52
I share Mr. Blow's political values, and regularly agree with his columns. But--it's not war. The Kavanaugh "battle" wasn't a real battle, and it wasn't really "bloody."
Come on, people. You're losing your heads, and losing track of the difference between metaphor and reality. Keep your cool. A real war will be ten thousand times worse than what we have now. I agree that the Rs seem to be driving towards a real war. We don't have to give it to them yet.
We have an election, not a "battle," coming up on November 6. Vote. Get everyone you know to vote. Give money to D candidates. Do everything you can to prevent a real war. Preserve the peace, the rule of law, and the constitutional order.
3
@Kingfish52 The Clintons did much to damage that relationship when they put their focus on the upper classes and turned on the welfare classes.
2
Here is the dividing line in this war. The Maginot line, if you will.
Guns.
Guns are the payoff to get red state votes. The rural gun lovers think that unlimited access to firearms gives them power. They like to say that guns are a central feature of their culture.
Guns are the instrument of white power. Without the gun, there can be no white power. White supremacy, conveniently called white nationalism, is the culture of which they speak.
So long as these people can own as many powerful weapons as they want, they believe that their status in society is secured. This is how the super rich, which the GOP represents, gets their votes.
These people have no power. They have no economic power and no political power. They are pawns of the oligarchy. They are being played for stooges by Trump and the Republicans. They always have been.
Democrats don't understand this dynamic. No politician wants to admit it because it ties this war back to race.
This nation was formed out of race issues. It has fought a civil war over race. We are now having civil war 2.0 over the same issue.
These oligarchs who run the show are the modern day equivalent of the plantation owners of the antebellum South.
1520
The 2nd amendment talks about militias, but does not define what that is, or how it might work. A national guard exists. Could it not become our militia?
2
The US has trained a whole generation of young men and some young women, in the use of guns in the military. In combat they need that gun to stay alive. It keeps them safer. They come home , but some part of them us still back there. The training is there. They still do not feel safe without a gun, which by now is an extension of their arm. They have bonded with guns and they dont want to give them up.
They are a product of their military experience.
We did it.
1
@Bruce Rozenblit
The super rich include Soros, Tom Steyer and Jeff Bezos on the left, and the Kochs, the Devos family and Sheldon Adelson on the right. Today's front page reports that the big money financial Masters of the Universe now favor Democrats over Republicans. No one should be allowed to accumulate such wealth and use it to influence elections.
1
When it comes to voting for the president of the United States, the States are given more power than the population. There’s a good reason for that. That reason is, we’re the United States not the United Population. The college itself can be dumped into the trash, but the proportional voting system is good. It means a politician has to get to know the heartbeat of all States, not just the top ten. One thing that really needs to be changed: All citizens should automatically be registered to vote at 18. Finished!
6
@William P Your comment about politician (presidential candidate) having to get to know the heartbeat of all States is absolutely untrue. They are only incentivized to campaign in the few swing states, while ignoring the rest. The origin of the electoral college is well known, and well past due for replacement.
3
@William P, you do not know this country. Transferring power to the states has left We the People unrepresented by the President. In every election cycle, the only states ant count are Iowa and New Hampshire to start with. Two states who could completely fold up and nobody would miss them or their people. Throughout the election cycle, they visit a handful of "swing" states. They do not "know" us.
1
@William P
The only way for a president to be viewed as legitimate is by winning the presidential race via popular vote, not an outdated system that worked when the population rode horses. But not anymore, and anything that can render gerrymandering a moot point is worth doing. One man one vote, should be the law of the land.
1
The good point about the mid-term elections is that it will allow women the opportunity to see whether the Democrats have been using them in order to help themselves or if the Democrats are truly concerned about survivors of sexual assault. Let's see how the Democrats handle Keith Ellison, a perpetrator of sexual assault. Will the Democrats "believe the survivor" and shun Keith as the abuser he is or will they make an exception and ignore "the survivor"? Time will tell ...
3
@hapEguy -- you know the problem with that one -- the accuser(s) keep claiming there's a tape they won't produce.
Yep. Amen, and a special amen to that excellent crack about getting over the notion that we have to “fall in love,” with a candidate before we get off our duff and go vote. Exactly what Obama’s politely been saying, and he’s dead right, too.
By the way, the right-wingers yelling about “civility,” might wanna try bringing some to the party. Maybe even addressing that particular demand to, say, Donald Trump.
And while at times some of the dingbattier types on the Left do call for secession and revolution, they aren’t the ones who’ve been waving actual guns and snarling about “Second Amendment remedies,” for years now.
There are civil wars, and Civil Wars. Charles Blow is a fan of the former. If you’re a fan of the latter, lemme suggest reading up on what a Minié ball is, and why there were ao many amputations during the real thing.
4
Blow, you and the alt-right are two sides of the same coin.
18
On the contrary, @Claxton77 -- Mr. Blow is on the side of the coin where the head appears (as in, intelligence). The alt-right takes up the backside of the coin where the tails appear (as in, the rump).
2
Mr. Blow is correct in describing the current political landscape as a battlefield. But it seems so disheartening — indeed almost futile — to fight an enemy that is hellbent on vanquishing its own populace. Trump and his sycophantic GOP henchmen truly detest the opposition (Progressives, women, people of color, the educated), and will not stop until their enemies are starved, beaten and eradicated. Kudos to the liberal media and to left-leaning politicos who rally around the Progressive banner and struggle to expose the rampant psychosis that is Trumplandia, but it feels like it's too late. The damage is done, the war is lost; the lying, vulgar, ignorant and immature Trump has succeeded in his coup d'etat, and those not ascribing to his hateful regime and evil tenets are relegated to the trash bin of our former democracy. Voting and activism are givens, but how to counter this tsunami of angst? Woe is us.
8
@H. Clark That's some serious Shakespearian dramatics don't you think? In fact it's rather funny. I can't stand Trump but the victim virtue signaling is the exact reaction he and his supporters are fishing for. We live in a time where both sides deserve each other, regardless of who is right or wrong.
@H. Clark
He war should only lost when one of two things happens, either your dead, or you've surrendered, otherwise, this war shouldn't end because of Kavanaugh. If anything, it's time to rally, stand up and retake the house, just to start. The same rules that they used, the democrats should use.
This is race-baiting of the worst kind ... Blow has always been prone to hyperbolics but, holy jumping jesus does he take it up a notch here. These sort of histrionics are a prime reason why I will actively vote and lobby against this extremist manifestation of leftism. I voted for Obama twice btw (though I have to say I regret those decisions at this point). The Democratic party has turning to disgusting, divisive tactics rather than generate legitimate policy alternatives. They are intellectually bankrupt and it shows. Much as they would like to imagine they're winning the culture war, they are poking more holes into an already sinking ship. The alternative media is thriving. And any human being with a brain who travels around this country and talking to people understands that the vast majority of conservatives are great people working to do right by their families and communities. This demonization is not only pathetically ridiculous but dangerous - and it's sad that the NY Times has turned into a slavering partisan hound for far left sycophants. Shame on you all.
22
What’s dangerous is what Trump and Repubs are doing to this country and our democracy
2
@purpleoctopus, You think that the left has lost its mind? The Republicans lost theirs years ago and it has certainly driven the left father left. Simple cause-and-effect.
I’m sure we all feel turrible that we disagree with you and don’t really feel like sitting around and taking this kind of nonsensical guff.
I mean, if you really think Charles Blow is a far, far Left bomb-thrower, you need to get out more. Or at least listen to Sean Hannity bluster about his crummy martial arts training a little. Guy can’t punch for beans, and he’s still sounding off about Second Amendment remedies.
Oh, and this just in: lots of the people you hate are pretty good, decent folks too, just like at least three idiots who voted for Trump that I oersonally know, see frequently, and like a lot. Some are even your neighbors.
So maybe YOU oughta talk to folks a little, before the next screed.
2
The substance of this racist column is that the democracy provided for by the current Constitution is unacceptable because it was created by "rich, powerful white men..." and that we should avoid a new Constitution because it would not reflect the values Charles supports (i.e., those favoring poor, weak, black women?).
13
@No
Exactly!
Liberals want you to believe that if Whites are the majority, it's "White supremacy" but that if Non-Whites are the majority, it's not "Non-White supremacy".
In what universe are those two options anything but two sides of the same coin?
2
Poor Mr Blow. He thinks everyone who doesn't think like him is wrong. Someone named Obama once said "Elections have consequences" and when they favor his guy, we'll that's fine. But when they don't go his way, we'll there is blood in the water. This guy must have a been a real problem at Christmas. Guess what Mr Blow? A lot of us do want a court to interpret thew Constitution closely to its text because as much as they were white men, they were smarter than anyone around today. And the Electoral college is genius. We are NOT a collection of people, we are a collection of states, then and now. California, a state of lunatics, doesn't get to tell the rest of the country who is going to be President because they were granted a large land area. If it wasn't for the electoral college, that state would be cut in pieces to keep things fair. I wish the state would break off and sail into the Pacific with its 55 Electoral votes, but thats another conversation. So Chuck, I lived with your guy for 8 years and it was painful, so now it's your turn to live with mine. I went to work everyday, endured it, but you all cry, complain, make posters, threats, picket the streets. But again, us Republicans, we just go to quietly go to work and take back the government once you liberals have worn out your welcome trying to make us look like Europe.
12
What a ridiculous rant to which a reply is simple with basic math. Under the current system, people in small states carry a disproportionately larger amount of influence in these elections vs citizens in large states like CA. Look it up. Time to even things up.
1
@Michael, It would be good to remember that your side cried and cried when Obama was president. Those of us with any memory do remember that, and the whole birther madness that you and your president inflicted on the rest of the nation. That we have a problem with DT because he’s a bumbling narcissist who can’t shut up just proves that we care about the office of the president, and that you do not.
2
Thanks for a pretty good example of how you people “think.”
1
“This ain’t over.” “Impeach.” “Abolish the electoral college.” “Disrupt.” “Disrespect.” “Attack public officials while they are eating at a restaurant with their family, or at the grocery store, or at the gas station.”
Yes, the tactics of the opposition party are driven by today’s “insta”-media world. And encouraged by politicians who should know better.
This is going to end badly, when someone gets hurt, or worse. But until then, those who refuse to recognize that elections have consequences will continue their efforts full throttle.
Last one out of the circus has to lock up everything.
7
@Brewster Millions end badly.....you mean like shooting up Representatives playing a softball game?
Good post.
Remember Charlottesville? Someone has already been hurt - and the perpetrator is a neonazi whose hatred Trump embodies. Own that.
2
@Dan T
Dont forget that a Dem female Representertive giving a speech was shot up also not so many years ago.
Charles I am a Canadian and there is a truth that we know that we dare not speak.
Our Liberal government came to power and passed legislation that tied our hands as we negotiated international treaties. It prevented Canada from concluding treaties with countries that did not respect the morals and values that we in Canada hold dear.
The first countries to reject Canada's declaration of moral and ethics before economics were China, Russia, The Philippines, the USA and the Saudis.
I think most Canadians consider these five nations the enemy of Canada and the world even if the power of Russia, China and the USA remain a prime consideration in maintaining a semblance of order on the world stage.
We have allowed the USA to take control of our economy and to officially oppose the USA and all it stands for would devastate our economy which has provided us with one of the highest qualities of life in this world and unimagined wealth.
In August Saudi Arabia removed all its citizens from our soil and for the most part Canada celebrated their departure. The USA is on the Saudi side.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/11/canada-saudi-arabia-suppor...
We have hundreds of thousands of Americans living among us one of whom is my wife but we are at war with what has become of your country. We know there is a Red and Blue America and we know Blue America adheres to virtually the same set of values that Canada espouses and that Red America endangers the survival of our species.
8
@Memphrie et Moi
You own article notes:
While some in Canada had been disappointed to see the UK and Europe opt to publicly stay out of the diplomatic spat, Juneau described it as unsurprising. “When Saudi Arabia had comparable fights with Sweden and Germany in recent years, did Canada go out of its way to side with Sweden and Germany? No, not at all,” he said. “We stayed quiet because we had nothing to gain from getting involved. So on the European side, the calculation is the same.”
Methinks you're vastly overblowing this situation.
1
@Memphrie et Moi
As an American, I support your country's position on human rights. The US has become a bully nation, and the other bully nations have glommed onto us. I'm particularly disgusted about Saudi Arabia, the nation that sent the 9/11 pilots here. Suddenly, America is great pals with the Saudis. They're not on the list of banned Muslim nations, either. It's all about money. Trump will make a great deal of money in Saudi Arabia when his presidency is over.
We were once the nation that championed human rights across the globe. No more. We are a corrupt nation now, and it's best that you reorient your friendships. We can no longer be trusted.
3
@JB
Stephen Harper who supported Apartheid was Prime Minister. Trump's 40 % would always win majority government in Canada. We are the least European country on the planet according to historian, philosopher, writer and freedom of the Press Champion John Ralston Saul. When I returned from living in Red and Blue America I understood him to be correct.
Our left and right are compatible because we search for harmony not victory. Our courts seek justice not law. Our opposition will always be honourable not traitorous.
Bill Maher said it perfectly this past week: "power begets power." The long-term, well financed campaign of taking over the US is at hand. It's a long list of billionaires who spent a lot of money to achieve this outcome. They are wickedly smart, self-serving, filthy rich and know their end game. They cleverly distracted liberals by encouraging them to pursue their "agendas" while amassing power at the local, state and national level. The latest outrage over Schiltz Kavanaguah is the perfect little media frenzy to inflame the "base" right before the midterms. And what about the backlash, outrage factor from the left - the so called "blue wave." Maybe there is pent up anger from the left to show up in mass and vote. Yet given what we know about how unsecure voting machines are, don't be surprised if the blue wave never arrives. Even if the wave arrives, that's only the beginning in a process that will take years to take back the US from the billionaires. Now that they have control, they will not go without a fight. So yes Charles, this is war.
28
@Lawyers, Guns and Money
“If at first you don’t succeed, find out if the loser gets anything.”
- Bill Lyon
Mahre was right, too. All the talk-talk should be ignored; this is just “I can, so I’m gonna, because I want stuff.” Principles, my...foot.
I am afraid establishment corporate media types like Charles Blow always neglect OR purposely ignore how the country got to this point. Trump is only a symptom of a long time neglect by the neo-liberal establishment, many of them within the democratic party, who no longer offered an alternative to the Republican party, ignored the plight and disengagement of the average working family in America, hence out of the garbage heap of candidates came Donald Trump who told them what they wanted to hear. However, like the Republican Party, he offered no real alternative solutions to that plight other than to misdirect that blame towards minorities,hence, the warning that elections have consequences is in "full bloom" for all to see.
We see now a Donald Trump clone in Brazil who is saying exactly the same thing, "rinse and repeat".
Bu the way Charles, the REAL liberals in America are progressives, NOT the corporate/establishment types who rather collect money than win elections.
8
@Deus how did that work out? It is a binary choice. Wake up please.
Sick of Berniecrats like this one - you own the Kavanaugh mess - it is foolish to rant about who is the real liberal from the disenfranchised sidelines where the whole party sits - if you are in fact a democrat at all.
@Deus
I'm sorry, but I'm sick and tired of hearing the republican dog whistle of it's the liberals fault that those in red states have been passed over during the recovery. They act like they have a monopoly on suppressed wages, economic inequality, etc.
They don't have a monopoly, they aren't the only one that haven't benefited from the recovery and subsequent economic expansion, most of working class america was passed over in favor of the rich, and corporations, and the Trumplican party has exacerbated that inequality by passing the so called "tax reform" that shifted money upward not down, like it should be.
The republicans claim that corporations can't possibly compete if they can't freely pollute, and that means, air quality suffers, water quality suffers, human beings that are exposed to more mercury from burning coal, from drinking poisoned or tainted water, we're the ones to suffer not the elite, not our elected officials, they made sure that the Hampton's are a lang way away from the coal fired power plants that Trump seems to like. You don't see Mitch McConnell living in rural Kentucky, he doesn't live in shack in a haler in coal country.
But that's the funny thing about dirt, it get's on anyone that get's close to it.
Liberals, This is War. Liberals Lose. Yes, This Is Over!
4
You're correct, @Nreb. We Liberals lost -- as in, lost the corrupt Republican/Kavanaugh battle (at least for the time being...). But the war has only begun. November 6 will be a Republican Rout of epic proportions. See ya then....
1
@Nreb
Liberals haven't lost anything close to war. You seem to be laboring under the illusion that the republican party is an impregnable fortress, it isn't. it's that kind of over confidence that is going to make hearing republicans whine like school bois that have had their mil money stolen, after the midterms that much funnier.
Unless we make voting more equitable, we will fail to compete with countries who sponsor good education for all, equal rights, and equal pay. Unless we elect people who acknowledge science, we will fall behind economically.
Our democracy is already failing, as shown by the number of persons who do not know anything about how the government works, believe alternate realities, and deny science.
Our democracy is already failing because the Supreme Court has become The Inquisition, with a majority of fundamentalist Catholioc Nonjustices.
The only way to have any chance of redirecting history is by voting. Yet almost half of Americans fail to vote. We are doomed unless we change our voting patterns.
4
“Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul”
-Bob Dylan, ‘Masters of War’
10
As long as the "majority minority" seemingly enshrined by the Founders believes that Republican economic philosophies are working — as they appear to be at present following the sugar high tax cuts — and big money holds the big sway in political discourse, the revolution is a non-starter. As a progressive I'm as pissed off as anyone, but let's face it, this is America 2018, and money is all the matters. I too hope the mid-terms generate a blue wave, but the average person, striving for that "better life" they believe comes only from a few more bucks in one's paycheck, still votes with his or her wallet. Perhaps it's better that the Rs are in power when the sugar high wears off and the downturn comes. They will strain for ways to blame the Ds, but they will own it. Completely.
3
@Vic Williams: It's not "Republican" economics philosophies, it's just economics, pure and simple. Most people haven't a clue just like they don't understand calculus or quantum physics, but that doesn't make laws of economics any less true. If you tax something, you get less of it. If you force a company to pay a certain wage or benefit, they will find other ways to reduce costs or move overseas where labor is cheaper. The profit motive drives free markets, yes and thank goodness for we're all better off because of it. Richer and more free. More government will not make anyone better off. We have too much as it is.
1
This article is rather disordered and internally inconsistent. On the one hand, it criticizes the electoral college for giving the votes of residents of rural states in the interior more weight than the votes of residents of coastal, urbanized states. And indeed it does--that is a quirk of the constitutional design. But then it criticizes the attempts by Republicans to call for a constitutional convention, suggesting that solidify oligarchy. So, presumably Blow would like to amend the Constitution to fix the disparity in voting power between urban states and rural ones, and yet he opposes the constitutional method by which that could be done.
For most of my life of 70 years, I lived as a liberal. That is why I understand what you say far better than you may believe. I thought like you, right through the 60s, 70s, and 80s. and on into the new millennium. Whilst the rest of humanity shared a modicum of tranquility during the Obama years, I found little. I found myself in an emotional war with a man I voted for twice. I found him, to my dismay, to be the kind who cottoned to people like Kendrick Lamar, inviting him to sing birthday wishes in the East Room for the 18th birthday of his oldest daughter. I found him at Howard U. speaking to the 2015 graduating class, eeirily warning them to be wary of what goes on in those "white people's heads". Obama set the stage for my escape from the liberalism that had surrounded me for all my adult years.
It has been - pardon the expression - liberating, to be able to talk, think, and actually exist free of the racial straitjacket wrapped around me, free from the constraints and the attendant confusion I felt living in that world of intellectual and spiritual aliens like you. Please know that I fully understand that we are at war, between the angry and confused, and the un-entitled free.
3
The strong, one might say “hysterical” reactions against Mr. Blow’s op-ed piece should be a wake up call that our nation has gone beyond the point of no return and no amount of wishful thinking about constitutional conventions or “blue waves” at the polls is going to fix what has morphed into a nation of tribalists.
What we need to do is break this nation up and let the like-minded groups of people go their their separate ways.
Because, trying to convince the white or the “good old days” tribalists of this nation the errors of their ways is a fools errand which simply distracts the rest of us from doing the things necessary to make our homeland a better place for all.
6
Your sentiment-break up the whole country because you’re not getting your way-speaks volumes about everything that is wrong with the Left.
You let your hatred for the opposition morph into hatred for the country. You’ll never win elections with that mindset. Most people in this country actually like it, even love it, and feel extremely grateful to live here despite all its problems.
Why would they ever vote for someone who wants to break it apart?
2
@John
You clearly not being honest with us.
If you so loved the concept of a “united” nation, why haven’t you and many of your like-minded citizens in your state rejected the hate, deviseness and ugliness of Trump and the GOP?
Also, John have you even considered for a moment that many in this nation have a right not to blindly sing the praise of the US of A?
Such as:
People that lack good healthcare.
People who fear for their lives at traffic stops, because of the color of their skin.
People who are sick and tired of the xenophobia hurled at our immigrant brothers and sisyers.
Women who are sick and tired of entitled white men who feel they are entitled to discriminate, assault and rape.
People who are sick and tired by people trying to shove their brand of hypocritical “christianity” down our throats.
People who are continually sickened by the Trump hate rallies that happen in so many parts of your country.
So, don’t lecture me about hate, John.
Because, that hate started from places like yours and people like me - liberals and moderates (like me) - who are fed up with being held back by tribalists in Red America that want to turn the clock back.
@Mike M.
But then we aren't a country, who gets the wealth, who get the armies. Would that mean that those who are out are under the jackboot of who? Sounds great, but what island would the republicans go to, they certainly couldn't stay here.
You are correct, Mr. Blow, it is not over! We, the People are speaking up on November 6th....
Speaking up agianst misogyny, against LIES, against the INTERNMENT of immigrant children, against the attacks on our democracy, against Russia’s puppets Donald J. Trump and the Republicans!
PLEASE VOTE!
6
@Mari: You're against all sorts of things. What are you for? And by "you", I mean the Democrats in general.
I'm against the same things, but I'm getting tired of voting against something and I'm looking for something to vote for. So I'll vote straight Democrat in November, but they'll need to come up with a platform that makes sense for 2020.
We the people need a plan, not just a fight. If the Democrats had one that made sense, we wouldn't be here now.
How to reverse the decline of the middle class in an environment where we don't need many people to build things?
How do you allow the aging baby boomers to fade from the scene leaving a smaller population, without collapsing the economy. Importing enough immigrants to keep the population expanding might save the economy, but it trashes the notion of ZPG.
How do we keep the economy alive using 80% less fossil fuel, over the objections of the Koch brothers?
I suspect you don't have the answers, but that's OK. If the Democrats want to win the fight and govern effectively, they need to answer issues like those, and sell it to the American people.
4
@Mari
I will vote!
I will vote against the hypocrisy and crass cynicism of the Democratic Party.
Thanks for adding extra inspiration for me to go to the polls on November 6th.
3
@Mari
Trump has placed the harshest sanctions on Russia to date? How is Trump a Russian puppet?
2
The one man ruining this country more than any other is Mitch McConell. It's time to hit back #boycottkentuckybourbon
8
Didn't you JUST write a critical article about anger issues of the Right? Hard to engage in warfare without getting testy.
2
Stop with this nonsense. Kavanaugh got into the supreme court, because as it has been pointed out many times, elections have consequences. You don't like it? Vote vote and vote.
Is the other side being unreasonable? Talk. Then talk a bit more. Try to have a civil discussion, like adults. Maybe, just maybe they are also Americans who love their country, regardless or what they look like.
Now for those advocating all out war, the only parties that are going to be happy about seeing our great country torn apart are Putin and Xi Jinping. Why do you think Russian trolls keep incensing the population?
Think about that.
8
@Centares
Democrats beleive in reason only when they are winning. Otherwise it is fight and avenge loss.
I have never understood claims of violence at Trump rallies as a reflection on Trump. Trump's rallies were violent because anti-Trump elements showed up to disrupt. Hillary's rallies were peaceful because anti-Hillary elements stayed away.
My take:
Trump supporters peaceful
Hillary supporters violent
And 2 years post, it shows.
@Centares
As the republican party will find out in November elections, they do have consequences indeed.
Apparently,m the vicious and entirely unfounded attacks on Kavanaugh were not as vicious as they should have been. Falsely accusing a man of sexual assault is not enough. Harassing Republican politicians in restaurants, at airports, at their homes, and in their offices is not enough. Threatening to kill Republicans or shooting at them is not war.
The left has taken the notion that the ends justify the means to new and violent heights. There is no comparing this with anything the right has ever done, but it is not enough for the left today. I guess the war that Blow wants is truly out and out war. Guns. Killings. Explosions.
Nice. Sounds like all traditional "liberalism" is dead.
5
War, but against whom? Why are Liberal Progressive failures everybody else's fault? As long as you choose to vilify those who don't agree with you instead of insisting with a narrative and strategy that had ZERO cross over appeal you will continue to lose. And I thank God for it.
5
The Electoral College was created by the founders because they didn't trust the general public to elect the President. Maybe they were right.
5
@Jack Kashtan
The electoral college was devised to insure small slave-holding states would be able to influence elections far beyond their population would allow in a direct-vote election.
4
This is not war. The Democratic don't know how to fight. The party of LBJ is gone to the dust bin.
1
@Mahalo
Democrats are unhinged.
1) They have forgotten how democracy works.
2) They have forgotten that there are people whose ideas are different from theirs.
3) They have forgotten that sometimes they have to sit in the opposition like the Republicans did for 8 years and follow the law and due process
2
@Anil
Has FOX news reached India? -- judging from your comment, it sounds like it.
Here's an idea: Take a closer look at American History ... and maybe change the channel.
1
@Anil
Republicans did NOT sit for 8 years waiting for their turn. They prevented President Obama from doing a lot he wanted to do for the country when they took over the House and the Senate!
Forgert Indian Faux News Channel. If there is one. :)
I love the way liberals like Charles Blow are always so concerned by the loss of civility and compromise and the subsequent rise in extremism in Washington and across the country... until they lose a political battle. Then they have no problem calling their opponents racists and misogynists and xenophobes. Then they have no problem rallying their side to all out warfare. Well Mr. Blow, as Steve Scalise can attest, words like that on the left can have devastating consequences just as you point out words that fuel extremists on the right.
Reality is the "they" you are describing in this op-ed aren't a bunch of power hungry rich white elitest in D.C., it was the majority of voters in the majority of states in our United States that disagreed with and voted against your views and your party. It wasn't a war... it was an election. Yes they are concerned with the consequences of rampant illegal immigration. Yes they believe we should favor educated immigrants that can contribute to our economy. Yes, many are strongly pro-life and pro-second amendment. Yes they see much of the genius in the Constitutional balance of power, Bill of Rights of individual citizens, decentralization of power, amendment process etc that revolutionized much of the world in spite of being written at a time that the whole world accepted the norm of slavery.
That doesn't make us your enemy, that makes us your political opponents. Try to keep that straight before you get someone else hurt please.
7
@REPNAH
"The majority of voters" did not vote for Donald Trump. They voted for Hillary Clinton by an almost 3 million majority.
2
@REPNAH Not the majority...It's minority rule. The views you espouse above are not the views of the majority of the country. Every vote in Wyoming, Dakotas, Montana is worth more than votes in NY, CA. We, the majority of the country, that live in urban areas and fuel the economy and innovation are being ruled by the minority, people such as yourself, and yes, we are sick and tired of it. People will be hurt...thanks to you folks that would rather be ruled by a white nationalist party than by Democrats. You people are my enemies...and yes, this is war.
@REPNAH I don't think people who vote racists, misogynists and xenophobes into office and continue to cheer them on get to claim innocence on any of those charges.
1
If cable television and the newspapers would stop featuring Trump and the republicans, constantly, maybe the Democrats would have a chance to be heard. Get his face off the TV. Trump has made it imperative that he be in the news and on tv constantly, everyday, He has free publicity. The Republican party has free publicity. That's all people hear!!
10
@Carol He’s the president. Didn’t complain about it when Obama was everywhere, did you?
1
I tried to tell y'all Democrats from swing states. You didn't have the luxury of submitting a third party "protest vote." You had to vote for HRC. And the reason why you had to vote for HRC was SCOTUS.
6
Jefferson told us we have an unalienable right to pursue our happiness. The conservatives are gloating now over liberal tears. Well, we liberals—or at we who are opposed to Trump and his party—happen to be the majority. Our unhappiness is, as Jefferson himself declared, a casus belli, a reason to overthrow a government that, dominated by a minority party, now seems hellbent on imposing its will on us and not just disregarding our wishes and interests but treating them and us with spite.
"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them . . . "
I'm afraid we've reached that point in our course. It is necessary for us to dissolve the political bands that connect us. It is time for the blue states to secede and form their own more perfect union. This, I'm afraid, is the only solution. Let's hope we can make it amicable divorce. War is not really what we want. But our happiness is nonnegotiable.
6
@617to416
Trump won by a majority of electoral votes. Exactly how democracy is supposed to work. I voted on party lines; for Democrats until the last election. I will vote Trump again because the issues that Democrats fight him on were issues that Bill Clinton and Obama, the past two Presidents of 16 years have spoken publicly and have worked on:
1) Illegal Immigration
2) Building the Border Wall
And now is opposed just because it is Trump. Even the ban on travel from the 6 Muslim countries was initiated by Obama's administration.
2
Well said. Thanks.
I agree it is war. Unfortunately for liberals and Mr. Blow the GOP has only just begun to fight. The liberals have shown they are only interested i power at any cost. They will savage anyone's reputation in order to acquire it. The liberals will find the GOP less than accommodating when it comes to the next SCOTUS appointment. There will be no bending over backwards the next time.
5
@Mogar You're operating under the assumption that all these women who came forward are lying about their experiences of sexual assault. Please consider what this actually means if it were the opposite: a very slim majority of Republicans just appointed a lying sexual predator a majority of Americans deeply disapprove and used a deliberately limited investigation to deny several victims' claims of assault.
Then consider that those victims now can no longer live at home because conservatives are sending death threats.
Then consider that this new justice never gave a straightforward answer about overturning a supreme court decision that a majority of citizens still support.
Maybe then you would understand that this isn't about Liberals just being a bunch of whiners and obstructionists. There's actual motive here, just like the GOP has motive.
1
@T.J. How do you know she wasn’t lying? Why does she have to be believed without any proof? What about his wife and kids that were threatened? Why is that ok? If you want rule of law, bring rule of law. When a prosecutor tells you there is no case, why would you push on? Why didn’t YOU press for more details from Ford? What other potential crime would you do this for?
1
@Mogar
God I love it when someone like you is brainwashed and backwards as to say the liberals are interested in power at any cost. You Trumptards just floor me with your trumpian view of the world. That it's the democrats that are only interested in power. Yet it's the republican party that sat on democratic supreme court nominee, it the GOP that passed a trillion dollar tax cut that you're not enjoying, but the rich are, it the republican party that tried to make the rich's tax cut permanent.
I can go on, but it's wast of time, republicans are a petri dish of hypocrisy, and lies, but the midterms will put you in your place.
A different take on the Kavanaugh mess: the Democrats Borked themselves. They gave the Republicans a weapon and Mitch McConnell and D.J. "The Faker" Trump ran for a touchdown.
How you say?
Why bring up the whole matter of the 36 yr. old "assault" that happened back in high school days if it could not be proved? That's the best you can come up with, a high school boy trying to force the issue with a girl then giving up? Look, I am not defending Kavanaugh and a completely, entirely accept Blasey Ford had a traumatic experience. But if anyone thought that charge alone was going to derail the far right wing plot to pack the Court, they were delusional. A certain large percentage of the voting public was bound to see it as unfair, ganging up, politics as usual.
The Democrats should have kept quiet. Yes, there might be social benefit, long term, to airing out such old charges and thereby giving women permission to speak their minds and the respect they deserve to be heard, but a confirmation hearing, dear folks, is not supposed to be a national therapy session, is it? So, we had a few weeks of therapy but we get, in exchange, a harshly partisan Republican street fighter on the Court. A good trade?
We were going to get Kavanaugh rammed down our throats anyway, why not lean back and enjoy it? No, I don't really mean that, but why give the Republicans this major, major boost right before the mid-terms? Does ANYONE in the Democratic party ever think strategy? Ever?
4
@Doug Terry
The Democrats embarrassed themselves on Kavanaugh. They forgot due process and presumption of innocence. They figured that a last minute accusation would be enough to scuttle the nomination. Imagine a Supreme Court nominee "presumed guilty" without due process. What would that say about the entire Justice System.
4
@Doug Terry
Must we have another sexual harasser on the Supreme Court? I don't care how long ago it was. The laughter is what Dr. Blasey Ford remembers. We're tired of being laughed and sneered at.
I go to the women's marches, but otherwise I'm not waving signs and protesting all day long. The Kavanaugh thing? It was a severe blow to rational women like me, women with advanced engineering degrees. The Anita Hill hearings, twenty seven years ago, were a complete disgrace. Back then, I was just disgusted. This time, I really lost it.
You men are not getting it--we're sick of the toxic male miasma of harassment and assault. We're sick of watching the Kavanaughs being confirmed while the Blasey Fords get slut shamed.
Maybe this wasn't the best move as far as Democratic men are concerned, but it was a fine time for women. This goes way beyond politics for us. We've been diminished long enough in this country that brags about 'equality.'
2
@Anil
Just for the record. Democrats didn't have to embarrass themselves on Brett Kavanaugh -- he did that all by himself.
1
Just got back from my local OWG (old white guys) group. We got a new motto we think will help us hold onto power for the foreseeable future. Here it is: "WE BROKE IT; WE OWN IT!"
Please let me know what you think.
2
Charles Blow needs to take a deep breath and study the history of the Presidency and the Supreme Court from the beginning of the country. If he thinks the current events present a crisis, he should study what this country has gone through in previous generations. In the larger picture, current events are just a crisis.
Have we totally forgotten history?
5
Nope. It’s pretty much how we know that this is Bad.
6
As I watched U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) repeatedly place his hand over his heart, and emote in a heartrending fashion as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee...while also vigorously opposing the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court...I was reminded of this:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/09/21/in-1992-co...
Run Cory, RUN...as the Democratic Party's candidate for President of the United States in 2020.
What potential 2020 Democratic Party candidate epitomizes the breathtaking hypocrisy of the Democratic Party more than Cory Booker does...anyone?
1
"shall be then, thenceforth and forever free."
Read again and again those words written by Abraham Lincoln.
2
I don’t understand your point. We no longer have a representative democracy when votes are not equal. Mid western states are unfairly represented based on the population. And when a few conservative senators can subvert the will of the people, we are not free.
9
Finally, a report on what happened over the last decade or more to send White males with power into power mad scoundrels and the rest of us as a sleepy uninformed population into the throws of panic as their world is stripped of human rights.
Thank you Mr. Blow for always staying in touch with balacing the portrayal of valid public emotions with an intellectual analysis that even a 4th grader could understand! Teach.
11
@Dolcefire Show me one way in which your life is objectively changing for the worse since the last election. Show me how human rights are being stripped away.
3
@John Dismantling the EPA, allowing increased methane and mercury into the atmosphere, aversion to truth and science, loss of separation between church and state, refusal by the right to stand for anything but money, power and patriarchy. These are all stripping away my human rights.
1
@John -- in addition to Kelle's comments I'd add the complete destruction of
* ethics in the Presidency
* common decency by the Presidency and at least lip-service by the President's party to the idea that groping and sexual assault are unacceptable.
* the stunning hypocrisy of Republicans who screamed about deficits under Obama (that he inherited and was working to bring down) passing the Ryan tax bill.
And now the plain truth of the matter is that Republicans have enshrined the "rights" of white men to public office so long as they have not been convicted in a court of law.
I'm waiting for the Trump administration to appoint O.J. Simpson to something ... but of course he's black.
Sorry, war is war. This is politics.
5
I'm so depressed by...well, everything that has been happening. Not just in the last couple of years, but by the country's direction in the last 30 years. White Man's Rule (the blatant and unapologetic kind) has taken a break that gave people hope that we would all—women and people of diversity of all kinds—finally be equal and equally represented in the government.
The gains that were made have been slowly eroding since Reagan (God that he represents to members of the GOP). Since that time, the enclave of the 1% has succeeded in reacquiring larger amounts of the economic pie, and have almost achieved all they need to do to make the rest of us serfs.
But, as I see it, Mr. Blow misses part of the picture: the reason that this incarnation of the GOP is so successful in their Long Game is that this is, both figuratively and literally, a religious war to them and to their so-called "Base." Because the battle is by nature religious, they truly feel that the end justifies the means; that their view is the view ordained by God Almighty, and anyone that stands in their way, for whatever reason, deserves to die, or at the very least, be reduced to a state of ignorance, poverty (with it's accompanying state of joblessness and homelessness) and disease, with no access to health care. It amounts to the same thing.
I wonder, more and more, can we stop this slow slide back into oligarchy? Does any possibility remain for a change without violence? Or will we have another Civil War?
8
Beatnicks out to make it rich.... I think we're there - the season of the witch.
3
Americans need to decide if they want to "win" the current argument of the day, generally finding a way in the process to beat their political opponent, or they want a constitutional government. Though these are not mutually exclusive by any means, practically, right now, that looks to be the case.
Having suggested this before on this page and elsewhere, I have heard from liberals that "war", or some other scorched earth policy, is necessary because that is what conservatives and Republicans understand. In essence, this is the "he started" argument, and that reasoning should have gone out with the kindergarten.
Yes, we have a president whose primary goal is to divide. He takes almost any opportunity, from the NFL to trade to foreign policy, to drive a wedge between varying political camps. It works. But that does not make it right. And returning that childish behavior with such pubescent thinking, as many liberals suggest, is wrong. Pretending that the other side forced you into such thinking is equally naïve and wrong.
Grow up. Compromise is the way forward. Otherwise, you can wave goodbye to any semblance of constitutional government that remains. Then the nihilists like Trump will have won.
1
@Paul
I don't disagree with your remarks, but as someone with a raft of experiences like Dr. Ford's, it is very difficult to think about compromise with people who won't even recognize the basic injustices that have structured my life. How can one compromise with people who consistently demonstrate a near-total lack of empathy, and a total unwillingness to listen?
10
Mr. Blow, do you have any idea what a real war is like? Starvation, children slaughtered, limbs blown off, homes and livelihoods destroyed. This is what you're suggesting for the US because of political differences?
7
@Richard Green
If you look at the nations that adopted the one party and one man rule that the Republicans and now trump have been working towards since Newt Gingrich, you will see that that is PRECISELY what has happened in those nations. Russia, Turkey, the Philippines, Malaysia, have all, ALL gone down that rabbit hole with horrible results. And in so-called "Socialist" countries who have done the same thing, they have met with the same results--Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, because it's not whether they are "capitalist" or "socialist" but that they have one-party rule. And that is where Republicans have wanted to go since the 1994 election that put Gingrich in the Speaker's chair.
2
@Dadof2 And the Democrats don’t wish to be the only party in power? Such nonsense. What was Obama when he had all the power? And i hate to tell you, but socialism is the heart of every Democratic plan.
1
News flash: it's been war since the '90's. It's only lately that the right has been so brazen that the left has started to catch on. The challenge is to fight back and win while still standing for something - a feat that the right has failed to accomplish in its process of amassing power.
12
I believe that the ideals embedded in our Constitution should be our guide, but that in each generation we need to see where and how we fall short and work to more fully live up to our ideals.
The founding fathers were flawed human beings and were constrained in their understanding of their own ideals -- by personal cowardice? by political expedience? by the culture in which they were embedded? by other factors?
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and the freedoms enlisted in our BiIl of RIghts are as good a lodestar as any humanity could yet devise. What is flawed is our ability to navigate by those compass points. We should course correct, not throw out the map.
3
Blow: This is war.
The US needs more respect for the other. Not war.
5
Lets not forget Trump was a democrat and when NY state dems basically laughed off his ongoing efforts to become state governor he then switched parties. I can only imagine the wounds on this mans twisted entitled psychology. The fact that he rose up the ranks of (whatever is) the GOP to not only run for President (which was appalling) but to actually be seated as one, and for GOP legislators to all fall in step and kiss his feet, is a clear picture of the parties values and the drive for power at all costs. They all deserve each other, but they certainly don't deserve destroying this beautiful country, and the hard sought yet challenging, but certainly tenable, ideals of democracy.
7
I have been hearing that the sky is falling for almost two years now and I am still waiting. People are throwing fits about Kavanaugh and how his appointment is destroying one of the most important institutions in our country, but half of those people don't even know how many jurist are on the Supreme Court and 95% could not name three others Supreme Court jurist, if there life depended on it. And if you think that the Democrats, the Left, and the Media just happened to wake up one day and all were on the same page, think again.
4
Democrats won’t win the war until they learn to acknowledge and respect cultural sensitivities on the other side.
Culture counts, but Dems don’t get it. They don’t because they're consumed with a belief in their own civic virtue, and the superiority of their own values—which put equality ahead of all other concerns—as the only standard for good governance and the good life.
They relegate anyone who disagrees with them, who has a different take on life, to a category of subhuman, and dismiss them as racist and stupid—stupid for voting against their own interests.
But time and time again, Democrats act against their own interests—defined as winning elections. For them, a good tantrum is more important. That’s why they are relegated to the political wilderness, and will remain there after Nov. 6.
A case in point was the Franken affair. It unleashed a furious backlash across the political spectrum, infuriating even many loyal Democrats, who felt he got a raw deal. Failing to learn from that, Democrats made the same mistake in the Kavanaugh hearings—but this time with far greater consequences.
“They stupidly handed us the best issue they possibly could going into the fall election…" Mitch McConnell said afterwards. What is that issue? A women’s right to be treated equally with men. I believe ardently in that goal, but I recognize that others don’t, and I’m not going to convert them by beating them over the head with it—which is exactly what the Dems did this past week.
10
@Ron Cohen So you 'believe ardently' that women have the right to be treated equally with men, but recognize it's politically expedient for conservatives to ignore civil rights arguments in favor of placating their base.
That, in a nutshell, is what's wrong with politics in this country today.
1
@Ron Cohen -- translation: you can't win, give in to the gropers and the assaulters, because those are indeed "republican values" -- stop "virtue signaling" ... just lie back and enjoy it, honey.
Oh, you mean the same way conservatives feel
About libruhls? Gimme a break
2
It sounds as if we, the people, need to be planning a democratic agenda for an undemocratic future. We will have to devise legal, legislative and local tactics that can bypass the Supreme Court. For starters, voters should be demanding that their states allow ballot initiatives or referendums.
It appears that a ballot initiative in Florida will allow tens of thousands of former felons to vote again. Ballot initiatives are likely to expand the decriminalization of marijuana possession and preserve a woman’s right to chose, among other things.
Ballot initiatives restore the power balance between under-represented Blue urban areas and over-represented Red rural areas.
Make America democratic again.
Hey, that could be a campaign slogan.
4
@WmC - The U.S. is a actually a constitutional republic. I urge you to do some research on this as it will help you to understand that we will never bypass the Supreme Court. God forbid. The Supreme Court is 1/3 of our government.
As Charles Blow writes in this latest column, the Kavanaugh battle is over and the Dems lost - badly. But it's only one battle and there will be many more. The progressives have suffered a large number of losses over the past 2 years. The current focus on grand structural changes to our government are misguided, but if you insist on wasting time and energy on that please go ahead.
The Electoral College and the Senate are potentially fatal flaws. Large population states must band together to successfully address this imbalance. They must oppose those who are best described as the "Suppressionists". There are economic means available such as tourism boycotts. I fear we must 'punish' the small population states if there is to be any hope for change. The Suppressionists have already captured the false claim that small population state "values" justify their patently unfair distribution of political power. And, both parties have a long history of giving these small, more powerful states enough 'carrot' to choke them in order to capture their Senators. Now, only the stick will work. This could also involve allowing the GOP to gut programs that help the small population states and can be covered by state and local taxes in large population states. Why not gut Obamacare and shut all rural hospitals? Replace it with large-population states healthcare pacts. Let the overpowered 'mean' states reap what they sow. Then, perhaps, they will be ready for effective legislative change.
6
Good points. A strategy is needed. I wish hoards of lefties would move to the empty states and turn them blue!
Agreed, let these people
Have what they voted for. Let’s see how long it takes before they start crying. Of course, their pastors will tell them that it is right to suffer, if you’re poor that is
It is silly to title this piece "Liberals, This is War." This is not war. We are all Americans. There have been bitter disagreements many times before in this country. To equate this to "war" is to vastly overstate its significance. Calling political disagreements "war" is also just feeding the disillusionment and furthering the divisions in this country.
7
Try the "we are all Americans" approach at a Trump rally...see how that goes.
4
@H This gaslighting is getting ridiculous. Steal supreme court seats, destroy any pretense of country before party, soil the executive with unqualified grifters, and then tell us that "we've had disagreements before, no biggie".
Nope. This is not normal. This is not a "disagreement". This is not normal.
4
@Sarah And it wasn’t normal when Bill Clinton abused an intern or his wife sold the Secretary of State’s position to other countries while profiting from it. Destroy any pretense of country before personal pocket, soil the executive with unqualified grifters, and then tell us we are racist or sexist when we object to it.
1
VOTE darn it. VOTE. Don't just Vote, help 4 other people vote.
If you can take the day off and provide transportation, do so.
If you can't find time to help voter registration NOW.
This is an easy thing to fight. VOTE.
6
I don’t think we can go back to slavery, although slave-like salaries are a reality in many industries. While some slave holdings did provide health care, most just let the sick people die and replaced them with hopefully healthier ones - are we there yet? Today, industries tend to pay people just enough money for housing, food and transportation; but not enough for education and life-time learning. Then, conservatives snivel when others aren’t smart or driven enough to accomplish what they have. Just the rough edges of pure capitalism.
2
As a liberal/progressive who is married to a great white guy and is raising three white sons, I find this column bordering on the offensive. Stop making this a narrative of race vs. race or gender vs. gender. This battle is between ignorance and greed vs. education and the belief that we all benefit when none of us are suffering due to poverty, oppression or ill health. Those are human ideals, they are not the provence of one particular gender or ethic group.
11
@Cali Life
Thank you for your words. We need to find solutions that involve all of us.
2
Charles, Excellent article and spot on about the strategic attempt to overtake our democracy with a Constitutional Convention. I would encourage you (and your readers) to read Nancy MacLean's award winning book "Democracy in Chains" that details the specifics of who is behind this take-over attempt of democracy and how close they actually are to their goals. Without spoiling the suspense let me say that the Republican Party has been overtaken and is marching toward a near future dystopia that will enslave us all. "We are all Barbara "Rose" Johns will have special meaning to anyone that reads this great book. I would encourage you (Charles Blow) to reach out directly to Nancy MacLean, history professor at Duke University - your messages need to reach ALL Americans before it is too late.
2
I'm afraid the worst is yet to come. The very right wing Judge Amy Coney Barrett will likely be the next nominee. The GOP will love nothing more than playing the gender card, while furthering their conservative goals.
2
@Hopeless2017
LOL! Who played the "gender card"?
Democrats won't be able to do to Judge Barrett what they did to Judge Kavanaugh, will they?
In any event...it'll be Justice Barrett, just as it's Justice Kavanaugh.
3
A year and a half before he passed away, my dad predicted Trump would win ( this coming from a moderate Democrat).
If he hadn't already died, this business with Trump, Pence, McConnell and now Kavanaugh would surely have killed him (he was 92).
Maybe for once, when it's said that the deceased are "in a better place," they really are.
6
Great column Mr. Blow, but you forgot one crucial factor: the Republican propaganda machine, which has now taken about a 40% share of the news media space. There are many parallels between Trump and Nixon, but one huge difference: Nixon did not have an army of right wing outlets ant talkers willing to defend anything he did and attack Democrats relentlessly. Meanwhile the mainstream media ignore this problem and engage in false equivalency to distract from Republican crimes against democracy.
4
I actually read through the entire article. Who still says, "rue the day"? Just wondering.
I believe that the mid-terms will play out just how the election played out, and democrats will be left scratching their heads, and the snowflakes will be crying. Asking, "How could this happen?" "I thought all Americans agree with us?" Most pollsters and pundits are oblivious to what the rest of Americans think.
And this irrational fear about Kavanaugh is just plain silly. Liberals would like for you to believe that this is the beginning of some government authoritative bid to take control of everyone. The dems rely on fearmongering to get their support.
This article represents those trying to instill fear and get people to believe that there is some bigger conspiracy going on.
This is why dems keep on losing support and elections. It's time to grow up kids.
5
The problem with calling this war, is that people are likely to turn away from peaceful means of dissent and protest. The atmosphere in the U.S. right now is super-heated. We need calm, deliberation and strategy if we're going to defeat Trump. Right now a lot of people on the Left are behaving recklessly and channeling anger in ways that are self-defeating, such as confronting GOP lawmakers in restaurants and at their homes. Disagreement over the Kavanaugh appointment got to the point where people thought you were no better than a rapist yourself if you were in favor of his nomination. And now the focus of the war from the Left's point of view is "old white men," many of whom traditionally vote Democratic. I wonder how many can still be counted on by the Democratic Party.
4
@Charlie Reidy The right has accomplished its long term goal of reducing the federal government to dysfunctional inaction. (see "Weak enough to drown in the bathtub.").
Realistically, we don't have an organized method for resisting this, so in the short-term we are reduced to guerilla tactics like confrontations in public places, shunning, and boycotts. We need to get better and more widespread with these tactics while we come up with campaigns for structural reforms that allow us to separate blue areas of the country from rule by republicans. This is going to be a generational project . . .
1
Republicain are not afraid to use the power they have. The way to subdue them is to obtain power. Trump subdued them by Presidential power. Democrats currently have no power. When they obtain power, they should not be afraid to use it... and gloat a little. That impresses the Republicans...
2
@SP
Unfortunately, that will do absolutely nothing about the massive divisions within America that show no signs of abetting whatsoever, if anything, even if the democrats take back the house and were to start investigations into his background and shady deals, it could get worse.
What is forgotten, is lurking in the background is Mike Pence an extremist Evangelical Christian who honestly believes that God ultimately has chosen him to become President and if Trump were impeached, then the REAL battles would begin.
2
What if Trump had run as a democrat and Hillary had run as a republican?
Trump still would have won, and I still would not have voted for him.
The democrats don't resonate with the angry voter like the republicans.
5
The approach we should all take is let the GOP do what they want to do. Take away free speech, healthcare, Social Security, give all of our money to the Koch's, take away a women's right to choose, destruction of our climate and most importantly the destruction of our economy which will happen sooner than later.
Let them do all of that and see how it plays out. The last financial collapse saw people on all sides very angry and nothing was done. The people who vote for the GOP would get hit hard and fast and we should just see their reactions!
3
What a hate-filled column. "Now, a bunch of rich, powerful white men want to return us to this sensibility...". No - I don't think most conservatives view african-americans as less than human or don't want women to vote. Simply nonsense. Mr. Blow is so self-righteous, he is blind to his own glaring prejudices.
If the Democrats put up a centrist, common-sense candidate, they will win back the Presidency. Continue with this drivel and they will certainly lose.
13
@Dan T
I a little puzzled as to why you and others keep referring to the Republican party as conservatives. What exactly is conservative about the GOP? It surely isn't fiscal conservatism as evidenced by the last tax cut. It isn't by limiting spending to the military and it definitely isn't conservative when it comes to the environment. If by conservative you mean that they are pushing their own puritanical religious beliefs into law then I would cal the GOP a radical rather then conservative political party.
1
@Dan T
I think Hillary Clinton was a centrist, common-sense candidate if there ever was one.
It didn't produce a win.
6
@Dan T
"If the Democrats put up a centrist, common-sense candidate, they will win back the Presidency."
They won't. They can't. So, they'll continue to lose.
Democrats want another war? Losing the Civil War wasn't enough? Are Dems still angry that Lincoln took away their slaves?!?!
8
@David Hi, What I don't like, as a Democrat: An increase in both unwanted pregnancies and abortions hen Roe V Wade is overturned. (rationale: teen pregnancy is currently at an all time low, thanks to requirements of the ACA Obamacare. ) I don't like 80% tax breaks going to the top 1% where they are already sitting on actual trillions in cash. Pulling back restrictions on mercury pollution, CAFE standards for cars, and drastically shrinking our markets for business by pulling out of established trade deals where we come out way ahead. The Republicans write tons of fake politic fliers, from unnamed sources that can be foreign governments or overseas companies, to get rid of local state politicians, and nobody knows who they are. Just sayin.
2
@David
:-)
David thinks the Republican Party of the 19th Century is the same party as today's version! David doesn't understand that parties change over time, and flip constituencies.
David would not have liked the progressive, liberal, elite, Northeastern party that was the Republican Party during the Civil War.
The good guys won back then, and we'd win again if there were another civil war. As the last election showed, there are more of us; electoral college benefits don't accrue to combat forces. ;-)
5
@David Gee, David, you ever wonder why the South is so solidly Republican? Think it might have something to do with the conscious strategy (the "Southern Strategy") of the GOP to draw racist southerners out of a party whose northern wing was sponsoring widespread civil rights legislation and into their party instead, where they could safely practice race hatred, as they do to this day? Hadn't thought about that, had you? The world is a much different place than it was 60 years ago, but you want to go on pretending that the parties are the exact same as they were 170 years ago.
5
A tough assignment even for a columnist who specializes in racial victimization: how to inject some race guilt in the recent leftist debacle created around Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
But Mr. Blow is inventive. I’m particularly fascinated by the accusation that trying to eliminate the visa lottery (I’m a recipient) is all about trying to keep a white majority in the US, since supposedly these days it benefits more African immigrants.
The last time I’ve heard such an offensive absurdity was when one of the daughters of Malcolm X gave the commencement address at the university where I was a graduate student, twenty-five years ago. She said that AIDS was invented and spread by the CIA to destroy the African-American community. Back then, to my surprise, everybody just listened and nobody dared say anything.
Those days are gone, Mr. Blow. Racism of any shade is evil and must stop.
7
@Gimme A. Break
Gimme a break, we have passion that gives way to lunacy on both sides. The right used AIDS to divide the country as did the left. The truth is it was science (truth) that ended much of the stupidity.
Clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson says winning and losing these arguments triggers chemical response in the brain and the Pyrrhic win of these arguments triggers a greater willingness to engage in these self defeating exercises. I am not in any way committed to Dr Peterson but at least studying his argument to stop the utter and complete insanity of electing Donald Trumps in a nation whose greatest need is unity.
Charles Blow loves his country as much but probably a lot more than a Brett Kavanaugh or Mitch McConnell who could have made this op-ed totally unnecessary by doing the right thing. Merrick Garland could have been the center of the Supreme Court just as his jurisprudence puts him at the center. Mr Kavanaugh should never accepted the nomination as he understands that the Court was already too partisan and he would accept the honor at the expense of a diminished country.The GOP chooses to divide even when your most urgent need is to bring the country together.
2045.
The year the white race becomes the minority in the United States.
The sons and daughters of McConnell, Ryan, Grassley, Hatch, Sessions, Kavanaugh, Trump, and Graham, —ooops, my bad, Graham is a self-confessed “very private gentleman” —will be outnumbered by Asians, Africans, Latin Americans who are the real Americans. Not by paper. Or by skin color. But by values.
We will be the one saying “bye-bye” and “grow up” and “your voice do not matter” to this once very proud and very deplorable white race.
2045.
It will happen.
White men will be the minority.
That’s why Trump is aligning himself with Putin, the ethnic cleanser and genocide expert.
7
@Opinioned!
You use the immigration system to make Whites a minority in their own country and then accuse Whites of ethnic cleansing?
I can only conclude from that statement that some liberals have absolutely no sense of either irony or shame.
1
@Chris M. -- I'm an Anglo white guy. Why do you think America is "their own country?"
Native Americans & hispanics got here before "we" did, blacks were here long before the Revolution that founded the USA.
When whites cease to be the majority they will be the largest minority (duh) for quite some time.
Why do you care so much about being white?
It appears that Blow wishes to be a leader of the "progressive" mob. Who will follow him?
5
@jaco
I watched a lot of hate and very little desire to re-establish any common ground. I am Canadian and we are now the sworn enemy of Red America.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/11/canada-saudi-arabia-suppor...
We are not known to be a passionate people so when 90% of Canadians consider Red America an existential threat to our peace and security I really suggest a look in the mirror.
2
@Memphrie et Moi We don’t actually care what Canada thinks — and that’s why you have to run after us to get a new trade deal. Your government gave up your dairy industry just to stay relevant.
This, for them, is not simply a game about political passion and political principles. This is a game of power, pure and simple, and it’s about whether the people who have long held that power will be able to retain it...
...There are two ways that amendments to the Constitution can be proposed: One is by a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate, and the other is by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the states. The second method has never been used, but is now gathering steam among Republicans.
___
Had all gone as planned, HRC would be in the WH, Merrick Garland would already be on the Court AND a 5-4 Liberal leaning SCOTUS HAD Kennedy chosen to retire when he did.
The Liberals would still be protesting Trump and ANY (R) who did NOT vote to confirm the (D) SCOTUS nominee.
After Reid went with the Nuclear option, does ANYONE honestly think EITHER PARTY would agree to an amendment requiring a two-thirds majority in either chamber?
For the sake of our Country we'd all better hope Trump doesn't get a third bite at the apple.
Just as sea levels are rising so too is our cultural and racial diversity ever expanding. Sorry fellas ( old white men with money), you can try to suppress our votes, lock us up, change policy on immigration, gerrymander, bunker up the SCOTUS with conservative Justices, arm your countrymen with assault weapons, defund public education, deregulate big banks, poison our drinking water, protect this dummy in the Whitehouse, assault our women, the big flood is coming. THE BIG FLOOD IS COMING!! There is nothing you or ALEC can do to change the demographic shift in our country. You will no longer have ground to stand on. Nationalism is not patriotism. We salute our flag, take a knee and then March on Washington and every state house in this country. Brown, black and women folk will be elected sooner than you think.
7
@Steve
I guess the only solution for us "big bad White people" then is to use the immigration system to favor White immigrants in the same way you have been using the immigration system to favor immigrants of color.
1
Want to win the war? Then pick your battles carefully and strategically. It is better to grab hold of the middle to first buttress your strength than to aim for distant targets. It is a simple rule of physics and politics that strength is needed to advance against an opposing force. That strength comes in numbers. It also requires a degree of objectivity. As long as there is too much focus and support for candidates that call themselves socialists, the middle will not join and what you see happening now is what you will continue to get.
5
@Dr. Strangelove
Liberal democracy requires a right a left and a center. Democracy requires listening to the people to attempt to achieve an equilibrium that benefits the social cohesion and adapts the society to the ever changing world. I believe in democracy and last Monday our citizens voted to move to the right. I am not a conservative but I applaud the decision and applaud that the election ended Monday night and everyone is happy to get back to business.
Your country has no need of centrist democrats you need 8 to 12 years of democratic socialism to get to where you need to be.
Our economy has created too many new businesses we have negative unemployment and our coffers are filled. We await the new Denticare program and other programs the conservatives will establish to slow down our economy and allow us to develop the workers to occupy the jobs that are going unfilled even as for us a wage means living way above poverty. Our conservatives will lower taxes and curtail small business upstarts because liberals created excess prosperity without the needed increase in the workforce. Our liberals and democratic socialists were too successful at doing what your conservatives promise and never deliver. that is why we voted conservative. Nothing like a strong safety net to encourage new business when 10 out of 11 of new businesses fail regardless of taxes and regulations.
We as liberals needed to be thinking this way during the end of the Clinton administration when Clinton hid in the shadows instead of supporting and actively campaigning for Gore. That said we are where we are now, at a tipping point. The court will now uphold all forms of racism, voter suppression, union breaking and Gerrymandering to consolidate GOP power. It may be too late to do anything unless there is an epiphany in the country by middle and lower class people (mostly in the South) seeing the GOP for what they are and voting against them in underrepresented numbers. The point about our numbers (liberal Democrats) and states that control power having their vote count for more, states that have smaller numbers (GOP controlled) but sway power in the Senate may not be able to be affected unless droves of liberals move to those states to affect the numbers? It's a drastic measure but I am afraid that unless something huge and monumental occurs, the country will be in the hands of the rich, powerful oligarchy for a generation or more.
2
Carefully planned coup d'état as soon as Obama was elected.
10
@rixax this is what Democracy looks like.
1
"[Republicans] are thinking generationally, not in terms of the next election cycle but in terms of the next epoch." - All too true. But that generational planning is not aimed at making America or the World, for that matter, better. It is aimed solely at the cold, death grip on power they seem to worship. Where is their vision of a cleaner, more fair future? Where is their acknowledgement that the environment is collapsing? Where, in short, is their vision of making life better for ALL of us.
True generational thinking must focus on the well-being of future generations, not on present seizure of power. Otherwise there may soon be no generation to plan for,
VOTE!
9
Excellent analysis. The Left needs strategy and organization and the holistic view of the Right’s cynical plan to maintain rich white mens’ power and leadership despite demographic and social change.
3
A non responsive, rigid, out of touch government in the face of rapid, dislocating change, will make interesting grinding noises in the streets. How closely the U.S. emulates Brazil and Venezuela, will be an interesting situation to watch. The displacement of workers from AI robots within 10 years, is very fast change that a lot of people will be affected by. Racism could be redefined completely in this country, and not sure how. There are so many “little wars” going on within the U.S. right now, that instability is at hand. Survivalism might get politicized at some point on a national scale. Will it be liberal or conservative? Don’t know.
1
Blow accurately echoes a situation outlined by the late Dr. Sheldon Wolin, who proposed one of an "inverted totalitarianism." I read his book, but a good summary can be found through a simple search in Wikipedia. The power centers having so much wealth distributed to them will eventually accomplish a totalitarian state with democracy in name only (as Wolin titled his book "Democracy, Inc."). The Confederacy will have indeed finally won the nineteenth century Civil War. Tragically, as the least bad but still horrendous outcome could be a twenty-first century civil war, as a number of people have warned. But I hope there is still time, as with the latest climate change warning, to redirect things to preserve justice and the common good. ("The arc of history is long, but...")
1
@akhenaten2
Doesn't appear to be bending towards justice right now ... quite the opposite
1
I am very happy that someone finally said this in clear, unambiguous terms. It has been apparent for the better part of 10 years that the GOP has been conducting a campaign to destroy everything not GOP. They have been approaching politics as a conflict for power since at least the early 90s, with little or no concern for actually governing. And all the while the Democrats have behaved as if there were still common goals with the GOP. Hopefully Democrats will hear and understand this message and stop bringing flowers to the gunfight that is every interaction with the GOP.
19
We are witnessing the deconstruction of America as envisioned by our founding fathers.
The “Greed Over People” Party has been successful in their quest to con an uninvolved, uninformed electorate into giving up their country.
What was a country working together for each other has been criminally subverted through the efforts of Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and many more greedy, self serving con men who understood that the people trusted them.
The Oligarchs are firmly in control.
17
Politics has always been war. Trump is in office now because a majority of Americans didn’t want Hillary. Yes, more people voted for her than him between the two of them, but overall more voted against her. You can ignore the third party candidates because they don’t suit your narrative, but it doesn’t change the facts.
I voted for Gary Johnson but others I know voted for Trump because they considered him the lesser of two evils. So the American people did speak and what they said was that they didn’t agree with the message of the far left. Move back to the center and you will dominate elections. Embrace class warfare, identity politics and its social terrorist backing, and you’ll have Trump for another 4 years and another Supreme Court pick or two.
4
@John I don't think you can make a definite conclusion that more people voted against Hillary based on the anecdotal evidence you provided. I voted for Hillary because I found her the lesser of two evils.
@Maryanne
I think you may have misunderstood me. If you add the 3rd party candidates’ votes with Trump’s votes, more voted against Hillary than for her. That is a fact.
My statement about people I know voting for Trump as the lesser of two evils is anecdotal. I was mentioning it because I don’t think everyone that voted for him did so because they approved of him, but rather because they disliked her. I hope that clarifies my post.
@Maryanne
It's important to remember that roughly 80% of voting aged Americans either voted for a different candidate than you did or didn't care enough to vote. The majority are actually the non voters.
I actually commend those who recognize the illusion of choice and the futility in all of this and choose to abstain from voting. Subscribing to dogma regardless of which side of the false narrative, red/blue paradigm which promotes horrible humans as candidates isn't something to be proud of.
In some ways, it's encouraging to realize that you and everyone else who doesn't understand that this is all kabuki theater are actually the minority.
Absolutely right! It's about time that people woke up and realized that this was happening. In fact, it may already be too late, now that the right has a lock on the Supreme Court for a generation. Any law that can be passed by any legislature anywhere in the country to advance the right-wing agenda will now be ruled constitutional, and any law passed to try to stop or even slow down this agenda will be ruled unconstitutional.
7
@John
Do not forget that the Supreme Court has no enforcement resources. They can rule however they like but unless they have the backing of the other two branches pf government they may be rendered impotent. There are many instances in history of Supreme Court rulings being more or less ignored at the federal and the state level. An unbalanced, biased, politicized supreme court may be tempered if either Congress or the White House is controlled by Democrats, and the structure and size of the Court may be altered through the legislative process.
If Democrats will actually vote then they can take and hold more offices and enact better policies. There are more people who support Democrat policies than GOP posturing but the GOP has an edge on voter enthusiasm. The Democrats need to motivate the electorate and keep them motivated or we will continue to suffer the tyranny of the minority.
The left declared war on this country decades ago, at least they finally own up to it. The left, as Mr. Blow so amply demonstrates here, is ideologically opposed to most of America’s first principles, such as the rule of law, the presumption of innocence, and individual rights rather than collectivist “rights.”
We have seen the dangers and horrors of left wing ideology. It unfolds precisely the same way across time, across continents, no matter the nationality, culture, or manner of implementation; it always ends in deprivation, starvation, and oppression. Leftism is evil. There was a time when its adherents could be excused as idealists, but not with the history of the twentieth century in the rear-view mirror, and with Venezuela unraveling before our eyes today.
It is imperative that we not allow leftist ideology to gain any more of a foothold than it already has. We must take back control over our educational institutions, and shame our media into neutrality, or assign them their place in the ash heap of history if they refuse. Individual rights must be asserted and protected. Mob rule must be defeated.
This is war, as Mr. Blow has rightly said, and it is crucial that those of us who wish to preserve our American institutions begin to view it in that way. Leftist do, and they proceed as such, so must we.
2
@Gmason
As long as you include the mobs we witnessed in Charlottesville - not exactly leftists.
5
Be careful of wishing for any kind of civil war because there are plenty of armed, angry or unhinged people who are willing to turn severe partisan political conflict into war itself. As our history shows, no one “wins” a civil war, they just find some way to end the bloodshed after it has literally consumed a large percentage of the population. Unconvinced? Look at Syria, Rwanda, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Somalia, Myanmar, Iraq. Look at the French and Russian revolutions.
Ou challenge is to reverse our society’s increasing separation into camps completely mistrustful of the other camp, through more dialogue and fewer ad hominem attacks. Otherwise, we’ll hand our future over to the hotheads and power-mad fringe elements who will be surprisingly happy to take America’s huge arsenal of guns and start shooting at the “evil” others.
4
@SKG Blow is not "wishing" anything but is stating a terrible possibility, given the clear trends and plans of the so-called conservatives. In that famous call to action, Patrick Henry also wrote "Gentlemen cry Peace, Peace, but there is no peace."
1
@SKG
We have been past that point of dialogue quite some time ago.
For instance. where is the “dialogue” in making your city anything other than a playground for well-heeled millennials?
Frankly, that diglogue does not exists because the majority of the residents do not care to change the status quo.
So, let’s stop the hypocrisy and wishful thinking and realize our nation would be better off if we broke up this nation and let people live with those they have a true “dialogue” with.
@SKG Thank you. We do not want a real civil war. There are foreign operatives using media blogs in the U.S. to incite warfare and Americans too willing to go down a very dangerous path. I have relatives across the whole U.S., Democrats and Republicans. We need to listen to each other and find common ground. It won't be perfect or include everything we want but it is the slow and tough way to deal. I visited my brother, a Republican, this weekend in a rural area of California and had a lovely time. We also spent time debating everything. We found some areas we agreed and some we still stand our ground with different views. It was all done respectfully. It makes us question our views. It makes me know where I need more data for a convincing argument.
Depending on how things go, we may be on the verge of a social uprising. Liberal towns/ States will not easily march to the drumbeat of a fascist conservative agenda. Instead, there will be a rebellion, pure and simple. If the vote in the midterms does not realign our politics, I fear for the future and so should you!
15
@cubemonkey And of course, if a conservative said this, you would be screaming about sedition and looking to make that speech illegal. When that rebellion comes, be sure to ask the recruits how much of their income you should collect from them to pay people who don’t do anything, generation after generation. Watch how quickly they desert your “cause.”
1
@cubemonkey
Looks like a win-win for the NRA.
Well, Mr. Blow is correct. It is a war between those who want to turn America less white and those who do not. Is a less white country a better country? That is the question. Democrats say that fewer whites would be a good thing.
6
@Alan Mr. Blow's column are mostly hate speech, and NYT, like HuffPoo and Salon, publishes a LOT of hate speech against white people. And hating whites does seem to be one of the Democrats' recurring themes. Lately, they seem to be making a point of hating on white women who associate with white men. So I, as a white person, will now vote accordingly.
4
@Alan
Don't take the bait (even if your position is strong enough snap the line). Let's just make America - and beyond - as good as we can. It doesn't matter who gets on board... if they're on board.
1
@me
Good grief, it is not a "white-hating" stance to advocate for true equality for all citizens. That is what this nation has avowedly aspired to for over a century. It is not a bad thing to be reminded of our vaunted values, which have been an inspiration for others around the globe. Demographics are changing everywhere, not just the US. Shock: racially/ethnically blended families will become the norm. Find yourself a small tower to retreat to because the demographics won't be stopped, regardless of your feeling threatened.
As a white person who votes, I know where my vote will be going. To resist giving others equal access shows a smallness that is unworthy of citizenship in this nation.
“Liberals have to look beyond needing to fall in love with candidates in order to vote for them...”
Amen, bro.
To even bother going to the polls.
3
Only about five percent of American lawyers belong to the Federalist Society with its "originalist" and "textualist" jurisprudence. The FS was the love child of Edwin Meese and Robert Bork to plant reactionaries on the bench. Its vision is well outside the mainstream of legal thought and teaching.
And yet, we now have six of nine Justices from the Federalist Society on the Court. That is no accident.
While Republicans talk about abortion and gay rights to mollify conservative christians, what they really are about is "a political regime, having totalitarian aspirations, ideologically based on a relationship between business and the centralized government, business-and-government control of the market place, repression of criticism or opposition, a leader cult and exalting the state and/or religion above individual rights." https://wikidiff.com/reactionary/fascism
This is fascism, not based on ideology, but on money. It explains income inequality, Donald Trump, religious bigotry, white male dominance, immigration policy, stagnant wages and that tax cut to benefit corporations over working people.
It is no less odious today than it was in the 1930s.
6
Blow unfortunately concedes the conceit of conservatives as to “original intent.” Original intent is a problematic concept not because the framers were anti-democratic slaveholders, but because originalism is a bunch of tea-leaf-reading speculation, and because the Constitution itself strongly suggests it shouldn’t be read that way.
“Cruel and unusual punishment”, “high crimes and misdemeanors,” and “unreasonable search and seizure” are among the broad phrases whose meaning has been litigated over and over. The framers knew how to write specifc rules, like the one about presidents needing to be 35 years old. Originalism purports that the framers intended something more specific than the broad principles they actually agreed.
Conservatives use originalism as a bludgeon so they can pretend that liberals are simply making up things and they aren’t, that for fair-minded people conservative outcomes are the only plausible reading of the Constitution
In insisting that the Constitution needs be rewritten, Blow kind of accedes to this conceit. In fact, though the framers were flawed, principles such as freedom of speech as embodied in the Constitution supersede the specific context in which they were adopted.
4
@Adam Block Original intent is, for example, not to say that the right to an abortion is part of a right to privacy that is part of a penumbra of rights in the 10th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution.
Say what you will about Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, the idea that the words of the Constitution can be interpreted as giving women the right to an abortion is wrong. State law has always governed things like abortion and marriage. But somehow the Supreme Court has given itself the power to decide what the law is on those subjects.
The Supreme Court is not going to eliminate the right to an abortion or the right to gay marriage. Those are now the law. But in future cases we may well see the Court defer to the states and the legislatures to make law. After all, that's exactly what the Constitution says should happen.
1
Charles, this is your most important column ever written! The GOP wants power above all else. There is nothing to stop Trump from just changing the results of the mid-term elections or cancelling elections all together. Our democracy is being chipped away daily. This is a war and Democrats need to fight it. The time to take the high road is over.
5
Nice! Finally stepping away from silos and embracing the magnitude of what's at stake. Please allow me to offer some additional considerations. The collapse of 2008 was a smash and grab heist. It was the consequence of the previous 30 years of deregulation, de-supervision, and decriminalization. It ushered in Citizens United, i.e. legalized corruption. The 2008 collapse was the largest transfer of wealth in history followed by making unlimited political contributions legal. Hmmm, I wonder if there's a correlation? Let's add a few more ingredients. What was 9/11 this many years later? 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi's. Our CIA trained the Mujahadeen. Years later, OBL makes his move. Where'd the funding and access come from? What's the dollar tied to? What is Putin's #1 resource? What kind of impact does oil have on Wall Street? Who murder's journalists? Who is America's #1 purchaser of military hardware? Do we think for a second Kavanaugh following years of what led to #metoo and #blacklives matter a coincidence? What makes rich guys rich? Who are they? Who are their foot soldiers? Do we live in a democracy? Is the law supreme? Are we a nation of, for, and by the people or as Mr. Blow has so eloquently pointed out, something else? I'm supportive in the notion to proclaim this a War. What now?
7
in spite of the fact that slavery existed at one time in virtually every society, the Founding Fathers at LEAST had the foresight to allow future generations through the amendment process to gain additional rights being overlooked in THEIR time.
and so WHAT that many of them had by modern standards "regressive" views?
they and other white christian men CREATED almost EVERYTHING around us that modern liberals take for granted .
guess what,leftists, you don't get to lump all straight white guys together in collective blame, while not also giving them collective CREDIT at the same time for all their miracles , such as this network we are on right now!
6
Fiddle-dee-dee! War, war, war; this war talk's spoiling all the fun at every party this fall.
2
@Charlie Funny, and man, you put it so much better than my bloviating what I gather is the same point! Especially about the crisis-deniers.
So what exactly did you and many of your liberal readers here want? Sure, you wanted the Kavanaugh nomination scuttled, but on what grounds? The accusation of Dr Ford? She had no proof, no evidence, no corroboration. Her own witnesses all claimed they never remember attending such a party, and even her best friend doesnt recall ever meeting Kavanaugh.
Im guessing you all would have been happy if the presumption of innocence and the burden of proof was completely ignored? The ends justify the means? Well, if thats the standard you are all advocating for, you are going to lose a good swath of the voting public. Those are the most basic tenets that make up American society. Supporting that makes you antiAmerican.
If thats the new standard for liberals and Democrats, go for it.
5
@Sports Medicine
Kavanaugh shrieked, after giving voice to the usual conspiracy theories from Fox News, " what goes around comes around..."
He sounded more like one of those wrestlers on WWF than a Supreme Court Justice.
That's why his nomination should have been scuttled.
The GOP refused to divulge thousands of pages of his records - even before Dr Ford came forward.
That's why his nominations should have been scuttled.
5
@Todge. Didn’t Obama say “Elections have consequences?” Bet you wish he hadn’t said that. And here’s a clue: women shouldn’t be believed just because they speak up. That is just as discriminatory as saying they should never be believed. If you have a case to make, make it. But expect to have to prove your claim, just like a man has to. I want to be treated equally.
1
Do women who make allegations like this have to provide any evidence? Or is their statement enough, per se?
2
@Beeper812 Do those women, as well as their accused, have any right to due process?
1
@Beeper812 -- Victim testimony is evidence. Why do you claim it isn't?
2
@akhenaten2 Of course accusers have the right to due process.
Step one is filing a police report. As yet none of the Kavanaugh accusers have done so.
1
After what we just witnessed, you're calling the Democrats "high-minded?" Seriously?!
7
When McConnell’s “Theft” (NY Times) of the right of President Obama to a nominee (Garland) and his victorious voters right to that choice of a SCOTUS nominee was denied by “Outrageous” and “Unprecedented” (NY Times) McConnell actions to pull off this “Theft”, the promise of this Democracy was aborted by a crime against voter, majority rules and trust in those tenents of this former Democracy.
1
"The founders, a bunch of rich, powerful white men, didn’t want true democracy" is an outrageous, inaccurate and dangerous assertion, doubly so as it is promoted by the often brilliant Mr. Blow.
My humble ancestor Roger Sherman was a Connecticut surveyor, an occasional cobbler and self taught lawyer. Suffering under the tyrannical rule of both the British King and the Church of England, he helped craft all four founding documents of our all be it imperfect democracy.
Sherman, and a handful of other founders, tried to eradicate slavery from the draft versions of the founding documents but the southern colonies wouldn't ratify the Constitution without slavery, concurrently the small states wouldn't ratify without a senate, which Sherman proposed. My forbearer's actions, and the actions of many other white colonists, were not about leaving people out, they were about trying to include everyone... we the people.
Don't disparage the Spirit of '76 Mr. Blow, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater because of what the majority then, decided. Don't disparage all the founders but recognize and honor that the Constitution's deepest democratic values, the values of Roger Sherman, Samuel Adams, Oliver Ellsworth and Thomas Paine are alive today in the hearts and minds of all Americans who work toward that "more perfect union".
Friedrike Merck
Garrison, New York
11
@Friedrike Merck - What did your ancestor and founding fathers have to say about parties in the constitution? Washington himself warned against them. Would the constitution work more closely to as it was intended without political parties hold positions of power in the government?
Author - "Enshrine White Male Power"? Really? Name calling and divisive rhetoric may have worked for Dems for decades but we all now see through this charade. The Dems pointing the finger that Republicans are trying to "fundamentally" change American political structure is rich. In fact, it's that kind of projection that tells you the exact opposite is true. Your Dem friends are driven by a greedy and selfish lust for power regardless of the collateral damage. It's sickening!
4
A call to arms by Mr. Blow seems to be the same cry I have heard for decades as rational individuals attempt to get through to those who are liberal that the conservative virus is not only spreading, but is suffocating our very vulnerable democracy.
Social media, an out of control cable media so thirsty for news that they promote with billions of dollars of free publicity those who are bent on dividing our country so as to achieve an autocratic state are crippling the ambitions of our people. Who is being duped here?
The weak, the poor, the angry, and the political uneducated who strive for crumbs of recognition not realizing that they are falling into the trap leading to a nation that will treat them as slaves. How then could it be that America has been bamboozled by a TV demagogue, rogue Republicans in Congress, and a majority of state governments that have changed America into a black hole of despair with lies in a quest for ultra-conservative dominance.
Yes, Mr. Blow, to MAGA conservatives need MAWA, and a perfect con act in order to achieve their goals. Forget about people of color, forget about women, forget about decency, lie about benefits they will enact for the poor knowing that those who are tired and poor will follow their scandalous messages despite getting nothing.
We in America are in a crossroads. Either we exculpate ourselves from the lies of the right, and rise up and vote for America, or we will fall even deeper into the black hole of autocracy.
2
Me, a New Yorker of Jewish descent used to work part time in Charleston, SC.On occasion when conversation turned to the Civil War, "good southerners" referred to it as "The War of Northern Aggression"
Very little has changed in over 150 years.
3
It’s not clear who would be helped more by a Constitutional convention—conservatives or liberals. Blow seems to believe conservatives would somehow use one to perpetuate an “economic oligarchy” and to remove checks on business interests. But they seem to be doing alright as it is. Why would they need a Constitutional convention? It would seem liberals would benefit more because they have nothing to lose in view of their recent setbacks and seeming political impotency as long as Trump is in power. And what a sideshow that would be. But frankly this piece seems to be an undigested idea which Blow is trying out but which he hasn’t really worked out yet. So I’d give it an “incomplete.”
3
For about 50 years noiw, the Heritage Foundation, followed by The Federalist Society have not only planned and executed their plan to take over the nation, they have wiped their muddy, bloody shoes on the Constitution to get to this point.
If there is a philosophical "war" to save our country from plutocrats and absolute autocracy, make no mistake about it: The conservatives fired the first volley and they have not let up ever since.
How did they do this? As Justice Sonya Sotomayor noted recently, the conservative on the court have "weaponized" the First Amendment by giving a full-throated approval to the goals of the Federalist Society, the Heritage Foundation, the Koch brothers, Sidney Adelson, the Mercers, and of course, the right wing media gasbags who carry their message.
But what has been equally disturbing for decades has been the weaponization of our Constitution. The concept of "original intent" by the founders of our nation has been thorougly corrupted to vindicate the drives for political power through voter suppression, unlimited money in elections (Citizens United!), aborting the vote count in Florida in 2000, ...
This court, more than any in our history, is now nothing less than a political too —nay, PAWN, if you will — of a Republican Party run amok. Drunk on power, the former Party of Lincoln has lost its moral compass, especially over the past 35 years.
This is about the survival of the greatest democracy on Earth.
Vote!!!!
6
@David Ohman If you're not already familiar with it, read Dr. Sheldon Wolin's "Democracy, Inc." It discusses his theory of "inverted totalitarianism" that goes beyond party politics to the power of the corporate state. A good summary can be found in Wikipedia. It is all playing out like Wolin described.
@David Ohman Funny, when the Democrats were wiping their “muddy, bloody shoes” on me and stealing from my paychecks to give money to people who won’t get up off their behinds and do anything, or were continually denigrating the “greatest democracy on earth,” that was ok with you. When Americans say “Get out of my life,” you call them Deplorables. Why do you think the Republicans are as strong as they are? Could it be because they listened?
I'm sorry, but upending "innocent until proven guilty," one of the hallmarks of a free society, which extends to every day life, not just a criminal case, is a no go under any circumstance.
Outside of Democrats obviously wielding of Christine Ford's claims for their own political benefit, it now really looks like that's exactly what Ford's claims were in the first place.
Moral high ground demands that the claims would have been true in some manner. Instead, she's done the opposite to help corroborate the claims, her friend committed witness tampering, and Ford's lies on the events matters. Going after Kavanaugh for misstating levels of drinking isn't really relevant if the core claim by Ford is contrived.
The argument morphed from sexual assault, which appeared somewhat credible in the beginning, into "we don't care if it's a false accusation, Kavanaugh handled the false accusation poorly."
I don't think false accusations should be rewarded, nor should a person be harmed by handling false claims poorly.
5
@Constance And do such women, as well as their accused, have any right to due process? Apparently not.
@akhenaten2
No one stood up for this woman. No one.
1
It’s War! Liberals load your apps.
5
If we DO have another Constitutional Convention, maybe we can work out an amicable divorce. Our differences are irreconcilable.
5
It's not war. It just isn't. Let's not give in to drama.
American institutions are stronger than just an associate Supreme Court Justice.
Democrats love to sensationalize their own political failures because they feel exempted from looking at how poorly their party has been responding to these conservative assaults on basic values. Assaults which, mind you, appeal to an increasingly outspoken part of the country. What vision do Dems want for this country and can it unify it? Right now it's just hard to say.
There's more to politics than just indignation and pandering to your base. It's up to Democrats to convince the American people at large that progress really is worth it. Not just that the Republican party is a catastrophe, which I think liberals can all agree it is.
9
@Paul
The real problem is that the Liberals leave no room for debate, its your way or the highway, and guess what if your black or Hispanic, you can laugh all the way to the bank, because you are working now under a Republican, OK yes its all because of Obama's economy, of course, more delusions by the Liberals
Well said, Charles. I'd venture to add though, that perhaps the most urgent task facing all Democrats -- from voters to the the DNC to elected officials at every level -- is to stop bringing the proverbial knife to a gun fight. Two examples:
The effort to tilt the Supreme Court rightward has been going on for years, by means both organized and ad hoc.
In 2016 Democrats simply did a poorer job than Republicans in convincing voters its party and candidates had the objectives and strategies to address even the most obvious of voters' problems.
Voting for Democrats in November is a good start, but only that. Longer-term thinking and sustained action will be required to reverse our drift towards oligarchy.
5
If there was ever any question about the importance of the recent Supreme Court to those in power, it was summed up in David Marcus's opinion today:
"The confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh as an associate justice of the Supreme Court is a conservative victory of generational proportions. It is the capstone of a decades long project to fundamentally change the judicial branch of the government in ways that can open heretofore locked doors on abortion, affirmative action, gun rights and religious freedom.
There is every reason for those on the right — like me — to celebrate. But there are also some very good reasons to keep those celebrations quiet, respectful and dignified."
This sent a chill through to my soul. I can think of nothing quite as dystopian as the prospect of the established powers to quietly, respectfully and with dignity overturn whatever civil freedoms this country enjoys.
This is a battle of battles, and it needs to be noisy and revealing.
18
This column illustrates perfectly the losing strategy of the Left which is declaring "War," seemingly unaware that such declaration and follow-through will widen the gap with the Red States which hold the power granted by the Constitution and Electoral College. To achieve even part of its agenda, the Left will eventually have to make peace and common ground with the Red States and thus needs to romance them, convince them, work with them, not go to war.
We should all look for common ground:
-On immigration, the Left must embrace closing the border but could in exchange enable a debate in Congress on quotas, the definition of which global conditions constitute a valid basis for refugees to be admitted and how the the lottery and quotas should include African countries. All of us should want a full legislative debate and updated laws rather than the lurch of Executive Actions from Left and Right, depending upon the Presidency.
-On voting rights, the Left must embrace voter ID for all Federal elections and in return should be able to achieve an extension and firming up of other Voting Act provisions and a new formula for judging gerrymandering, etc.
-On civil rights, we could all come out with modernized approaches to the "affirmative action/quota" conundrums rather than coercion that ebbs and flows from agencies depending on who controls the Presidency.
-On gender matters, we could agree on common-sense approaches to gender dysphoria and gender equality issues.
7
@SonomaEastSide You lost me at voter ID. It's discriminatory by definition. Sorry.
1
So capitulate.
And “common sense” approaches to trans rights sounds chilling. What solution do you imagine that yields one person’s body and rights to a common sense that is uniformed and hostile. Isn’t it clear that trans people have been used to inflame fears and reactions among far right voters with little understanding of trans people’s lives...
1
@Vic Williams. You have to have ID to open a bank account, get on a plane, have subsidized housing, claim welfare benefits, or even buy a beer. Why is it discriminatory to ask you to use that ID to do the one thing that is reserved for citizens? What are you afraid of? I’m sure the same buses that come and pick up Democrat voters could take them to get that ID if they really didn’t have one. But maybe being a citizen isn’t that important to you.
1
The question I keep asking myself is when do we break out into open rebellion? Then I remember that it’s the other side that owns most all the weapons.
7
@Karel -- no, they don't ... or do you mean they own the military? They tend to hold the majority of handguns and semi-auto carbines in private hands, but it is their delusion that this allows them "2nd amendment remedies."
Look at the American Revolution: most of the guns and almost all the cannon came from France. Ditto most of the gunpowder.
The idea of a pack of fat old civilian white boys armed with Glocks and AR-15 clones fighting a counter-revolution for groping and sexual assault "rights" is absurd.
The problem here though is that it's women that are being disenfranchised. They tend not to start shooting wars. There are few examples of women guerrillas, but a famous one just died: Freddie Oversteegen.
I do wonder how long it will be until Freddies start multiplying.
1
@Karel
Which side uses firearms to shoot at the political opposition while they're practicing to play in a charity baseball game?
Please...
The Dems have a long way to go in developing a game plan that stops the McConnell-Sessions-Miller run away train. The right wing has had a vision and a strategy long enough that they now have the power to execute it. Who and what are the liberals fighting for? The biggest stake in the mid-terms and 2020 is preserving democracy i.e., the Vote. That includes Voting Rights and Getting Out The Vote.
6
Charles - I think the only solution is dis-union. Break up the USA into smaller units.
Let's go our separate ways, do commerce together, play each other in the major sports leagues, maybe even have a loose mutual-defense pact.
Not interested in "taking back" one house of Congress for a couple of years, only to see it return to GOP control. How you can we build a 21st century society, with proper health care, etc., when the GOP just looks to dismantle anything Dems put together?
Peaceful, amicable separation makes the most sense to me.
15
@Chris Whaaaat? And are you going to create your new republic out of little pieces of cities in each state where democrats are concentrated?
1
I'm not sure a rallying cry to war is going to work with liberals. Liberals tend to be pacifists and don't want to fight.
As a moderate liberal myself, all this talk of red v. blue as part of some sort of new Civil War is very distasteful to me. I get it that the two sides are fighting one another, in a war of ideas. But the problem in that is once you reduce it to war, the old adage of "all's fair in love and war" comes into play. And boy do conservatives ever espouse this!
I think appeals to our shared decency, toward civil responsibility, might work better for liberals. Dr. Ford came forward because of this, as have others. Politics in the United States shouldn't be a war of survival, and arguably it is not that anyway.
Before we ask Americans to take up arms in a war, perhaps we should simply encourage them to vote, and to vote smarter?
10
30 states voted for Trump. The civil war
analogies are lame. It’s more like everyone against the coasts.
4
@PeterC Everyone against the coasts? I think not. All the people are on the coasts. The majority of people (i.e. the popular vote) went for Hillary. You must love the electoral college.
@PeterC No. It's your "everyone" against the majority of people, who you will remember voted for Hillary, by more than 3 million.
I’ve been thinking about how Black Lives Matter has been demonized by calling it a terrorist group and racists increasongly feeling free to be racist. I can see a similar process happening to women.
I heard Trump saying he feels sorry for men today, as if women are a danger or the enemy. I hear increasing numbers of men expressing anger at women for the MeToo movement “ruining the lives of men”. This attitude has been legitimized by Trump. As the Kavenaugh hearing legitimized disbelieving women’s stories of sexual assault. I fear that this is how these men in power will try to keep women powerless to confront them. Just don’t believe them or jeer at them for daring to speak up. These are scary times.
9
@Becky Women don’t have a problem if they bring the proof. If you make a claim, you better have proof — and more than “I said so.” Act like an adult. I am not “special” because i am a woman; i have to prove my case just like anyone else. And I don’t want to be treated otherwise.
@Isavelives, and how, exactly, do you prove it? Especially when society pressures you to stay quiet and not "ruin" a man's life.
"Kavanaugh is just one part of a much larger plan by conservatives to fundamentally change the American political structure so that it enshrines and protects white male power..." Ok sure. I thought the right was supposed to have all the nutty conspiracy theorists. Difference is that on the left, conspiracy theories are mainstream.
5
In order to win a zero sum war the aggressors must do to their enemies what the Allies did to Germany and Japan in WWII. Literally. The North did not commit over the South in the Civil War and we got Reconstruction (Of course we would also have destroyed our economy, but that is another matter.). Progressives are ideologues. Even if they won such a war they would not know how to implement their Kumbaya society without destroying the economy. All out war without total victory will only generate reaction for generations. Democrats' only hope, given their inability to fight such a war, is to match Conservative tactics. Conservatives have been successful because they are smart at gaming the system. They didn't allow ideology to distract them from their goal of getting a supreme majority. They TALK about reason-based free markets when they want the stock market to grow, but show their understanding of true human nature when they MANIPULATE fear to win elections. Even if Trump is somehow pushed aside, the victory will be hollow for a generation because the supremes will hold the young ideologues in check. Perhaps the latter will profit from the lessons to be learned by the time they have reached middle age. Until then, let the sanctimonious speeches roll on.
@Howard Winet
Denocrats always revive and recessitate economies decimated by Republcan leadership. So who are the ideologues? When the majority of the populace supports Democratic beliefs and values, and the ruling party represents a minority. The idealogues of, corporatism, nationalism, racism, patriarchy, and religious bias and discrimination are currently dominating all branches of our gov't. If it remains that way, the stock market may temporarliy suceed but this country will not prevail. And that is a mild understatement.
2
@Fromjersey
So how did we get to where we are?
Ideologues are people who are so certain of the perfect societies they dream up (usually ignoring human nature) that they cannot abide skeptics. They exist in both parties and each one has his/her own tribe of worshipers. You can watch them on FOX, MSNBC, and listen to them on a host of talk radio stations. Where I live Susan Collins and Dianne Feinstein are considered traitors.
There’s no reason my husband and I couldn’t move to Wyoming after midterms. He telecommutes, and it seems like a beautiful state. It would be so nice to think our votes counted - *extra*.
6
Charles Blow for President! Seriously, we need more people like Mr. Blow to fight against a right-wing takeover. I bristle at the notion that so-called "conservatives" have an equal standing with liberals. It's a cloak of legitimacy covering anti-democratic ideas. I was a teenager in the fifties and remember the odious Senator McCarthy hearings. That time seems almost tame compared to the danger this country faces now. Democrats need to unify to protect our fragile democracy!
3
The right versus left, Democrat versus Republican narrative is false. This is the privileged and powerful versus the people. Both parties are owned by powerful corporations and their shareholders.
There is no conservative media and no liberal media. There is only corporate media. Social issues are simply distractions to control the masses. The Koch bros don't care about the rights of women to choose or whether you can own a gun. They are simply wedge issues they can exploit to make sure the masses don't find a single voice.
Why do you think large percentages of people agree on most issues and yet our elections are so close? As long as your vote cancels my vote, nothing will change.
11
Blue states should consider withhold paying federal taxes and the plausibility of secession. If there is not representation in our "federal gov't" why pay or remain in. If it's war, then there should be action. Ideally non violent. Let the red states keep there, ahem, "Christian"' conservative values, ruling white male class, FOX state news propaganda, and of course their cherished guns (another form of phallicism it seems).
13
This is unworkable if you look at voting maps. Large swaths of red in all state that are sparsely populated with dark blue heavily populated islands in between. Maybe you need to lighten up and stop demonizing each other. Let’s not be like DJT. We have a lot common ground.
2
Exactly. But are we prepared for war? I fully expect that the upcoming vote will be tampered with, either by Russian operatives or Trump operatives. What will Democrats do in that eventuality? Most likely what they usually do, make some powerful speeches and then move on.
3
@IGUANA...Democrats have proven their UN-willingness to fight-back...maybe tie to move to the winning side?
@EdwardKJellytoes Which side is that? Yours? Not gonna happen
The day following the election I was reading comments on our local paper's news site. Among the jubilant, boastful and mean posts was a comment that read:
You don't understand, the coup has already begun.
4
Mr. Blow, I note your call to war addressed to liberals. This is to let you know I will be fighting on the other side.
Now, since one of the first rules of conducting war is to know your enemy, let me tell you a little about myself. In a letter published in this newspaper, I called Donald Trump “epically unfit” for the presidency. I’m getting a little long in the tooth and by now have voted in 13 presidential elections — eight times for the Democratic candidate, four times for the Republican, and once, in 2016, for someone whose name I wrote in.
So, I will not be fighting you to enshrine “white male power,” though I confess, a bit shamefacedly, to being a white male. I will be fighting to preserve, from you and your fellow “progressives,” things in which I deeply believe: the dignity and worth of every individual, which requires a presumption of innocence against accusation, whether or not in a criminal prosecution; freedom of speech, against those who would shout down dissent from received opinion; and constitutional democracy, which means that issues not placed beyond majority rule are decided by the voters, not unelected judges.
To me, these are values worth fighting to preserve. I regret that it has come to war, but the last few weeks have convinced me that a war is what we are in.
So bring it on.
9
@Howard F Jaeckel decided by majority rule you say? Like the 2016 election?
I'm all for this. As someone who personally remembers what a centrist position looked like prior to the 80s, I'm all ready to try an enfranchise every US citizen, and let their opinions guide our actions.
Dignity begins with respecting everyone's voice at the table
2
Sounds like your on the wrong side. You really think a future right wing plutocracy is going to respect your values?
Americans, not just Liberals, This is War. It has been declared on your families, your friends, your democracy and your rights. It is war on values, freedoms and decency. We all know what really is at stake.
7
Although I agree with much/most of what you say, enough with the "evil white men argument", please. (Unless you think Idi Amin and Pol Pot and Mao were white). And enough about how evil the Founding Fathers were. No they weren't. If they want to keep power, Washington would have been made King. America and the America system was a break with the past that had never occurred before. And it has had a impact like nothing else in history. Don't try to rewrite history.
PS. And about the slavery argument: Keep in mind that as long as there have been people, there has been slavery. All nations, all races, all histories. Until in the late 1700's in Europe and America, when all those "dead white males" started to work to end it, Denmark being the first to end it in 1803. It was the West that finally put an end to slavery, by law and by force.
22
This is an overstatement and a misrepresentation of historical fact:
"The founders, a bunch of rich, powerful white men, didn’t want true democracy in this country, and in fact were dreadfully afraid of it."
Some were afraid of it. The famous quote from a guy named Hamilton (perhaps you've heard the name?) "Your people, sir, is a beast!"
In spite of those fears, we got a democracy and it has been extended since.
Some, the more scholarly, wise and long looking of those who knocked out the Constitution in Philadelphia believed deeply in democracy and they fought long and hard in the steaming summer to give us the fundamentals, the basics. It was a compromise and, the result is that our democracy is compromised. Why? Because we have failed to update it, failed to change the representation in the Senate so that it more closely reflects the will of the nation.
As one very intelligent commentator (!) wrote over the weekend, the 1.9 million people in the three smallest population states have the same representation in the Senate as the 81 million who live in the three most populated states, six senators.
This is wrong. This will not stand. This allows the minority in the person of mean ol'Mitch McConnell to try to dominate the nation. This is all going to bounce back, hard, on McConnell and the Republicans and we will, within the coming years, see a second American revolution (peaceful, if we are lucky) to re-jigger and fix our democracy.
It can and will happen.
12
@Doug Terry
Thank you for a perspective on the constitution that you don't see very often. The constitution was a compromise and it needs updating to better represent the American people. So simply put by you.
However I am not convinced that the present situation will not stand. With gerrymandering, no limit money in politics and the influence of wealthy citizens and corporations I think it will be very difficult to see change such as you would like to see. The right has worked assiduously over many years to achieve the power they now have and will not give it up lightly.
Perhaps when Americans see what the Republicans are and will do to the current safety net along with the growing inequality, they will rise up and vote for better alternatives that will make the comprise work or change it through constitutional amendments.
@Doug Terry
In modern teen literature terms what you suggest is "How dare those dirty districts think they're the equal to Capital City!" - The Hunger Games.
Sound familiar? Is Montana District 13 or District 4? Just wondering.
@Doug Terry If you don't like how the Senate is chosen, then you have to do more than comment on New York Times articles. If people who lean Democratic in their outlook voted in the same numbers as Republicans, you could amend the Constitution to do anything you want. But Democrats tend to like complaining more than voting or encourage others to. Face it: "mean ol' Mitch" and Trump are in charge of Congress because Republicans vote, and Democrats don't.
Taxation without REAL representation is where we are. A few old white men in taker states are muzzling the rest of us, debilitating our personal and national futures, and financial and health well being. So we are heading in an historic direction for the best of reasons.
2
"But, when I think of originalism, I think this: Many of the founders owned slaves; in the Constitution they viewed black people as less than fully human; they didn’t want women or poor white men to vote. The founders, a bunch of rich, powerful white men, didn’t want true democracy in this country, and in fact were dreadfully afraid of it."
Except that all of these issues are addressed explicitly in constitutional amendments, which are officially part of the text of the Constitution and embraced by all originalists. Originalism actually means affirming, rather than rejecting, changes to the Constitution through the amendment process. But it also means you can't shortcut the amendment process by just "reinterpreting" terms to mean the opposite of what they originally meant.
Maybe reconsider basing your argument on "what you think of when you think of originalism," particularly when it is objectively wrong.
12
My first question after reading this article is that it is great to clarify liberals at war with conservatives, but then what is the remedy? How do we solve the issue that rural states have more power than densely populated states? As far as I can tell the conservatives are winning all the battles and the war.
7
I think you vastly overestimate the founders concern over race. At the time, race and gender non-issues (they hadn't yet run into the political issues of womens rights or freeing slaves) so your characterization of them as "dreadfully afraid" of democracy because they wanted to ensure the black, poor, and/or women stayed out of the voting pool is hugely inaccurate. Furthermore, the originalists knew their document would be imperfect, so they enacted rules governing how that document was to be changed if society ever found some of their rules archaic or wrong. If you are so concerned with how a judge will interpret a law, get the executive branch to make new laws or amend old laws. You know...their job. If the Democrats pick up some seats in Congress, you will have the only tool you need to start making the judiciary do what you want. The problem is that amending the Constitution has a high bar, so you actually have to have most of the lawmakers on board. Creating new laws, however, has a fairly low bar (comparatively speaking).
6
@tw
It is you that vastly underestimates the founders’ concern over race and gender. To be clear, your argument is a non-sequiter.
1
Levin and his supporters are not technically calling for a new constitutional convention. They're calling for a Convention of States which is somewhat different.
The proposed amendments would be nearly impossible to reinterpret once codified.
1
McConnell played hard ball during the Obama and lost until the Democrats lost control of the Senate. The party had lost focus and Democrats started to look for ways to distance themselves from Obama and lost the Senate. McConnell stepped and played an unethical game of hardball over the Garland nomination. Not to worry though Hillary Clinton was going to win the presidency in 2016 but she lost the electoral college despite winning the popular vote by 2.8 million votes. The writers of the constitution wanted to give protection to small states from domination by large states. This fits in well with the Republican strict reading of the constitution. The blatant unfairness to voters of states like CA is truly outrageous. And we end up with Trump and Kavanaugh.
12
Trump and the Republican Party have gone out of their way to divide the nation on cultural issues. Democrats must — MUST — respond aggressively on health care, the disastrous tax plan, environmental degradation, the negative impact of Trump tariffs, and the GOP’s well-financed effort to take total control of the Federal Judiciary.
The one cultural issue the Dems should emphasize over and over is that it stands proudly and steadfastly for women against the misogynistic, antiquated and insulting attitudes of the Republican Party.
4
One problem with Blow's war is that he, like so many who adhere to identity politics, is terrible at rallying the troops. The Founding Fathers were wealthy white males. Using that to condemn current white males is a failing strategy, and one that will only backfire badly. If you want to win against Republicans, join around ideas and values, not identity, not historical injustices. That may feel good in the moment. It will lose time and again. That approach to identity politics is what lost the last presidential election. Kamala Harris is already going down that dead end path. So is Elizabeth Warren. It's a failed strategy and it only alienates the allies we need.
7
You continue to play into your adversary's hand when you make it all about "white male power". It's tempting to want to call out the perpetrators and benefactors to centuries of racial and gender domination, but...it's really a class of political and economic elites that benefit when we're fighting each other over race and gender. Class is an equally tough battle to fight here in America, but we have to be fighting the right fight. I'm a white male who is struggling to make it and I have a wife and daughter who regularly remind me when I'm wrong. Yes, I benefit from being white and male, absolutely; but I don't have much power. The power is at the top, and the white men at the top just love it when we're fighting over race and gender. They're laughing all the eay to the banks.
3
In war, there is no middle ground. The large mass of the people, who in times of peace have a great diversity of views, conform to views in which they are on one of the sides in the conflict and only one of the sides in the conflict. This article doesn't just appear to be a call for war, it is. It's fine that you outline the calls the other side has made for the same thing. Your response is to join them on the battlefield.
Wars reduce civilizations and reverse history, the kill, they destroy lives, they cause lifetimes of physical and mental trauma, they destroy history and civilization.
Be careful what you wish for, Mr. Blow, I don't think you are clear on it.
4
Hyperbole, such as referring to political disagreements as war, is not the way to solve problems and reach consensus. You need look no further than the way the Democrats handled the Kavanaugh matter to see this. By trying to sandbag the confirmation by holding back the accusations by Ford and then using them in a last ditch effort to derail the confirmation they managed to shoot themselves in their respective feet. Now what might have been a blue wave is likely to resemble a blue ripple with the Republicans expanding their seats in the Senate and failing to gain enough seats to control the House.
4
Reading this article explains why I detest all extreme points on the political spectrum.
4
A very insightful article!
And I agree, this is war.
4
This piece trivializes the meaning of war. This piece demeans the sacrifices that so many men and women in this country have made in our countries wars. Brave men and women put on uniforms and risked their lives to serve their country. War is not getting on a bus with signs and shouting and screaming at people in the streets or in elevators. War is violent and ugly. Nobody should ever make a call to war. Mr. Blow, were you ever in the military? You would know how fearful and awful war can be.
3
I fear that the last bastion of our democracy -- voting -- is already under threat. Not just from the Russians but from Republican State Secretaries who control voting. When Republicans show us they will win at any cost, we need to believe them. Winning at any cost extends beyond stealing a Supreme Court seat (Merrick Garland) to the security and sanctity of each vote.
6
The war first started when the first shots of the civil war were fired. Since then, it's been a cold civil war of the Union vs. the Confederacy. The old divisions of North (plus west coast) and South still hold true for the most part, replaced by red and blue states. Our "open borders" along the Mason Dixon line have allowed the neo-confederacy unconstrained freedom to grow via ideology masked as conservatism. Since the parties swapped racists in 1964, the Republican party has carried the banner of the Confederacy quite openly, advocating for slave wages, minimal civil and voting rights, allegience to foreign enemies, and a never-ending list of regression. And as Mr. Blow has stated, the confederates win because they know they are at war and behave accordingly.
9
I'm a white male, and let me assure you that the Republican Party is actually not at all interested in what I think or believe. The GOP has only one goal—to make the rich richer—and will adopt any prejudice they think folks like me *might have* in order to achieve that single aim.
8
@Martin
The riches people in the US Senate are all Democrats.
3
@Bill
The top five weathiest members of Congress:
R Rep Issa 283.3 Million
R Rep Gianforte 135.7 Million
D Rep Polis 122.6 Million
R Rep Trott 119.1 Million
R Rep McCaul 113 Million
@Bill 4 of the top seven are repubs
If this is war, decency, truth and justice lost. Continuing discussing, rehashing and analyzing the how and why our Supreme Court includes a low life is simply wasting precious energy. We have witnessed a new low in our society. Why are we sickened by the actions of our politicians, when their leader is void of all decency.
I think we can take Steve Bannon at his word when he stated plainly and publicly that he and his movement intended to take the government down. He was fired, not because tRump and the Mercers and the Kochs disagree with him, but because he opened his mouth to clearly and too soon.
5
@joymars The quote was related to 20th century progressivism and the cure in one 5 word phrase -- "Deconstruction of the administrative state"
It's astounding you're just now recognizing that there is a culture war, and are using Kavanaugh's confirmation as your call to this new-found conflict. The reality is that the "Liberal" establishment (better is "Leftist") & its revolutionary wing has been at war with the US Constitution, specifically the equality of authority between the federal government and the States, since the mid 1800s. Divided authority & diffused power was one of the primary purposes of the founders, who knew all too well the destructive nature of a centralized government. To remedy the monarchial mistakes & tyrannical trends of Britain & Europe, the founders developed a checks & balance system to prevent federal concentration of power in the newly united States. The 10th Amendment was the crown of these efforts, ensuring that the States - as individual entities of the people (or just "the people" as the Constitution calls the States) - had equal say with the federal government, and moreover, ensured that any power not explicitly authorized to the federal government was reserved to the States. That's the central issue, Charles, not racism as you fantasize. It's the Leftists & their intellectual forefathers, like Marx, that declared war on States rights, limited power, checks & balances and then prosecuted a bloody shooting war to enforce a top-down federally controlled Union in 1865..a total war that was continued via political means, though unsuccessfully, by Democrats in Kavanaugh's confirmation.
4
The founding fathers finagled a lot of things to get the southern slave-owning states to join The Union. The 3/5 law, counting slaves as state residents, but not people. Hideous. The worst was the Electoral College, which gave rural agricultural states — back then the slave-owning states — more power than the rest. (Worst because that undemocratic mistake has been corrupted and is still with us.) Federalism had nothing to do with ensuring a king would not arise (like Trump), or that they believed government was bad — even central government. I’ve heard your a-historic slant so many times, there must be one playbook on it out there somewhere. Have you ever really studied U.S. history? All the issues that lead up to the Civil War? It’s a rhetorical question since it’s clear you haven’t. Back when the Constitution was written the 13 States were relatively populated. Now we’ve got South Dakota, Wyoming and Alaska. The founders didn’t have a clue what the country would become. Originalists — if that’s what they really are — would be idiots. But we know that’s not what they’re really about at all. Become a responsible American, please.
2
@joymars
"Answer a fool according to his folly, or else he/she will become wise in his or her own eyes." Here's your folly:
1. You're clueless about the 3/5 clause. The clause provides that representation in Congress will be based on "the whole Number of free Persons" and "three fifths of all other Persons." The "other Persons" were slaves. Despite popular ignorant & foolish misunderstandings that liberals like you usually propagate, this provision did not declare that African Americans were three-fifths of a person. Rather, the provision declared that the slave states would get extra representation in Congress for their slaves, even though those states treated slaves purely as property. Thus, this was a provision that was not directly about race but about status and the allocation of political power. Free blacks were counted in exactly the same way as whites.
2. Federalism, including the brilliance of the electoral college, had EVERYTHING to do with guarding against the rise of a king. This is taught in 6ht grade. You can find exhaustive documentation of this in the Federalist Papers.
3. Your ad-hominem attack at the end reveals that you, like your scorch-the-earth Democrat party, don't address facts. You don't know anything about me, but are confident to tell me to become a "responsible American." Really? In a real debate, you just lost the argument because attacking the person, and failing to be factual = defeat. And that is why Dems lost the battle to take Kavanaugh out.
There is no such thing in America as a federal election. Saying that a vote in one state is worth more or less than in another state is a false equivalency. You vote within your state and the vote you cast is equal to every other vote within your state. We do not have a centralized government. You don’t vote directly for President.
4
When a mercurial, and possibly an ethereal Susan Collins pontificated about Dr. Ford's assertion, not passing the ''more likely than not'' test, incriminating Brett, and cast her vote in favor of Kavanaugh, the ''due process'' suffered a ''massive coronary''. Moreover, a haphazard, sloppy, and a hastily concluded nth FBI inquiry also might have contributed to Brett's meteoric rise to the SCOTUS status. The near-monolithic support of the GOP for Brett Kavanaugh was quite palpable, much to the glee of Mitch McConnell, who kept quoting the 1880, and 1991, SCOTUS nomination histories, in many Sunday (Oct., 07, 2018) morning shows, like a broken record.
Mitch's proverbial catatonic stares at the cameras, and his monochromatic mumblings about past, dictating the present, were reminiscent of some soporific lectures in colleges. Not just that. Other GOPers have remained equally monochromatic in their ironclad supports for Brett. This olla podrida of nonsense from the GOP reeks of rotten stew.
Whatever said and done, the fait accompli has been reached, and the mid-term elections might be a way to get back at the nay-sayers, and teach them a lesson, they probably will forget. Dems are at the drawing board now, and need to chalk out a strategy to spearhead a resonating message, with all their might. Who knows? It might work, this time around.
2
"But, when I think of originalism, I think this: Many of the founders owned slaves..."
Yet slavery was never enshrined in the Constitution. The founders had arguments over it. They shelved further arguments because if they hadn't there would not have been a United States in the first place. Liberals frequently omit that simple fact.
"...in the Constitution they viewed black people as less than fully human..."
Another compromise between slave states and non-slave states that each wanted to have their cake and eat it, too. Slaves were counted as three-fifths of a person for two reasons: apportionment of representatives to Congress and taxes paid by states to the federal government. Please keep this "lees than human" allegation in context.
"...they didn’t want women or poor white men to vote."
Nowhere in the Constitution is anyone given the right to vote. The 15th, 19th and 26th Amendments stated that people could not be DENIED the right to vote because of certain conditions, but does not guarantee the right to vote.
"The founders, a bunch of rich, powerful white men, didn’t want true democracy in this country, and in fact were dreadfully afraid of it."
They knew that democracy was nothing more than mob rule: three wolves and one sheep voting on what's for dinner. Is that what you really want?
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@hm1342 Instead, it's three sheep and one wolf, but the wolf still decides what's for dinner. American politics circa 2018.
@Chris: "Instead, it's three sheep and one wolf, but the wolf still decides what's for dinner. American politics circa 2018."
If it's your contention that one political party is a bunch of pure, innocent sheep, you are sadly mistaken. The Kavanaugh nomination should open even the most jaded eyes to that. Both sides are ruthless and uncaring and will say or do anything to acquire and maintain power. American politics since after the founding.
Mr. Blow, you say we are at war with Trump's Republicans? The man in the Oval Office elected by the Electoral College--a hold-over from the days when other men owned slaves--has declared that the Democratic party is the party of crime and lies. There is an old saying when you point one finger there are three fingers pointing back at you.
But Trump has been extraordinarily successful at inserting his Big Lies into the conversations of the voters so his party's issues with indictments and fact-checking may well end up smearing the Democratic party for the many confused voters who are still trying to be "fair" to all sides and still trying to respect the "Office of the President" no matter how slimy the current occupant is.
Trump--- in the midst of major scandals with nearly every appointee in his campaign staff and administration--- has the cowardly gall to claim it is the Democratic party committing crimes? "War" is too timid a word to describe what Trump and the Republicans are trying to do to political opponents whose ideas they fear.
The actions at the Judiciary Committee hearings are an example of the unrestrained means Trump and the Republicans will use to "win". They yell, lie, weep and pretend men are the victims in sexual assault cases. White Republican women--- even those who have been assaulted--- fall for the lies and will vote for the liars.
The tools of victory matter in war and politics. The Democratic party wins by being true to its goals.
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@Lynda. Hard to say the Democrats are not the party of “crime and lies.” Bill Clinton, Hilary Clinton, all the old “civil rights” senators who keep getting busted for ethics violations, just for starters. I don’t know of any Republican president who molested a subordinate in the Oval Office or a Secretary of State that sold her office to foreign powers.
I’m a white man in my mid 30’s. I grew up listening to hip hop in the leafy suburbs of Connecticut. I now realize that this music reflects my hope for America — it embodies the struggle to free the American mind, even if it may have originated as music by and for the progeny of slaves.
With this said, I don’t know why the cities are not burning. I have been hoping that the ultimate betrayal of the civil rights movement would spark an outcry in the black community that would produce a movement, urban and progressive, which a broad spectrum of Americans could rally around. But Black Lives Matter, Occupy and other movements just seem to fizzle away.
I truly believe that Trump will be undone by the most humble of people, because it is humility that he cannot understand.
2
@Philip - I accidentally "recommended" your post. I meant to "reply." Please do not promote the burning of cities. It does nothing for the people living there. Why burn your own neighborhood?! We have seen enough wildfires here in California to overwhelm us in smoke. We don't need people promoting fire and mayhem. There are other ways of promoting change in meaningful, long-term ways. Anger... yes! but not violence. Energy must be channeled.
1
@Philip So, you want cities to burn and people to die? How terribly Progressive.
1
"This, for them, is not simply a game about political passion and political principles. This is a game of power, pure and simple, and it’s about whether the people who have long held that power will be able to retain it."
Dear Mr. Blow,
Please be honest enough to admit that your argument applies just as much to Democrats as it does to Republicans.
4
Please refer to Mr. Blow’s list of Republican goals. They are not the goals of the Democratic Party.
1
No valid arguments here
“The founders owned slaves” - yes they were imperfect. But the principles in the constitution guaranteed liberty and freedom for all men under god and that is what ultimately came to pass. The slaves were freed in our society before any other.
“Constitution treated slaves as less than human” - the 3/5 clause was designed to hurt the southern states and ultimately reduce their representation at the federal level. The Slave owners wanted shaved counted fully so they could have more representation in the house. So this often touted point is totally disengenous. The free north engineered the 3/5 clause to punish Slave owners.
Stop stoking division. Stop demonizing “white men”. It is racist and disgusting.
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@Chris
A lot of white men in politics are clearly racist and disgusting. You disputing that?
3
@Chris Now that is some extremely flawed logic. It's pretty clear that counting slaves as 3/5s of a person did exactly what you claim it didn't. If slave owners thought that they could get their slaves counted as a full human for voting purposes, that just made them even more vile. Punishing the south by giving them more voting power for slave ownership? That would be accomplished by denying them any voting power at all for the bodies that they owned. Everyone is imperfect, but this concept went far beyond imperfect.
1
Don't forget this is the same party of Lincoln and McCain! So what changed? Here is my theory:
Anyone in power today knows the importance of money and the symbiotic relationship of the two. To retain power without responsibility or performance you need money. To make money without innovation, polluting the environment, and paying low wages you need the power. Of course it is not the only thing required and that is its saving grace; but in most cases this relationship will work.
So how do you get to this? Bankroll your candidates, better still put your own candidates, but an even better strategy is to buyout a whole party! Legitimize it (citizens united?) by cornering justice. It may be a mere coincidence that power rests with old white men, or not. I mean, look at the boards of corporations!
This is not a conspiracy theory which will mean collusion across the entire strata of that society, but you don't need all of them. The tipping point is achieved with far fewer people when you have billions of dollars to invest.
Think about it!
And the saving grace? Your vote. Vote everytime or your democracy will be hijacked and I certainly did not come up with that idea!
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Originalism? Last time I looked there was nothing in the Constitution about Gerrymandering, Corporations being people or rich people’s Money being speech. Progressives need to fight this phony trope that conservative justices are merely interpreting the constitution and not making law never envisioned by the document.
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Many, if not most, politicians are power-hungry (it goes with the turf). What makes most Republican officials deplorable, though (see McConnell, Hatch, Cornyn, Cruz, Graham, Grassley, etc., etc.) is that they're power-voracious.
Power is everything to Republicans, especially the likes of Kavanaugh, who wage power in an interminably insatiable drive for success, and (for many, where women are concerned) for an insatiable drive for pleasure.
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"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." -MLK
It seems to me that Mr. Blow is judging people by the color of their skin. This is wrong.
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Yes this is war. But what kind of army do we have? We’ve been under siege for a long time, but the Democrats have stood idly by - part of the problem. They changed tactics decades ago and moved from a party representing the middle class to a fundraising party. The party is a bloated machine, full of old-school thinkers who embrace the comfort of the status quo and tout incrementalism as a party platform.
The joke goes: why do Democrats support stem cell research? Because they want to grow a spine. This is hardly the kind of fighting force needed to take on an immoral, heartless Republican juggernaut willing to sell their souls to the devil in order to win.
So there’s another war brewing, a civil war within the Democratic Party, that will coincide with the war with conservatives. It will pit the mainstream party which abhors the idea of rocking the boat – of revolution - against a faction willing to fight dirty and to take the party in new directions.
Who will fight to get money out of politics? After voting the Republicans out that should be the first order of business. But right now the Democrats are addicted to it.
To move forward, the Democrats first need to break out of denial and accept a lot of the blame for our current state of affairs. They betrayed their mission a long time ago and stood by while foxes on steroids raided the hen house. If they don’t change, the civil war will result in people breaking away from the party and looking elsewhere for a voice.
4
In my new state, Oregon, the third party candidate, Patrick Starnes, is running for governor on one issue; campaign finance, money in politics reforms. Virtually ignored in one televised debate, not invited to two others. The Dem Party (mine) has ignored the issue, ignored him. Big money supporting both traditional candidates. Ballots will be mailed in the next few weeks. What a shame that my Party forces me to decide; conscience over practicality? Starnes should have been embraced, asked to highlight Dem rallies, ads.....ha!
1
Sorry Charles .. the Dems .. the "Libs" simply don't have the mettle to carry out a war successfully. Getting thoroughly outfoxed in the Kavanaugh proceedings provides ample testimony to this assertion. They just don't have the down-and-dirty gut instinct and tactical prowess for it. So they eat crow ...
2
I note with dismay the NYT approving comments containing Mad Magazine style name-calling. That's okay now, I guess. Why not drop human filters all together while you're at it.
But that's not what I wanted to talk about. In the event that the house and senate are turned, measures must be immediately taken to reverse the gerrymandering and 'Citizens United' money. With any luck, this, and sustained anger, will be sufficient to put a democrat in. His first order of business should be introducing legislation to expand SCOTUS to 11 or more associates. And MAYBE even to an even number... Of course, Trump and his ilk will embark on a scorched earth, take no prisoners exit from power, which will probably take a while to clean up.
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@John Hall It will take full control by Democrats (White House, House majority & Senate super-majority) to pass an updated Judicial Procedures Reform Bill in 2021. This is quite feasible given the Senate arithmetic in 2020. It will be possible if Democrats have a really good plan to remove partisan politics from judicial candidate selection, e.g. by involving the ABA, AJS, AJA etc. It's time that judges were not selected by an actuarial/electoral lottery.
1
@John Hall, let’s also change the name of our country to the United States of changed laws and constitution liberals did not think could help them in any way. It’s kind of long but I’m sure you can change something to fit you liking.
@John Hall
Or...after the Republicans keep the House (although lose some of their majority) and pick up seats in the Senate in November (thanks to Dems motivating the GOP base with their total war on Kavanaugh) Trump makes "his first order of business" to introduce legislation to expand SCOTUS to 11 or more! Why wait? You're not so hypocritical to posit that if it's a leftist Democrat action, it's fine. But if the GOP proposes that very same thing, it must be stopped by total war, are you?
1
The question facing the United States is whether a country with a diverse population from all over the world can live and work together in peace and harmony. Charles Blow wants to prove that it can't.
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@Joe
Really think the GOP supports diversity? Are you kidding me?
3
The thing that confuses me the most is why the insistence that the country stay together. It is 2018 and you have the technology to live under different rules different laws and different governments and values. Your communities are already segregated into Red and Blue and you really do for the most part hate each other.
1
It's a war alright. A war liberals started, but won't win. The Dem leadership "has not" presented a better, more productive economic plan to the booming economy and employment numbers the country is currently experiencing. They haven't told us how they plan to keep our borders safe while promoting "legal" immigration. They "have" treated the American people like we're too stupid to understand why open borders allowing unchecked illegal immigration, sanctuary cities that won't detain criminal illegal aliens, and higher taxes aren't "good for the country". "Never Trump" isn't a strategy. It's a losing ideology.
And the latest nail in their coffin was the completely failed attempt at smearing a SCOTUS nominee with unfounded sexual abuse allegations simply because the man is conservative leaning. It was all just a political sideshow that blew up in their faces. And it will cost them dearly in the mid-terms.
Dems, if you have a real plan to make America better off than we currently are, LET'S SEE IT. Divisive rhetoric, attempted political character assassination, screaming at Republicans while releasing their personal information, and talking about everything the other side is doing wring isn't a strategy unless you have a better plan.
It's like dealing with a spoiled child.
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@TheRealJR60
I have a better plan. Impeach and lock up tRump for his criminal and treasonous actions.
Wait and watch.....
1
In the event that the Republicans retain control of Congress in November the winners will be the billionaire funders of the hard right. All of their red state voters celebrating with Bud Light won’t realize their danger until things like healthcare, pre-existing condition protection, Social Security, Pensions, Medicare and public schooling disappear.
It’s no secret that the end game if the Oligarchs is an America that resembles the America of Andrew Jackson.
3
Liberals and progressives should be drafting our own updated Constitution, for a modern America that reflects the great social progress over 250 years and eases the way for further progress. Instead of just reacting to Republican efforts to drag the country even farther back than 1789, even before the Enlightenment, we should craft and present our own vision for a More Perfect Union.
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@SKG
Couldn’t agree more....well said.
@SKG Ask Stalin how the last attempt at such an endeavor worked out. Or Pol Pot, or Hitler or...you get the idea.
As with everything else that conservatives say, their claim that they intend to follow the original intentions of the founders as written in the Constitution is pure baloney. So-called originalism is the federalist equivalent of Trump's populism, a fantastical promise wrapped in quasi-reasonable arguments that provide cover for an entirely sinister elitist con.
The simplest and most accurate interpretation of the founders' intentions is expressed in the first three words of the Bill of Rights: We the People. Conservatives have no interest whatsoever in promoting the We, they can only see things as Us v Them.
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@T Bucklin..It boggles the mind to see how ill-informed some liberals are regarding fundamental aspects of the institutions of the United States. "We the People" are NOT the first three words of the Bill of Rights. "We, the People...." are the first three words of an important American document. No wonder the founders established a republic and not a democracy.
McConnell will probably change the official vote to 51-49, because even though Murkowski said "No," she didn't really fight.
1
Sorry, but this progressive (on domestic issues, at least) thinks it is way past time for a Constitutional update. Women’s rights, privacy rights...even water rights...need to be directly addressed. Election reforms, definitely need discussion, change.
Yes, it’s scary. But I see only two alternatives; continuing to let 9 political appointees decide our nation’s future, or begin discussions about our own...Brexit disunion.
4
The Democrats may object to a certain nomination, it's their right. But sitting on the allegation for several weeks meant that they had time to decide to what to do with it. Without the opponent's knowledge of the allegation in this political environment it meant they a great power in shaping the situation.
After weeks of exclusive knowledge of the allegation, they came out with 'it's the truth' without corroboration that later morphed into 'it doesn't matter if it's true or not.' The Democrats have enough former lawyers, judges, police, FBI on their side, and there's no chance they couldn't have known that they lacked enough evidence.
Then what they finally chose to do -- shaking up the process at the last minute with it (does anyone believe they were they really planning to to keep it secret from everybody, forever?) -- makes clear their approach to the Supreme Court situation. It's war where all rules are broken.
Therefore there is no need for a rallying cry to war for the liberals; their party claimed truth doesn't matter, and all that remains is bloodshed and violence. Now I think I understand why the phrase 'the end justifies the means' has historically been more associated with the left wing.
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@J ParkThe talking point "liberals sat on the allegations to the last minute" is nothing more than just that, a tiredly repeated mantra. Though l can tell already you will ignore the far more criminal, treasonous an unjust FACT that conservatives sat on the nomination for months for purely political reasons
I usually don't go for dirty tricks, and l don't think Senator Feinstein's plan was to spring this at the last (this is not a stypid woman, this is a realistic politician who knew the down side of making the allegations public) but this time, even if was cold and calculating l say bring on the ice. 1) the wait didn't matter, republicans remained in control and scary, and 2) talking point have no meaning. They are light air, and republicans know this. They have zero substance. However, its both inspiring to see democrats fight back, and terrorizing to see them mowed down...to anyone like me, who has wished they would show more spine, even in the face of terrible odds. Kavanaugh should never have won the vote, even without Blasely's allegations. But disheartening as it was, it needed to be done/shown/put into perspective. Bringing backlash into the light of day and not cowering is our next step.
1
Hmmm. Yet another leftist double standard. When Sarah Palin had a "target" on Gabby Giffords, which every sane person knew to mean that the republicans needed to go after her seat, the rabid and insane left blamed her for the shooting, as if the use of a "target" inspired the lunatic (leftist lunatic, BTY).
So here is Blow, using "War" as his rallying cry - especially dangerous, because leftists maniacs DO take this seriously - shooting up republicans at a softball practice, for instance.
So which is it left? How many more times are you going to allow your supposed "principles" to be tossed aside for politics?
(Including this whole sordid ordeal, where you maniacs are melting down over "not believing Ford /Women" but continue to support Bill/Hillary, Ellison, etc....)
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@Howard Remember Merrick Garland, Mr. Right Wing. How long do you expect the left to stand for the dirty tactics of the right? It is War, and you better believe it. You may have won the battle, but your deal with the devil has sealed your fate.
@Howard
Hmmm. Wonderful false equivalences. Sarah Palin and her crowd have guns, use guns, and love assault rifles. Hardly a stretch to think it is more than a "joke". Did Blow talk about actual weapons?
What other leftist gun sprees can you cite? There is, however, a long list of right wing mass killings going back to Timothy McVeigh. Oh yeah, I forgot about Dylan Roof. He was Hillary's gopher for the 2016 campaign, helped run that child sex ring from the pizza parlor, and killed Vince Foster.
As for Bill Clinton's allege and actual dalliances: were there accusations of rape? No, just that he had sex. Yes, clearly very much worse than Trump. Did Clinton brag about grabbing female genitals? And it's not like the leftists pushed Al Franken to resign.
Well, you certainly called out the lefties!
Thank you
3
Some studies show that if you look across entire groups, there is a temperamental difference between people on the left and those on the right. It also seems to me that in general the sorts of people who tend to populate the right-hand side of the aisle are also the sorts of people who are comfortable with strong leaders, hierarchy and common values. On the other hand, those on the left are more likely to embrace diversity. Many on the far left even favor flat organizational structures and consensus decision-making. So the left has lost before it has even begun, because too many people on the left resist the kind of organizing and common purpose that allows the right to cohere. Compare the organized Tea Party to the deliberately- leaderless and collective Occupy movement. Which had the bigger impact?
4
This situation did not come about quickly, and it is not going away quickly. As has been pointed out many times, this is the long game being played by the Republican Party, and it goes back decades. In turn, it will take decades to turn things back the other way. The real problem here is progressives/liberals/Dems desperately searching for a way to fix everything with one mid-term election, when what we need is a cohesive long term strategy with short term tactics.
I believe this starts at the local level. It will be important to vote the Democratic ticket in the mid-terms, but it will be equally important to vote that same ticket at the local level. City council members, mayors, school boards, county commissioners... we have to start rebuilding our long term commitment to supporting local representation for progressive/liberal policies. Following on that, we need to begin recapturing state legislatures and governor's offices, which are the breeding grounds for the regressive conservative policies that are pushed up the ladder to Washington.
Finally, it's critical to remember that the next census and redistricting takes place in 2020. If the Republicans retain control of 2/3 of state legislatures and congressional redistricting, as they do now, Brett Kavanaugh's appointment to the Supreme Court will pale in comparison.
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" In other words, the idea that law means something, it has determinate meaning. And that’s the trend that I think this president wants to continue.” This president believes that the law applies to others not to him, not to his family and not to his loyal cronies.
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Thank you Charles!
1
The smarmy little man from Kentucky obviously thinks he's done a great thing with this entire episode. But he hasn't, and one day, when it all comes back to bite him, he might wake up to the long-term damage he's done to his country. I don't understand how the people of Kentucky keep electing him. They're not really that stupid.
5
Charles, I’ve been around a lot of white conservative white men. I have never ever heard talk or conversations that sound remotely like anything you’ve talked about here. I can’t beleive you wrote something like this. Wow.
3
Democrats & Liberals simply don’t share the madness that drives the various groups of Republicans, Libertarians & conservatives.
The sense of victimization amongst the latter groups of “regular voters” is immense. Some are motivated by irrational religious beliefs, others by racial/ethnic/gender animus, others by a hatred of “big government & regulation,” disgust for the “Welfare State” (that so many of them nevertheless benefit from) & a hatred of demonic Democrats & liberals, to name just a few.
Too many are willfully ignorant & hunger for the instructions from their many “leaders,” the con men & women of all types that range from the President to the multi-millionaire politician Pastor to the TV provocateur to the radio conspiracy theorist.
How can the other side compete? On the whole, we’re simply not the same in so many ways. We don’t feel that Jesus is commanding us to vote in the mid-terms to “save the (unborn) Babies” (in the mean time, let the born ones rot), & that we should automatically support completely corrupt leaders, in order to prevent the other side from “coming to confiscate our guns.”
8
@Lane. If you think you are so different, feel free to do the opposite: get rid of all Democratically - owned guns, adopt the babies when they are born, don’t take welfare, declare yourselves atheistic, embrace intrusive regulations, get rid of your big donors, and get rid of your corrupt leaders. Then you’ll really show the Republicans that you’re not demonic. But until you have done that, you’re just the same.
One thing you wrote struck me.
“Yes, next month it is important to prove to the rest of Americans, and indeed the world, that Trump and the Republicans who promote and protect him are at odds with American values and with the American majority”.
If you think that the “rest of Americans, and indeed the rest of the world” approved of the baseless smear campaign against Kavanagh then you need to step outside the Blue bubble you live in.
The majority of Americans were sickened by what the Democrats tried to do to an innocent man using false, uncorroborated allegations. The majority of American women are even more sickened by the fact the Dems so readily victimized Ms. Ford. Feinstein and her cronies threw her to the wolves the moment they thought it most politically advantageous “to them” without a 2nd thought.
You’re statement that “that Trump and the Republicans who promote and protect him are at odds with American values and with the American majority” shows further that you’re out of touch with voters outside the “Blue bubble”. Do you really believe that the majority of Americans think that a person should be pronounced guilty by unproven accusation alone? The majority of Americans see the Democrats trying to grab power using false allegations, smear tactics, threats, and divisive rhetoric. And Please, keep highlighting those scenes of hysterical left wing-nut protestors who represent the few.
#ListenToSurvivors, but expect proof.
The Blue bubble is about to burst.
2
Textualism ouija law.
No system can withstand greed and stupidity for long.
Our Lobbyocracy is particularly fragile. Other western countries look after their young, poor and sick. Vote!
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You said it, Brother!
“Taking it to the Streets” is going to look radically different than 1970.
GL
2
It is war.
What did you think the apocalypse was going to look like?
Big Pic: This is part of The Horror, a recurring phenomenon for when: The margins of selection are tight, impersonal & brutally enforced.
Here's a fundamental, selected relationship code that is more overtly expressed in tight environs: Fitness>Truth.
Donald Hoffman
"Fitness and truth are utterly different things."
“Evolution is quite clear, it’s fitness and not truth that gives you the points you need to win in the evolutionary game.”
"Organisms that see the truth go extinct when they compete against organisms that don't see any of the truth at all ... and are just tuned to the fitness function."
"Perception is not about seeing truth; it's about having kids."
F>T sub-codes: Me>U; Us>Them; Short term>Long term.
F>T Horror apps: War; Deception/Self-Deception; Genocide.
The Constitution is culture code.
Biological code is more fundamental than culture code. Note: "Initial conditions rule in complex systems." Stewart Brand
Complexity increases weaken the efficacy of code, i.e., relationship infrastructure: genetic legal $ software moral &.
Our biological & cultural codes are being overrun by the dominant, emergent phenomenon of our era: exponentially accelerating complexity. (Like an immune system being overrun by pathogens.)
We're coded to process local environs in a relatively short term manner, not global environs with exponential dynamics & myriad long-term consequences.
Exhibits A & B: Sky; Ocean
2
All good points in a good article. Trump and the GOP are the 'deep state' conspiracy he projects onto others as he throws out his daily conspiracy theories. All nonsense to obfuscate their political maneuvering to keep the wealthy minority in power in America over the working force majority.
Trump just loves spouting out nonsense and seeing how many in his base will believe it. He considers them even bigger idiots than the rest of us for good reason I might add. The next Clinton conspiracy will be that Hillary crucified Jesus. It is interesting that Kavanaugh was also preaching the word of the Clinton conspiracy right from the Trump bible. Not good.
Trump won't be happy until he completely destroys our democracy. If you want to see a classic face of a hater just look at his visage within any media feed, Trump is always in the state of hate and that doesn't 'bode well' for America or Americans.
5
And it's the begining. Our world goes to the post democratic. Thoes "political corrects" and the democrats who promote and allow the debauchery are killing the real democracy. You are one of them. Excuse my poor english.
2
This is the kind of left wing hyperbole that led to the mass shootings of innocent law enforcement employees by crazed fanatics and supremacists as well as the DC baseball field sniper. If people vote for Democrats this November they are truly out of their minds.
7
@rpe123 I noticed you left out Gabby Giffords. Perhaps you, like other right wingers, think that was less than a tragedy. If I am in error with that assessment I offer my apology. This may be the last time I observe the courtesy the Dominicans worked so hard to teach us in school.
The rhetoric in the headline "Liberals, This is War" is a disturbing and inflammatory. The NY Times - and Mr. Blow - should be ashamed of themselves. This is not War.
4
@Maurice Gatien The republican leadership has been at war with liberals since Reagan. Remember how he taught his followers to sneer the word liberals. Like a bully on the playgrounds of our youth. Perhaps what truly troubles you is now the battle is joined. Democratic leadership that is too polite or timid will be replaced. My first cash contribution ever has gone to Susan Collins opponent in Maine and we don't even know who that is yet.
"Liberals can get so high-minded that they lose sight of the ground war. "
I guess that would include the liberal that leaded the confidential Ford letter to the Washington Post? They lost sight of, for example, ethics? Instead of handing that letter over to the FBI and maintaining strict confidentiality in July, those "high-minded" folks drug us all through the mud?
C'mon Charles. I think you drank too much of the Schumer coo-laid in the last week or so.
Everyone already knew that Kavanaugh was a drunk, white, spoiled, rich party boy before the Democrats leaked private information on a poor, confused, woman.
But, being a drunk, white, spoiled, party boy is not illegal and George W Bush was also one of those good ole boys. But, he kept his pants on during his Presidency so all good (never mind that he destroyed the entire middle east for no reason).
In fact, one could argue that drunk, white, spoiled, party boys are in charge of a LOT of America and have been for a while.
This was not always the case in America, but, it has been since the 1920's.
Anyway, don't be so bitter about what is normal. And, don't think that "liberals", like Bill Clinton, or Hillary, are high minded. That makes me laugh.
You are amping yourself up for no reason. All of these people are equally corrupt and equally without interest for you and I.
4
@Michael Feinstein did give the info to the FBI three weeks before the leak, and if you know the identity of the leaker, much less their political affiliation you are obligated to go to the FBI yourself......Didn't think so.
Liberals are high minded? That was good for a morning chuckle. Aren’t they the ones calling in death threats, releasing private information, stalking people?
6
@Jackson The last time I looked, death threats were being called in toward Ford as well as Kavanaugh, the Republicans were demanding that private information be released in the Mueller investigation, and Republican operatives hacked Democratic sites and released private emails from them. Stalking people? That sounds like someone is drowning in right wing paranoia.
1
@Jackson Liberals don't have a monopoly on any of those, and to fair, Republicans do more than threaten, they follow through.
The war is over. You lost.
3
@Richard, you're absolutely correct. The Republicans have lost. And the nails will be pounded into the coffin on November 6....
1
@Ken
If this is losing, Ken, then let's hope it keeps up. Too funny, now "progressives" want to redefine winning as losing...
Hola, @jaco - see ya on November 6 when the Republican stuck-ups get routed. (Actually, you may want to hide, as this news will be far, far from funny...)
Tell Susan Collins and all those white WOMEN who vote for conservatives that this is a conspiracy to empower white men. It is not. This isn’t some small, outnumbered group of old white guys clenching to power. This is not apartheid. A near majority of the country wants it this way. When is the media going to start covering the Nation, the whole darn US of A? I meet more people that think liberals are a bunch of yahoos than the other way.
Those who think progressive thinkers are the silenced majority because old white men have ingeniously concocted a plot to subvert them are deceiving themselves.
5
@Charlie Simon
3 million more people voted for Hilary.
The EC is a joke on “Democracy.”
2
The disgusting traitors Trump & Mc Connell & Co. have won this battle, at the cost of losing the country. Decisions of the supreme court will no longer be legitimate. Ditto for all GOP-led legislation. And of course for ANY of #45's ill-considered initiatives, derived as they are from the idle musings of an ignorant madman. Welcome to Venezuela! "Yanquis blancos, andales a casa!"
5
Trump wins again the liberal tears are flowin strong happy day
3
There was a time when the mere accusation of a white woman could get a black man lynched. This is what happens when an ideology -- then white supremacy, now radical feminism -- overrides due process and the presumption of innocence.
4
Why did you say the "people" who hold power? it's the "men" who hold power. Yes, and mostly the ASP men.
1
The ORIGINAL Constitution was a document of commerce for land owning white men.
No women's rights.
No minority rights.
Slavery enshrined.
...who in modern times would dare support such medieval thinking??
Vote Progressive.
Vote Liberal.
Vote Democratic.
12
The demographics are changing and whitey is scared...hence the power grab...it will get worse...
2
This is why liberals need to support the Second Amendment. We need guns, folks. The second Civil War is coming. I trust Charles is a good shot.
2
And this ladies and gentlemen, is the final stop for the Democratic Party’s Crazy Train; a primal scream against the white people who founded the country, against the white peoples’ culture who sets the moral norm for the country, and against the white people who make up a majority of the country and therefore benefit from being in the majority.
The Democrats want to erase all of this. We want to “cancel” white people. We want open borders. We want to abolish ICE. We want to implement the same socialist programs that have brought justice to post-colonial societies like Angola, Cuba, Vietnam, and China. We want to stack the court with progressive judges who reject originalism, and we want to restrict traditional liberties and protections for private property.
When stymied at the polls, we hit the streets. And at the polls, we show you how serious about this anti-white war we are, by trying to get out the non-white vote and by emphasizing the race and ethnicity of our non-white candidates.
If you’re a white person who is reading this, understand what Charles is sharing. He’s telling you that liberalism is at war with white men, with white people, with white peoples’ property or “power,” and white peoples’ culture or “privilege.”
He’s asking us to do a lot, and I’m fully on-board this crazy train. I’m a transgendered cat mom, whose resentment at the happy and successful has become psychosis. But what about you? Are you ready to sign up for the War? What will you sacrifice?
2
The elevation of the rabid partisan and sniffling crybaby Kavanaugh to the SCOTUS is the Wizard of Oz revalation that exposes the court's fraudulent pretense to impartiality.
The SCOTUS has become a joke and a vehicle of oppression for white nationalists. Indeed it rubber-stamps human rights atrocities perpetrated on unarmed Americans by gun owners, is an integral part of America's gun tyranny as when unarmed children and teenagers like Andy Lopez. Tamir Rice and Trayvon Martin are executed or where mass atrocities like Las Vegas and Parkland occur because American courts and authorities take no constructive action to stop these atrocities, but allow gun terrorism of the public to continually occur in America.
Progressive organizations should look to the methods used to fight apartheid in South Africa, boycotts of racist and violent groups and engagement with international peace and justice organizations. If the SCOTUS won't work toward impartial peace and justice for all Americans, bringing human rights violation cases perpetrated in America to global human rights groups including the International Court of Justice would expose and bring attention to the injustices. The fraud of American judicial exceptionalism sholud be exposed for its injustices both historical and present day. Kavanaugh's hissy fit last week proves he's not fit to judge a dog show let alone all Americans. It about his personal money and power period.
8
@EC Speke...If Progressive organizations were to boycott racist and violent groups, they would find themselves in the paradoxical position of boycotting themselves. And, international peace and justice organizations would be boycotting them, too. Can't wait for this reality show to debut. The SNL skits should be hilarious.
All white men are evil. Yes, that line should help decide the elections next month-- for the Republicans.
6
I believe that the term "white men", as you use, is as racist as any descriptor that is used against other identity groups. You're better than that.
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@Dr B
It's an accurate description -- and denial won't change that.
Serious question- why is it that everything you write about is about race and looking backward.
4
Fantastic article. Trump absolutely is a useful idiot, and Republicans are far more insidious. Mitch McConnell, Lindsay Graham, Jeff Sessions, Grassley, and etc etc are actively destroying the nation. The enemy wears many hats, is entrenched throughout our institutions, and are happy to be a minority rule party. Democrats need to equally entrench our people throughout, and play dirty. Enough is enough.
6
This oped is hysterical simply for the fact that Liberals just tried to falsely accuse a man of sexual assault to prevent him from the Supreme Court, using his race and gender as reasons he shouldn’t be believed. Talk about hypocrisy. Most of the comments here talking about Republicans fighting dirty? Look in the mirror....
7
Here is some progress : you are back to calling yourselves "liberals".
2
@Lee Irvine -- take a note. We never stopped calling ourselves liberals. It's a beautiful word....
2
Wake me up when the shootin' war begins.
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Welcome to Civil War 2.0
Are you ready?
2
Can I get a hell yeah!
2
Thank you Mr. Blow for injecting a voice of dispassionate pragmatism into the present state of affairs. In many respects the Democrats' well documented embrace of the cult of personality and charisma while neglecting long term strategy and messaging has brought them to this point. One can only hope that if they are able to regain political power that they don't become the very thing they claim to hate.
4
@interested observer
Calling for a race war is "dispassionate pragmatism"? Sure.
1
I disagree. First of all, some white males enjoy only the psychological benefits of the Trump regime, whilst all rich people enjoy the tangible benefits. Not the same thing.
Second, declaring a war on "illegitimate" president Trump sounds a lot like what Democrats blamed Republicans for during the Obama years.
This, despite Trump having shown a willingness to talk to Schumer, Pelosi in the beginning of his Presidency. Not our President, sounds familiar?
And there are possibilities to find common ground, if Democrats are willing to look for it. Taking a fresh look at trade, for example, opens possibilities for cooperation. Liberals strongly dislike Trump's industrial policies that cause more pollution, but yet are not willing to look in the mirror when it comes to the environmental footprint of the free trade they advocate in opposition of Trump (The real price of apples in the winter from New Zealand, beans from Kenia etc.).
The "war" approach is counterproductive and will only lead to the further deterioration of America.
6
Do not take issue with white men. Do not take issue with ways of life in the past. Do not take issue of yesterday’s morality. Do not take issue with heroes gone.
Do take issue with the fundamental idea of conservatism - which is to preserve the past. Conservatism is wrong at every level because it prevents social and structural advancements. Other countries will advance and will succeed and we will be left behind. This is what is wrong with the conservative philosophy.
7
The Republican aim is to use the Supreme Court to help overturn the government structure instituted since the Roosevelt Administration. The long term strategy of the Republican Party is to eliminate Social Security, Medicare, labor laws, business regulations, environmental regulation, the individual's right to privacy unless they are wealthy.... Brett Kavanaugh is an important step in that process.
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Yes, it IS War. Unfortunately, the news has not reached the NYT, and especially the comment moderators. They are apparently twisting themselves into knots, to approve comments from the Trump supporters, and apply very capricious and ill advised standards OR their own personal bias towards myself and other known liberals. What gives ??? A new crop of moderators, of the Frat boy variety ?? New “ standards “ ? Please share them. I’ve been commenting very successfully for years, but lately, not so much. I haven’t changed.
I’m perplexed, disappointed and TIRED.
11
@Phyliss Dalmatian, I could not agree more with you. I've only been a subscriber to the NYT about a month but my thoughts are that the NYT's moderators are a bit too subjective for me.
1
@Phyliss Dalmatian
God forbid other opinions should be allowed to be expressed. A perfect illustration of leftism.
1
Fascist extremists have named opponents a mob. They are ready to fight. People like Lindsey Graham, must be shouted down when he shouts his propaganda. The both sides false equivalence is over. False equivalences must be denounced. Tribalism is a fascist meme that must be exposed and ridiculed. Liberals cannot be cowed by police or law and order when they are used to silence speech.
8
For decades, the U.S. Supreme Court had been heavily weighted toward liberal interpreters of the Constitution. Many decisions, such as Roe v. Wade (which I strongly support) were considered by conservatives/reactionaries as judicial overreach. Why hadn't such momentous decision been taken by the legislatures? They were happy to absolve themselves from the ire of the left and the right.
Since the Reagan victory nearly 40 years ago, the appointees have tended to be more conservative - even Nixon promised "strict constructionists" - whatever that meant. Maybe it's just the luck of the draw, but if Democrats don't elect more presidents, the composition of the Supreme Court won't change.
The question then is - is the Supreme Court a reflection of the views of the majority of Americans at any given time, or do the Justices try to apply the Constitution as they understand it to be when making decisions?
For many years the Supreme Court seemed to be more liberal than the country; apparently, now it has become more conservative. Until Democrats nominate real [L]iberals and not [F]iberals for POTUS, they will continue to lose presidential elections and the ability to nominate Justices of the Supreme Court.
1
Take considerable care not to validate privilege, sympathize with, or reinforce it and in so doing, recenter the needs of privileged groups at the expense of marginalized ones. The reactionary verbal protestations of those who oppose the progressive stack are verbal behaviors and defensive mechanisms that mask the fragility inherent to those inculcated in privilege.
2
I know what I have to do to blunt this effort. And I found your comments insightful. And unbelievably depressing.
Mr. Blow thinks a constitutional convention is in order?
No, what this country needs is another civil war, not to unify this country, but to sensibly divide it up.
Ask yourself, if you live in large, cosmpolitian state like New York or California what do you really have in common with a rural wasteland like Montana?
Absolutely nothing.
Then you tell me why should any large, cosmopolitian state be held back by backwards parts of this country that promote retrograde thinking and white man tribalism?
Sadly enough, a civil war will be a long, ugly and likely violemt process, but in the end each side will get what they want.
The peace from knowing they no longer have to deal with the “other.”
1
This is why folks on the left need to put aside bathrooms, gay marriage, #metoo and all the rest of this cultural war stuff. Yes, those things are important, but meanwhile you are wasting all that energy on small battles. Wake up or you will all find yourselves working for Master Bezos.
2
Yes, Mr. Blow, and history will record your declaration of that war and the Left's responsibility for it in firing the "Fort Sumter" shot in the form of the Kavanaugh show trial.
3
@FredO: Did you not notice his demeanor was that of a nasty drunk who had a drink for lunch?
You imposed a political hitman, a former Dirty Trickster with Bush on us, the man who savaged Bill Clinton, and blames his emotional problems on the Clintons. We will not forget it, and will remove him for lying under oath.
All we can do is VOTE, so lets do it !!
2
@LWK
And get our adult children to vote!
A year ago Bill Maher described what was happening in Washington under Trump as a slow moving coup. With Kavanaugh's confirmation, even in the face of massive public protest and his own plainly demonstrated unfitness to sit in judgement on anything of importance to the average human being, ie. someone who didn't attend a high school with its own golf course, the coup has moved into high gear. Trump isn't a symptom, or a useful idiot. Trump is holding the door open for every retrograde, uncivil instinct mankind's better angels have been pushing back against for millennia. If America can't go on working toward a more perfect democracy worthy of the ideals expressed in its founding declaration, what hope is there?
5
Wake up, America and VOTE!
8
Time to get down and dirty. Watch Lincoln (the movie), see how the abolition had been won, how to chase every vote for a good cause.
No more talk. Find every way to get votes and send the deplorables back where they belong; the dark crevasses of history they've escaped from...!
5
What was Bork? What was Thomas? You and the Left have called every Republican racist for years. We warned you that false allegations would weaken the sting of the accusation. Mind you, we still have not done to your nominees what you do to ours. Wait until every Dem nominee is accused of being a rapist. I fear only then that this horrific tactic will stop.
Your ignorance or outright lies about the Court is hurting America. Apparently, you have forgotten how you cheered when the Senate refused to consider President Bush's nominees. Remember, Miquel Estrada? We do! We are done playing by a different set of rules than the Dems. You want a raw political fight that is exactly what you should get. The country will be worse for such actions, at least, until the Dem party is completely destroyed, then we can return to our founding traditional American principles.
5
If this time of uncertainties, we can always trust that Charles Blow will continue to regurgitate the usual Progressive warnings of doom and gloom against its, and his, enemies. Nothing new in today's column, just more of the same partisanship, in which all Progressives are high-minded, principled but supposedly too nice, and all non-Progressives are the enemies of the enlightened people and fit only to go to "war" against.
4
@Uysses, do not use the word "principled" when discussing conservative politics. It is anything but that, with Family Values Senators who showed us how to make toilet stall pickups in public toilets, presidents who show how to carry on serial adulteries, where to grab the women,and how to pay them off.
1
@Uysses
If, by "high-minded," you mean rising above the coarse, boorish, toxic barbarism embodied by the right, then you are correct.
No one wishes to take away your guns or your Bud Light; what needs to be removed are the petty gloating and squabbling, and the virulent socio-cultural diseases of nationalism, religion, and regional tribalism (disguised, as always, as "patriotism").
Contemporary conservatism thrives on all of the above, with a sizeable dose of "alternative facts and "fear of the Other." The advancement toward a more just and perfect Union cannot occur under such conditions.
1
@Uysses
Hmmm... pro ripping children from their parents' arms, are we?
If you can't see the danger, you're doomed to be flattened by it.
How sad the author wishes to point to "facts" that are over 200 years old in demonizing conservative republicans. He should look in the rear view mirror of history to 1866 and forward and he might realize the true white men demons are from the other side of the aisle. Republicans are not responsible for that lynching memorial newly opened in Alabama. That's all on the party of Jackson.
1
Only 34% of the incredibly angry liberals will vote in this year's mid-terms. The "conservative cabal" that Mr. Blow seems to think undemocratic will vote in much higher numbers. They almost always do.
Go ahead, keep using fear-mongering click-bait headlines to induce anxiety in citizens to turn out to vote. The more of this type of rhetoric the left uses, the more it scares the average citizen into voting Republican.
Maybe Blow should rally around a constitutional convention movement to change the way Senators are elected or to give the more populous states more of them. Wait, that won't work -- there aren't enough Blue states to reach the 34 state-threshold.
I guess we're back to the "war" metaphors and the clickbait headlines...we'll see how that works out in 3 weeks.
2
@Paul
I hear nothing but complaints in these comments. How about suggesting some solutions instead?
Write, call, email, contact your Congressional representatives, or the Speaker and Senate Majority Leader, with suggestions for change.
Sounds naive, but who knows, they just might actually read a "suggestion" (they certainly don't read complaints) ... and it just might produce a miracle.
It started with Religious Conservatives in horror to Roe v. Wade and the growing acceptance of LGBT people only added to their horror. There are 651 rules in the Torah (old Testament) but 650 of them are inconsequential, including he fabled 10 commandments. Only Leviticus XX (man shall not lie with man as with woman) is absolute and sacrosanct. Anyone remember that a woman approaching the marriage alter unpure shall be returned to her father's house and stoned? Once those conservative zealots had begun to form their power base, circa early 1980s, then the rich white man joined forces, supplied the almighty $$ they needed to advance their cause. NEVER FORGET it started with Religious Christian Conservatives who insist on telling everyone else what they can and can not do. Kavanaugh serves both Gods equally (the rich one and the Religious Conservative one), Gorsuch mainly serves the religious one. Either way it is potentially a horror show for Democracy.
4
Liberals such as Mr. Blow still do not get it. Stop the playbook of identity politics: "enshrines and protects white male power even after America’s changing demographics and mores move away from that power" It is this type of racist thinking that drives independent voters like myself to the right in elections. Most of us are not thinking this way. We do not care about Black, White or Hispanic power. What we care about is the following:
1) The economy
2) Movement to left via socialism
3) Education
4) Climate change
5) Opportunities for our families
This continued rhetoric by the left does not gain votes outside of the blue bubbles on the coasts
11
@Just 4 Play
Health care, health care, health care, health care health care, health care, health care, health care.
Oh and did I mention health care?
2
@Just 4 Play: Please give examples of "socialism". Not Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security either. Where does climate change become racist?
You are exactly right. Unfortunately, the Democratic "leadership" doesn't get out of their bubbles long enough to realize they're out of touch with the majority of Americans,and as a result, will continue to alienate many potential voters and further enable a country ruled by one party. Sad.
If only the Dems would realize we are at war
2
All you Dems who couldn't vote Hillary and went to Jill Stein, this is on you.
I don't much cotton to simple answers, but this one is true.
How ya feeling about Hillary now?
6
@Jus' Me, NYT: All those far-left Dems who couldn't bear to vote for Hillary, and voted for Jill Stein instead, were tricked into thinking they were voting their conscience. They were really voting for Putin - that is for Trump, who represents Putin. There is a photograph of Jill Stein sitting next to Vladimir Putin, with now-disgraced General Mike Flynn a few seats away, at the very same table. All three of them (along with several others) were at a Russia Today media event. (Russia Today is a propaganda arm of the Kremlin, for those who don't know.)
1
Newt Gingrich knew it was war in the 1990s and began the tussle. Dems don’t have the stomach for it except white educated liberals like me. And maybe women now.
The ground game here is that old white sexist men like Grassley and Hatch retire and die off. To be replaced by women and people of color thank goodness.
A temporary setback as I see it. Once he helps to end Roe the jig will be up. This won’t last. In 2020 they have to defend many senate seats. Game over. But it won’t happen unless we vote!!!!!
11
Stop whining and start winning. Winning elections at every level. School Boards. Local elections. State elections. Federal elections. Winning isn’t everything it’s the ONLY thing. Also remember why there is a 2nd Amendment. Read Jefferson’s letter which ends with “the tree of liberty needs to be replenished from time to time with the blood of patriots it is it’s natural manure”.
They’re thinking generationally and we’re thinking geriatrcally.
Pelosi and Schumer are 144 years old added together. Dianne Feinstein is 85.
Enough already.
5
@Luke
Amen. Thank you Pelosi, Schumer and Feinstein for your service, but we now need new YOUNG dynamic leadership to motivate our youth into action.
2
@Luke
Added together, the age of the classroom of high school kids I can't make understand the workings of an English sentence, much less how U.S. government functions, is 306 years.
On the other hand, the Nobel Prize has been awarded to a 90-year-old. And a big bunch of 80-somethings.
1
DC and PR need statehood.
3
Liberals, this is war was so funny that for once I enjoyed your paper. This is better than a comic book. Well my dear liberals please bring your flowers into the battle. Nothing has worked for you so far.
5
@Chris Anderson
Actually, I will be bringing flowers to the next gay wedding I attend. You can picket it if you like. :)
My advice to Constitutionalists if asked would be to seize the moment and fight back blow for blow henceforth.
“Always attack. Even in defense, attack. The attacking arm possesses the initiative and thus commands the action. To attack makes men brave; to defend makes them timorous.” Steven Pressfield, The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great
Most Americans recognize the United States is on the verge of civil war, but the scale of the civil war perceived is miniscule when the true scope of the looming conflict is considered; the final confrontation has begun between good and evil just as was prophesied over 3500 years ago pitting the United States and Israel against Marxianity and Islam, Gog and Magog; Marxianity, the false religion posing as a political ideology in alliance with Islam, a political ideology posing as a religion…and there is no truth in them.
Dissuade yourself of the “religious fanatic” ad hominem escape clause; I have never belonged to a congregation nor have I read a complete book of scripture…but I can empirically evidence our Creator’s existence and the reality of a plan which puts the false religion “progressive” intellectual Marxianity and its acolytes on the wrong side of the end of human history as it is understood.
2
The Dems must stop their au courant virtue signalling and fawning over their latest liberal darling(s).
Roll up them sleeves and get somebody into office, anyone, with a pulse. Doesn't have to be entirely about diversity or whatever this time around, get any warm blooded Democrat in. Stop the impulse to only highly promote those who may be electable because they're 'different' factor. Try harder than the flavor of the month alone. We don't need full on political martyrs right now, ala Obama. Some of us just want a few strong, Democratic candidates who can REALLY win this round.
Or we lose, again.
As it is we're taking bongo drums and pink hats to a massacre.
8
Democrats want to 'love' their candidate, they want their candidate to embody their values, to be smart, honest, extroverted, kind and good looking. If their candidate is not perfect, Democrats prefer to stay home, or to vote for Jill Stein or Ralph Nader, just to show their anger at their own party, because the party let them down. Democrats are like spoiled toddlers.
Republicans, on the other hand, want their candidates to be mean and tough, to defend them against the 'enemy'. Republicans don't care if their candidate is the worse crook on the planet, a filthy liar with the moral compass of a Caligula, and the viciousness of a Nero. To a Republican voter, that combination would actually sound pretty good.
If Democrats are going to stop the slide into dictatorship, and save their own neck, they must get serious about opposing evil. Freedom and democracy are serious business. Voting for Jill Stein or some other Russian plant (Stein was once sitting at Putin's table) is the same as voting Republican. Waiting for a perfect candidate you can love, is the same as voting for a Republican. Etc.... Get it?!
6
@Bob, Got it! From now on we'll be voting straight Dem., no matter who or what the candidate is. (Fortunately, not too many actual sleazes prefer the Liberal concepts, so it won't be a matter of betraying our consciences all that much.) And Dems had better take their gloves off for the foreseeable future. We can't afford to "go high when they go low" right now. Everything decent about this country depends on us; we'll do our penance down the road.
1
@Bob
I'll settle for someone who is not lacking in integrity, temperament, and impartiality.
Or is that too extreme for you.
1
As a Conservative, I am just so happy that the left has not been stockpiling guns. It seems you are truly gearing up for a real war.
1
Did you ever wonder why Sailors and Airman but especially Soldiers are located so very far from their hometowns?
--->
Sp they won't refuse to fire on their own families and friends when the inevitable revolution comes. Much easier to kill your fellow American -- a "mob" Senators McConnell and Grassley called us...that is We the People.
--->
My personnel bet? Americans don't have it in them to actually fight back...THEY'LL SURRENDER !!
1
A Democratically controlled House Judiciary Committee that does not vigorously investigate Justice Kavanaugh will be as worthless as Susan Collins. The idea is to remove him from office. Criminally.
Stop bringing nerf bats to knife fights.
State A.G. offices are closing in and well know that national reputations can be made.
We have concentration camps for illegal entry minors.
When will they be coming for you if you don't act now?
1
@Lawrence So you think Brett Kavanaugh is going to be removed from office because he committed a crime that has, so far, gone undetected? Sounds about as likely as Robert Mueller finding that Donald Trump committed a crime.
Sure, have your investigations. But stop pretending that you have evidence of a crime until you actually do.
1
@Lawrence
Lying under oath.Lying to congress.
1
Charles and all readers who cannot write about human difference in America without employing USCB terminology, read these lines of Charles again:
Charles Blow: "But, when I think of originalism, I think this: Many of the founders owned slaves; in the Constitution they viewed black people as less than fully human; they didn’t want women or poor white men to vote. The founders, a bunch of rich, powerful white men, didn’t want true democracy in this country, and in fact were dreadfully afraid of it."
Charles and I share the view that it was wrong, way back then, to view black people as less than fully human. Yet the United States preserves exactly the system of classifying Americans created by racists, a system used to formalize a racial order with a subset of whites at the top. (Subset because Middle Easterners and North Africans - MENA - are also classified as "white" and I do not think they benefit much, especially if they were born Muslim).
Charles and everyone, these two voices, Kenneth Prewitt and Dorothy Roberts, both write with deep understanding and conviction that the US should end classification by "race". We are all of the one and only 21st century race, the human, all with 99%+ the same genome.
Imagine the war to be faced if we try to end that system. Not a chance, the white nationalists and neo-Nazis share the same belief, superiority lies in a fictional white man's genome.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US SE
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Liberals need to stop holding out for perfection and start playing to win!!!
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As more whites marry blacks browns Asians, the younger generations see an intermkicung of religions cultures traditions. Increasingly. Our TV shows reflect this. Our kids are color blind, they don’t care what religion their friends follow. But they do care about health care, about student loans, about being able to buy a house, raise a family. These kids are more attached to their parents and multi generational too. They do not understand thus white male patriarchy that is bent on ruling women’s bodies, deciding who gets to enter and stay in this country, who gets to partake of social benefits etc. they are far too generous open minded and empathetic than the rigid orthodox white males who want to govern them. They are also appalled at all the old white women as well who back these old white men. They are going to fight the white male control machine but they need the help of the media who largely ignored them in 2016 and send them a sharp message we do not care what you young people think or want. And you Charles Blow lead the pack of media heads that attacked these kids.
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@Petey Tonei
You nailed it Petey!
"But they do care about health care, about student loans, about being able to buy a house, raise a family."
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The frequent negative references to "white male power" tend to push away white males, some of whom are appalled at what is happening and many of whom vote. This may be smart politics in Manhattan, but it is stupid politics in much of the country.
And the "war" analogy, which conjures up images of Nazi Brown Shirts and the Communist Red Flag paramilitary forces fighting in German streets in 1932, is wrong and irresponsible.
Mr. Blow, be careful of what you wish for.
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@Richard- I have always found that when you want to know what the left is up to, listen to what they are accusing you of. Works every time.
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@Richard -- the real victims here are women, and they tend not to start shooting revolutions. The Republicans are taking advantage of that, expecting that they can crush women back into subservience and Stockholm-syndrome identification with "the rights" they insist on -- freebie sexual assault included.
Republicans have a big head start and reason to think they will succeed -- the majority of white women voted for Trump, knowing he's a groper.
Collins and all the more blatant pro-gropers know that they probably can get away with claiming that they "hear" women, but aren't going to do anything other than give the rich white boys what they want on Friday night ... or any other day of the week.
Alexandria Petri gets it spot on:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2018/10/05/but-i-hope-yo...
Women who oppose this are thrashing around right now because they do not see any effective way to fight back, "within the rules."
There isn't. Either the rules will be broken, or the Republicans will get the combination of Rhodesia and the Handmaiden's Tale that they want.
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Mr. Blow, and possibly a good chunk of the NYT editorial board, has officially crossed a line. After the baseless allegations against Kavanaugh were shot down for being.. baseless.., the calls that effectively mount to a violent campaign from left are now pouring in. Apparently the left cannot tolerate living in a free society where voters elect politicians who in turn appoint court nominees and the like. Yes, conservatives have howled about left leaning court nominees for years. There has not, however, been a "call to war" such as what this column and others are spewing. The left is heading down a very dangerous path that will result in further polarization and potentially violence. Choose you path wisely.
That the NYT continues to publish this sort of drivel is highly concerning, as a separate matter.
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@Brian in FL How do you explain the fact that Merrick Garland didn't get a hearing?
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As we say in football: Better buckle up.
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The best part of the Trump presidency is watching Mr. Blow utterly jump the shark in his writings. “War?” Really? And calling for an unbridled attack on “old white men” isn’t both racist and ageist? This rhetoric no doubt plays on the coasts, but if Mr. Blow’s personal travel experience in the US extended beyond his visits to CNN, he might understand why so many of us find his solipsistic world view so utterly unpalatable.
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Conservative jurisprudence is all wrong. It abandons individual rights, while empowering the religious, the wealthy, and Second Amendment enthusiasts. Mr. Blow attributes the conservative agenda to white males. He sees the current court pretty much as the KKK.
I can't go the distance with Mr. Blow. White male conservatives are not all Jim Crow racists. The opposition to big government and favoritism of corporate interests derive from an agenda that is skeptical of government power and trusting of the private sector. I am not with the conservatives, but demonizing them goes too far.
Not everybody I disagree with is the devil incarnate.
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Until you have the likes of Chuckie Shumer in charge in the Senate and Pelosi in the House, Democrats are not going anywhere. Change in leadership comes first, war comes after. Good luck on 6 November 2018.
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@Welcome Canada
Yes, please, please PLEASE, Shumer and Pelosi, STEP ASIDE for the good of this tired old lifeless party!
The Democrats have to stop bringing knives to the gunfights.
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@Gentlewomanfarmer
Yep, they are getting adept at delivering the first blow, then they retreat like scaredy cats.
Vote, fellow citizens. In the Senate, Heitcamp voted for you. Now go out and vote for her.
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@IowaFarmer
Thank you Senator Heitcamp!
Another Hero!
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From Day 1 the US has been a male WASP culture . Our two early missionary colleges , Yale and Harvard , carry the male WASP message to this day .
End patriarch , oligarchy
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Can you imagine if Sarah Palin or a Republican said “this is war?” The Times would call for them to be jailed for inciting violence and prosecuted for a hate crime. Incredible headline.
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@Shamrock: Donald Trump slyly suggested to his crazed base that "one of you second amendment folks" ought to "do something" about Hillary, a not-very-veiled threat of bodily harm, if not outright murder. He also told his supporters to attack people who protested at his campaign rallies, saying "Go ahead; attack them: I'll pay your legal fees." He said this many times, at several different rallies. He meant it.
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Declaring war on old white men does not feel like a recipe for success....the great experiment that is America is in process of a seismic shift, and in Mr. Blow's lifetime will be a minority-majority country--rather than declare war, Mr. Blow and like-minded Americans should be formulating a game plan for a successful, peaceful azscension and transition to power....the wheels of change will continue to turn, inevitably......
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@Dennis Holland
Old white men declaring war on everyone who isn't an old white man is hardly a recipe for success, either -- but that doesn't stop them from doing it.
Remember that a Democrat outed Dr Ford. The FBI interviewed the four eyewitnesses that Dr Ford named they all said they had no idea what she was talking about. And Was Diane going to hide Dr Fords letter forever?
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@P McGrath
Oh please, the whole world knows Trump's miniscule FBI investigation was a complete sham.
GOP will pay in November.
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Oh, yes, yes it is, Charles M. Blow.
Never forget a single name of the people who mocked & re-traumatized millions of victims/survivors of sexual assault across America.
Be very clear-eyed about this. Focus like a laser.
Are you going to break bread with the people who think *your* sexual assault, or your sibling's, or your parent's, or your child's, is "not a big deal" -- maybe even "their own fault" -- this Hallowe'en, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, New Year's, or even Super Bowl Sunday?
I'm not. I'm not buying their products. I'm not watching or reading their content.
Let them choke on their own vomit and their shiny gift wrap.
Read the latest report on Climate Change. Understand, please, that the planet needs more of us to refrain from bright lights, extra decorations, unnecessary air travel to see people we don't actually enjoy spending time with.
This is the year to show how much you really care, and what matters most in your little corner of reality.
Please act accordingly. Thank you, and God bless decent, honest people everywhere. Not racists.
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"the American political structure so that it enshrines and protects white male power ..."
Oh please. Everyone is constantly jockeying for power - this is what democracy means. It is a play for power for the blacks, LGBTs, liberals and conservatives. Everyone wants to "fundamentally change the American political structure".
But I wonder how the relentless attacks on white men are going to advance Blow's agenda.
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Horrible column. You speak to a well orchestrated plan of the conservatives to gain control of the court. How exactly does that happen? Republicans winning elections and being in a position, that should there be an opening during their term, they could nominate a conservative justice. Pretty sure Democrats are always hoping for the same outcoume. So you are saying we don’t have presidential elections, we have appointments? Your saying, what, there is a top secret conservative board that orchestrates the retirement/death of justices at strategic intervals. Ridiculous. Your disgraceful, racists comments about gender, race and the color of hair is just that, disgraceful.
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@Fred
I've noticed how conservatives become loudly verklempt when the shoe is on the other foot.
No, Mr. Blow. Liberals (and conservatives and everyone else) should not think of this as a war, and any call to do so is irresponsible in the extreme. If you haven't noticed, Trump thrives on this kind of oveheated rhetoric that immediately alienates many who would otherwise be allies. The solution is simple - focus on the issues of your constituents and win the next election -- and stop talking about wars, civil or otherwise.
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Mr. Blow, as the 60's song asked, "1, 2, 3, 4, what are we (you) fighting for?" You seem to oppose the constitution and want to change it. Great! Get the votes, but don't stoop to subversion, deception, agitation, and character assassination as a means to your end. Democrats disgraced themselves during the Kavanaugh hearings. Blacks were lynched not so long ago to intimidate them from voting. Democrats joined in "believing" before they even heard testimony hoping that the rage of the #metoo cries would intimidate Trump and Kavanaugh into withdrawing. Forgotten was the fact that women have brains, husbands, brothers, and sons.
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@JDL
Oh and what about asking for help from foreign governments?
“Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” ...."
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Yes Charles, you are quite right. And it has been a war, primarily of ideas, since the mid-1970's .
The Democrats, and the factions which make up the party and the progressive movement, if one can safely call it that, have no coherent ideology. They have produced nothing like the intellectual coherence of the institutions of the Republican Right, and their Libertarian allies.
Even in this piece, the stress is upon the "white male" aspects of the Right; at the very end, but not from Blow himself, we get a whiff of the economic power that the Right wields: if all those seats of power, corporate, foundational, private piles of wealth were in the hands of women, how different would it be?
Trump hatred is now supplying the cohesion that papers over the deeper intellectual struggles for progressives, the Sanders/Clinton tensions.
Feminists, environmentalists, Black Lives Matter, the Hispanic caucus, the old union movement, Fight for $15, LGBTQ, the young Socialists, have yet to show which will be the unifying issue internally, and the one with which they can win over independent voters, and yes, make inroads with the working class, to persuade them to vote.
Here in Maryland, Dems haven't even solved the "tax and spend" yoke around their neck to show how their aspirations can be funded. Nothing close to the intellectual effort by the Right, like James Buchanan's expended, shown by Nancy MacLean's good book "Democracy in Chains."
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The Enlightenment was the greatest event in the history of mankind and for the first time put the rights of the individual before those of the privileged elite, even thought many among the framers of The Constitution were among the latter.
Although it took 87 years, the rights of man envisioned in the Declaration of Independence were reinforced and facilitated by The Constitution. No nation before or since has done more for human rights.
Although our representative form of government is not perfect, the Constitution allows for self-correction should a 2/3 majority agree to do so. This is the right and responsibility of the people through their democratically elected officials, not the courts.
I do agree that a more perfect system of democracy (an informed electorate) should always be among our nations top priorities. Accordingly, the Electoral College which was put in place to compensate for inefficient communication technology at the time is now antiquated and in need of major revision...a grass-roots initiative that the The Constitution provides for and that liberals and conservatives alike should insist upon.
It is a testament to the Constitution that those who would be so quick to dismantle it and foresake democracy are no longer in a position to do so.
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This is the very core of the problem. Republicans have a game plan that spans decades. They are patient but determined to win at all costs. They win because they lie, cheat and steal. That is by voter suppression and gerrymandering. They have a master plan. It was perfected in the South post Civil War.
Democrats have no long term plans. They do not have brilliant strategists like Steve Schmidt or David Frumm. Democrats are tactical from week to week. They recoil at the slightest pushback. Always and perpetually apologizing.
Republicans don’t care what you think. Democrats are always afraid of their own shadow.
Al Franken was gone in weeks without due process finished off by Kirsten Gillebrand. Democrats eat their own. Trump persists. Sessions persists. McConnell persists. Our better angels have been kidnapped.
It does indeed go back to the Constitution and how the Senate is not representative nor is the Electoral College.
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This article encapsulates precisely why the Democratic party continues on a path of failure. Identity politics.
It is revealing that in response to the Federalist society's push for Originalism and Textualism, the response is that founders were slave owning, rich, powerful white men. Why not a response as to why the idea of a 'Living Constitution" is the foundation of more liberal justices?
Unfortunately, we've reduced the Democratic party to a self-help group; in a constant state of victimhood, filled with rage and a list of demands. This is more akin to zealotry than democracy.
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Charles Buddy! The thing that has changed is that the conservatives, you know the ones who work instead of marching in the streets for money, carry ready made signs, swallow the entire tribal mentality, etc. have really shown their hand. The hatefulness and self-centeredness and desire to "do harm" has finally fully registered with the sleeping giant. The ultra liberals have called down the thunder alright. And if the liberals want to continue to think they are smarter, more clever, more strategic and superior then they will continue to get what they are getting - more and more losses.
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Readers would be well-advised to read Professor Nancy McClean's
"Democracy in Chains", which elaborates what Mr Blow outlines.
Not surprisingly, the puppet-masters are the brothers Koch and their cronies.
The end-game is a constitutional convention to lock-in changes that will favor the interests pushing this repressive agenda. It will shackle Democracy, because democratic process is an annoyance to these special interests. It always has been. Their strategy is to conceal and distort their true intent. They have worked hard at it for years . Despite all their bleating about liberal "activists", these are repressive, reactionary activists - on steroids. The American Dream, already disrupted by angst-ridden insomnia, will quickly turn into the American Nightmare.
By the time people realize, it will be too late.
Yes it is war. But to wage it, people will have to wake up .
Really fast.
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Thank You. This IS a war. And the only way for it to remain a bloodless war is for ALL of us to exercise the few democratic tools at our disposal. I am a touchy-feely anti-violent liberal. But after the Kavanaugh debacle, I wouldn't be surprised to see a resurgence of Left Wing terrorism. If the minority can impose a racist sexual predator on the majority - which happened in both the presidential election and in Kavanaugh's confirmation - what choice does the majority have but to violently oppose this imposition? If democracy is no longer an option, what remains for us to do? History has shown us that it's EXTREMELY dangerous to make the majority of a population feel both angry and powerless. This will not end well.
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@Penny White
You're basing legitimacy for violence (that you'll let others do who are not such 'pacifists' as you) on their numbers; that the MAJORITY of the country feels angry and powerless. This is wrong ethically a d numerically. Maybe the considerable number of non-Americans under the influence of our mainstream stream media has given you a mini-delusion of grandeur. The echos of an echo chamber shouldn't add to your unethical behavior justification tally... THIS would be dangerous reasoning. And remember, half of our voting-age public doesn't vote. Many of these folks do feel powerless and disaffected - but their on other side of the "majority" you speak of. Most Americans consider themselves Independents - as many as those who consider themselves Democrats and Republicans, COMBINED. And Independents lean Trump (and Sanders) - party procedures and politics help keep them nonvoters. Affluent, educated liberals claiming to be powerless (and now the ones with anger issues) doesn't carry much weight, IMO.
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Charles it has been war since FDR. His people's liberal mind set has made significant progress all while being under attack by conservatives. However, the good news is that liberal thought is based upon reason, while conservative "thought" is based on hate.
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All this rhetoric against white men is not going to inspire those white men who are on the same side as you are, Mr. Blow. The problem isn't white men, it's *rich* white men, or as you put it another way, the 1%. You want to talk about the big battle, then you're going to need all of us in this fight. It might sound like a petty difference but out here in Los Angeles we've already seen protests like the ongoing struggle against gentrification in east LA, where the protestors said to white people: "your very presence here is violence"; they told a female self-proclaimed feminist gallery owner that her feminism didn't count because it was "white feminism"; they told an old gay man that he wasn't a marginalized person because he was white. These are examples of the Democrats favorite past-time, the circular firing squad. The first part in gearing up to fight the Trump monstrosity is not shooting your friends.
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@Otis Tarnow-Loeffler:"All this rhetoric against white men is not going to inspire those white men who are on the same side as you are, Mr. Blow.
...where the protestors said to white people: 'your very presence here is violence' "
Sorry, but Blow & Co. including those east L.A. mean exactly what they are saying.
My family went through a similar progressive fervor fury in Detroit. It did not turn out well for us and as we moved out amid shouts of "Look. white flight!". If I listed the reasons we moved I would be censored for posting inflammatory remarks. So much for any open and frank discussion.
Look at Bernie Sanders. He has managed to keep up his progressive fervor - from Vermont.
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You assume that a constitutional convention would end w/ more conservative power. Since a majority of people don’t like trump, didn’t vote for him, stand w/ #Metoo, support civil rights and gun reform, and believe Dr. Ford Blasey, their voices may have some impact on a constitutional convention.
Or not.
Hilary predicted the vast right wing conspiracy decades ago. Since then, there have been major demographic shifts, frequent and massive gun incidents, and seemingly unending revelations of trump’s sexual predator status, and his numerous financial crimes.
It comes down to what kind of country we want and if we are able to express and incorporate majority wishes into the Constitution. That’s the “war” part.
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Anyone who thinks that this isn't a war, just hasn't been paying attention.
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If Conservative's of a white nationalist bent, believe Trump to be a "useful idiot, a temporary anomaly" as they plan "in terms of the next epoch" then they are as delusional as liberals who thought staying home or voting for Jill Stein was a useful protest.
Trump is an unforgettable and unforgivable sin. An example of winning the battle that will cost Conservatives the war.
Conservatives and the GOP, now the party of Trump, have been fully exposed as craven and willing to destroy American democratic norms in pursuit of goals that are NOT supported by the majority of American.
If your plan is to undermine a democracy with 40% of electorate and unpopular policies, it is best to do it under the cover of darkness.
Trump's idiocy, his racism, his lies, his bullying, his corruption, all of it, act like the "sunlight said to be the best of disinfectants".
The war is on, the battle plan exposed, the sides chosen.
The majority can win this war. It just takes focus and a desire to win instead of complain. Oh, and a voter registration card.
Next battle: November 6, 2018.
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As vile as the white racial element of the Republican party is, it doesn't enshrine the core objectives of those who guide the party's direction. The racists and nativists are also their useful idiots, just like Trump. Or as Dylan described them, only pawns in their game.
At its core it is all about directing resources and political power to the wealthiest sliver of society. Our constitution does not force a wildly skewed wealth distribution upon us. Our society is structured as it is because of choices that have been made. Decisions were made to have low taxes on the rich; to not enforce the tax laws that exist so the ultra-rich can evade them; to keep the minimum wage below poverty level; to force workers to sign arbitration and non-compete agreements; to sanctify student debt so it persists even through bankruptcy; to make education so costly that massive student debt exists at all; to allow schools in poor neighborhoods to be poorly funded; to privatize prisons and incentivize imprisonment; to suppress voting; to allow industrial-scale environmental damage; and on and on and on.
We need massive change in our government at all levels to make different choices and build a more equitable society. Kavanaugh and the conservative Supreme Court will impede those choices but will not be able to stop them. The lonely example of Obamacare shows that battles can be waged and sometimes won. But yes a generational war is going on, and the liberal army is long overdue.
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Mr. Blow: The situation is much worse with respect to the democracy of the Senate, which just approved a far right winger who does not represent the majority of the Amercan people.
Kamela Harris, one or two California Senators, represents half the population of California or about 20,000,000.
A South Dakato Senator represents about a million people - that makes the dumb senator who voted for Kavanaugh at least 20 times more powerful than Senator Harris.
This gross distortion of voting rights - even among privileged white folks like myself, cannot long survive. Especially when the blue states upport science, and the red states oppose good public education, facts, and science. Even if we don't fail politically, through civil war, we will fail internationally in not being able to compete with the best and the bright in the most well educated countries and those which support science.
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