There is a ritual that I perform each evening as an attitude
adjustment and to maintain some balance in a world full of uncertainty. The
ritual involves simply recalling the best and worst event that I experience
each day and to be grateful for both. I
try to give back the best event to the deserving source and not take credit for
myself. (My wife usually gets the nod) With greater difficulty, I try to find
something rewarding or a teaching moment in the worst event of the day that
might support some positive gratitude.
In viewing the Trump presidency through this lens I surprisingly found
several reasons to be grateful for what the country is enduring, despite the
anger, disruption and scandal our President invokes.
Over the eight
years of Barack Obama’s presidency, Democrats lost, on net, more than one
thousand elected offices, including thirteen Senate seats, sixty-nine House
seats, twelve governorships, and more than nine hundred state legislature seats.
Republicans dominated Congress and state governments, and then Donald Trump
became president. Clearly, Democrats
were heading in the wrong direction well before Trump was elected. Moreover, while President Obama was in office,
much of the time his party was not able to govern.
While I
supported Hillary Clinton and mourn the damage that the Trump presidency has wrought
to progressive policies and democratic principles, I am not sure that a Clinton
presidency would have done much to turn the tide of Republican gains. I fear her election to our highest office
would have resulted in years of rancor and calls for investigations, uniting
the Republican Party as never before.
With a Clinton victory, Republicans could have quickly moved past Trump
and added to their number of elected officials across the political landscape,
all the while blaming her for problems both domestic and foreign.
Clinton did not win and a man with dubious Republican
credentials, questionable moral character and no interest in party unity, now heads
the Republican Party. Whether he is
replaced, impeached or remains the laughing stock of the civilized world for
the remainder of his term, the Trump presidency cannot end well for Republicans. I believe the traditional pendulum effect
that moves the electorate away from the party in power will be magnified
because of the Trump presidency and his party’s inability to coalesce around
him or to move the country forward. Assuming
that Democrats stop gloating over Trump gaffes and get to work with grass roots
campaigns, the fall out will give democrats a distinct advantage in 2018, 2020
and well beyond.
Second, I am grateful that the Trump election has performed
a valuable service in compelling the reorganization of the Democratic Party. It has united both moderate and progressive
Democrats (and some Republicans) with the singular goal of replacing Trump and
his nationalist-nativist views. The Trump election has provoked serious soul
searching among Democratic Party officials as to whether the party made fatal
errors in forsaking previous supporters, most notably white high school
graduates. It has forced the party to
begin a new post Clinton era where fresh faces must be groomed to carry the
banner in upcoming national elections.
Thanks to Trump, while no one knows who will lead the
Democratic Party out of the wilderness, I am certain there will be plenty of
qualified candidates to do so. This is
one of those moments when one step backward could easily result in three steps
forward, as the next FDR, JFK or Barrack Obama comes into focus.
Third, race relations, LGBT rights, women’s issues and
religious tolerance all appeared to have made significant gains over the eight
years Obama was in office. I am grateful
that President Trump has exposed this fallacy and has shined a bright light on
how much work remains to be done.
Having a President who: belittles women, openly supports
white supremacists and the Confederacy, has no regard for the civil rights of
immigrants or refugees, calls for the exclusion of transgender individuals from
the military and who attacks the rule of law, has caused a national debate to
open up on each topic. These rigorous
and informative debates have been focused on the most important social issues
of our day and in some cases achieved positive results.
Confederate statues have been removed from public display
and moved to museums; more urban areas have declared themselves sanctuary
cities; immigration restrictions have been denied by the courts following
Trump’s incendiary comments; and women in business, the arts and in elected
office have declared themselves the victims of sexual harassment. In the case of women’s rights, a sea change
is sweeping the country as dirty secrets are exposed and powerful male abusers fall
faster than dead trees in a high wind.
Fourth, I am grateful that political scientists, journalists
and historians have quickly weighed in on the Trump election and presidency.
Books on the meaning of impeachment; the 25th Amendment which deals
with removing a president from office; and writings on the separation of powers
are appearing with great frequency.
Elected officials are writing tomes on what it means to be a republican,
or a democrat in the age of Trump. Experts are pouring over the 2016 election
results to gain insight on the Trump victory.
The general public needs to be informed about the Trump fallout, beyond
what cable news and sound bites can supply. These books and articles will help.
Lastly, as a progressive Democrat, I must admit there is a
certain perverse gratitude in being “outside the walls” and placing those in
power under constant siege after eight years of surviving unrelenting
bombardment from “inside the walls”, defending Obama. And now I get to laugh at all the political
cartoons and late night comedic jokes directed at a president who each day
provides new material, like no other in history.
Of course, I would not wish the disaster that is Trump on
any of us. While his missteps are laughable,
the progressive advances in policy he has erased may not be recovered for
decades. But Trump is giving us valuable
insight into the elasticity of our democratic institutions and how they
function under stress.
When I can agree with the commentary of conservatives George
Will and Peggy Noonan and see them making some of the same points as liberals
Paul Krugman and Nicholas Kristof, I know that there is hope for the American
political system. I am truly grateful that we are learning from all that has
transpired so that we can work to prevent it from happening again.
