How can anybody as naïve as I am walk around with his head held as high as mine? I haven’t been officially branded as naïve, but that will surely come once conservatives with political savvy spring the length of their chains and sink their fangs into the column that follows.
Let the confession precede the allegation. I’m wild about President Trump and what I feel he can accomplish for America if unimpeded by the pygmy class. I’m a conservative. At least I thought I was, until I noted all the fury let loose when Trump stepped forth as the centerpiece of the Trump-Schumer-Pelosi Alliance. And as a conservative I have nothing whatsoever against Trump making deals with Democrats if he can’t get what he wants – and what we all need – by flaying and flailing the congressional Republicans one more time, and one more time, and one more time. To compound my wacko interpretation of what’s going on, I’d be really upset if I were a liberal, a Democrat or a liberal Democrat. But I’m not, so I think Trump, the nation and my personal likes and dislikes are all sitting pretty now that the Washington conveyor belt is moving forward again, even if the “Go” command had to be given by the Democratic leadership of the Senate and the House.
My analysis takes me, believe it or not, to the second grade! We all looked forward to Field Day – a kind of Olympics for 7-year-olds, featuring competition in running, jumping, climbing etc. We split into two teams, the Blue Team and the Gold Team. The only difference was that we had to learn the song of our particular team. And the only difference between the songs was that the lyric said “Gold” or “Blue” according to which team you were on. And that was determined by what color card you fished out of the bag when the teacher passed it around.
Until lately our two major American political parties were like that. The only difference between the two parties was that one was in and the other was out. And the party that was out had not only the opportunity but the obligation to find fault with the party that was in.
There remains just enough interchangeability in our two-party system to support my naïveté. There may be theoretical platform differences on major issues, but who cares anymore? Those party lines are crossed and criss-crossed shamelessly and promiscuously too many times every day to carry any moral or political penalty for intertwining with “the party that feels the opposite way about important things”!
So, why not be pragmatic? A pragmatist is one who believes the “Do Not Disturb” signs ought to be in the language of the hotel maids. If Trump’s tire is flat and his car can be lifted only by a liberal Democratic jack, then go for it!
Both parties are going to be looking squarely at one of those political truisms that make such a beguiling chime-like noise when they crash to the marble flooring. In November 2018 America is due for an “off-year” election. What’s supposed to happen in off-year elections? C’mon. Everybody knows the party in power is supposed to lose seats in both houses of Congress. Sometimes they lose enough seats to lose control. Usually, it’s easy to tell how poorly the party in power will fare in those off-year elections. Will the party in power likely suffer a “shellacking” like the Dems did under Obama, or will the let-down be something gentler, more Reaganesque? That depends on how the public seems to feel.
In spite of all the malicious attempts to engineer Trump’s failure, a lot of good stuff is coming down upon America from this Trump administration. The Trump agenda is popular. America voted for it. And if more and more of Trump’s agenda gets passed and more and more good stuff comes down to enrich and delight America, won’t that translate into more and more members of Trump’s party hanging on to their seats? And won’t that mean fewer and fewer seats switching over to the Democrats? And what if the number of those seats that fall to the Democrats is scandalously small? Won’t that bring more of the Trump agenda into law?
Instead of Republicans excoriating Trump for “working with those bums,” why aren’t Democrats pointing the bony finger of indignation at Schumer and Pelosi and shouting, “Why are you helping that bastard look so good?”
Isn’t the objective the immediate improvement of America? The notion that “We don’t want any improvement unless we’re the ones who do the improving!” is, I suspect, more than any politician would want to admit to.
I didn’t have to go to a recruitment depot and sign anything in order to become a conservative. But if I had, I’d tell them now to “Hold everything, ’cause this ain’t what I signed on for!”
I clearly visualize those congressional conservatives hectoring Trump at the moment dressed as second-graders and shouting, “Don’t play with those naughty boys and girls over there! They’re on the Blue Team!”
The blue team I’m on has a lot of red and white to go along with it!
