Looking at the news has become a daily
agony — a Dante like journey through descending
circles of Hell. Each new day brings with it
a bitter anxiety: “What stupid thing did Trump
do, what stupid thing did Trump say?”
So it came as no surprise to me when I
learned that President Trump had revoked a reporter’s
hard press pass — the thing that allows
them access to the White House to do their job.
I came in expecting something awful, but I
left, well, disappointed. It seemed, upon initial
impression, a whole lot of ruckus over nothing.
Liberals had become so trained to dislike
anything Trump did or said that they had come
trained to react strongly to even the slightest
transgression. A judge had renewed the pass,
after all. Democracy and the American system
of Checks and Balances had worked, had saved
the day.
And to a certain extent, those initial
thoughts are accurate. Yes, Trump acted completely
out of line. He handled the situation
poorly. The “assault” was a fabricated tale. But it isn’t the death of journalism. It’s just another
case of hostile Trump-Media relations.
But there is a side to this that’s interesting.
The Liberal reaction to this event, specifically
the criticism levelled at Trump. All of it is
valid, I won’t contest that. I agree with most of
it, but they way the liberals, and specifically the
democratic party is approaching this situation
is very, very poor.
The Democratic party is hung up on an
old system, and old way of thinking and reacting.
They believe they are still arguing against
the Republican party of ten, even five years
ago. They are focused on economic issues, on
socially progressive issues. The Democrat’s arguments
are falling on deaf words, though. The
Republicans are not contesting economic issues
anymore. They are attacking, and arguing
about, the very heart of American Democracy.
The Republicans have presented an American
identity, an American identity that looks repugnant
to many Americans, including myself, but
the Democrats have completely ignored this
challenge. The Democrats have failed to present
their own, counter identity.
The American identity, the American
ethos, that the Republicans are presenting
is one not based on working class ideals or
fighting for the working people, instead it is
one very much opposed to the people. It is also
not an image of big business. No, the Republican
identity for the America of the future is an
authoritarian image. The Republican vision for
the future of America has become, paradoxically,
one of big government and bureaucratic
power. There are numerous examples of this,
but I think one of the most succinct examples
is this press curful. Trump has set himself up
as an opponent of the free press, not because
he has any malicious vision for the American
vision, but because it’s easy for him. With the
press as the enemy, he can use the government
as a machine for personal favors and elevation.
When the people distrust the press, and they
instead turn to the government for facts, truth
becomes a very slippery thing indeed.
Trump’s big government future is
frightful and scary. And it should be for all
parties. But the Democratic party needs to stop
ignoring this challenge to the very core identity
of America. They are resistant to it, and for
good reason. They feel uncomfortable fighting
the government, fighting bureaucracy. For a
Democrat, those are old friends. But the Democrats
need to. The Democrat party needs to
be an ally for free press, consistently, not just
when Trump moves against it. The Democratic
party needs to fight government intrusions into
personal life, needs to fight government oversteps.
That will be an uncomfortable change,
and one they are maybe unwillingly to take.
And if that is the case, maybe it’s time for a
new party to take their place. Maybe a party a
little more anti-government. Maybe a party a
little more extreme.
Maybe a party a little more libertarian.