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Democrats are afraid to call Trump a moron -- but they shouldn't be
When Donald Trump began beating the drums of war against Iran, US Senators Tim Kaine and Bernie Sanders were vocal about the need for to gain congressional approval for any declaration of war. Anything short of that, given the present circumstances, would be illegal.
But party leaders – Chuck Schumer in the Senate, Hakeem Jeffries in the House – did virtually nothing. The week’s news went by mostly in the absence of Democratic leadership. Headlines earlier this week saw the president’s empty war-mongering and in the end, his chickening out. That’s it.
How did this happen?
It’s about Schumer’s and Jeffries’ view of politics, Will Stancil told me. “Iran shows what the mindset is really about - all the pretexts about distractions really break down when the thing under discussion is what could easily become a generation-defining war, bigger than Iraq.
“But Democrats can't seem to shake themselves out of their policy-wonk stupor here either,” he said. “And it shows how what really underlies the ‘distraction’ rhetoric is a desire to focus on issues where the stakes are low and conflict is muted. It's an avoidance mechanism.”
In other words, Democratic leaders don’t want to fight, not openly, because open combat is risky, which is something to avoid. Ironically, that’s what’s preventing the Democrats from earning public trust.
But party leaders – Chuck Schumer in the Senate, Hakeem Jeffries in the House – did virtually nothing. The week’s news went by mostly in the absence of Democratic leadership. Headlines earlier this week saw the president’s empty war-mongering and in the end, his chickening out. That’s it.
How did this happen?
It’s about Schumer’s and Jeffries’ view of politics, Will Stancil told me. “Iran shows what the mindset is really about - all the pretexts about distractions really break down when the thing under discussion is what could easily become a generation-defining war, bigger than Iraq.
“But Democrats can't seem to shake themselves out of their policy-wonk stupor here either,” he said. “And it shows how what really underlies the ‘distraction’ rhetoric is a desire to focus on issues where the stakes are low and conflict is muted. It's an avoidance mechanism.”
In other words, Democratic leaders don’t want to fight, not openly, because open combat is risky, which is something to avoid. Ironically, that’s what’s preventing the Democrats from earning public trust.
https://www.alternet.org/trump-moron/
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