Democracy 2024: # 15

Fifteen weeks into this and we continue to live in hectic times with so much to list and opine on with each passing day. I cannot realistically aspire to do that however, so once again, I will try to leave things relatively brief and hopefully sound reasonably coherent if I ever go back to ready this again someday.

By the time Saturdays roll around, events that happened on Monday seem sort of distant already. There was another mass shooting earlier in the week, this time in Louisville, Kentucky. There does not seem to be any political motivation at play and it is unclear what motivation a young banker had to murder co-workers. Clearly, there is something going on in our society with mental illness, and the freedoms that we feel and rightfully enjoy as Americans seem to give far too many people the right to think they can kill others. Yes. the supply of guns America is massive, and yes, we need to do more in regards to enforcing existing laws and expanding background checks and red-flags for purchasers. None of those things though, especially a mythical banning of "assault weapons" is going to stop the demand for murder or retribution or social media recognition.

This most recent mass shooter, now deceased at the hands of a brave and capable law enforcement officer, live streamed his rampage. Another man, just a few years younger, made more news later this week in his apparent desire to be recognized and celebrated by people on the internet. It should be pointed out that this individual did not kill anyone, but his actions could have profoundly dangerous consequences for the country he took an oath to.

Like the Kentucky banker, the Massachusetts Air National Guardsman had a job worthy of respect, but there should be a lot of questions about how this 21 year old had access to top secrets and classified documents. He had been leaking them online to a group of fellow gamers perhaps for no reason other than just that, but this, done by a member of our military, is a serious betrayal and the Guardsman, who had special cyber access is looking at serious prison time. While not officially confirmed,  there have been many theories that this individual may have had far-right political beliefs and had become disillusioned while serving in the military. He may wind up calling himself a "whistleblower" as part of his defense, but he appears to be every bit of a traitor as far-left activists like Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning were.

Some on the new MAGA right embrace traitors though. Many fans of Donald Trump also approved of what Snowden did and many are now trying to say that Jack Texeira is some sort of hero because he is exposing information about the U.S. helping Ukraine that could keep us out of "World War III." This is a particular talking point for the sizeable number of voters in the Republican Party who want Russia to defeat Ukraine or who are simply indifferent to their cause. When they say "America First", they mean "America Only", which is certainly not a new attitude in our political discourse. It is very much foreign to what the Republican Party has stood for though over the past 70 years plus until Donald Trump came along and took the party over. I will not be the least bit surprised if Trump somehow offers some support to Texeira if he becomes satisfied that the indicted leaker is a Trump fan.

It seems like we are getting closer to learning the full lineups of Presidential candidates. After all, a Fox News debate among Republicans is scheduled for August. Count me among those who will be surprised if it happens at that time. This week, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo looked at the landscape and decided he would not seek the Republican nomination. It looks like Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, the political rising star of 2021 is also going to pass on this cycle. 

We seem to be just be waiting for official word from Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis Mike Pence, and Chris Sununu on the Republican side. Of course, the week began with Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, Asa Hutchinson, and whomever the heck Vivek Ramaswamy is as official candidates.

 

Technically, we are still awaiting official word from 80 year old Joe Biden as to if the incumbent President will tangle in his party's primaries with the likes of Marianne Williamson and Robert Kennedy Jr. During a visit to Ireland, which had a lot of great visuals for the American President, he still seemed to awkwardly put across the point that he had decided to run but was not yet ready to announce he had decided to run. This is confusing to a lot of voters and media types. Not really so much to me. Biden is planning to run, but wants to avoid being a candidate for as long as possible. It is far more politically treacherous for Biden to be a candidate because he at times exhibits some pretty horrible political skills. None of this is really big news to me. I am more concerned that Biden seemed to somehow shrug off the seriousness of the classified documents leaker story.

This week, the Republican field grew by one more. Tim Scott, South Carolina's junior Senator, initially appointed to the Senate by Governor Haley whom he now opposes, formed an Exploratory Committee. While there has seemed to be an African-American seeking the GOP nomination in most recent cycles, I am fairly certain that Scott is the first black Republican to have ever actually held office to seek the Presidency. Senator Scott is an inspiring President and I agree with most of his voting record. However, like many others, he is tainted in my view and in the minds of many swing voters nationally by his past support of Donald Trump. I suppose there is a path for him to get the nomination by bridging divides if Trump and DeSantis both implode and Pence and Haley are seen as unacceptable to MAGA world, but there will need to be a lot of chips to fall into place for that to happen.

It has to be noted that Scott is a Presidential candidate whom at the age of 57 has never been married. It is doubtful that as much about his bachelorhood will be discussed as was the case when his senior South Carolina Senate colleague Lindsey Graham sought the Republican nomination in 2016. The fact that a single black man will be seen by many conservative voters as a viable candidate for the Presidency is a good thing on the surface at least.

Just about all the oxygen on the Republican side though continues to be about Trump and DeSantis.This week, a Trump affiliated SuperPAC released an ad attacking Ron DeSantis for reportedly eating chocolate pudding with his fingers. The ad came with visuals meant to infer an even more sinister message. I have said the pudding finger thing is wrong (just as I did about Amy Klobucher eating a salad with a comb), but is this really the sort of thing worthy of being put in a Presidential attack ad? The Trump affiliated group is also spending money nationally attacking DeSantis on things like wanting to cut Social Security and raise the retirement age. These are the lines of attack that Democrats have been using against Republicans for generations now. The frontrunner for the Republican nomination and near mythic figure to self-professed conservatives is now using the same rhetoric and dishonest position points that the left has reveled in for many years and Trump supporters are ok with that.

So, as Trump attacks DeSantis from the left, the Florida Governor is also getting attacked from the left by actual Democrats, not just a former one like Trump. This week, the Governor signed a bill to ban abortion in Florida after six weeks, with an exception for the life of the mother. This may be a good position to have in a Republican primary, but based on what transpired at the ballot box in 2022 and into this year, it is looking more like an albatross for conservatives in a general election, and many are taking notice.

Conservatives fought to overturn Roe vs. Wade for nearly 50 years and to stand up for the right to life of the innocent unborn. I am not ashamed to say I was among them and that I am still deeply Pro-Life.  This issue of abortion is now clearly motivating pro-choice voters like it has not before and much of this week was filled with discussion over judicial action on a particular abortion pill and whether or not that will remain legal.

This is a very complicated matter to write about concisely. Those who are worried about Democrats winning elections should perhaps realize that good policy often makes bad politics and losing elections in the short-term might be a necessary result of doing something morally right. Policy and principle are supposed to matter more than politics after all. Too often these days, winning alone and "owning" the other side of an issue is all that matters.

While I believe the unborn child, the most vulnerable of all life, must continue to be stood up for, absolutists on the issue of abortion on both sides, are making this a wedge issue that will not be good for anyone. Republicans are losing the battle by trying to take federal action when they  had been saying they simply want to leave the matter to the states. State governments are hurting the overall Pro-Life cause by not allowing exceptions for rape, which them dominates the entire discussion and makes persuasion impossible. Some even allow themselves to be painted as anti-contraception which makes the Pro-Life side even more unpopular with swing voters. The fact that Democrats would allow for abortion up until the moment of birth (and even beyond according to some) goes largely unnoticed.

It is quite possible that the issue of abortion will help Democrats win in 2024. Those who have been motivated by the Right to Life Movement all these years need to be willing to accept that as a part of democracy. So much more needs to be done though by my fellow Right to Lifers to change people's hearts and minds as abortions will continue in large numbers until such persuasion can occur. Too many are so interested in "owning the libs", that they are hurting the overall cause of a long-term strategy that makes abortion more and more unnecessary until a day where we as a culture can value human life to the point where ending the life of a baby in the womb or shooting another person in cold blood is unthinkable.