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On Kavanaugh nomination, Democrats finally lose their innocence

Protesters against U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh

Donald Trump‘s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court should be the final nail in the coffin for Democratic innocence about how the power game is now played in Washington, D.C. Republicans threw out Robert’s Rules and any shred of decency or fair play decades ago. The Republicans know that politics is a numbers game — numbers of votes to get elected, number of Supreme Court votes to get a majority decision, number of Senate votes to confirm a Supreme Court nominee. For the Republicans, it’s not about character, lying, past statements or even past crimes. It’s only about winning. For some remaining Democrats, that light switch hopefully has been flipped on in the face of the Kavanaugh nomination hearings.

How America unraveled after September 11, 2001

The September 11, 2001 attacks affected and united many Americans

If you’ve forgotten how united Americans were on September 11, 2001, you would be forgiven. The U.S. today doesn’t look much like it did on and in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Our country is more divided than many of us can remember at any other time in our lives. Unfortunately, Donald Trump and many Republicans are purposely trying to tear us apart. How we respond to that effort will largely determine America’s future well-being.

Conservatives set fire to their own Nike shoes, get burned

Nike Air Max

Nike has announced that former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick will be their new spokesman for Nike’s continuing “Just Do It” advertising campaign. Kaepernick is known for taking a knee before his NFL football games instead of standing during the National Anthem, in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter group, to protest police killing of black civilians. Almost immediately upon Nike’s news, conservatives lashed out at Nike. However, their protest has taken some illogical, dangerous and even hilarious turns.

More Americans talking Trump impeachment

Trump Impeachment sign at 2018 Women’s March

Discussions about the possibility of impeaching Donald Trump are gaining popularity in numerous circles. First, Trump himself is talking about his potential impeachment, warning that “the market would crash” if he were impeached. Apparently, Republicans must continually instill fear in their supporters to get them to the polls. Likewise, Republicans such as House Speaker Paul Ryan warned supporters that, if the Democrats win back the majority in the House of Representatives this November, “you’ll have gridlock, you’ll have subpoenas.” In response to reports of Ryan warning that Democrats would hold Trump accountable, Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi tweeted:

2018 election isn’t just about Trump, it’s about us

Rally to Save the Affordable Care Act, 2017

This November’s midterm elections could easily focus on Donald Trump alone. After all, this week Trump arguably moved closer to impeachment after his former attorney, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to crimes that implicated Trump, and former 2016 Trump presidential campaign chairman Paul Manafort was found guilty on eight financial crime counts as part of the investigation into Russia‘s interference in the 2016 elections. Even before this week, Trump has been a natural target who likes to grab the spotlight each day with an outrageous action or statement. And of course, the first midterm elections two years into a presidency naturally are a referendum on the president. However, it would be a mistake for Democrats to concentrate solely on Trump. Rather, Democrats should make this election largely about us. When Democrats do mention Trump and the Republicans, they need to talk about the pain that these opponents are causing everyday Americans in our lives, and the much better Democratic policies and vision.

The Democrats’ big tent for the 2018 elections

Democratic U.S. Senator Bill Nelson urges Republicans to act on climate change.

With the 2018 mid-term elections less than 100 days away, the Democratic Party is showing off a big tent that encompasses a diverse range of people and ideas. The same cannot be said of the Republican Party, which has developed into a Donald Trump protection cult.

PoliticusUSA gets it right on Maxine Waters avoiding Trump’s distractions

Congresswoman Maxine Waters of California

The mainstream media are so invested in shiny object distractions surrounding Donald Trump that they can’t help but highlight and fan each new controversy of the day. The latest case in point was the controversy regarding Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters of California, as she advised supporters who were protesting Trump’s immigration policies to tell Trump Cabinet officials “they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.” After Republicans then falsely accused Waters of advocating “violence,” the media turned this into an exercise in “bothsiderism” over the phony issue of “civility,” when that train had left the Republican station long ago. However, pro-Democratic website PoliticusUSA has gotten it right with their coverage of this issue, by pointing out that it is a distraction that does not deserve our major focus.

Trump’s unsustainable family separation policy

Trump’s child separation policy

2018 is turning into the Year of the Children. Unfortunately, however, Republicans keep ending up on the wrong side of heartrending, visceral issues regarding child safety. First and foremost this week is the barbaric Trump administration policy of separating immigrant children from their parents at the border, and then detaining the children in “cages.” This follows the school shooting tragedy in Parkland, Florida last Valentine’s Day, and the subsequent protest movement in favor of greater safety from gun violence in our schools and elsewhere.

Democratic campaign theme for the 2018 midterm elections

Knotted Gun sculpture, New York City

Last month, the Democratic Party announced that it would run an anti-corruption campaign against Donald Trump and his administration in the 2018 midterm elections. We suggested that the Democrats also campaign on what they stand for, and, a few days later, the Democrats did something ingenious along those lines when they proposed that the Trump/Republican tax cuts be rolled back and the proceeds be used to fund teacher raises and school improvements such as new textbooks. Since we’ve gone through numerous special elections and primaries already, it’s time for the Democratic Party to roll out a specific, national campaign for the midterms that ties these ideas and actions together. We have the following suggestions:

Trump and Republicans fire up the Culture War

Philadelphia Eagles training camp, 2015 Military Appreciation Day

God, Guns and Gays. Illegal immigration. These are Culture War issues that Donald Trump and Republicans are pushing to stir up Republican voter interest as the 2018 midterm elections approach. The latest Culture War topic is Trump’s revocation of his White House invitation to the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles football team, after Trump heard that some Eagles team members were planning to skip the event over political disagreements with Trump. Moreover, Fox News falsely ran photos of Eagles players kneeling to pray (approved behavior by the GOP) with captions about kneeling in protest (such as in support of Black Lives Matter, a protest against police violence which is disapproved behavior by Republicans). Fox had to apologize hours later for its misleading photos and captions.