After Three Years of Hate, the Dems Have Lost It
By Jonathan F. Keiler
AmericanThinker.com
February 11, 2020
Writing in the Atlantic (“This is No Way to Beat Trump”) Thomas Nichols, a self-described former Republican and #NeverTrumper, castigates Democrats for their failure to take down President Trump, in light of the disorganized Iowa Caucus and the party’s unimpressive stable of candidates. In the piece, Nichols pretends to dispense hard-headed political advice. In fact, the article reveals why he and the Democrats he wants to help are floundering. Their perception of the world is so distorted by manic dislike of President Trump that they have ceased to act as a responsible political party which can offer a reasonable alternative.
The very premise of Nichols’ case, and by extension that of the Democrat party and all its putative candidates, is that beating Trump must be their principal goal, eclipsing all other concerns. Nichols thinks the Democrats are not attempting to do this — which is preposterous. But more interestingly having come to this false conclusion, he has no prescription for exactly how to beat Trump, only that it must be done.
Of course, beating Trump has been the monomania of the Democrats (and #NeverTrumpers) for over three years. It’s the first and last thing out of all the candidates’ mouths when they speak, and one of the few things they agree upon.
The Washington Post recently ran a typical article highlighting the malady entitled “’Tempted to despair’: Trump’s resilience causes Democrats to sound the alarm.” Huh? Are we talking about a presidential campaign or a soap opera? It’s quite as if Trump were ill, the Dems suffering heirs hoping he’ll just die — which is probably not far from the truth.
Manias in general are not good things. Occasionally a smart or extremely lucky maniac reaches his objective. Much more often mania sidetracks its victim by severely narrowing his focus, depriving him of necessary context and a broader and more realistic picture of reality.
That’s what’s happened to the Democrats. The Iowa caucus disaster is one symptom. The failed impeachment of Trump another. The stable of unstable Democrat candidates yet another.
Which bring us to George Orwell’s 1984, but not in the usual way. Big Brother is usually the focus of such commentary, the putative leader of dystopic totalitarian Oceania, a fellow both Comrade Sanders and tribal chief Warren can easily admire.
Often forgotten is Big Brother’s antagonist, Emmanuel Goldstein. He is the subject of a daily “two minutes hate,” which is where the novel opens. The “two minutes hate” is part of Oceania’s political regimen, required of all citizens. It’s not clear at all in the novel that Goldstein is real, or just an invention of regime propaganda, yet it doesn’t matter. The two minutes hate is designed to deflect the population’s anger and fear away from the regime to this supposed enemy of the people.
It’s a sick regime, which is the point of the story.
The Rest…HERE
