'Rather than beg them to hold hands with the rest of us, let's map a path to someplace new'

[bigtree]

Leonard Pitts, Jr. @LeonardPittsJr1 14m
“‘Normal’ is what got us here. So rather than beg Republicans to hold hands with us as we try to get back to where we were, let’s map a path to someplace new and challenge them to keep up.”

My latest column is on Joe Biden and getting back to “normal.””


____For all his earnestness,the former vice-president, I think, misreads the needs of the nation at this juncture. Like Warren G. Harding 99 years ago, Biden seems to think that what America needs now is to be soothed. Granted, that idea took Harding to the White House, albeit for a presidency primarily recalled for its short duration (he died two years in) and massive corruption.

With Biden, any presidency that premise produces is likely to also be unsatisfactory, though for different reasons. A Biden victory would be an opportunity squandered, a chance for systemic change traded for an implicit promise to take America back to “normal.” That’s what Biden is selling, after all. He keeps touting his ability to work with Republicans, appealing for civility, reaching out to GOP voters. “Some of you voted for Donald Trump,” he said at a recent event in Iowa. “My party stopped talking to you.”

Really, Joe?

The fact is, people voted for Trump, not because they felt neglected, but because for many, he reflected their prejudices. That’s according to empirical evidence. So what Biden intends as a plea for political amity is actually an act of political cowardice.

...the idea that Democrats should make it their priority to get us back to “normal” is worse than naive because it rewards and absolves the GOP for years of party-first obstructionism. “Normal” is what got us here. So rather than beg them to hold hands with the rest of us as we try to get back to where we were, let’s map a path to someplace new and challenge them to keep up.


read more: https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/leonard-pitts-jr/article234564842.html

[tblue37]

1. K&R for visibility. nt

[democrank]

2. Recommended

“Normal” got us here. Time for a change....a big change.

[crazytown]

3. Recommended

The candidate who understands this most deeply is Pete Buttigieg.

[groundloop]

4. Damned straight. We'll NEVER get MAGAts to work with us, so fuck 'em

Don't waste time worrying about trying to appease them, any compromise they'd agree to will be horrible. Just don't do it. It's time to make meaningful change in this country and if anyone doesn't want to agree to it they need to be left behind so the rest of us can have better lives.

[crazytown]

5. "(Republicans) broke this country, one tea party rally, one birther lie,

one government shutdown, one voter suppression law, one stolen Supreme Court seat at a time."

[JDC]

6. Rec

[ismnotwasm]

7. K&R

[Kurt V.]

8. K&R

[treestar]

9. How is there going to be a systemic change?

Without the Senate? No one can do that. Bernie himself could actually be President, but if the Senate still has enough dinosaurs, nothing will happen. People who want this kind of change should really be working on lower offices. Biden would not oppose any such change, either. It's not like he would veto single payer, but it won't end up on his desk without enormous changes in the Senators that end up elected, and that would mean enormous changes in the red state voters.

[stopbush]

10. Kick

[Nay]

11. Leonard Pitts for president. Really and truly. He gets it. nt