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By Ed Rogers
From my most recent novel, Unwanted President:Ever since Donald Trump was elected President, I, like so many others, have asked, “When will he go, when will this nightmare end?” I can’t understand how other Americans don’t see who and what Donald Trump is. How do we have a House of Representatives and a Senate that would let a man as incompetent as Trump is dictate his will upon them? None of it made sense to me, and thinking about it only befuddled my mind.
Adam Weishaupt realized that the real power was with those who controlled the seat of power, not with the one who happened to be sitting on the throne. [p. 71]
[President] Benton forgot the rule of rules: the power is always in the dark behind the throne. [p. 277]
The elections this past Tuesday got me to thinking outside of the box, as they say. The President has only the power that is given to the office constitutionally and legislatively. He cannot just say he has the power to do something and it is so. The Constitution itself gives the Office of President only limited power to do anything without the consent of Congress. Most of the power that George W. Bush and Barack Obama exercised, and, now, Trump is exercising was given to them by the Congress. Therefore, it can be taken back.
The Democrats displayed a blueprint in the recent elections that can be played out across the country. The big cities are the key to the control of the House and the Senate. That is where the real power lies. Forget the White House; let the Republicans have it. We lose power every time a Democrat is in there.
You cannot please all of the people all of the time, but you can please some of the people most of the time. It is better to control the throne than to sit on it. Make the base happy and take control. Take back the power that belongs to the people and they will give the Democrats the House and the Senate, maybe even with enough votes to override a veto. It isn’t a football game, and winning the White House is not winning the Super Bowl.
I say, let the Republicans have the White House. Gain control of Congress and then strip the Office of President to only the power that the Constitution allows it. Then pass laws to redefine states’ legislative districts to forever get rid of gerrymandering. And pass laws to guarantee voters’ rights.
Democrats need to stop worrying about the White House and adopt a strategy for regaining and retaining the power to save the country.
| Copyright © 2017 by Ed Rogers |
In my considered editorial judgment, Ed Rogers here proposes a bold, revolutionary idea that Democrats simply MUST consider (and more than consider, must adopt). Who among our readers can help get today’s column read by Democratic Party leaders? Does anyone have a good friend or a family member at the NY Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker,...?
ReplyDeleteEd, you have a nice idea in theory but I don’t think it works because House districts have been so gerrymandered that Democrats in cities like Philadelphia are hard pressed to control some of the seats they are part of. In addition, Democratic turnout, as demonstrated in the last election, is dependent on who is head of the ticket. Hillary was a disaster for Democratic candidates. You could see that coming a mile away. She wouldn’t have even beaten Bernie in a fair fight. She was a disaster. All that popular vote plurality came from the NE and West coast. She couldn't even carry PA where the Democrats have a solid registration lead. So many Democrats and independents and young people were ambivalent about her that in close Congressional races their non-participation sunk those Democrats. Three million votes don't count if they are all in safe districts. She is responsible for this situation. You can't be too harsh. Comey made a mistake but if she and her crew hadn't blatantly violated State Department rules with those emails there wouldn't have been any mistake for Comey to make. There are no exceptions to the rules for the Secretary of State. She got away with it because it was too internationally embarrassing to prosecute her.
ReplyDeleteWithout strong leadership at the top, the Democrats and independents don’t turn out, and we lose all around. Obama lost the Congress because he was a weak leader and people got fed up and stayed home. The Democratic Party is a self-serving bureaucracy which continues to be out of touch. This is a big hill we have to climb.
Obviously we have to do everything possible to change the balance in Congress in 2018 but that won’t fix the damage Trump is doing now. The President has to sign legislation, including removing any executive powers the President may have been given by a misguided Congress in the past. Getting a veto proof Congress in this country won’t happen in our lifetimes. Look at the Map. It ain’t that easy.
An insightful set of comments.
DeleteThe upside is that in the long term the Democrats tend to be on the side of government actions that most American’s like. They own much of the high ground on subjects, even if that high ground is not necessarily good for the nation. And, that judgement on good and bad is certainly a matter of people’s views.
The Republicans’ problem is they tend to have the low ground, have positions that are popular with fewer Americans, and positions that are hard to see conceptually to a population that does not grasp concepts. And the Republicans have become the home station for idiots on the extreme right who think all government is bad, or want no gun control, no immigrants, etc.
At least the extreme left hangs onto socialism, which has a nice ring to it. After all, what sounds better, free college and forgive all the debts, or guns for all?
The Republicans may actually have a bigger problem. The Democrats lost because of the candidate. The Republicans can lose because they cannot amend their beliefs to rise to higher ground. The integrating of ideology and reasonable action is far harder for them.
Ed, this piece in today’s NY Times underlines the importance of your point about ending gerrymanderring: “Despite Recent Wins for Democrats, Gerrymanders Dim Hopes for 2018” [Alexander Burns, Michael Wines, & Trip Gabriel, November 12]. Excerpt:
ReplyDeleteThey won smashing victories last week in Virginia and other states. With voters giving the Trump presidency and the Republican-led Congress dismal grades, and the Democratic grass roots re-energized, hope is widespread for a takeover of the House of Representatives and a strong run in the Senate in the 2018 midterm elections.
But for all the optimism, the elections in Virginia last week vividly reflected why the reality might be a good deal harsher. While Democrats won the governorship by nearly nine percentage points and won a similar margin in total votes in legislative races, it appears likely, unless recounts reverse seats, that they will fall just short of taking control of the state’s heavily gerrymandered House of Delegates.
And around the country, gerrymandering, refined to a high art, and increasingly restrictive voting laws have left many experts wary of assuming that the intensity of Democratic voters will translate into equally robust electoral gains.
For some, the lesson of Virginia is that grass-roots organizing and voters eager to turn out can pull off big wins in unlikely places. But for others, the gap between votes and legislative seats is a cautionary reminder that Democrats face daunting structural obstacles in turning around Republican majorities in Congress and in state legislatures.
I can agree with everything said above, however, the unknown is how many Republicans in the gerrymandered States will hold their nose once more for Trump and his bunch. The way things are going I believe you will find that the power once held by gerrymandering is not as strong as it once was. People move and ideas change over time. As for as holding the highest office to get a good turn out, a candidate for theses lower offices has always needed to turn out his own people if not that is how we lose the mid-terms. We need to stop looking to the top of the ticket for success.
ReplyDeleteYou are certainly right that people's inclinations change, and the intended results of gerrymandering have various shelf lives. Even if federal legislation could "undo" gerrymandering, the districts defined by that process would have to be revised continually (I mean, every 10-20 years or so).
DeleteIn the meantime (that is, until such time as gerrymandering might indeed be "undone"), I hope you are right that, even with the current gerrymandered districts, Democrats can soon gain control of Congress. Yee-haw!
By law, reapportionment is required after every census - every ten years. This isn't a new game. Once back in the 70's, my dad raged to me over the Dimmecrats efforts to gerrymander California. I giggled and said the Repugs were doing exactly the same thing in Colorado as we spoke.
DeleteI hope they figure out a way to outlaw it. It's not as easy as it sounds to correct it.
The Fed can lay out guide lines which in effect with do away with Gerrymandering. Just like the Voting Act made some State's redistricting needing approval from the government before it could be enacted. That law however has been done away with....so????
ReplyDelete