By Mickey Friedman
April 15, 2019
While the President claims collusion victory, and his Department of Justice attempts to destroy the Affordable Care Act and render healthcare completely unaffordable, now is the time for all reasonable Americans to come together to end our national nightmare.
Sadly, if you’re on Facebook or if you watch too much TV, you’ll see people infused with a heightened sense of certainty attacking potential Democratic candidate choices other than their own. Asserting exactly how Candidate A or Candidate B falls short.
Recently, it’s been how Kamala Harris prosecuted too many poor people and Amy Klobuchar failed to prosecute police for unjustified violence against civilians. Unrelenting criticism is everywhere: Beto, of course, is white and extraordinarily rich. Joe Biden is not only white but getting old and has always had a big mouth. His failures writ large, Anita Hill and Iraq. Mayor Pete Buttigieg is white and gay and, God Forbid, only a mayor. And She took a DNA test.
Every passing day will bring another strident declaration that candidate X is this and candidate Y is that. Never mind that we face the destruction of decency and conscience, the ascendance of unrepentant greed, hypocrisy, and stupidity. That, thanks to the Trumpists, it is somehow OK to trash prisoners of war, the press, and befriend tyrants who torture. Offer cabinet posts to lobbyists and posers. Racism is fine and xenophobia dandy.
Never has the nation faced such a crisis. Never have experienced national security officials suggested the President might be an unwitting, possibly a cooperating agent of a foreign nation who wishes us ill.
How have we gotten to the point where we so easily accuse others of being compromised while never shining that harsh light on ourselves? Never, with such vigor, judging our own actions over the years? Yes, of course, these politicians represent us and they deserve the greatest scrutiny. Yes, they need to be held to high standards. But they are, after all, human and fallible. How about we accept the fact that we’ll never find a candidate who has never made a mistake.
I’ve never been a prosecutor, never burdened by the need to balance finding justice for victims while respecting the rights of the accused. Having served on a jury or two I know firsthand how assuming some responsibility for sending someone to jail and/or trying to be as fair as possible adds a significant burden to everyday concerns.
I have a few naïve suggestions to avoid the possible civil war of 2020. Instead of condemning candidates for the dark secrets someone has uncovered, or claims to have uncovered, about his/her past behavior, how about we pause to reflect upon our own failures to live the unblemished life? Then we respectfully ask for an explanation. What exactly happened during that time? What were you thinking about, dealing with? What, with this significant passage of time, and changing attitudes, and greater life experience, he or she might have done differently? What, if anything, have you learned along the way? What would you do differently today?
Before the War in Iraq began, I read everything I could, convinced in the rush to war the intelligence was exaggerated. My opinion was shaped by The Pentagon Papers and the tragedy of Vietnam, the miserable consequences of the overthrow of Allende in Chile, our backing of vicious dictators like Batista. My hatred for Somoza allowed me to believe Daniel Ortega was better for Nicaragua.
Never privy to secret intelligence briefings. I might have been wrong about Saddam. He had certainly waged chemical warfare, and might have used WMD against the Kurds. Recently, the Syrian nightmare has made me realize they are times we need to intervene to protect innocent lives.
And now the more I read, the more I understand how insidiously the Russians worked to undermine our election and how successful they were in helping elect Donald Trump.
So, here’s my 2020 solution: lock all the Democratic candidates in a big room until they come up with a simple list of bread-and-butter issues they agree will substantially make life better for ordinary Americans. Issues the electorate will embrace. My suggestion is for a “Working Together For A Fair America” list. Medicare for All Who Want It, Tax Cuts for the Middle Class and Working People Not Billionaires, Full Employment, Drain The Trump Swamp, Fight Terrorists and Tyrants, Not Our Allies or Three-Year-Old Salvadorans … Make every candidate pledge that while they debate some details, they will focus on presenting a real and united alternative to President Trump. Make every candidate pledge they will campaign for the Democratic ticket until election day in every district in America.
And let’s have the Democratic National Committee make sure all these candidates are on the campaign trail until Election Day in every district in every state fighting for A Fair America. As the Beatles said: “All together now.”
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“All Together Now” was first published in the April 4, 2019 issue of The Berkshire Record.