Let’s discuss the term the “loyal opposition.”Webster’s defines it “a minority party, especially in a legislative body, whose opposition to the party in power is constructive, responsible, and bounded by loyalty to fundamental interests and principles.”
After President Trump was elected but yet to be inaugurated, most on the left side of the political aisle declared themselves “The Resistance,” not the loyal opposition. The title of resistance brings to mind the French Maquis in World War Two. They were a group made up mostly of anarchists and communists (although not totally), and they also used the name “The Resistance” and were one of the many groups that fought both the Germans and the French who collaborated with the Germans.
Quite frankly our President has made strange bedfellows; the right who were dedicated to free trade are supporting tariffs, duties and taxes on imports? The Democrats who were for controlled trade and never met a tax they did not like, are carping about taxes on trade? The left who supported President Obama’s expanding the wall on the southern border (and they also supported President Obama’s declaration of an emergency on our Southern border because of illegal immigration) are outraged that President Trump wants to do what President Obama did!
Why? Because it is what The Resistance, not the Loyal Opposition, does.
President Trump sends a plan to Congress, any plan, and the left’s response is, not no, but hell no, strong refusal to follow.
Any (and I do mean any) Democrat who works with the President on any matter, no matter how important to the well being of our nation, will be challenged in a primary and hauled before a court of the most progressive, liberal, socialist Democrats and openly flailed, even if they attempt to work in a bipartisan manner.
House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi preached to the Democrats in the House that impeachment was a folly and it could only hurt them in the 2020 elections; the Republican majority in the United States Senate would never convict our President. Mrs. Pelosi was booed when she said impeachment was not a proper thing to do. She has now seen the light; to protect her job as Speaker of the House of Representatives and even her seat in the House, she now supports a futile and ill-advised effort to conduct an impeachment hearing.
As I have written before, the primary process empowers the most hard core, left and right; it gives veto authority to as few as 5% of the party faithful. Moderates do not stand a snowball’s chance in hell of winning a primary when opposed by the 5%.An interesting thing is that President Trump was not the choice of the far-right wing Republicans, Senator Ted Cruz was their candidate. However, a primary field as crowded as it was allowed Mr. Trump to win.
Perhaps the Democrats need to learn from the last presidential primary and pare down the field of 22 plus. The Democrats should learn from the last impeachment, of President Clinton, that the hearings may delight the 30% of the electorate who are the staunch Democrats, but the 43% who are independent and the 24% who are Republicans may not feel it is a proper thing to do.
The good folks in the Democratic Party need to ask questions; for example, is Senator Bernie Sanders, a man who has said America was never great and we have the worst country in the world, going to attract independent voters? Do we as a nation want to embrace a socialist system, one that always fails over time, with disastrous results? Do we want to discard the Constitution? Do we want a government that controls our everyday lives even more than it does today? I think not.
AB, I don’t know for sure, because I can’t speak for that group you identify as the Resistance, but is it possible they can’t feel like loyal oppositionists because Trump continues to posture as if he were an authoritarian-type tyrant? He uses and abuses his presidential powers with willful ignorance and disregard for the Constitution and the rule of law. Mere opposition might feel to that group as impotent folly. Perhaps they believe that full-on resistance, like that of anti-Nazi fighters in WWII, is the only reasonable approach.
Trump is, as some say, an unconventional president. Maybe unconventional strategies are what are needed by those who oppose the pretender.
Mrs. Mandaville,
Thank you for the comment.
The resistance was born even before President Trump became President. “The pretender” I think you can refer to yourself as a resistance member. President Clinton never got a popular vote majority, a pretender also?
The resistance came from the untrue charge of Russian collusion and President Trump being a Russian agent. Some resistance folks will never believe he is not, even as the Mueller said he is not.
Thanks again.
AB, thanks. You may consider me part of the resistance, and that is your right. I don’t consider myself to be. I believe in our system of selecting elected officials, regardless of my opinion of their characters. Trump is our president (note I said “our”). In the beginning I actually told myself that I would give him the benefit of the doubt for at least six months to see if he would “grow into” the office after seeing that he could, in truth, become that which the office requires: well-read on policy, self-educated in protocol, consulting aides and cabinet members, etc. Being a Pollyanna type, I had hopes, honest hopes, that he would embrace the opportunity to leave a positive, lasting legacy of his time in office. Sadly he did not. Now he only pretends to be our president, when what he seems to truly desire is autocratic rule, hence my use of the term “pretender.”
Also, as one who believes in the ultimate decision of one like Robert Mueller as special counsel, I believe that no collusion on the part of the president was found by the Mueller group, and that there was evidence of obstruction of justice by him. That is not for me to take up. There is a system in place for that, and it should do so.
As I’ve said before, my beef is not with Republicans as a general group. It is with the Republicans who are now the Party of Trump, an entirely different animal. But my biggest beef is with the man himself, a man of low character, a man lacking in morals or conscience, and a man who is incapable of controlling his impulses. There are many Republicans I would choose to hold the office in the pretender’s stead, and would welcome the chance to consider one of them in a future election (as I have done in my past political life).
Mrs. Mandeville, you are correct, the Republicans are not the party of Trump. They go along to get along and now to placate the Left of Left. Trump supporters are the disenfrachised working Americans not being heard nor represented. You elitists (yes, that’s most Democrats and RINO’s) hate Trump, so you also have an irrational hate for your friends and neighbors.
Your mention of autocratic ruler is hilarious in that you didnt’t recognize it with Obama, the “I have a phone and I have a pen”, Mr. Executive Order man himself. Talk about arrogant and condescending! A more full of himself president ever. And an amateur all 8 years.
For you to continue to harp on the previous administration rather than look closely at the current one indicates that you are the one not moving on since the election. You are the one harboring old grudges and spewing hate. I have stated unequivocally that I hate what Trump is doing and how he is doing it, and rather than hating him specifically I am criticizing his character, motives, and lack of morals. I do not resort to name-calling. I try to stick to facts, such as his affinity for autocrats, and his compulsive lying. You have no idea whether I hate my friends and neighbors, and for you to assume such without any knowledge about me is presumptive.
So you are presuming none of your friends and neighbors voted for President Trump?
I’m sure more than a few did, even if they won”t admit it.
For all the positives President Trump in his 2 1/2 years in office, just say “thank you” just once. He may be the best president ever at the end of 8 years, with more positives than any before him. But he realizes with the lying media, no credit will be given him. The hate for Trump is palpable by the Left and media and he will never be covered fairly. Trump Derangement Syndrome marches on. Don’t let your irrational hate consume you, it takes too much energy.
Do you actually read the posts to which you respond? And do you reread what you have written in response before you post to insure that you are even on the same wavelength as the thread being discussed?
I presume nothing about who my friends, neighbors and relatives voted for. I know very specifically how they voted, and I do not hate any of them. We disagree and we discuss. We do not fight irrationally in black and white without knowledge and understanding first and foremost.