Trump's hugely successful 2017

As we near the end of 2017 I'm shaken to my core by two stunningly frightening and distressing conclusions about what is going on in our country, and I offer a humble piece of advice on how to save our nation:

Conclusion number one: Contrary to what most Democrats hope and believe, Trump has been brutally effective and efficient in pushing his agenda forward during his first year in office.

Consider:

With Trump’s help and backing, Congress has passed a tax bill that provides massive tax cuts to corporations and to wealthy individuals at the expense of working Americans, and that is heavily tilted in favor of the red states that voted for him. At the same time, the $1.5 trillion budget deficit the bill creates sets the table for the Republican controlled Congress to begin taking a hatchet to anti-poverty programs and other social services designed to help the disadvantaged.

Trump has systematically been gutting the Department of Education, the EPA, the Department of Labor and others, and has turned the Justice Department into a division that now prosecutes the very people it was created to protect.

Through unilateral Executive Orders, Trump has turned the land of the free and the home of the brave against immigrants, Muslims, black and brown people, members of the LGBTQ community, and generally anyone who disagrees with him.

Trump has made it difficult for the average American to obtain health care and has made a big dent in the Affordable Health Care Act.

A year into Trump’s presidency, the stock market is at an all time high.

Trump has appointed more right wing federal judges to lifetime appointments than any other president in modern history.

Trump has essentially created a state-run news agency in Fox News, and has very effectively waged a holy war against independent news agencies such as CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Trump promised to deliver all of the above and he did. When viewed through the filter of his agenda rather than the filter of helping the country or moving the human race forward, Trump is not wrong when he claims his first year  has been one of the most successful in history.

Conclusion number two: The Republicans are very likely to retain control of both houses of Congress in the midterm elections and Trump is well on his way to getting re-elected in 2020.

Consider:

Despite many of the current polls about Trump’s lack of popularity, he has repeatedly shown himself to be Teflon Donald, and Republicans can legitimately claim they have significantly advanced the right’s agenda during this term.

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Unlike Democrats, Republicans vote as a block and have a stronger GOTV organization than Democrats.

Although Democrats count Doug Jones’ election in Alabama as a victory, the fact of a pedophile coming within a whisper of becoming a senator tells a very different story about the potential fate of Democrats in close elections who will not be facing pedophiles.

Republican voter suppression efforts will be in full effect after the outcome in Alabama.

Supporters of Democrat non-mainstream candidates like Bernie Sanders, Jill Stein, and others generally protest their candidate’s defeat in primaries by refusing to vote for the mainstream Democratic candidate in a general election.

My humble advice to Democrats and others who want to save the United States:

Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security by the recent Democratic victories in the senatorial election in Alabama and a few other places.  Those random victories will make the right more incentivized and venomous than ever.

Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security by what you read about Trump, McConnell and Ryan on your news feeds.  Your social media friends and followers tend to share your beliefs. The news feeds of people on the right look nothing like yours.

Get out the vote, and then Vote!!! Vote!!! Vote!!!  Nothing else matters. Literally.

If you support Sanders, Stein or some other underdog candidate, fight for them with all your might but in the end, support the Democratic candidate whoever she or he may be. Winning your individual battle is important, but winning the overall war is everything.

And finally, run for office yourself.  Run for Congress.  Run for City Council.  Run for dog catcher.  Just run. The republic needs you more than you know.

And if you’re listening Lord, a little divine help wouldn’t hurt either.