Dear Editor:
It’s difficult for political parties to conduct battle while trying to limit collateral damage. Ideally, a political battle is over POLICY, and how your policy is better than the other side’s policy.
Why this is difficult today is that, first, your party has to HAVE a policy. Democrats have policies, while Republicans have Trump, and he changes constantly (he claims ‘unpredictability’ is a big plus, but most business owners who hire employees would disagree).
Second, your policy has to address an actual PROBLEM. If you have to invent problems, this shows you aren’t interested in REAL problems people have, problems people want you to address as a public servant.
Just one example would be crime in cities. Yes, it’s a problem, and it’s best dealt with on the local level, where law enforcement is handled by people trained in investigation, arrest, THE LAW, dealing with the public, and due process. They drive MARKED cars, and do NOT wear masks. They are our neighbors.
Something always on the agenda of governors and mayors is how to properly fund our police and other first responders. Police enjoy wide support from most communities, and while they admittedly have a few bad apples who don’t follow the rules, people depend on their local cops for safety. Good cops are on board with rooting out and dealing with bad cops, and the bad ones are few.
We’re seeing a very disturbing trend these days, where political actions are aimed at entire institutions. If you are old enough to remember when John Kerry ran for president, you remember he was attacked by an outfit called “Swift Boat Vets for Truth” who claimed Kerry did not earn or deserve the medals and commendations he got while wearing the uniform in Viet Nam.
Now, this was a personal attack, had nothing to do with having a better policy (it was mostly about Kerry having seen combat, while his Republican opponent had not). But to make their case, the “Swift Boaters” had to tell people that the entire system the military had set up to determine the awarding of medals and commendations – was corrupt. That system got it badly wrong, they insisted, and FALSELY awarded Kerry.
What the “Swift Boaters” COULD NOT do is assure everyone that Kerry was a unique exception, and that we could believe and honor ALL OTHER soldiers awarded medals and commendations. It doesn’t work that way; when you attack a SYSTEM, you’re saying it can no longer be relied on … EVER. The “Swift Boaters” cast doubt on ALL the honors bestowed by our military on our heroes. Collateral damage.
Another thing the Swift Boaters COULD NOT do is prove their case; theirs was a “take our word for it” campaign of smear.
Fast forward to today, on the issue of LAW and ORDER. The Trump Administration is attacking all facets of our Justice System, telling us we can no longer rely on police, the FBI, the DOJ, judges, juries, Attorneys General, investigators, lawyers, prosecutors, even Congress … they are ALL corrupt. They are all horrible people, Trump says. Thus, JUSTICE is impossible in America. How could this POSSIBLY make America better?
Immigrants are the biggest problem, no, it’s trans people, no, it’s books in school libraries, no, it’s abortions, no, it’s grocery prices, no, it’s ‘Marxist’ media, no, it’s corrupt elections … on and on, you’re being told about PROBLEMS, and each one is a crisis. The one thing they all have in common is that Trump’s “solutions” invariably strip Americans of their constitutional rights, to cement his own autocratic power.
Jeff Harrison
Buffalo TX
