Josh Marshall TPM - "A Few Thoughts on Entering the Trump Era"

[NRaleighLiberal]

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/a-few-thoughts-on-entering-the-trump-era

ByJOSH MARSHALL Published JANUARY 20, 2017, 11:49 AM EDT

Let me share a few thoughts on this moment and what it portends in the days and years ahead. Optimism is not primarily a prediction but an ethic, a philosophy, a way of confronting the world. I know many people are not simply disappointed about today's events but gripped by a deep apprehension and worry. This is natural, logical. What we are seeing transpire, because of the person and character of the man who is about to become President, is unlike anything any of us have seen in our lifetimes. Trump is a bully. He is not just ignorant but militantly ignorant. He is palpably driven by a need to dominate in every case. He has the most fragile of egos. His vision of leadership is one we find from strongmen in pseudo-democracies and soft dictatorships. His most driving needs are to be praised, loved and to dominate. All of these qualities, not simply in the abstract but in how we have seen them manifest in recent months, are wholly at odds with democratic leadership and the rule of law.

But as I wrote a few days ago in a somewhat different context, we should have more faith in our values, our history and our country. America, in all its greatness, its variousness, its customs and history is far, far greater than any President. And that is not just some generic or abstract statement. A President has little power without popular support. I don't believe that a President can change the country, on his own, the way many fear that he will.

Consider how much millions have done to preserve democracy in countries that have little heritage of democracy, few protections for democracy, no robust system of courts, press, and so forth. And then think what all Americans can do now. I just see no excuse for sulking or any feelings of powerlessness or resignation. This is America. It's not Russia. It's not a crippled and embryonic democracy in 1920s Germany. This is America.

In 1838, at the age of 28, Abraham Lincoln gave what history calls his 'Lyceum Speech'. He was not only not President at the time. He was a man of no political consequence anywhere. He delivered the speech at what was called the Young Men's Lyceum, in Springfield, Illinois.


snip....and sniffle

[dhill926]

1. K & R...

fantastic and inspiring article...