That’s an inspiring idealistic statement, but unfortunately the last four years have shown us all too plainly that
a) The Trump administration and Trumpism in general are in fact highly compatible with the US political system as Republicans/conservatives want it to be, and
b) Only Democrats/liberals are actually expected to do any work, reach out to opponents, and make any compromises when it comes to “com[ing] together and mov[ing] forward as one nation”.
The widespread denial of these realities needs to stop now. Even if Biden is successfully inaugurated in January and manages to restore some approximation of normally functioning governance to the executive branch, Democrats/liberals mustn’t regard that as yet another excuse for sinking back into complacency and comfortably optimistic illusions about the nature of our current system.
Yes, Democrats/liberals need to go on working for the rights, freedom and prosperity of all Americans, even the incorrigible fools and bigots among them, because that’s what we as liberals are morally obligated to do. But it’s time to stop maintaining the polite fiction that Republicans/conservatives are good-faith partners in the work of responsible governance.
This election has definitively confirmed that the US conservative movement and the Republican Party, and their cheerleaders/enablers in other countries, are overwhelmingly dominated by crooks, liars, ignoramuses, malicious anti-democracy governance-sabotaging authoritarians, and willing supporters of crooks, liars, ignoramuses and malicious anti-democracy governance-sabotaging authoritarians. It is absolutely on them to fix themselves before asking liberals to take them seriously as responsible and law-abiding political opposition.
I’m not looking for apologies or confessions or loyalty oaths. I’m not even spending any time jeering at the disappointment of conservative voters in real life or online. But from now on, if a Republican/conservative wants me to pay any attention to their partisan opinions or interests as something worth caring about in a democratic society, they need to show some evidence that they:
(i) respect the rule of law and support enforcing protocols for fair governance;
(ii) recognize the importance of facts and science as opposed to made-up bullshit, willful ignorance, and anti-media paranoia when it comes to policymaking; and
(iii) support a positive and productive program of effective governance for the benefit of all Americans, rather than mere lumpen anti-government hostility or spiteful commitment to Pissing Off the Liberals.
I really don’t think that that is so fucking much to ask of a citizen in a modern democracy. Notice that I’m not even including any conditions about such fundamental basic-decency criteria as not espousing racism, sexism, fascism, what-have-you. I said above that we need to stand up for the rights of all Americans, even the fools and bigots, and I meant it.
But you can’t have a meaningful conversation about how to build a country up with somebody who just wants to tear it down. And Republicans/conservatives as a group have completely forfeited their claim to the trust of their fellow Americans when it comes to being seen as responsible participants in a democracy. If they want that trust back again, they need to actively earn it.