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What’s Bigger Than A Tsunami? Republicans Are About to Find Out. So Are Democrats.

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Credit: Pixabay

Congressman Ted Lieu passed that sentiment along –referring to the GOP– yesterday, via Twitter as #WednesdayWisdom, and he’s right as far as next year’s elections are concerned.

I’d take it one step further and say all politicians are about to find out, as the consequences of misogyny, racism, and market-first economics ripple through society.

Let’s take these in order as we prepare to pass into Year Two in the Era of Lord Trump. And, at the end of this article, there’s some breaking (and) good news, so do read all the way through.  

Mickey KasparianCity Councilwoman Georgette Gomez passed along word on Wednesday about United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) President Mickey Kasparian resigning from the County Democratic Central Committee. Yet another lawsuit alleging sexual misconduct filed recently prompted Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez to join a growing chorus of those demanding his removal, and the dominoes fell quickly after that.

Kasparian’s exit from the Dems Board is largely symbolic. His letter to Chairwoman Jessica Hayes suggested letting Lori Kern, director of communications for the UFCW, pick his successor, along with promising to keep the mother’s milk of politics (cash) coming.

As much as they might like to think this is over, the governing body of the Democratic Party in San Diego is not immune to the wave of #meeto. Steps to need to be taken to acknowledge past mistakes and policies need to be put in place to prevent similar abetting of sexism and misogyny in the future.

There is a new generation of women taking leadership roles and becoming active in politics since the November 2016 election. “Go along to get along” can no longer be an acceptable excuse, given the threats posed by the reactionaries in power.

Preach, sister:

***

A cornerstone of the operating philosophy of the Trump era is the Fear of the Other. This is the basis for immigration, healthcare, and criminal justice policies coming from Washington DC as they relate to people of color and women.

The current crisis concerns the future for children of undocumented immigrants. Congress has failed to enact a legislative solution in response to the president’s phasing out of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, despite various opportunities to bundle a solution with other must-pass legislation. It’s no secret that the racists embedded in the GOP have used their leverage to prevent any such consideration.

While Republicans in the House can pass a bill without Democrats to continue funding the government for yet another short-term period, the Senate presents an opportunity for Democrats to take a stand.

State Senate photo

In California, Senator Diane Feinstein’s Democratic challenger Kevin de Leon is demanding a no vote on any spending bill without a ‘clean’ fix for DACA.

At Wednesday a press conference in Los Angeles, de Leon wasn’t holding back, saying  

“I can tell you this: If the Republicans were on the other side, they wouldn’t hesitate for a nanosecond to shut down the government… …Now is the time for Democrats to step up…and … Don’t come back home to California if you haven’t demonstrated your leadership and courage to stand up for these young men and women.”   

While Senator Kamala Harris has pledged to block a stopgap spending measure, political considerations have taken the upper hand.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

DeLeón praised Harris, who said at a Dreamers rally Wednesday that Democratic leaders in Washington claim to have power. “Well, use your power,” she told them. “Use your power. Keep our promise to these young people.”

But 10 Senate Democrats are up for re-election next year in states Trump won, and some made clear this week that they had no appetite for shutting down the government over an immigration issue.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he’ll bring an immigration bill to the floor by the end of January for a vote if lawmakers and the White House can reach a compromise.

A bipartisan group of senators is engaging in discussions with the Trump administration about legislation regarding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Whether or not they can come up with a bill that can’t be blocked by nativists is another question.

Meanwhile, 122 Dreamers are losing their protected status every day.

***

Siobhan Rohlwink-Coutts / Flickr

The Washington Post says Trump told Cabinet members on Wednesday he wants to visit the border wall prototypes on display at Otay Mesa in the near future:

The passing comment came during a meeting largely devoted to touting the GOP tax legislation. But the president touched on a number of topics before the press was led out, including his marquee campaign promise regarding the wall.

Trump also restated his desire that the wall be see-through so that U.S. border agents and others can know what’s happening on the other side in Mexico.

***

National Public Radio reported on Wednesday about the second consecutive year of reduced life expectancies in the United States. In 1993, domestic life expectancy dropped due to the AIDS epidemic. Life expectancy hasn’t fallen in consecutive years since the early 1960s.

While the rising numbers of deaths by overdose by opioids are part of the problem, alcohol-related health issues and suicides are also a factor. Rates of mortality for Black people are also rising.

Credit: Pixabay

The NPR story quotes Anne Case, and Angus Deaton, a married couple of economists at Princeton University who have been studying what she and her husband call “Deaths of Despair.”

The decline of well-paying jobs with significant yearly salary increases, job security, and good benefits may be fueling a sense of frustration and hopelessness, Case says. That may be one reason fewer people are getting married and more people are having children outside of marriages, Case says.

“They don’t have a good job. They don’t have a marriage that supports them. They may have children that they do or don’t see,” Case says. “They have a much more fragile existence than they would have had a generation ago.”

As a result, “it may be the deaths from drugs, from suicide, from alcohol are related to the fact that people don’t have the stability and a hope for the future that they might have had in the past,” Case says.

***

With all the not-so-good news I’ve covered today, let me throw in some good and exciting news. The Indivisible activists in Rep. Duncan Hunter’s district came up with a creative solution aimed at closing ranks behind one Democratic candidate out of several attractive choices.

They believed, given the challenging voter demographics of District 50, it was important to build a united front well in advance of the primary. More than a half-dozen polling stations were advertised to activists in the district over a two week period. The results were audited by an outside agency to provide certainty.

Indivisible will now present their endorsement to the County Democratic Party in January, urging them to support Amma Campa-Najjar. In return, the group is pledging to put boots on the ground to amply the party’s commitment.

Will the Democratic Party look a gift horse in the mouth? We’ll see next month.

Holiday Schedule: Starting Line will be on break December 23 to January 2. I’ll be in town and will break my silence should anything major happen. Jim Miller’s column and other regular features, like the Progressive Activist Calendar, will return after the first of the year. So, yeah, we’re going to have a light schedule over the holidays.

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Doug Porter

Doug Porter

Doug Porter was active in the early days of the alternative press in San Diego, contributing to the OB Liberator, the print version of the OB Rag, the San Diego Door, and the San Diego Street Journal. He went on to have a 35-year career in the Hospitality business and decided to go back into raising hell when he retired. He won numerous awards for his columns from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Doug is a cancer survivor (sans vocal chords) and lives in North Park.

Comments

  1. The San Diego County Democratic Party does not endorse in partisan races (Assembly, State Senate, Congress)… the California Democratic Party does that.
    The first step will be the 2018 Pre-Endorsement Caucuses held the weekend of January 27-28, 2018. The final step will be the CDP 2018 convention held here in San Diego February 23-25, 2018.
    If Ammar succeeds in getting over 60% of the votes in the Pre-Endorsement Caucus, getting the convention endorsement is usually a formality.

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