A long, rambling post - So, how does this end?

[Algernon Moncrieff]

From "How Biden Can Rebuild a Divided and Distrustful Nation" - Foreign Affairs

DUer Miles Archer posted about his MAGA Sister. His short post, as well as the responses-- especially about politics and family -- got me thinking about what I'd read in this article.

The failure of Trump’s base to accept his defeat is the latest manifestation of a new identity politics driven by both culture and economics. The United States’ two political parties are sorting into distinctive groups based on who they are rather than on their policy preferences. Republicans tend to be religious, rural, native-born, older, male, and less educated. They are overwhelmingly white and working class.

...

Because partisan sorting is no longer primarily about one’s policy views but instead about one’s deepest values or identity, the “other party” is no longer just the opposition but the enemy; and politics is no longer about finding compromises that can address common problems but about winning a war for one’s own side.

...

Long before the 2016 election, the sociologist Arlie Hochschild found that white working-class respondents in Louisiana resented immigrants and minorities, whom they perceived to be “cutting in line” for jobs or other privileges. In 2016, most Republicans (overwhelmingly white) agreed with the following statement: “People like me are asked to make too many sacrifices that benefit people of another race.”

The tilt toward nationalism and nativism—not only in the United States, as it happens, but in other advanced countries as well—is geographically rooted in the small towns and rural areas hit hardest by deindustrialization. The loss of jobs, stagnant wages, and the attendant effects on the social fabric have clearly played a role. That said, purely economic analyses fail to capture the whole story. One cannot explain in purely economic terms the politicization of mask wearing, the growing concern that one’s child might marry someone from the opposing party, yawning partisan gaps in attitudes about race, or the strong support for Trump from the evangelical community. As the political scientists John Sides, Michael Tesler, and Lynn Vavreck put it, “These growing divisions between the Democratic and Republican Parties threaten to make political conflict less about what government should do and more about what it means to be an American. . . . This is the American identity crisis, and it is getting worse.”

So I see two possibilities tomorrow: the election is certified after a lot of sound and fury, or the election is "overturned" by Vice-Presidential fiat, and then the SCOTUS will weigh-in (most likely in favor of Biden). Nevertheless, this won't be over tomorrow, and this won't be over on January 20th, and (as has been pointed out in other threads) if the very gerrymandered house weren't controlled by the Dems, Trump would be getting a second term - and possibly overtime beyond that.

The enormity of Biden's task cannot be overstated. He'll assume the office against the backdrop of a pandemic, a shaky economy, a very divided congress (even if we win the two seats in Georgia) and an ex-President screaming that he was robbed in a fraudulent election to anyone who'll listen. Joe will have to figure out how to shore up our democratic (little D) underpinnings, and how to insure that the next President doesn't install him/herself as dictator. He will need to somehow convince people that facts do matter, even if we disagree on how to process those facts.

To be sure, I've seen bitter division before. I came into awareness just after the worst of the Civil Rights battles. RFK and MLK died when I was too young to remember. But I remember Vietnam protests in the early 70s, and I remember ugly, ugly protests against bussing. I remember a lot of bitterness by WWII vets against the draft dodgers. But the division of families now - like what Miles Archer describes - reminds me of reading about divisions within families prior to and during the Civil War. Brothers, sisters, parents, children not speaking to one another.

Questions I have:
- What are we likely to see Trump do to make Biden's life more difficult before January 20th? Bombing Iran? I could see that as a desperate attempt to argue that he can't turn over "in a time of war!" (note: war will not have been declared and war didn't stop Nixon or Obama from taking office)
- Can Joe do anything to help heal the National wounds from the past four years? If so, what?
- Does Joe "forgive and forget" the last 8 weeks/4 years? Does he appoint a Special Prosecutor? Will prosecuting make things worse? Will not holding people accountable make things worse?
- How do we make Russia accountable for their role in events? For their hack of our government computers?
- Gomert advocated violence? Is he held accountable?
- Is it time to regulate militias? I seem to recall 2A saying something about regulated militias.
- Realistically, can Joe do anything substantive on Climate change? One thing I've noted about Trump supporters is that they universally believe Climate Science is bunk and that this is (pick one) God's will or a cycle that takes place every few thousand years.
- How can we make facts matter again? At least make them matter more than they do now?
- Can we avoid Civil War? Not the kind we had with states seceding and opposing armies, but the kind of thing you saw in the former Yugoslavia or in South America - with roaming militias, terror attacks, and/or death squads
- Can Biden do anything to streamline/speed up COVID vaccine delivery?
- Are we to a point at which Blue State America and Red State America have no use for one another? Is it time to call the attorneys and split up? What about the little purple kids?
- Since the Presidential MOF is being given out like Cracker Jack prizes, should Biden give his first two medals to two Republicans - Brian Kemp and Brad Raffensperger? I agree that folks like Muller and Vindeman are also deserving, but I admire Kemp and Raffensperger actually showing backbone and defending the democracy - even if it means a President they oppose.
- Will Scotland's refusal to allow Trump to enter lead to a disruption in the Scotch Whiskey supply? I need to know because it is what is getting me through this political season.

[Atticus]

1. Thanks for a thought-provoking post. I have but one disagreement: scotch is "whisky",

not "whiskey". ( and some of it is "the dew o' hev'n"!)

[Algernon Moncrieff]

2. But I buy it at Costco

Doesn't that somehow make it Americanized?

BTW, Kirkland blended whisky @ $18 for 1.75L isn't at all bad.

[abqtommy]

3. Joe will succeed because he has the support of the majority of the American people. We're all

fired up and ready to go. People who are concerned about the spelling of Scotch Whisky probably won't
be much help.

I'd rather spend a little more for a Glenfiiddich single malt but then that's just me.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

4. Keep in mind, I wrote that post before yesterday

I'm not doubting that we are fired up. What I doubted was that we really knew what we were up against until yesterday.

By the way, in most countries, the leader of a failed coup flees. In our case, he is still in the White House.