The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com.
Wisconsin GOP state Senator Robert Cowles warned against reelecting Trump: “I believe this guy Trump is a totalitarian and very much a fascist.” However, Trump won and voters chose a GOP-led Congress. Will congressional Republicans step up and perform their constitutional duties? Trump is trying to circumvent the Constitution: bypassing Congress on appropriations, illegally putting the power of the purse in the White House and blowing up the Senate confirmation process vetting and approving White House cabinet nominees. Checks and balances are on the line. However, Wisconsin GOP Senator Ron Johnson, a toady, doesn’t see constitutional wrongdoing.
Trump has nominated corrupt unqualified individuals for cabinet positions: former Florida GOP Representative Matt Gaetz has been named to be attorney general. Gaetz immediately resigned his House seat to prevent the House Ethics Committee from releasing its report on Gaetz regarding allegations of sex trafficking with a minor, drug use and graft. Then there’s Robert Kennedy Jr, nominated to run Health and Human Services: a conspiracy nut and health care-vaccine quack, calling for mass firings.
A hallmark of fascism is putting idiots and quacks in charge. Fear and intimidation are in the air. However, the U.S. is not yet a fascist state. America is divided: the armed forces remain independent and only part of the business class supports Trump. Congressional Republicans must stand up and live up to their oaths to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic … .”
Moreover, Democrats must step up, read the election results and cease denial. The lesson of the 2024 election is that the economy trumps all else. The Washington Post reported: “The country’s decisive swing toward President-elect Donald Trump reflects not just dissatisfaction with the recent run-up in prices but also deeper fears about slipping financial security. Americans are saving less than they were before the pandemic, and they are falling increasingly delinquent on car loans and credit cards at rates not seen since the aftermath of the Great Recession.”
The consequences of not listening, talking down to voters and ignoring economic pain are obvious: “Trump won more votes than he had before almost everywhere in the United States. Voters shifted right in rural areas, in suburbs and even in New York City” (Washington Post). The Democratic Party of FDR is hemorrhaging rural-urban working class voters. Trump made gains with voters below $100,000 and $50,000. For example, in Milwaukee, working class Blacks didn’t vote and many Latinos voted for Trump. Finally, “voters in about 83 counties nationwide supported both Trump and state abortion (rights) measures …” (Washington Post). Solidarity must replace identity group politics.
Listen to Kentucky Democratic Governor Andy Beshear: “The focus of the Democratic Party must return to creating better jobs, more affordable and accessible health care, safer roads and bridges, the best education for our children and communities where people aren’t just safer but also feel safer.” Wisconsin Democratic leaders Senator Tammy Baldwin and Rebecca Cooke get regular folks: solidarity is imperative.
–Kaplan wrote a guest column from Washington, D.C., for the Wisconsin State Journal from 1995 – 2009.
