This morning, two things stuck out in my doomscrolling social media feed. The first was the results of new Trump approval rating polls. Sure, his overall approval is incredibly low, with 93% of Democrats and 75% of Independent voters disapproving of the job Trump is doing. But what is nevertheless unfathomable is that 77% of Republicans approve of the job he’s doing; 80% specifically approve of masked, plainclothes ICE agents abducting people off the streets in front of their families and young children and disappearing them to who-knows-where. 71% of them approve of the skyrocketing costs for everyday items like groceries (3% up from a year ago), coffee (21% up from a year ago), beef (up 14% from a year ago), school supplies (up 7% from a year ago), due in no small part to Trump’s wildly erratic tariff policies (to even call them policies seems overly generous). 65% of Republicans approve of a health care policy that will increase family premiums by anywhere from $840 extra (for those earning already just barely above the poverty rate) to $3200 extra, something that only 16% of Independents and 5% of Democrats approve of.
The second thing that caught my eye though, just a few posts below, was this heartwarming message from the Governor of Minnesota and former Democratic nominee for VP, Tim Walz (who I thought was a terrific pick for VP).
A lovely thought, and it would be great if it were true. But frankly, it’s giving “very fine people on both sides” vibes to me. Because Republicans–both those elected to public office and those showing up to vote–have shown us time and time again that they are not, in fact, good people. That some of our neighbors are, in fact, the problem.
I wish like hell it weren’t true. I always assumed that George W. Bush, John McCain, even possibly Mitt Romney (well maybe that’s a stretch) truly wanted the best for the country–all of her people–and just believed in different solutions to get there. I wish we all cared about “the least among us” and simply had alternate visions of what tide would lift all boats.
But I think it’s been pretty clear, certainly since the rise of Trump in 2015 (and maybe since the “Tea Party” starting in 2009) that it’s time to stop believing in that fairy tale, and it’s time to stop repeating this false rhetoric. In fact, it is actually downright dangerous–to our democracy, but more importantly to those least among us–to keep putting our faith in the “good people” in the Republican Party to join us in doing the right thing, or even in engaging in any serious way in genuine policy discussions and negotiations to find the right thing to do. Whatever is left in this Republican Party is entirely obeisant to their authoritarian, kleptocratic overlord. This is the world we now live in, and the sooner we learn how to operate in this new world, the better our chances of survival.
