The 2022 Midterms may ultimately mean a lot, or very little, in terms of the durability of Democracy and a broadening of personal freedoms.
But, it certainly felt like a turning point in the right direction.
Away from cynicism and disregard for our history and institutions.
Towards optimism, affirmation in the importance of good (and getting better) governance, the integral-ness of functioning institutions, rule of law and the belief that Policy can make a difference in people's lives...for the better.
The Good Liar
Comedian Dave Chappelle had a very astute observation in his recent opening monologue on SNL.
When talking about the appeal of Donald Trump, Chappelle spoke with absolute clarity.
The genius of Trump, Chappelle noted, is that Trump is an "honest liar."
He channels our cynicism by treating lying, cheating, stealing and self-dealing NOT as a sign of moral failure or guilt, but rather, of virtue, a sign of personal force and of being a GANGSTA (not gangster), by reverse engineering the system.
Breaking the rules and being bound by no truths other than, "When you are a star, they let you do it," Trump as the honest liar is the hero to the cynics, who believe that:
- The system is irrevocably broken
- Those empowered to govern are irredeemably corrupt
- Our institutions are fundamentally incapable of making peoples lives better, if they ever did
In such a world, the liar and cheat, the honest liar is King.
(As an aside, what I love about Chappelle is that he has no sacred cows. He is an equal opportunity offender, but not simply a cheap shot artist; he gets to the subtext of situations, the elephant in the room that no one talks about. Comedy is afforded license to make us uncomfortable.)
"Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?"
But, the dark charm of the honest liar begs a question.
Where does this all end? Insurrection? Election denial? Stealing confidential documents? Collusion with historical foes, like Putin's Russia?
Or, to put it all in perspective of history, in the early 1950's, Joseph McCarthy, a Republican U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, used his position of power to create a witch hunt around surfacing Communist sympathizers, a witch hunt that literally destroyed hundreds, if not thousands of lives.
The term "McCarthyism", coined in 1950 in reference to McCarthy's practices, came to more broadly mean demagogic, reckless, and unsubstantiated accusations, as well as public attacks on the character or patriotism of political opponents.
McCarthy's actions ran rampant because everyone feared being deemed anti-American in the time of the Cold War.
McCarthy's fall came when after turning his attentions to the United States Army, its chief counsel Joseph Welch, called truth to injustice, "You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"
Moral of the story. Decency matters.
Triumph of the Optimists
While there were "blue wave" narratives on the 2022 Mid Terms (wishful thinking at mid-point of administration where Presidency, Senate and House controlled by one party, the Democrats), as the elections approached, the narrative shifted overwhelmingly towards a "red wave."
Had it played out, the red wave would have signaled a wider embrace of the Trump narrative of election denialism.
It would have manifested in the ascension into power of Governors, Secretaries of State and Election Heads by Trump acolytes, and set up the chessboard for a final hollowing of democracy.
It did not happen, because:
- The January 6th Committee did a remarkable job showing the knowing, treasonous behavior of Trump, all the while relying almost exclusively on the testimony of Republicans, not Democrats.
- An ideologically poisoned Supreme Court knowingly threw out settled law, and overturned Roe v. Wade, showing that "dog whistle" rhetoric becomes dark policy in a zero-sum Republican controlled universe.
- President Biden showed that policy matters, exhibiting a surprisingly stable hand in getting multiple quality of life, economic, social and global scale legislations passed, despite navigating the thinnest of majorities.
- Enough independent voters ignored the lazy platitudes of a self-interested media (who need the scorched earth of Us vs. Them to drive eyeballs).
- Enough women, people of color and even the young, stepped to the plate and made their vote count.
- It became clear that MAGA stands for nothing other than cynicism, nihilism, polarization, lawlessness and hate, a point exacerbated by the politically-inspired attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband.
In the end, triumph of the optimists prevailed.
The Way Forward
The larger takeaways are that the American voter can walk and chew gum at the same time in the sense that he/she can support conservative policies and rule of law, can separate economy from demagoguery and that the American voter wants leaders that actually BELIEVE in America, its history, its institutions and its diversity.
For the Democrats (and a hopeful re-emerging moderate wing of the Republican party), the path forward is:
- Espouse policy as a stated goal
- Focus on specific solutions
- Remember that all politics is local
- Turn the tide on the judicial branch
- Make decency and character table stakes
- Hold Trump accountable so future coups don't look cost-free
Maybe this is our "Have you know shame" moment, where the tide turns to lightness, hope, and CAN vs. CAN'T.
A final thought. The larger truth, be it government, business, investing or social governance is that while we can agree or disagree on the definition of character, make no doubt, character matters.
What we sow is what we reap.
