Liberals always try to forget who they are and what they stand for. It’s like some group-think version of moral amnesia. It’s one of the (many) things that drive me nuts about many liberals, including most of the Democratic party.

Do Democrats support a more robust safety net, particularly for heath care? You’d think they should, what with all the shouting about how Republicans destroying services and killing people. And sure, some people do say things like “Health care is a right!” And yet, get specific about what the Democratic party is for, not just against, and they’re surprisingly mum. Bernie talks about single payer, Nancy Pelosi disavows the idea as an actual principle (“not a litmus test”), and that’s about it. “Bad Republicans!” is so much easier to say.

Do liberals support immigration? How about immigrants themselves? How about refugees? Again, you’d think they should, after listening to so many liberals and Democrats shouting about how Republicans hate immigrants.

The facts are easy enough: no, immigrants aren’t criminals. Immigrants commit far fewer crimes than average Americans. Refugees are so wonderfully productive and law-abiding, it’s a marvel we don’t invite in millions of them. Average Americans look like drug-running murderers by comparison. And yeah, Republican really do hate immigrants a lot, and perversely, they hate refugees even worse. The GOP is the party of Jim Crow and white nationalists.

Think about refugees, mostly women and children forced to flee without anything, who get dumped on by everyone, and still commit almost zero crimes. And Republicans still call them criminals. Talk about evil.

So normally, voting against Nazis and the KKK is an easy call. But Democrats still struggle with it. Does the Democratic party support current levels of immigration? How about allowing in refugees? Are Democrats opposed to ICE raids? Are sanctuary cities a core liberal idea? During the last Virginia election, Republican candidate Ed Gillespie accused his Democratic opponent of supporting sanctuary cities. Democrats ran away in droves, with none willing to defend clearly innocent people.

So the answer is clear: no, Democrats won’t defend immigrants. Not really. And, weirdly, even though they supported refugees with lots of words just a few years ago, they’re silent now. It’s just a reaction to Republican demagoguery, but that reflection of evil — Democratic moral amnesia — is still very bad.

 

The pattern is easy to see. Over and over, Democrats suggest something decent. Republicans deliberately mischaracterize it to make it sound both evil and stupid. (See the GOPAC document here for their techniques.) Faced with mean words, Democrats respond by rolling over on their backs, quiveringly insistent they’re not… whatever bad words the Republicans just called then. And then Democrats pretend to amnesia, walking back or completely denying the decent thing they just did.

[Worth mentioning: Republicans do the same thing to themselves. I’m not counting that because they’ve gone so far, they don’t have anything left they actually stand for.]

Deficit spending is the textbook macroeconomic approach to moderating recessions so that people don’t suffer as much. Or it was, until the Republican party coined “Tax and spend!” Faced with a sneering phrase, Democrats hurriedly discarded their spines en masse. Even though they all knew it was the right answer. Even the GOP knows deficit spending works. Look at how Republicans are marketing their newest tax cuts.

Stronger social safety net? Shout “Socialism!” and look! Democrats scatter like roaches under a sudden light. Republicans lie about us, they lie about our allies, they lie about the socioeconomic results, and… crickets.

Estate taxes? “Death tax!” And there you go: we’ve recreated the robber barons. Republicans strut proudly in front of the donor classes; Democrats stammer among themselves.

Think about the Republican misuse of “Liberal”, “Elite,” “Mainstream media”. The classic “liberal elite media” is a Newt Gingrich trifecta. Shoot that one, and large and otherwise sane corporate entities suddenly fall over themselves to demonstrate a false ‘even-handedness’. Even now, half the ‘news’ is just dueling,’he said/she said’ press releases, all repeated without a smidgen of objectivity or actual reporting. ‘Please god!’ they snivel, ‘Don’t say we’re biased!’

Yes, I’ve said over and over that the modern Republican party is closer to a criminal enterprise than a consistent political party. Don’t mistake criticism of Democrats for Republican support. I hate the modern GOP with quite enough passion. But for me to support Democrats instead, they need a more compelling and motivating argument than just claiming that they’re not currently criminals. Mostly.

Anyway, all this depresses me. I really and truly want a stronger Democratic party. They don’t need to be perfect, or reflect every idea I like. They just have to be … something more than they are now. Hell, I even want a stronger Republican party that is actually conservative. A real conservative party would never allow this bastard tax giveaway to happen.

But all I hear is race-baiting, tribal chest-thumping, and liberal whining. And news sources afraid to describe water as ‘wet’, just in case a Republican disagrees.