Democrats will not defeat Trump by becoming the assets of the left

Students in civil wars know that they follow a well-established dynamic. A sect, radicalized by militant leaders, commits atrocities against another sect. Target group retaliates with its own massacres. And so begins a cycle of violence. Think of the Serbs against the Bosnians in the former Yugoslavia, the Sunnis to the Shiites in Iraq, the Hutus to the Tutsis in Rwanda. I fear that a similar process of mutual radicalization will occur in America – without violence, fortunately, widespread physical violence. Political attacks – such as the death of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville last year or the brawl in New York last week between progressive protesters and a group of right-wing hate called the Proud Boys – are still isolated events . For the moment.

President Trump is the main culprit. He claims that the Democrats are traitors who want to open the borders to murderers and rapists, who have committed a "diabolical" hoax to prevent the appointment of Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court and who are determined to transform the law. America into another Venezuela – a bankrupt socialist dictatorship. While accusing the opposition of ruling by the crowd, he incited his supporters to shout "Let's lock it up", first against Hillary Clinton, and now against Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Who has not been charged with any crime. Some of Trump's mini-me's are even worse. Scott Wagner, GOP candidate for governorship in Pennsylvania, threat his Democratic opponent, Governor Tom Wolf: "You'd better put a receiver mask on your face because I'm going to trample your face with golf picks."

Right-wing extremism provoked a predictable reaction from the left. Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing was interrupted several times by angry protesters, videos circulating on the right-wing sites of progressive activists knocking on the doors of the Supreme Court, and Republicans such as Stephen Miller , help in the White House, and Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) hunted down in restaurants. To stop Kavanaugh, some Democrats did not just quote the highly credible testimony of Christine Blasey Ford. They also supported unsubstantiated accusations by a woman, represented by Attorney General Michael Avenatti, who claimed that Kavanaugh had been complicit in gang rapes in high school. .

I had a taste of left-wing anger when I participated in NPR's "On Point" last Thursday as part of my reading tour to discuss my disillusionment with the right. One caller insisted that Trump was not another Hitler – he was worse! Another listener e-mailed that I could never be forgiven as a conservative: "I sincerely hope that you will die of pain because of the climate change that you have promoted." Two days later, L & # 39; Intercept, the leftist Breitbart, wrote that should be permanently exiled from the "sanctuary of politics" because of my support (now retracted) for the war in Iraq – a position I shared with the Senators of 39; then. Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and Charles E. Schumer, among other Democrats.

It's the same kind of indiscriminate fury that drives so many Trump supporters – and some leftist leaders are as willing as Trump to pour gasoline on the fire of the fans. When the administration began to lock up the children of undocumented immigrants – a real scandal – the representative Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) Stated that the protesters were to harass Cabinet members every time that they were in trouble. they went out in public. After the Kavanaugh vote, liberal activist Kat Calvin tweeted Senator Susan Collins (Maine) should never again "have a moment of peace in public".

More recently, Clinton told CNN: "You can not be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you represent, which interests you." And former Attorney General Eric Holder rejected Michelle Obama's slogan, "When they go down high." "When they go down," says Holder, "we kick them. object of this new democratic party. "(He went on to say that he did not advocate violence.)

Here is what the new Democratic Party is: promoting impractical proposals with little analysis or detail. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Advocates the dissolution of the big banks but can not answer basic questions about his plan. He also did not offer a realistic way to pay for his grandiose ideas, among which health insurance for all, free courses in public universities and a federal employment guarantee. Yet these projects – the left-wing version of "building the wall and charging Mexico" – have been approved by leading Democratic presidential candidates. Another popular idea at the base is to abolish immigration and customs control procedures, even if it would simply mean that another agency would enforce the immigration laws. As Holder put it, "I do not think it makes much sense, either in substance or in politics".

The Democrats will not defeat Trump by becoming the assets of the left. The largest group of voters in America is self-employed (we represent 42% of the electorate), and few of us are likely to be attracted by spurious overflows and extravagant proposals. The progressives are not a crowd, but if they give up the civility, they will play in the hands of Trump allowing him to present himself as the last line of defense against the Hugo Chávezes of North America.

While such tactics can mobilize a progressive riding and lead to short-term political victories, consider the long-term cost. We are already so tribalised that we see those who have opposing points of view, not as fellow citizens with whom we must compromise, but as enemies who must be destroyed. There is a real risk that the social fabric will tear up completely, resulting in violence on the streets, unless one of the parties is sufficiently grounded in its principles to show heroic restraint in the face of serious provocation. And we know it will not be the Trumpified GOP.