As I promised, I said I would only write about politics if I felt our terrified progressive movement and hysterical media have lost perspective, as both tend to do.

I can feel the hysteria boiling up again, the worry and the confusion. Is our democracy in danger from the very people sworn to uphold it?

There is a lot to be concerned about, even to be angry about, but still, I feel like I’m witnessing a repeat of the summer of 2020, which  I think of as the Great Freakout.

We have another freakout underway, and I suppose this will be our story as long as progressives are fearful and the zealots fearless. Our media is so disconnected and addicted to Armageddon reporting, hyperventilation, and overreaction it is almost impossible to comprehend what is really happening.

The bad news was bad enough when it came once a day with a newspaper. Bad news delivered every minute of every day on every kind of screen device is apocalyptic, a pandemic all of its own, a brutal intrusion into our consciousness. Almost everything is exaggerated, incomplete, enraged,  false, or relentless.

At some point, we will have to deal with this.

When it comes to the Apocalypse, people, be careful what you wish for; you might make it happen. I’ll repeat what I said so many times a while back. Stay calm, choose what you listen to carefully, and accept that modern media, online or off, can no longer help you sort it out factually or truthfully.

We are on our own.  You are on your own. But Don’t Drink that Cool-Aid yet.

I’ve wondered for a long time how progressives got themselves so outmaneuvered and outworked when it came to appointing ideologues to courts and local, state, and national offices. Were we asleep, lazy, arrogant,  or indifferent? Or maybe all of those things.

I’m working on a theory about this. Progressives tend to be interior people, preoccupied with their lives, social interactives, and cultural interests.

Trumpism and far-right conservatism is a grievance movement centered o slights, insults, intrusions, and weakness. It is an exterior movement. It doesn’t deal with what’s inside but what is perceived to be outside. People like you and me propel this movement; we inspire them with hatred and the prospect of vengeance.

It isn’t that one side is better or smarter than the other; each approaches life in very different ways. It is true that working and rural people in America have a lot to be aggrieved about. They have, in fact, been forgotten, ignored, abandoned, and treated with contempt.

Elitism isn’t just another crackpot conspiracy; it is genuine. They are returning the favor, and more.

The dark side of this is that it has also turned millions of Americans into anti-democratic zealots, who have been working hard for a half-century to take control of our political system.

This is the essence of  Trump and Trumpism as well. Democracy doesn’t work for them any longer, they are looking to dominate instead and ram every single one of their values down everyone else’s throats.

They are on edge, angry, wrapped in righteous flame, perhaps biting off much more than they can chew and turning themselves into persecutors rather than victims.

That’s an old story, from the  Taliban to the Greeks. Zealots overcome a movement, and zealots are difficult to defeat because they are driven, angry, and increasingly obsessed. Fortunately, the United States is not Afghanistan; we are used to freedom and leaders who show us some compassion.

The new zealots are playing with fire; they are angry all the time and far out in front of most Americans, who tend to be centrist and slightly to the right, not a million miles from the center.

Cruelty, arrogance, and fascistic intimidation are not long-range policies likely to succeed.

Mostly, the far-right, aided by the smoldering remains of the Republican Party, is scaring the hell out of many more people than they are converting.

It seems as if this movement hasn’t gained a single voter since 2020, and The Trumpists haven’t lost one. They just get louder and angrier.

That is a statemate much like the American Civil War. The South didn’t give an inch until there was no choice. Soldiers did not change one another’s minds

The far-right extremists’ latest move, to turn much of the population into vigilantes and spies ratting out each other, is both a horror and a nightmare and a weapon that can cut both ways and tear a society apart.

I do not for a second believe this stupid and vicious law can ultimately remain in place. The heart of the American experiment holds that elected leaders represent all people, not just the ones who voted for them.

Anti-abortionists are entitled to that respect, but the difference is that they are receiving it. That makes the governor and the legislature corrupt betrayers of their own because the Constitution intended.

The justices of the Supreme Court showed their own contempt for the troubled and frightened women of Texas, who deserved better and are entitled to better. They don’t have to win, but they deserve to be considered.

Abortion is divisive. Each side claims absolute righteousness and moral purity.  Neither side speaks directly to one another, as human beings with feelings.

But what Governor Abbott has done is to pass legislation that sees millions of women as criminals, people so evil they are worthy of being informed on, turned in, and exposed. They are not citizens are deserving of respect, consideration, and compassion.

They are not even entitled to confront their elected representatives; they are simply targets. Only citizens can be accused. Women who were raped or impregnated by their brothers and fathers cannot get abortions. No legislator seems to have given them a thought.

A friend driving them to the airport to get an abortion in Mexico is now a criminal in Texas.

Progressives are not angels and heroes; they seem disinterested in the shouting and brawls and lies that have come to dominate our politics. Perhaps they are naive; perhaps they are spoiled; perhaps they talk too much to themselves instead of their neighbors.

None of us saw the cesspool social media has become or it’s catastrophic impact on our civics; few of us saw any of this coming early enough to stop it. It is never too late; the now is just the future waiting to fool us and change.

From Greek Tragedy to modern times, one political story is repeated again and again: the oppressed with power become the oppressors. Day by day, the extremists pushing ideologically driven legislation inspire and mindlessly create the next generation of victims and grievance people. They have paved the way.

Wait until people start informing the governor and legislature for helping to kill children.

Who’s to stop them?

For progressives, the challenge is to remain calm, be strong, and get to work rather than read the New York Times and listen to MSNBC and whine and weep and worry. In a sense, they’ve taught everyone how to do it, and if we don’t follow up, we deserve what we get.

Democracy, like war, is ugly and messy, and far from perfect. Right now, the winners in our political struggles are the loudest and angriest. Everyone else seems paralyzed in comparison.

But that is an illusion. As they demonstrated in 2020, they are not paralyzed. And they are getting angrier by the day. The Trumpists can’t know that because they only watch Fox News and never speak to anyone on the other side.

For all of its troubles, democracy remains, I believe, better than all of the other options. More and more, the far right is sounding and feeling like Mussonoi, not Hitler, and certainly not like Jefferson.

Like most spoiled Americans, their messages are conspiracy theories and rich people’s money. Texas has become a Hate State; people are fleeing to other places so that their children can be raised in safety.

More and more, this new movement is drifting to fascism, turning us against one another, brushing aside the laws and political conventions that have pulled us together, promoting hatred of those who disagree rather than defending their right to speak at all.

But we are not at the end of our world or even close. It’s so important to remember that.

First, some injections of perspective:

The Trump Republican Party is no longer a conventional or democratic political party as it has always been defined. They are a fringe phenomenon compromised mostly of white people (mostly men) who seek to stall or block the ride of a more diverse nation.

They are a White Christian Nationalist Movement. They got in and want to shut the doors behind them.

It’s important to recognize that and look beyond it. That is the reality now. People who support this hateful ideology must take responsibility for it and like who they see in the mirror.

The student vaccination dramas in Florida and Texas will haunt these selfish people for years and trigger a massive counter-response from those with equally strong beliefs and lots of money. There is no duty more sacred than protecting our children.

This unnecessarily cruel and clumsy assault on abortion will also blow back on the zealots who launched it. It will not be forgotten.

The abortion issue is complex and worthy of long debate and discussion. Lots of good people oppose abortion and hope to see it restricted or banned. Fair enough. But cherishing life is not the same as frightening, ignoring, and persecuting women – citizens – who have fought so long and hard for their freedom and equal treatment.

Millions of them will not put up with it, that is certain. Once empowered, they can never again be cowed or silenced; this is not an issue that can be resolved in this way, any more than it could have been dictated and imposed by a single law.

It has to be worked out amongst ourselves in an empathetic and civil way. Neither side can be bullied into submission, which only creates new movements, even angrier and more determined than the first.

Shame on the ignoramuses who wrote this law; they can’t possibly win their fight in this way over the long haul, any more than the other side can or should.

Just think about it.

But they did just make any reasonable solution so much harder, all in the name of life.

For 50 years, while most progressives have been content to read a lot and argue and cluck about the last stand of the white man, the white men ( and women) have been busy and focused on setting the country up for a (mostly) not violent coup.

They’ve been electing judges, school board, congressional and county officials and believe they are close to controlling our national political elections.

But I am nowhere near believing the dunderheads who wrote this law and are busy killing children for political gain can take over and control a nation as diverse, free, and outspoken as Americans are.

They are a stain on our democracy and a threat to it, but no, they are not Nazis or nearly as smart.

The hard cold truth is that we who believe in empathy and compassion as a political goal have work to do, just like the other side had work to do. They did it.

I am reading and hearing on local media (not cable news channels) that progressives all over the country are electing judges in counties and states.

That seems to be the future for people who love democracy. Pay attention, listen, stay calm, do good, and do the work.

Abortion is a long way from being illegal throughout America or even Texas. The Supreme Court has not ruled that the Texas Bill recently passed is legal; they have put off ruling on it, cowardly as that is.

Meanwhile, abortion pills and medications are selling out at pharmacies all over the country. It seems inevitable that technology and big pharma will boom in the face of this assault, and any movement that gets in the way of big money will learn some bloody lessons. This is America. Nothing comes before big money.

Think about it. In this global economy, all connected by mushrooming new technologies, can anyone political movement stop abortions all over the world, from pills to hospitals? Are there enough courts in Texas to prosecute the millions of Democrats and progressives who will want to help women decide their own futures? Yes, even those facing pregnancy from rape or incest? Will Texas become a state of two people, those in jail and those free?

Please take a look at this advertisement for a new form of tele-medicine and a simple way to get an abortion in your own home: Get used to it. It is the future, and Texas just gave the industry a big sweet smooch. Women all over the country can already get abortion medication shipped to them in two days.

The fanatics’ idea of morality can not be legislated or bullied. It has to be accepted. That is true of both sides.

That market for new and safe ways to get one’s own abortion will soon explode. In America, capitalism is the true faith. Maybe they want to jail all the pharmacists too.

Once again, as happened in 20-20, the Trumpists are running wild are determined to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. This isn’t myopic; it is shameless. Just think back a bit to when the idea that Joe Biden would beat Donald Trump by a substantial margin in 2020 was considered ludicrous. But it happened.

Love and compassion are much stronger than hatred and extremism.  In 2020 we created our own reality. In 2022 we will do it again. And again and again, until the next movement explodes and grows.

Journalism has failed to give us a clear picture of this epic conflict.

Journalism no longer writes our history; it simply repeats what they think it is at any given moment. Hysteria has replaced information; reporting has been replaced by polls that are often wildly inaccurate and almost always incomplete.

I’m not sure why we keep buying this obsession with mostly inaccurate polling, but I can guess. Taking polls saves a lot of money for media moguls, who don’t need to hire reporters.

Most of the “new journalists” talk mostly to one another,  report from behind their computer screens or on Facebook and Twitter, and go nowhere.

There is simply no substitute for real reporting. Those who depended on the hysteria and greed of modern media are simply not learning the truth.

Planned Parenthood, for one,  has been reporting a lot of good news lately, but nobody knows anything about it. The newspapers and cable news channels, and social media sites don’t like good news; it just doesn’t get people excited or frightened enough to keep coming.

It doesn’t generate a lot of revenue.

This year, over 90 bills were introduced into state legislatures that protect or advance access to abortion, says Planned Parenthood.

The American Rescue Act, recently passed by Congress, including $50 million in Title X funding, radically expanding abortion access to the poor and vulnerable.

For the first time in 40 years, the budget does not include the Hyde Amendment, prohibiting foreign aid from going to any country where abortion is legal.

Democracy is like that. Things can go forward and back at the same time; the process is hopelessly messy and indirect.

This new Texas law is shocking, and in many ways, outrageous. It will not stand in this form. This is a new chapter in this very bitter struggle. It is by no means the end.

Unfortunately, given what our media has become, it’s up to each person to think clearly and make their best judgments. All I can say is don’t buy the idea of imminent ruin.

America is a divided, not a conquered, country.

Permitting aging old and angry white men to tell women they have no power over their own bodies is not a winning policy position in modern-day America. This bird will not fly.

The anti-abortion movement is trapping itself by its own successes. Since we no longer talk to one another in our politics, we end up talking to ourselves. They have no idea.  That is the reason for this awful legislation.

Instead of simply weakening or knocking out an abortion, they have found politicians who will cheer this fascistic, Constitution-violating nightmare that will come back to bite them many times. The Stasi (the dread East German Secret police) is not the future for us.

It was Mussolini and then the Stasi who perfected the informant culture.  Wives turned on husbands; children turned on adults.

The idea is you get half the country to inform on the other; government becomes both invisible and completely unaccountable, the demons behind the curtain.

None of these governments lasted; people found a world of informers more offensive than anything the government was really pushing. This is not a nation of informers, and I doubt it will ever be. I know they think this bill is a great victory, I don’t think so. I think the names of these sponsors will be blackened through time.

If the creators of this law could think ahead, they might have slowed down.

If this is the future, liking guns will soon be illegal. So will opposing vaccines. So will letting educators run schools. So will letting educators interfere with schools. If anyone says or does anything you like, make a citizen’s arrest.

Talk about chaos and insanity. It will not happen. It’s not even possible for it to happen.

Imagine a world where being offensive is illegal. Trump would go bankrupt in a minute and head for jail. Don’t we have a right to disagree and be obnoxious about it?

Ruth Bader Ginsburg often suggested Roe Vs. Wade was not a good idea since the bill created a bitter and continuing division that should have been resolved over time, much as the issue of gay rights was.

Now, the Texas legislature has gone and done the same thing again, just from the other side. There are 50 states in America, and most of them are not like Texas or Florida, or South Dakota.

Americans have made it clear they want to elect people who govern in the center, not the extreme edges.

The Republicans believe they can take over the government as a minority party forever shrinking rather than expanding its base. That’s what Putin is shooting for.

But we are not Russia, a nation used to centuries of Czars and dictators. I don’t think the United States will go for it.

As the country becomes more and more diverse, and as women and people of color continue to seize and demand true power, their position becomes less and less tenable.

Governors Abbot and DeSantis are way out on the far edges of extremism; obeying Donald Trump worshipfully doesn’t seem like a smart policy to me.  They might remember that he lost and that a lot of people dislike him intensely.

Because of Trump, they can’t turn back or shift gears. They can only do just what he did and step in it deeper and deeper.

And thanks to them, any fool with a grudge can buy a gun without restriction and walk around with it. It is not easy to imagine any side of any national debate will find a sound policy in the coming years. That is the tragedy to come.

If it is stupid and outrageous to tell American women that people who advise and care about them can be fined $10,000 for speaking their minds, it is even dumber to permit scores of children to die because you are a governor who plans to run for President.

What are these people smoking?

The Texas legislature has just painted a picture of the reality of a far-right Republican takeover of Congress or extreme Republican domination in Washington.

Marjorie Taylor Greene cannot wait for her moment in the sun or her place in the cabinet.

The Republicans, if you can still call them that,  are obviously terrified by the new and diverse America overtaking their angry white bottoms. Otherwise, why restrict voting and make it illegal to give Grandma a drink while she sits at the polls and waits to vote?

Why arouse women, now the most powerful single political force in American life? This is the politics of the angry and the dumb. It is, as Jefferson foresaw, a dangerous combination.

I’m sorry, but I can’t buy this as a winning political strategy. The Republicans have given the Democratic Party a giant smoking gun to use in 2022.

It’s all different now.

Perspective: Joe Biden’s poll numbers are down. So what? The election is more than a year away, and poll numbers go up and down more often than a teenaged boy’s penis, and they are still wrong almost every election.

Biden was and is a decent person, in contrast to Donald Trump. He will still be a decent person in a year. The people who hated him then will hate him now. The people who loved him then will love him now.

People don’t like to see American soldiers blown up while doing noble duty. Why would they? Next year, Biden will be judged by the state of the pandemic and the economy.

No one can rightly predict the outcome of a campaign like this or start sounding alarms a year out.

In a few months, Americans will be much happier that the country is not at war for the first time in decades than they will be upset about the American retreat.

On some level, even the ordinary know that wars are horrible; there are no simple, clean, or bloodless ones.

If I were running for President (god forbid) and could pick the three people in America I would most like to run against; I would choose: 1/Donald Trump, 2. Governer DeSantis of Florida, 3. Governor Abbott of Texas.

I can’t say what Joe Biden’s prospects are; nobody knows. I doubt he will even be the Democratic candidate. I can say it’s way too soon for hand-wrigging or Armageddon freakouts.

The liberals and progressives needed spine in 2020. Women gave them some, along with the young. Just wait until you see how women get even more fired up by the Republican’s determination to take away their right to choose.

It is well understood in politics that the most difficult thing one can do in a democracy is to take away a freedom that exists. If you read polls carefully, as I sometimes do, you will learn that many women will say they oppose abortions. But far fewer think they should be banned or that their freedom to choose should be taken from them by mostly older white male legislators.

The media persists in portraying Donald Trump as a fearsome force threatening our country. He is, in fact, a largely ignored and increasingly pathetic scold who is trying to threaten our country.

Why would any of us forget how he bungled an almost lose-proof election – Tulsa, Chlorox Vaccine, his ranting meltdown in the first debate. He didn’t just lose the election, he committed political suicide, and his poor judgment is infectious.

Trump picked the worst advisers in the world – Rudy Guiliani (who pulled his pants down during a staged interview), Mr. Pillow (who gathered scores of computer experts to watch him prove absolutely nothing), the nasty son Donald Jr. (who is, like his father, unable to open his mouth without lying), to be his advisers.

I understand why people are afraid of Trumpism and how it is tearing our country apart. Fear and hysteria don’t accomplish much.

I respect many of the people who oppose abortion.  They deserve to be heard. Most have been playing fair. This new law is not fair. I think it has already changed the dynamics of American politics. This is the biggest Pandora’s Box I have seen in my years of political writing.

Trump woke a lot of people up in 2016 and all through his term. When I think of the ascending women’s movement, I think of MeToo and all the strong women coming into Congress.

When I think of our future, I think of those moms in Portland who marched in front of their sons and daughters and drove those heavily-armed and hated federal agents right out of town.