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THE VIEW FROM HERE - When the nation had a choice on November 5, 2024, enough Centrist voters were fed up with Woke DEI and its racist arrogance that they swung over to Trump. He won by only 1.6%, so that it would be analytical to say the Woke DEI Dems lost the election. One feature of a polarized nation is that each side is controlled by hardcore True Believers ( see Eric Hoffer Quotes,) After a while, Centrists tire of extremists, and given a chance, the Center votes out the extremists. It’s a slow process and often much harm is done by the time the Center asserts itself.
Biden promised to be the President who would be for “our families” and not for “Trump’s family” or “his own family.” In Spring of 2021 when Biden centrist rating were high, he abruptly became Woke and attacked Trump for Covid. Previously, Biden had been saying “Let’s All Mask Up Until We Reach Herd Immunity by July 4th,” but the Wokers saw that too many GOP were listening to Biden. They feared that Biden might govern as a Centrist and thereby close out both MAGA and Wokers. As a result, Pelosi and Obama prevailed upon Biden to assert Woke bone fides and attack the GOP for Covid, saying they were not masking up or getting vaxed. That killed off Biden’s Centrist governance and he never recovered. Biden destroyed his own Centrist approach to Covid just as the Delta Variant was about to hit and would touch off a new wave of deaths unless people (1) masked, (2) distanced, and (3) vaxed. See Mask Up.
In 2024, the polls showed that there was no way Biden could win in November 2024. Whether the Dems drugged him or it was blind luck, Biden was non compos mentis during his debate with Trump. Rather than allow the Woke and non-Woke factions within the Dems decide his replacement, Kamala Harris replaced Biden. (It seems uncertain whether Biden anointed her and gave her all the campaign funds or whether Pelosi and Obama selected her.)
At the Democratic National Convention and for about one week afterwards, Harris sounded non-woke, but that phase soon passed. Her wokeness doomed her.
The Center knew that Trump was a madman – even if the MAGA believed him to be the Second Coming. The Center also realized that the only way to kill Wokedom was to elect Trump. Trump is open, brash, and over the top, while wokers are mostly sneaky authoritarians. After the election Americans learned how bad Wokeism had become, infiltrating most businesses and every aspect of the government including the military. Businesses quickly jettisoned their Woke DEI programs.
Now the Nation Has to Deal with the Excesses of Trumpism
As Trump rampages like the proverbial bull in a china shop, it is not the time for us Centrist to become hysterical ninnies. As a Histrionic, Trump will do everything to draw as much attention to himself as possible. With his narcissistic grandiose sense of entitlement, Trump will ape Louis XIV L'État, c'est moi ("I am the state"). Trump, however, has some decent policies.
Along with deporting criminals, Trump’s killing Woke DEI is the one place where he actually can claim a mandate. Killing Woke DEI does not mean installing old fashioned racism (if we overlook Hegseth’s Deus Vut). Although Trump says “merit,” he means personal loyalty to him. Life is a two edged sword.
Deportation of Criminals can be very successful. Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan, who looks fierce, is experienced and sophisticated. He understands that deporting criminals is a PR winner, and that Trump’s bluster about deporting millions is irrational. Homan like all other Trump employees, who are sane, has to walk a tightrope least he offend the mercurial Trump. Los Angeles and other sanctuary cities should work with Homan to let ICE into the prisons to arrest and deport criminals. When ICE works the prisons, it will not run into other undocumenteds whom ICE is duty bound to deport. Some cities might be smart enough to do this sub rosa.
A Horrible Set Back For Centrists
The Declaration and the US Constitution are the core of Centrism. Operationally, the Constitution is more important as it establishes the system of checks and balances so that no one group or no one person can become a tyrant. As the Founding Fathers knew, a democracy is one step away from tyranny; thus, they formed a Republic. As the Federalist Papers discuss, at many crucial points the Constitution rests upon honor and integrity of men to do their constitutional duty. One of the most vital duties was the Senate’s advise and consent to Presidential nominees. To be more explicit, the Senate’s job was to prevent a President from appointing incompetent, corrupt sycophants.
Trump knew that some of his cabinet choices were ludicrous but he nominated them for their personal loyalty to him. When the Senate GOP elected their new majority leader, they had the choice between Trump’s man, Florida Sen. Rick Scott, and Sen. John Thune (R-SD). They rejected Scott and elected Thune. In his January 3, 2025 speech, Thune made clear that the Senate was independent of the Presidency. In context of the filibuster rule, Thune said:
“Unfortunately, today there are a lot of people who would like to see the Senate turn into a copy of the House of Representatives,” . . . § And that is not what our founders intended or what our country needs. One of my priorities as leader will be to ensure that the Senate stays the Senate.”
When any political party is controlled by extremists like MAGA or WOKERS, that party has the primary duty to reign in extremism. The Dems failed to do that with Dem Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi who inflicted the horrible Woke DEI upon the nation. Thus, Thune’s words were (mis)understood to mean that unlike members of the House who kowtowed to Pelosi and then to Trump (and Musk), Senators would take their constitutional oaths seriously. Wrong! Thune sold out all GOP Senators, the GOP party, and the American people. When it came time to prevent Pig Hegseth from becoming Secretary of Defense, Thune supported Hegseth who objectively was the worse Defense nominee whom the Senate ever approved. After that Trump openly threatened each and very GOP Senator that they had no choice but to vote Yes on each and every nominee, no matter how wretched. Did Thune speak out to even try to protect a single Senator? No! He cowers in the corner like a whipped dog.
Due to Thune’s Great Betrayal of the Republic, we Centrists have entered very dark days. We do not know if the Republic will hold with the likes of Thune, Hegseth, and now with Steve Witkoff, a blithering idiot, as Trump’s Middle East advisor.
(Richard Lee Abrams has been an attorney, a Realtor and community relations consultant as well as a CityWatch contributor. You may email him at [email protected].)
