Pelosi Still Didn't Condemn Trump, Just His Tweets-- What Will It Take?

Auschwitz Revisited by Nancy Ohanian

Last night the House voted on this Resolution of Disapproval, condemning Trump's racist comments (though not condemning Señor Trumpanzee himself-- nor even referring to him as a racist-- since Pelosi is still absolutely determined to continue protecting him from any such thing):

RESOLUTION Condemning President Trump’s racist comments directed at Members of Congress.

Whereas the Founders conceived America as a haven of refuge for people fleeing from religious and political persecution, and Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison all emphasized that the Nation gained as it attracted new people in search of freedom and livelihood for their families;

Whereas the Declaration of Independence defined America as a covenant based on equality, the unalienable Rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and government by the consent of the people;

Whereas Benjamin Franklin said at the Constitutional convention, "When foreigners after looking about for some other Country in which they can obtain more happiness, give a preference to ours, it is a proof of attachment which ought to excite our confidence and affection";

Whereas President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists";

Whereas immigration of people from all over the Earth has defined every stage of American history and propelled our social, economic, political, scientific, cultural, artistic and technological progress as a people, and all Americans, except for the descendants of Native people and enslaved African-Americans, are immigrants or descendants of immigrants;

Whereas the commitment to immigration and asylum has been not a partisan cause but a powerful national value that has infused the work of many Presidents;

Whereas American patriotism is defined not by race or ethnicity but by devotion to the Constitutional ideals of equality, liberty, inclusion, and democracy and by service to our communities and struggle for the common good;

Whereas President John F. Kennedy, whose family came to the United States from Ireland, stated in his 1958 book A Nation of Immigrants that "The contribution of immigrants can be seen in every aspect of our national life. We see it in religion, in politics, in business, in the arts, in education, even in athletics and entertainment. There is no part of our nation that has not been touched by our immigrant background. Everywhere immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of American life.";

Whereas President Ronald Reagan in his last speech as President conveyed "An observation about a country which I love";

Whereas as President Reagan observed, the torch of Lady Liberty symbolizes our freedom and represents our heritage, the compact with our parents, our grandparents, and our ancestors, and it is the Statue of Liberty and its values that give us our great and special place in the world;

Whereas other countries may seek to compete with us, but in one vital area, as "a beacon of freedom and opportunity that draws the people of the world, no country on Earth comes close";

Whereas it is the great life force of "each generation of new Americans that guarantees that America’s triumph shall continue unsurpassed" through the 21st century and beyond and is part of the "magical, intoxicating power of America";

Whereas this is "one of the most important sources of America’s greatness: we lead the world because, unique among nations, we draw our people-- our strength-- from every country and every corner of the world, and by doing so we continuously renew and enrich our nation";

Whereas "thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we’re a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge", always leading the world to the next frontier;

Whereas this openness is vital to our future as a Nation, and "if we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost"; and

Whereas President Donald Trump’s racist comments have legitimized fear and hatred of new Americans and people of color: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives

(1) believes that immigrants and their descendants have made America stronger, and that those who take the oath of citizenship are every bit as American as those whose families have lived in the United States for many generations;

(2) is committed to keeping America open to those lawfully seeking refuge and asylum from violence and oppression, and those who are willing to work hard to live the American Dream, no matter their race, ethnicity, faith, or country of origin; and

(3) strongly condemns President Donald Trump’s racist comments that have legitimized and increased fear and hatred of new Americans and people of color by saying that our fellow Americans who are immigrants, and those who may look to the President like immigrants, should "go back" to other countries, by referring to immigrants and asylum seekers as "invaders," and by saying that Members of Congress who are immigrants (or those of our colleagues who are wrongly assumed to be immigrants) do not belong in Congress or in the United States of America.

Yesterday, before the vote, Pig-Man-Enraged went on another racist tweet-storm as soon as he woke up:

As Politico's morning team wrote yesterday, "Republicans now have to vote on whether they approve of Trump's comments. Most are likely to stick with Trump, even while they say privately he’s a boor for thinking and voicing these thoughts. It will be very instructive to see whether Republicans like Rep. Paul Mitchell (MI), a member of House GOP leadership who has criticized Trump over the tweets, end up voting with Democrats. Monday evening, senior Republicans told us they expected 10 or fewer Republicans would vote to condemn Trump. A question for Republicans to ponder: What would you tell your child if they sent those tweets? Would you say it was OK?." Noting the packed press conference AOC, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib-- all of whom pop up on that Worthy Incumbents thermometer on the right-- he'd Monday afternoon, Politico pointed out that they "found a way to explain succinctly why they believe Trump is a racist and why he should be impeached. They were able to tie this incident to a set of immigration policies that Democrats of all stripes believe are wrongheaded and criminal. They also highlighted, perhaps unintentionally, what the Republican Party has become on Capitol Hill: a bastion of mostly white men who are unable or unwilling to criticize a white president who has targeted brown and black women."

So the resolution passed 240-187, primarily along party lines. Every single Democrat voted for it, even the worst of the Blue Dogs and New Dems who hate and fear AOC and Ilhan and wish them both all the worst.

Four Republicans voted with the Democrats-- Susan Brooks, who is retiring, Brian Fitzpatrick, who represents a swingy Philly-area district and often votes with the Democrats, Will Hurd, the Republicans' only black member and who represents a 70% Latino swing district in south Texas, and Fred Upton, who's represents a swing district in the southwest part of Michigan and senses he's all but doomed this cycle-- as did Independent Justin Amash. 6 Republicans didn't vote, including some who were in the room.

CNN analyst Ron Brownstein tried explaining why Republicans don't worry much about Trump's overt racism. The acceptance of Trump's Know Nothing approach to race and immigration "underscores his transformation of the Republican Party into a coalition centered on the voters and places in America most hostile to immigration in particular and demographic change in general."

This latest flurry of activity continues the drive by Trump and other Republicans elected mostly from the parts of America least touched by immigration to impose a restrictionist agenda on migration over the nearly undivided opposition of Democrats elected by the areas where most immigrants, both undocumented and legal, actually live. Though greeted without complaint by Republicans in Congress, Trump's promised raids provoked astoundingly open resistance from the mayors of virtually every large American city, from New York and Los Angeles to Chicago and Houston.

Trump's divisive tweets opened an equally imposing divide between the parties. Democrats were unvarnished and united in flatly describing Trump's tweets as racist and nativist, words that elected officials have rarely applied so unabashedly to the remarks of a sitting president. Only a tiny trickle of Republicans that widened slightly as Monday progressed raised objections and the vast majority tried to avoid comment altogether. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina obliquely suggested Trump "should aim higher" but then compounded the President's slur by calling the Democrats "communists" who "hate our own country" and are "anti-America."



...[A]ttitudes toward demographic, cultural and economic change have become the central fault line between the parties. Republicans mobilize what I've called a "coalition of restoration" centered on older, blue-collar, evangelical and non-urban whites who polls show are uneasy or frightened about the fundamental demographic, cultural and even economic trends reshaping America in the 21st century.

Democrats counter with a competing "coalition of transformation" revolving around the groups-- young adults, minorities, singles, secular voters, and college-educated whites, mostly concentrated in large metropolitan areas-- who are most comfortable with the change.

"Clearly we're headed down a path where there is one party for older white Americans and then there's another party for people of color and immigrants," says Carlos Curbelo, a former Republican US representative who was defeated last fall in a heavily diverse Miami-area district. "And this is very dangerous. It divides our society in a dangerous way. It paralyzes our political system."

These trends trace their roots back all the way to the civil rights revolution in the 1960s and have significantly accelerated since the closely divided election of 2000. But Trump's open appeal to the portions of white America most uneasy about cultural and social change, from immigration to gay and transgender rights and the changing role of women, have elevated these trends to an entirely new level.

The result is that hardly any Republicans at any level now represent urban constituencies with the large immigrant populations that Trump has threatened with intensified ICE enforcement or demeaned with his calls for four liberal House Democratic women, three of whom were actually born in the US, to"go back" to where they came from before criticizing America.

"I don't see any serious plan or strategy to grow the party in urban America," said Curbelo, who was one of the few House Republicans to represent a seat with large populations of immigrant and non-white voters. "And I see very limited effort to grow the party among the Hispanic community which was a major priority during the George W. Bush years and even afterwards during the Obama presidency. That is now virtually non-existent."

Instead, Curbelo said, Trump "uses cities to intensify the culture war and agitate his base."

Trump's victory in 2016, and his consistent support in polls from about 40-45% of the population, shows there is a significant audience for his hard-edged message on immigration and demographic change more broadly. But there is also a clear cost. In effect, Trump's bruising racially-infused nationalism is forcing the GOP to trade support among younger voters for older ones; secular voters for the most religiously conservative, especially evangelical Christians; diverse voters for whites; white collar whites for blue-collar whites; and metro areas for non-metro areas.

Since Trump's emergence Republicans have consolidated their control of small-town, exurban and rural communities. But that has come with significant losses for the GOP inside metropolitan areas even in red states, like Texas and Georgia.

The trade Trump is imposing on the GOP was apparent in 2016 and enormously intensified in 2018.

In 2016, Trump lost 16 of the 20 states where foreign-born residents constituted the largest share of the population and won 26 of the 30 states where they represent the smallest shares. Even in the relatively more diverse states he won, he lost the vast majority of the big urban centers where immigrants and other minorities generally concentrate. Overall, Trump lost 87 of the 100 largest US counties to Hillary Clinton by a combined margin of over 15 million votes, according to calculations by the Pew Research Center. Trump offset these losses by amassing the largest margins for Republicans in decades in small-town, exurban and rural areas.

In 2018 House races, Republicans suffered only very modest losses outside of metropolitan area districts. And they gained three Senate seats in states with large populations of white voters who are rural, blue-collar, or evangelical Christians: North Dakota, Indiana and Missouri. But the party was routed in metropolitan House seats that contained significant populations of minorities, immigrants, singles, college-educated white voters, or all of the above. After sweeping losses in suburban districts from coast to coast, the GOP under Trump has been almost completely exiled from the dynamic metropolitan areas that account for the nation's vast majority of job growth and economic output.

Democrats now hold over four-fifths of the House seats where minorities exceed their share of the national population and nearly 9 in 10 of the House seats with more foreign-born residents than average, according to a CNN analysis of census data. In the Senate, Democrats partially offset the Republican gains in older and rural Midwestern states by adding seats in the diverse, younger, rapidly growing Sunbelt battlegrounds of Arizona and Nevada. The result is that after the 2018 election, Democrats now hold 32 of the 40 Senate seats in the 20 states with the highest share of immigrants in their population while Republicans hold 45 of the 60 in the 30 states with the fewest. In 2020, the top two Democratic Senate pick-up opportuntiies are among the top 20 immigration states -- Arizona and Colorado, with Georgia, another high-ranking state, presenting a more difficult chance. Democrats are also targeting about a dozen of the GOP House members remaining in high-immigrant seats.

Because undocumented immigrants tend to flow largely toward communities with large existing immigrant communities, that means the places most threatened by Trump's threat to increase ICE enforcement are almost all places that have already demonstrated hostility to him and the party he is reshaping in his image.

The non-partisan Migration Policy Institute estimates that there are at least 70,000 undocumented immigrants in 34 US counties; cumulatively those counties account for about 5.6 million undocumented immigrants, about half of the estimated US total. (The top 10 counties alone, all of them major metropolitan areas, account for nearly one-third of the total undocumented population.) In 2016, Trump lost 31 of those 34 counties and in 2018 two of those he carried-- Maricopa, around Phoenix in Arizona, and Tarrant, centered on Fort Worth in Texas-- broke for the Democrats in Senate races.

...Trump "has been able to convince folks that their way of life has been impacted primarily by the presence of undocumented immigrants in this country and I think that that message resonates more than anywhere else with the communities that just don't have close contact with them," Elorza said. "I personally live in a community where I know for a fact there are undocumented immigrants around. I see them. And if you get to know them you see they are not a threat to you. When you are not exposed to them you are more susceptible to buying this (negative) narrative, because you have the President of the United States telling you this is the case."

Conversely, Curbelo says he sees signs that too many Democrats are abandoning the hope of forging connections in less diverse, less urban areas generally more skeptical of immigrants. "Obviously Republicans are not doing enough to change (the divide) and frankly Democrats aren't either," he says. "You hear some Democrats say we don't want a white presidential candidate; that's just as improper and scandalous. The bases of each respective party have too much of a gravitational pull."

Trump's unrelentingly divisive agenda and language-- and the sharp Democratic response it has generated-- seems guaranteed in the 2020 election to widen the chasm between diverse, white-collar, immigrant-friendly urban America, where opposition to the President is centered, and his strongholds in preponderantly white, blue-collar, heavily Christian, non-urban America.

This week's repeated use of openly racist language from the White House-- like the new policy battles over ICE enforcement and asylum seekers, and the earlier struggles over Trump proposals to measure citizenship on the census, build a border wall, separate children from parents at the border, punish "sanctuary cities," and slash legal immigration by the largest amounts since the 1920s-- show how committed the President is to mobilizing his "coalition of restoration" even at the price of inflaming the Democrats' "coalition of transformation" and potentially alienating swing voters.

The racially incendiary conflicts of the past few days have provided perhaps the clearest preview yet of what's approaching as the places that represent what America is becoming square off against the places that reflect what it has been in next year's epic struggle for control of the nation's direction.

The Republicans are trying to redefine the Democratic Party as "socialism," AOC and Ilhan and Trump's tweets reinforce that. Virtually every e-mail from Republican groups and candidates mention socialism, AOC and Ilhan. Here's one I got yesterday from some douche bag mayor of Laguna Hills campaign against Katie Porter.Republicans hate Porter because she is effective in holding banksters accountable but most CA-45 voters would agree with her on that, so instead...

We are running against an extreme AOC-backed, self-described Elizabeth Warren protege who doesn’t just whisper about being a radical liberal, she embraces it. While Porter’s campaign is stuffed with socialist cash from members like Ilhan Omar, Sedgwick’s campaign is people-powered from everyday Americans who believe in family values, capitalism and the American Dream.

"People-powered" if corporate PACs are people and "family values" if those values have been redefined as racism, xenophobia and the total trashing of Jesus' message to mankind-- with children in cages and Trump and his cronies raping children. Meanwhile, if you can stomach it, here are the clueless congressional leaders of the American Nazi Party doing a press conference yesterday before the vote, apparently trying to rally their troops and their racist base. Note the venom dripping out of the Cheney daughter's mouth: