That We All May Be One

So, I guess some on the Left (including a few already running for President in 2020) are goring Chuck Schumer and the majority of Senate Democrats for “caving in” on the government shut-down in exchange for a promise from Mitch McConnell to have a debate and  an up-or-down vote on DACA in the coming months.

There is no question but that this is risky, particularly considering the fact that no one really knows where Donald Trump will ultimately come down on this and whether or not he is prepared to twist some right-wing arms in the House of Representatives which is far less likely to pass anything remotely looking like amnesty for the Dreamers than are the senators.

But I hasten to remind my fellow lefties that politics is the art of compromise and the art of the possible. Personally, I would rather guarantee the safety and security of some 800,000 Dreamers in exchange for money for a so-called border wall which will not even be built for five years — plenty of time to flip both houses of Congress and elect a new President who could then re-direct whatever money is appropriated to some kind of reasonable border security, which could even include humane ways to detain and evaluate those seeking a new life in the “land of the free and home of the brave” without the benefit of legal status.

I wonder how many of those now howling about a Democrat cave-in bothered to vote in 2016 or wasted their vote supporting some third or fourth party candidate. With those votes, we would now have a Democrat in the White House no matter how much Russian interference took place to swing the election Trump’s way. I was happy to see so many of my fellow “resisters” hitting the streets last weekend protesting the Administration as well as witnessing for women’s equality and rights.

Now, I would suggest they hit the streets and the phones, working hard for Democratic candidates up and down the ballot in 2018. The time is right to begin reversing one of the most heartless and dangerous courses this country has ever been on. Politics is the art of the possible. But possibilities begin with an informed and engaged citizenry willing to make sacrifices and to stand bravely for the principles they believe in…and on which this nation was founded.

This entry was posted on January 23, 2018 at 3:30 pm and is filed under Ecumenical, Emergent Church, Justice and Peace, Politics, Politics, The Episcopal Church, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.