Green Tea, Anyone? An Antidote to Trump
January 31, 2017
by William P. Meyers

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"I'd love to change the world, but I don't know what to do."

I have met a lot of leftist organizers, and every one thought that she or he or it was smarter than the organizers of the Tea Party. Including me.

Donald Trump is in touch with some parts of reality, and out of touch with others. He is famously a devotee of "The Power of Positive Thinking." He beat Hillary Clinton in the election against all odds, after beating Republican heavyweights like Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz in the primaries. He has never been a Tea Party member, but he has certainly shared many of the views of that group, and influenced it.

Not every Republican is in the Tea Party, or agrees with the full Tea Party program. But for practical purposes the nation is now ruled by Tea Party Republicans.

Whereas the American left does not even control the Democratic Party. Half the time the left can't even keep political control of Berkeley, California.

So how do all these leftist organizers figure they are smarter than Tea Party organizers?

Well, they make lists of stupid Tea Party beliefs. Top of the lists: evolution v. creationism; global warming v. not; God v. not; Social Security v. not.

They fail to make lists of their own stupid beliefs: Trotskyism, Leninism, Marxism, Maoism, Situationism, and the ever present dangers of gluten and corporate products.

To put it simply, if my car engine dies (or say a bus engine, since many leftists think I should not own a car), do I care if the repair person believes in Jesus or not? Global warming or not? No, I want the repair person to know how to fix my car.

Lefties, lets face up to the facts: Tea Party organizers showed they are better at organizing than we are. Hands down. Stop making excuses.

Traditionally conservatives have done well in times of American prosperity, but the people have turned left in times of economic train wrecks. That did not happen when the Great Recession began in 2008. True, Barack Obama became President and for 2 years had a Democratic Party majority in Congress. But out of work, angry people gravitated to the Tea Party. And the Tea Party, considered as a movement, has grown ever since.

The Tea Party helped elect Trump. True, the ultra-conservative followers of Ted Cruz and other former Tea Party leaders were not enthusiastic about Trump at first, and a few are still playing right-wing dissident. In some ways the Republicans are in disarray, but they have at least two years to sort out their differences.

The Left did not help elect the Democratic nominee. I watched them do everything they could to stab Hillary in the back.

You would think that Obama presiding while the economy turned around would have helped Hillary, but no. A lot of people who were on food stamps in 2009 think anyone still on food stamps is a shirker wasting taxpayer dollars. Most people want what they always want: more for themselves. And Trump was better at promising more. Hillary promised more, every politician promises more. Leftist sects promise a society where everyone makes $60,000 a year whether they work or not, and in addition stuff like healthcare is free. So why can't leftists get elected.

It is clear the left hated Hillary more than they hate Trump. Trump is no real threat to them, though they call him a Hitler. He is a fundraising bonanza. The left may not be any good at elections, but the left loves, loves, loves demonstrations. After the women's march and the airport demos, leftist organizers are pinning medals on their own chests and counting up new members, dues paid, and donations.

Which will not bring the left to power. Never has in the United States, and never will. In the U.S. you come to power through the democratic process. You have to get votes and win hearts and minds and the low offices that don't pay well and are a pain in the ass, but that prepare ordinary, non-celebrity, non-rich, not connected to powerful people to office. Tom Hayden was one of the few leftists from the 1960s who learned and applied that lesson.

I have no problems with leftists who state facts fairly and clearly and express views to the left of mainstream Democrats and progressive Democrats. I don't think everyone needs to join the Democratic Party. But I think actions have consequences. The passing around of false information about Hillary Clinton, by leftists, was shameful. You know who you are, Bernie supporters and Green Party people and old male hippies and Lenin-wesen. You put Trump into power. I know that you see that as not a short-term setback, but a long-term opportunity. But you are wrong.

Winning in the Congressional elections in 2018 is not about being even more hateful of progressive Democrats. It is about reminding working class voters of all types that they have been treated unfairly by the upper classes (not just the 1%) and deserve not just higher wages, but real respect as individual human beings.

American citizens deserve a world that is not warming, good-paying jobs, freedom, tolerance, and fair treatment in the marketplace. Economic prosperity is a good thing, and it come from coordination between government and private industry, not the destruction of either government or the private sector. The left needs to drop its 19th-century ideological bullshit and put forward a pragmatic program for the 21st century. In language that ordinary voters can relate to.

Tthen get get back to basics: organize to win elected offices at every level.