For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow

Hats off to Donald J. for a truly exceptional presidency.

Trump voters – this one’s for you and your charismatic leader. In four short years, the MAGA team upended global media, business and politics. Let’s take a moment to let this remarkable achievement sink in.

Disruptive Innovation” is a term for creating new value and growth in an existing system by knocking all the established frameworks and alliances out of whack. When cars were invented, BOOM! Everything changed: there were new jobs, hobbies, industries, scenery… Entire cities were revamped. Trump’s been kind of like that, for the nation.

Let’s think about the Trumpian experience from another lens besides the negative one.

He’s created for us an incredible opportunity to step into the light! To address the unpleasant truths we’ve kept hidden about our country’s laws and history. The stuff Polite Society has been making excuses for, and allowing to quietly perpetuate.

I’m not just talking about racism. Trump’s disregard for custom and procedure, for instance, exposed real vulnerabilities in our governance. I had no idea a sitting president couldn’t be indicted, did you? I was also surprised to learn world leaders as a policy aren’t censored on social media no matter how untrue or inflammatory their posts.

Thanks to Trump’s global influence, though, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have begun re-thinking their practices, adding fact-check labels and even deleting entire threads. In Washington, former “free speech” lawmakers are admitting some regulations make sense. Sorry, sacred cows. This administration has never stood on ceremony; as a result, we’re ripe for reform.

Let’s start with our polling process! I think we can all agree that voting in a democracy does not need to be complicated: one person, one vote. Districts? Electors? Nah, how about we mail everyone ballots and mark down the ones that come back. Keep your damn software. Hire and train people to verify votes according to bipartisan standards. Let’s see some good jobs come from these fraud charges, at least.

And let’s build on this momentum! Love him or hate him, Trump brought more Americans to the polls than any other president in the history of our country. He also left a wide window for us to evaluate our system of government and to address the gaping holes in its foundation. Perhaps now it can be made inclusive instead of exclusive.

Over two-thirds of 240 million eligible US voters cast a ballot in 2020 – that’s 161 million people. More than the entire population of Russia. What a gift we’ve been given, all these citizens activated at once. But wait, it gets better:

Roughly 80 million untapped voters are waiting to be targeted. Another 7 million Americans will turn 18 by the mid-term elections. We the people are becoming a force! Democracy isn’t dying, it’s being reborn. Trump has ripped down the “Wizard of Oz” curtain, revealed the crooked farce that’s become of our government. And that’s energized us!

For too many decades, we were complacent. We were naïve. We were selectively blind. All of us, across the political spectrum. Now party lines are cracking. Progressive Dems have been protesting Biden over his corporate cabinet choices. And down in Georgia, Trump supporters are calling for Republicans to boycott January’s senate runoffs if the state isn’t certified red (despite election results). “We’re a new GOP!” one protestor was chanting outside the GA Capitol. I know how he feels.

We’re all sick of the kabuki theater in Washington. We don’t trust our elected officials. We want more voice, more access; less pandering and zero corruption. When we vote, we want it to count. When politicians fail us, we need ways to hold them accountable.

None of us want buffoons representing us in Washington. The first step is admitting there’s a problem and, thanks to Trump, we’re well on our way.

Agree? Disagree? Email drwoodson@nwlocalpaper.com or leave your comment below. For more information, please follow the source links in this article.

LAST MONTH’S COLUMN: “Takes a Pillage”

About Lorenzo Woodson 37 Articles
Dr. Lorenzo Woodson (Ph.D., RBT, CC, LBS) is a licensed behavior analyst specializing in clients on the autism spectrum. He lives in Germantown with his wife of 24 years, and lectures nationally for social causes. Lorenzo is a member of Men Who Care of Germantown. Connect with Lorenzo on Facebook or email him at drwoodson@nwlocalpaper.com.

8 Comments

  1. Good article you wrote. Absolutely he brought the light. A sitting president CAN be indicted…..it is a DOJ OPINION, not law. It was also written for a President that was ACTUALLY governing not golfing. The only ones that could turn this thing around was white people…racism is Their disease and THEY had to fix it. The Portland Moms did that, that’s why they were attacked. The haters can’t believe that ALL white folks don’t hate Blacks. Yes, I thank him for his corrupt service, it is a Global light. The planets have aligned and the message is WE MUST CHANGE IN ORDER TO SURVIVE! Merry Horususmas!

  2. Thank you, Carrie, for reading the Local. It gives us great pleasure in knowing we have reached such objective readers. Continue to check out more of the Local podcast they are also informative platforms.
    Thank you

  3. Your one person/one vote mail model doesn’t really work for those who are house-less.

    I wouldn’t say Trump brought everyone out to the polls. More than likely it was the electorates yearning for a populist agenda. We had Bernie in 2016 that really started to kick off the recent populist movement. Being the only populist candidate left vs. the DNC corporate elitists (Hillary Clinton) Trump was propelled into the presidency. It took the buy-in and support of the left to take Trump out. The Philly and PA Dem parties did nothing in Philadelphia and across the state. The Working Families Party and other progressive grassroots orgs on the ground did the work on mail-in voting education (Oh, you didn’t know the city and state Dem party don’t want you to vote by mail?). Populism started it, then the DNC sold out again to corporate elites and Republicans sold out to white-Christian militarist populism, and now Trumps form of populism was rejected.

    I don’t know how great is to laugh off 300k dead and 8M out of work with “Twitter has special rules for politicians” and “can the president be inducted.”

    • Curious: what do you propose if states sending ballots automatically (and automatic voter registration) isn’t inclusive enough?

      • I think since we are in a position to examine the voting process and do an autopsy on the past election. We can all agree to take steps to make it easier. Put a referendum on the ballot not only for states but for the federal government that states when you apply for a state licence or drivers license it automatically allows you to be registered to vote. We can make this simple folk we really can.

    • Hello CG good to hear your perspective. I love and embrace different views on any matter. I grew up as an orphan and been homeless several times in my life as early as from birth to 24 years of age in and out of institutions. Dealing with corrupt systems in every area of life. From criminal justice to foster care and housing I can go on and on. I like to feel I can relate to you on this matter. You see what I think we have in common is we are resilient and can look at situations and challenges in our life from a positive perspective and take some meaning of possibility from them. Which leads me to my question for you. What are you going to do about it?

      Let us continue our solution based position so that a real revolution for the people can take place. We cannot let what you called the DNC corporate elitist dictate to us. I like the Political Action Committee (PAC) you just stated. How are you going to begin this movement to make sure Biden and Kamala meet the demand of “The Working Families Party?” Teach us how to create a PAC. We are in this together we want the same things really. Grateful for you and keep reading the Local.

      • There are plenty of existing progressive organizations that would love to have chapters based out of NW Philly. Right now, the only orgs/PACs I’m aware of operating in NW Philly are Reclaim Philadelphia (had 4 endorsed Dem candidates win races this fall – Fiedler, Krajewski, Rabb, Saval), Neighborhood Networks, and maybe Indivisible. All have been involved with GOTV efforts (locally and across the state), fundraising, and holding political education events. From what I understand, the Reclaim group for East Falls, Roxborough, Manayunk, and Wissahickon have met a couple times since the summer and have promoted neighborhood clean-ups, charity/mutual aid, and other political education virtual events for members and the community at large.

  4. I really liked the process this year and they should expand it a little. Auto-registration and ballot mailing works, but shouldn’t be the last resort and be all/end all like this article suggests. Throw in the auto-system with expanded satellite offices open everyday leading up to the election (maybe even 24/7?). Once the ballot is approved people should be able to vote where-ever is easier for them without restrictive ID requirements. In a perfect world we would have off on Election Day – but until we have that people should be able to vote anywhere and anytime so many days before the election (in PA the ballot is approved 40-50 days before?). College ID, bus pass, state ID, any government agency ID, or public health non-profit ID that receives local or state government funding/grants and assists with housing and healthcare for at-risk communities.
    We also need to find a better way to make it easier for voters with intellectual disAbilities. We need people trained to assist these voters – most importantly with ballot questions that others often struggle with.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.