There is still a moral center in this country

For the past few decades, but specifically for the past fourteen years, with the artificial creation of the Tea Party, we as a country have been treated to the worst of us. And those who are the worst of us have been mainstreamed as speaking for the majority. Today we're seeing this with—in addition to MAGA—the anti-Israel radicals occupying university campuses, demanding that authorities submit to their demands.

This past weekend, though, we saw that they are not the moral center of this country. They are not the majority. They're not even a plurality.

The House of Representatives, by a comfortable margin, passed aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. Now, yes: a majority of the GOP caucus voted against these packages. But they were overwhelmed by Democrats and their fellow Republicans who are not in thrall to hostile foreign states, or hostile domestic ideologies. Even for aid to Israel, the rebellion among Democrats was minor.

And then this poll came out yesterday:

One of Biden’s best polls of the year:
51-48 among Reg Voters
53-47 among Likely Voters https://t.co/CTxvirwJIc

— Simon Rosenberg (@SimonWDC) April 22, 2024

Of course, all the usual caveats about polling. But even when the mainstream media pushed doom polls for President Joe Biden's reelection, I knew two things: 1. Those polls were flawed, and 2. As we neared the election, the polling would swing in Pres. Biden's favor.

And it will only continue to improve. The primaries are over. No one even comments much on the remaining weekly or biweekly contests. We know who the candidates will be. And that has clarified things.

The Republican standard-bearer, Donald Trump, is now in the middle of a summer of chaos. He is currently standing trial in a Manhattan court over his effort to interfere in the 2016 election by paying off Stormy Daniels to keep details of their one-night stand secret. Today Judge Arthur Engoron will hear a motion from New York Attorney General Leticia James asking him to reject the bond Trump put up for the fraud appeal due to itself being fraudulent. On Thursday the Supreme Court hears arguments about Trump's claim of absolute presidential immunity—something not found anywhere in the Constitution, and a power which I would wager none of the justices would want to give to Pres. Biden. Yes, he'll lose that argument. Once he does, the insurrection trial in Washington, DC can be scheduled and commence. All this in addition to the RICO prosecution in Fulton County, GA, and the stolen documents case in Florida, where rulings from his bought judge Aileen Cannon have been going against him. Most of the money he raises from his dupes go not to contest November's election, but to pay his lawyers to keep him out of prison.

We've already seen that the Manhattan trial has had devastating effects on Trump's image. Stories about him sleeping at the defense table and passing gas as he dozes have become the stuff of memes. Trump will have to sit at that table, day after day, as prosecution witnesses read him for filth. These are the kinds of process cases which the state rarely loses. The odds are against Trump.

The moral center of this country holds. It is a moral center which acknowledges this nation's mistakes, and all of its myriad problems. But it is a center which avers that presidents are not kings, that democracy is the bedrock of the American people, and that America must and will stand by its allies in the face of the fascistic "Axis of Resistance" wishing to do away with the rules-based international order which has been upheld by the United States since the end of World War II. Some people, the world over, yearn for America to fall, to suffer for its "arrogance". And yet they are the minority. America is still the indispensable nation, because no other country can mobilize coalitions and alliances to combat threats to peace and life. 

This young century has tried American resilience. The attacks of September 11, 2001, led to a war of choice against a nation which had nothing to do with the attacks, sinking us into a quagmire the effects of which we still suffer. Our attempt at saving Afghanistan failed, because in the end the leaders of the country—and, let's be frank, the men of the country—didn't have the stomach to fight for it. The four-year Trump reign sank us to a new low.

Twice now, Democratic leaders have had to restore this country's image and standing in the world. The fact that they have been able to accomplish that, the fact that the world hasn't given up on America, is a testament. The center will hold. Mere anarchy will not be loosed upon the world. That rough beast slouching towards Bethlehem will be defeated.

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