This is going to be a brief diary because I’m stuck with work, so I apologize in advance.
Democrats and the nation were dealt a setback today by Kennedy’s retirement. It’s not an entirely unexpected one, and there are potential other, more painful Supreme Court losses ahead. Some believe that we can keep the Republicans from installing whichever gutter scum they want in the vacancy. I doubt that’s possible, but that’s not what this diary is about.
We will lose many other battles to come. Painful ones. There is no doubt of that. But if we are to win the final war, which is really the preservation of our nation in the face of a determined group with a horrendous ideology, we must, immediately, take even tiny steps to prepare for future victories. Otherwise, painful defeats like 2010, 2014, 2016 and today will keep coming, faster and worse.
If you can donate, give money to a preferred candidate in a swing district, or to the DSCC or the DCCC. Give to your local party. If you can’t give, show up at the next party meeting and ask what you can do to help. Write a letter to a local news organization saying they will lose your patronage if their coverage doesn’t become honest. Write an op-ed. Talk to a friend and tell them to get another friend out to vote in your next local election, and in 2018 and in 2019 and in 2020…
Small steps now help lessen setbacks. Small steps now help prepare the ground for victory. The Republicans started on this path in the 60’s. They solidified it in the 80’s. Newt gave it new life in the 90’s. The Koch’s and tea party perfected it in the last decade. They are playing a long game and we have to too.
Sometimes the only response to a setback, even a huge one, is to say, “tomorrow is another day”. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay didn’t make it up the mountain the first time.