What Progressives Can Expect In A New America (GOP Has No Intention Of Working With Democrats)

Let’s be really clear about what happened on Election Day.

The GOP will not be “crossing the aisle.” 

Republican voters, fueled by Ebola and ISIS fears, hatred of liberalism, gay people and Black people, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, a shift to the left by the general electorate, and all the advertising Koch Brothers money could buy, flooded polling stations yesterday and pronounced judgment in a vacuum created by Democratic complacence.

Let’s be honest.

If you’re reading this, you probably voted.

Thank you.

If you’re not, you probably didn’t.

And those who didn’t are the problem.

The majority of Democrats will never understand that democracy is a little bit like war. You can never let down your guard, you can never trust your opponent will do the right thing for the country, because time and time again Republicans and the Tea Party have proven otherwise.

They will not further an agenda that includes supporting a woman’s right to choose, a same-sex couple’s right to marry, an undocumented immigrant’s right to not be murdered in their home country, a child’s right to learn facts and not religious propaganda, a minority person’s right to equal opportunity, or the right of all to a planet not burning to death under its own pollution.

For a moment, take Fox News contributor Erick Erickson.

A few tweets from his Twitter account this morning:

And these he retweeted:

That’s New York Democratic candidate (and gay person) Sean Eldridge up there, married to Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes.

Or this tweet from a Twitter conservative with 88,000 followers:

So what can LGBT people and progressives expect now that the GOP (and dark money conservative billionaires) own both Houses of Congress, many more Governor’s mansions, and even local and state legislatures?

A renewed attempt to quash same-sex marriage.

The continued slow death of ENDA.

More attempts to ban abortion.

Zero chance of immigration reform that doesn’t deport millions of people back to their home countries where they have a 50-50 chance of being murdered.

A furthering of their war on science, women, the UN, the EPA, the Education Department, secularism, and progressive values.

Defunding of as much of Obamacare as they can manage.

Enshrining “religious liberty,” aka, religious discrimination, bigotry, and hate, into law.

Increased funding of the war machine, and American boots on the ground in the Middle East – and many American lives lost.

No Obama nominees confirmed for the federal courts – certainly not the U.S. Supreme Court.

An Attorney General battle to replace Eric Holder.

Infrastructure – bridges, roadways, and tunnels – collapsing.

Deregulation of the markets and commerce and banking.

No movement forward on minimum wage in Congress, despite wins at the state level.

And that’s just for starters.

Welcome to America 2014.

Time to fight back.

 

Image by DonkeyHotey via Flickr