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#  No, We Can’t

October 12 2017

Written by David Bell.

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BELL VIEW-While Trump angles for war anywhere he can find it, many of his supporters are asking for peace. We need a reasonable debate, they say. We need to pull together as Americans. Mass shootings like the one in Las Vegas will only stop, they say, when we stop the hate. Can’t we all just get along?

Like potential negotiations with Kim Jong Un, any discussion of a truce with Trump supporters comes with preconditions. In particular, one non-negotiable precondition: You must first disavow Trump. For the sake of moving forward to solve the looming existential crises crawling out of every crevice of our world, a rational argument can be made for reaching common cause with *former* Trump supporters. I’m not saying I’m ready to do it myself. Personally, I’m not. I am filled with hatred and resentment at the millions who foisted this disgrace on our country. I have no shortage of friends, commenters, and family members who tell me this rage is counter-productive. Still, it’s real.

But like my old man always said: You can’t get the shit back in the horse. What’s done is done. Those who supported Trump will always bear the stain of their actions. It can’t be taken back. Nonetheless, for purposes of this discussion, let’s assume we can reach across the divide and work together to solve our common problems.

How, exactly, would that work?

We currently live in a world where our safety from nuclear disaster depends upon Kim Jong Un’s instinct for survival. Think about that. Many of us believe “the generals” will be able to stop Trump from launching a preemptive nuclear strike. But Constitution contradicts that belief. There is no protocol for launching a nuclear attack beyond the president’s order. Maybe some brave officer or general will stand up to a 2 a.m. order to launch. But the entire infrastructure of our nuclear deterrent is based upon unquestioned obedience to a presidential order. If the soldiers with their fingers on the launch buttons are second-guessing the command to launch, we really don’t have a realistic deterrent.

And that’s just nuclear war. On every issue, Trump is marching us backward or in the direction of quantifiable evil. He is pro-coal in a warming world. He has taken the Dreamers hostage to his xenophobic agenda. He has poked the Iranian hornet’s nest.

Some of the more troglodyte followers of Donald Trump like to talk about the possibility of a civil war if he is removed from office. But, from my perspective, the civil war has already begun. Right now, it’s a cold war – but the time has come to ramp up the offensive. Hard sanctions need to be placed upon jurisdictions that advance the cause of Trumpism. That means places like California need to begin divesting any holdings in Red States or corporations sympathetic to Trump. And we the people need to direct our money away from the criminal enterprise that has hijacked the country.

Can we all get along? Sure. I suppose. But until you dump Trump, the conversation is a non-starter.

*(David Bell is a writer, attorney, former president of the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council and writes for CityWatch.Prepped for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.)*

*-cw*

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