WE MUST DO BETTER!

By Ruth A. Sheets

September 30, 2025

 It seems to me our Democratic leadership is not even playing on the same field as Republicans.  Perhaps, Democratic leaders are too much of the past to even imagine the EVIL that is the childish Donald Trump and the way he is being "helped along" by his sycophantic toddler pool, led by Steve Miller, Russell Vought, John Roberts, and some other ghouls hiding in the shadows.  The toddler pool has no guardrails on their behavior or their desire for supreme power.  They want to be victorious comic book bad guys while pretending they are the "saviors of mankind" and I do mean MANKIND. 

 This crew is delighted with its good fortune, having taken over most of our nation’s institutions after 5 decades of preparation and sometimes narrow escapes from detection.  They ran an insurrection on January 6, 2021, called by the incompetent president, and literally got  away with it.  Donald Trump was the perfect figurehead for their aims: 

• Trump is ignorant of most things unless specifically pertaining to himself
• He is well-known for being a “great businessman” when he was nothing of the kind
• he was a reality TV “star” whose acting was pathetic, but won the hearts of people who want to believe in fantasy, and love bullies
• he learned from an unscrupulous man, Roy Cohn, to bamboozle enough of the crowd they won’t notice what is really going on
• he has money, not nearly the amount he claims, but is desperate for more

 

The cadre of anti-Americans tried several names for their movement, the best-known to me were “The Tea party” and MAGA.  They saw their time had arrived when the United States elected Barack Obama, the first Black president.  They knew the level of racism in this country and were aware that they could rustle up even more support among their lily-white members, families, and friends. 

 They knew they couldn’t get power without someone like Donald Trump, a blow-hard who could bit by bit be shaped into just the kind of guy they could use while letting him continue to believe that he was the one running things.  They are obsessed with their ability to control so much of this nation, Donald Trump too, and so far, with minimal interference. Why, they even got him elected a second time, OMG! 

 The Democratic Party has been trying hard to play by the rules of our Constitution and our laws and mostly did a commendable job.  Then, some Democrats were taken in by the same oligarchs who commandeered Trump and have bought Senate and House as well as state legislative seats.  It becomes harder and harder to see where one’s loyalties lie when elections are purchased for them with enormous donations that are “perfectly legal,” thanks to Johnny Roberts and his cons in Citizens United.  The "old Dem leaders are too willing to capitulate and pretend it is bipartisanship; it isn't. 

 I, like many others understand it is time for new Democratic leadership.  We need younger, more progressive voices.  When polled, it is issues the progressives champion that are most popular with the American people:  universal healthcare, affordable housing for all, bodily autonomy for everyone, massive moves to stop climate change and make renewable energy available everywhere, sensible gun control, DEI for all, etc. 

 A great thing, we do have Democratic leaders ready to move into top positions.  I am thinking of:  Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (AOC), Jamie Raskin, Jasmine Crockett, Tim Walls, Pete Buttigieg, Gov. Pritzker, Katie Porter, Wes Moor, John Osoff, and many more.  They will need the guidance of Bernie Sanders and others who are excellent mentors too.  All of the above are fighters who know the truth and are willing to stand up against the Trump toddler pool to get things done. 

 Democrats need solid planks that every single rally or protest will include and every candidate will pledge to stand on.  In addition to the popular items listed above, we must have:   a strong emphasis on freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly, and protest (the First Amendment rights); equal justice under law (the words above the Supreme Court building but ignored by the Roberts 6) and due process; forbidding our military to be used against people living in this country, right nopw, Portland,, OR, a progressive Democratic city; climate justice and renewable energy; a fair tax code where the wealthy pay at least as high a percentage as other Americans or higher; an easier path to citizenship; a high-quality public education priority for all students, uninfected with religious or political propaganda requirements and no banning of books; improved farming practices and sufficient food for all; improved international aid wherever it is needed; tariffs dumped.  You get the idea. 

 I think a 10 to 12-point set of platform planks would work and number them so the crowds will get it and know that they are the major issues for ALL Democrats with specifics for each state and district.  This will work if we are in it together.