America Has Changed. So Must Democrats.

“Failure is the pillar of success” goes the adage. There is wisdom in that, and hope. It’s good that Republicans have decisively defeated the Democrats. There is no excuse, no crying foul, no ambiguity. Donald Trump has won the White House, the Popular Vote, the Senate and most likely, the House. 

For Democrats to overcome this stunning and total defeat will require a deep and brutal reordering of priorities.

Our Hispanic and white women population helped win women’s reproductive rights in 7 out of 10 red states but also supported Trump, the anti-abortion commander-in-chief, in those states.

We are bending over backward trying to explain this contradiction by invoking economic hardship and anti-immigration sentiments when the only reason is a toxic combination of racism, sexism, misogyny and male chauvinism. For these voters, electing a female president, far less a female president of color, is worse than hell.

We will not progress unless we learn to call a spade a spade, which is that America will not elect a female president, and certainly not a female president of color, in the next hundred years. If we Democrats want to win back the White House, the Senate, Congress and the popular vote, we must field a relatively young, white male to contest for the presidency, starting in 2028, political correctness be damned.

So forget the pundits offering their earnest post-mortem analysis: Biden was too late to call it quits, Kamala Harris did not go through a trial by fire, and although she excelled in set pieces like the presidential debate, when it came to answering questions about American workers barely making rent, she completely botched it. Too many Americans were left in the dark about who she really was and what she stood for. We mistook shadow for substance, carried away by Republicans for Harris while ignoring ordinary Democrats clamoring for her attention. And on and on.

Make no mistake: If Harris won, this same chattering class would be riding their high horses to condescendingly tell us: “I told you so!”

So what now?

We must put our efforts into grassroots activism at the local, state and national levels. Some may counter this by saying, “But we were doing it!” To which I will respond, “Only as a show, that is, in a performative way in the spotlight, and not focusing on genuine performance on the ground, far from the limelight.”

Consider the endless parade of mega-rich celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, LeBron James and First Couples Michell and Barack Obama and Hillary and Bill Clinton giving their full-throated endorsement to Harris. After a while, though, it came across as hypocritical when these super-wealthy people claimed that their hearts were bleeding for us working stiffs.

While we must be generous and kind to our fellow Americans irrespective of their political affiliations, it is equally necessary that we fight injustice and any attempt to subvert the law of the land. Given his demagogic nature, Trump is likely to make such attempts on the very day he takes the helm. We must be prepared. Already Trump’s sycophant, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, has called for Republicans to secure Trump’s "third term" following her victory in Colorado's 4th District in the 2024 election. Even though the 22nd Amendment prohibits a third term, we must be prepared if Republicans, with Trump’s certain approval, try to break it. Overcoming the amendment will not succeed but with Trump and his pliant, blind followers, nothing is beyond the pale.

Here is the text of the 22^nd Amendment:

Section 1

No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

Section 2

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.

The language is confusing for ordinary Americans like me but I only need to understand the first 14 words to know that Trump cannot run for a third term.

So, in a sense, as soon as Trump takes office, he also becomes a lame-duck president. Yes, he will preside over what are expected to be four tumultuous years from 2025 to 2028, but that will also be the permanent end of his presidency.

Who will represent the Democrats in the 2028 presidential election? I hope Democrats will not overlook the very real and ever-present Puritanical streak that runs through the hearts of a majority of Americans which will prevent the election of any female president. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer or Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota is as capable as any male candidate, if not more, but they simply will not win even if either of them were to run against someone as unfit for the presidency as JD Vance.

Who then among the Democrats?

In my opinion, one of the safest choices we can make is Gavin Newsom, Governor of California.

Newsom, to his credit, has already made his move. On Wednesday, November 6, a day after Trump won the presidency, Newsom congratulated Trump but also wrote that “the freedom we hold dear in California are under attack, and we won’t sit idle. California has faced this challenge before, and we know how to respond. We are prepared, and we will do everything necessary to ensure Californians have the support and the resources they need to thrive.”

The Governor has called for a special session of California’s Legislature in December “to safeguard California values and fundamental rights in the face of an incoming Trump administration.”

California’s proactive Governor has begun his 2028 campaign for the presidency of the United States. It is not a moment too soon.

Let there be a contentious and bruising fight among Democratic aspirants for the presidency in 2028. A trial by fire is necessary but I am confident that Gavin Newsom will come through and return America to its rightful owners: to us Americans in all our maddening diversity and our hunger for a “shining city upon a hill.”

Americans Demand the Impeachment of Donald Trump

Across America today - Saturday, June 15, 2019 - Americans from all walks of life held rallies to demand the impeachment of Donald Trump for the numerous criminal activities he engaged in since becoming president. I attended the rally in front of City Hall in San Jose, California. "Impeach Who?" asked the young man with the microphone. "Trump," we responded. "What do we want?" "Impeachment!" "When do we want it?" "Now!" But the biggest roar occurred when we yelled: "Nancy Pelosi, do your job!"

Abortion rights also figured prominently at the rally, men resolutely supporting women's rights to their bodies.

But rallies can go only so far. Already I am detecting signs of resistance fatigue in that our number at today's rally hovered around  a hundred. It will not matter, though, if we use the power of the vote to dump Trump in 2020, even if impeachment doesn't occur.

Pictures I took at the rally indicate the high emotions running through our minds. Let's resolve to steer the ship of state in the right direction through our votes in the 2020 presidential election.

Stirring Women's March in San Jose, California: A Muslim Perspective

(You can also read the article here.)

Chanting “This is what democracy looks like,” I joined 25,000 of my fellow Americans in downtown San Jose, Calif., as part of the worldwide Women’s March on January 21 to assert our rights against the unacceptable presidency of Donald Trump. We were among the more than 2 million women, men and children who rallied in almost 700 marches in 50 states and 32 countries in the world’s seven continents to demonstrate against the harrowing possibility of fascism taking root in the "land of the free and home of the brave."

It took us almost two hours to march from City Hall to Plaza de Cesar Chavez but what a march of swirling, energizing, kaleidoscopic humanity it was! The witty and incisive posters told the story as well as any narrative could: “Avoid Unwanted Presidencies,” “Girls Just Wanna Have FUNding for Planned Parenthood,” “Don’t Poke Mama Bear,” “A Woman’s Place Is in the Resistance,” “Let Me Choose My Own Path,” “We Are Here to Stay,” “Tiny Hands Won’t Hold Us Back,” “What Would MLK Do?”, “I Ain’t Going Back to the ‘50s,” “Women Are the Wall and Trump Will Pay,” “I Choose a Democracy of Justice & Compassion, Not a Trumpocracy of Cruelty & Greed,” “Science Before Stupidity,” “Tyrannical, Racist, Unscrupulous, Misogynistic, Plutocrat,” “He Grabbed Us by the Caucus!”, “Real Men Love Feminism,” “I Revolt Because He is Revolting,” and the incomparable, “Dear World, Majority of Americans Did NOT Vote for Him ... We are Sorry.”

At the Plaza, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo declared that San Jose, a city not known globally for its activism, “has awoken.” He spoke of his recent trip to Washington, D.C., where, he said, “I did not stay for the inauguration because I just couldn’t but I did take a long look at the White House before it turned into a hotel and a casino.” “This great city,” he said, “will not confront its peace-loving Muslims with a registry, but embrace them with equality.” 

Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez said the march represented the new civil rights movement of our time. “Promise yourself,” she said as the thousands roared their approval, “you will remember where you were when you changed history.” 

Maha ElGenaidi, founder of Islamic Network Group and a Bay Area activist, quoted a verse from the Quran: "'We made you into nations and tribes so you may know another.' This means diversity is built into the Divine plan," she explained. "This also means we must cherish our diversity, irrespective of our faith, race, gender, or sexual orientation."

There were many more speakers whose messages of solidarity, compassion and resistance in the face of tyranny, misogyny and kakistocracy (government by the worst persons) fired up listeners who filled the plaza with a vow that seemed to reach the sky: “We are here to stay.” 

I only had to look around at the river of humanity to know in my gut that the movement against the Trump presidency had only just begun.

As a Muslim American, I was drawn to posters held aloft by Jews and Christians in our support. Two in particular caught my attention: “We Stand With American Muslims,” and “Would Muhammad Ali Have Signed Trump’s Registry?” I expressed my gratitude to the woman and the man holding the two posters but because of the crush of the crowd, could not exchange names, although we managed to hug.

While my spirit was lifted by these selfless Americans driven to defend us from injustice, I also found myself growing sad and somewhat despondent. Where were the local Muslim-Americans? I counted just 10 that included my wife, but even if I missed others, the number could not have been more than a hundred. That would be about three Muslims per thousand in the march. “Pathetic” was the only word I could think of. The million dollar question, of course, was, “Why? Why did so few of my fellow Muslims did not show up?”

From my three decades of interaction with Muslims in the Bay Area, I knew it was not from a lack of concern for the well-being of America, nor from a lack of gratitude for what other Americans do for us.

To understand why, I asked some Muslims friends the day after the march why they were not at the historic event. 

“Well, we knew you would be there, so …” a few said guiltily. Others told me they were uncomfortable in big gatherings. 

“But you were there when Christians and Jews came to our Islamic Center to express their solidarity with us after we received that hate mail last November,” I reminded them. 

It dawned on me that many Muslims were comfortable being gracious hosts when people of other faiths come to visit our mosques, but when it is our turn to visit churches and synagogues and events like the Women’s March, many of us rely on a few “interfaith experts” to represent us. To me, this represents a serious lack of
self-assurance, with some insecurity and arrogance thrown in.

I don’t know if my analysis is right but what is clear is that Muslim-Americans must shed their sense of entitlement (let others go to bat for us), insecurity and religious chauvinism to become full participants in American democracy. Otherwise, we will not move beyond a permanent and debilitating sense of victimhood. Now more than ever, when president Trump has explicitly called for banning Muslim immigrants to the U.S., we need to be bold and collectively speak out against any executive order that undermines American values.

There will be many more marches against Trump’s un-American policies.
Muslim-Americans must be at the forefront of these marches.