A musing Beam

This is the second installment of a series of posts on lessons we progressives should take on the election. The overview is here . One area that the message put forth by progressives is counter-productive is when intents are discussed instead of outcomes.  (Conservatives, of course, do this, too, but they are not my focus here.)  Let me go through some examples. The biggest example is using the term “racist.”  I don’t know that we’ve had an actual racist President in several decades, but every election that term is brought out. People said Mitt Romney was racist because of some "free stuff" comments after his NAACP address .   McCain was called a racist who reminded Rep. Lewis of George Wallace.  It happens virtually every election. The end result is that the term "racist" is so watered down that it has lost its meaning.  People are so jaded that, when the KKK announces its support for Trump and the KKK and the American Nazi party praises Trump's choice of

After my long list of blog posts leading up to the election, I’ve been trying to reassess.  I was pretty sure we had that one in the bag, and so that means I was out of touch. Others have been focusing on the many areas where progressives take issue with President Trump and his actions, and that is important – even vital – work.  But in this series, I’m not going to discuss Russia or North Korea, or executive actions, or SCOTUS, or cabinet members, or anything else like that.  Instead, I’m going to talk about where I think those with progressive values, like me, have missed the boat. First, let me assert my qualifications as a "liberal elite." I have a juris doctorate (so I'm over-educated). Especially for Arkansas, I make a pretty good paycheck. I drive a Civic Hybrid, and I still have a "Madame President for America" bumper sticker in the rear window.  I think that white privilege is still a real and systemic thing that should be addressed, I try to use the