L.A. Protests Are Not A Distraction

Yay! Politics! Aren’t you all thrilled? Don’t worry — I am certain that someone in tech will do something stupid again soon.

Adam Schiff, senator from California, stated that the LA protests were a distraction form the horrible cuts to health care, science, and apple pie in the Trump budget bill. He claimed that Trump wants us talking about immigration instead of his bill. This attitude is what is killing the Democrats as an opposition party, and thus letting Trump impose his authoritarianism on the country.

First, before anyone complains no not all Democrats. Some have been their usual good selves, some have been surprisingly good. (Jeffries, Harris, and Booker among them). Some have been surprisingly bad (I expected much better from Senator Murphy, for example) But the party is divided on its response to the protests and violence ICE and the LAPD are imposing on the city. The argument seems to be that Medicare cuts are the big winner for the Democrats, so they should not talk about anything else so as not to decrease the salience of the issue in voter’s minds. It is an incredibly short-sighted worldview and one that is destined to backfire.

First, you don’t get to always decide what the public does and does not care about. Everyone knows that Trump has been gunning to remove any immigrant from the country for as long as he’s been, well, in public life. A man who removes protections from deportation from Afghans who literally fought and bled alongside US soldiers is not a man interested in decency or justice. This was always coming and has been ramping up since he took office the second time. Not being prepared to deal with the situation is political malpractice.

Second, public opinion is not fixed. Trump’s immigration numbers were driven into the negative when Senator Van Hollen tried to visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia in Ecuador. The Black Lives Matter protests help Biden win in 2020. Active support of an issue consolidates your partisans and forces people who think that “well, everyone knows X” to grapple with the fact that well, everyone does not know X. Some of those people end up changing their minds. ICE is arresting people who are protected from deportation, raiding children’s birthday parties and schools, and denying due process to immigrants, and targeting people who are at work and therefor contributing to the country. Most people do not agree with or are uncomfortable with those actions. Pushing their wrongness gives people space to say themselves that those actions are wrong.

Third, and most important: those actions are wrong. This is fundamental question about what kind of country America is going to be. Trump sent troops in to deal with peaceful protests — even the LAPD, who never met a protestor or reporter they didn’t want to shoot, said the protests were peaceful — over the objection of state and local officials. They are detaining people who have orders against removals, give every appearance of ignoring court orders, and are not adhering to the simple, basic freedom that all people in the country enjoy: their day in court. Whether you like it or not, people care, and care deeply, about the kind of country their and their children are going to live in. You cannot and should not hide from that fact.

Look, I get it: most of you never thought you’d have to be in this position. You have the unfortunate luck to be an elected leader in interesting times. But you are an elected leader, and you either have to live up to that title or you step aside for someone who will. Because if you cannot take a stand, if you cannot choose between police state and democracy, then why are you for? And just as importantly, what makes you think that anyone will care whether or not you are re-elected?