Democrats should be honest about their plans for vengeance, and let the voters decide.

Rob Goodman, a post-doctoral researcher at McGill University, is mad. At Trump. And Republicans.

For supposedly breaking so many norms of political behavior that dramatic action is needed by Democrats to save the Republic.

Goodman, referencing a book from David Faris, summarizes some of what needs to be done, Hey Democrats, Fighting Fair Is for Suckers:

The list of those changes is dizzying. Grant statehood to D.C. and Puerto Rico, and break California in seven, with the goal of adding 16 new Democrats to the Senate. Expand the Supreme Court and the federal courts, packing them with liberal judges. Move to multi-member House districts to roll back the effects of partisan gerrymandering. Pass a new Voting Rights Act, including nationwide automatic voter registration, felon enfranchisement and an end to voter ID laws. Grant citizenship to millions of undocumented immigrants, creating a host of new Democratic-leaning voters: “Republicans have always feared that immigration would change the character of American society. Democrats should reward them with their very worst nightmare.”

The notion that Republicans have broken so many norms that such drastic action is needed is absurd. Who broke the norm of accepting the result of an election? If was the Democrats and #TheResistance, who tried to intimidate Electoral College Electors into changing their votes. It is the Democrats who abolished the judicial filibuster in 2013, only to see it come back to bite them. It was Democrats, who applauded Obama’s “pen and phone” to make end runs around Congress.

The breaking of norms detailed by Goodman is actually the unraveling of the breach of norms by Democrats and Obama.

But regardless of who you think started it, Democrats should be honest about their plans for vengeance.

Make it part of Democrats’ platform, tell the voters what you intend to do.

See how it turns out.



