I’m thinking about starting a new political movement–one with the goal of starting to bridge the political gap that often appears to be the forerunner of the next civil war. I call the movement “Stop Calling America Stupid” or SCAS. I am putting SCAS on grey baseball hats that I will sell online and hand out at SCAS rallies. SCAS is not a new political party or an effort to take over an existing one. It is a movement to encourage people to stop calling each other names. Nothing more.
In my opinion, America made a mistake on November 5. I worry about America’s future. For the next hundred years, historians will write about what led to Trump winning the election. Depending on what the next four years brings, MAGA voters will be credited with being prescient in bringing about much-needed change in American government or dismissed as voters who brought the wrong candidate to power. Some historians will make the same mistake many opinion leaders are making today—they will call MAGA voters stupid. The more charitable anti-Trump writers will call them “mistaken” or “misled.”
I like the later analysis because many Trump supporters, including a few who stoop to calling me a lunatic or “deranged,” are not stupid people. Some went to good colleges, have important jobs, and are solid family members. They look nothing like the beer-swigging, gun-toting militia members who are sometimes credited as being “Trump’s base.”
So, let’s acknowledge that you don’t have to be stupid to be glad Trump won the election. That means that there is hope. There is hope because it may be impossible to change the mind of a stupid person, but you can reason with an intelligent one. The problem is not the intelligent MAGA supporting understanding you but getting them to engage in discussions with you. And they will never engage in discussions with you if you are calling them stupid or if they are calling you deranged or suggesting that you be deported along with “migrant criminals.”
That is why America needs a cease-fire on the supercharged political rhetoric that has Made America Ugly Again. A case in point, we must stop calling the President-Elect a “NAZI.”
Like every ceasefire in history, this cannot happen unless one side takes the first step by stowing away its anger and hate. It needs to turn the other cheek when Donald Trump calls progressives communists, utters what they consider to be racial slurs, and makes proposals best described as acts of war—things like sending the army to Greenland to “take” it.
The Trump transition has made it difficult for those of us who might join my SCAS movement with his questionable presidential appointments, plans to pardon offensively named “January 6 patriots,” and his continued threats of retribution against his perceived enemies. Trump and MAGA are in the middle of a Dionysian dance of celebration that will not end for at least a few months. During this time, it will be unlikely for SCAS to make much progress, which is not to say that the effort to launch a civil dialogue should not begin now. Rather, it is urgent that it begins right now. Remember that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.
I will not wish Donald Trump “God Speed,” like Judge Merchan did as he handed Donald Trump his sentence in the “hush money” case. I don’t want to see his policies become the law of the land. Joining SCAS doesn’t mean abandoning principles or empathy for people whom you believe will be harmed by Trump’s policies. Instead, good SCAS members believe that Trump’s agenda will eventually fail, or will fail to be enacted and implemented and that America will be left with the need to Return America to What it Was Before Trump or Make America Something Different from What Trump Wants to Make It.
America is not lost. America is not in decline. And America has not repudiated democracy by electing Trump. We are on a detour, not an elevator descending to hell. There is hope. And the way to turn that hope into a change in policy is to stop calling America stupid and begin setting the stage to work with others on a new and improved path.
J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, and, too infrequently, other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s List on Medium and Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.
James O. Siegman says
As Mr. Dean says, we cannot alter the course we are on by calling our opponents (or America) stupid. We have been wholly unsuccessful at winning any hearts and minds by calling out the hypocrisy apparent in the words and actions of the MAGA big wigs as well as the true believers of MAGA out in the community. We may be able to win them with civility. And I don’t just mean NOT talking with them or rolling over for them but by having disciplined and difficult conversations in which we might establish common ground…if only on only one small issue at a time.
Wislon Dean says
This article proposes what is an absolute necessity to strengthening democracy in America. There can be no democracy without dialogue. We need an end to calling Trump supporters “stupid,” just as we need an end to Trump supporters calling opponents “woke.” Members of each side should join the concept of SCAS which would tolerate differences of opinion without being disrespectful. That would be an excellent starting point for our finding the best solutions to our problems without derailing the process by injecting personal insults into the process. Are both sides up to it?
John Dean says
Thanks, as always, for commenting. I wish I believed otherwise, but I’m not sure either side is ready for dialog yet. Hopefully that will come soon.
Deirdre LaMotte says
I am looking at what has happened, not in a political way, but empirically.
Millions chose to vote for a felon, a man who has dementia, who refers to his opponents in ways that no
well brought up person would ever utter. A man who loves Nazis because they support him; a narcissist
who needs affirmation, even from evil. A man who does not believe in DEMOCRACY. Remember that silly
thing that we fought for 250 years ago? Next Monday, we may never have it again.
Yet people are worried about not accepting his supporters, as if they are not Americans? They are Americans and
are totally aware of what they voted for. This is the problem. Yes, it is stupidity, lack of civic education, lobotomized
by their choice of “news” and laziness, cult behavior. It is also greediness. I think that if their Medicare, Medicare, Social Security and
food stamps are cut drastically, which their side is excited about, they will follow happily and “blame the libs”.
Sorry, I call it stupidity. To say it is anything else is ridiculous. We are all adults and make choices.
That is freedom, while one has it, correct?! Yeah, how fun to display “f Biden” flags from pickups.
It’s like a club, right? Well good luck. Y’all will need it and some of us will be thinking, not saying,
“We could have warned you but you would never listen”.
John Dean says
Thanks, as always, for reading my piece. On this one, I think we are on somewhat different pages.
Sarah Oppenheimer says
A man who loves Nazi’s? His grandchildren are jewish. I have been telling my MAGA friends to stop calling Democrats stupid for believing the “Fine People Hoax” for years.
Deirdre LaMotte says
And Hitler had Jews in his family….
Trump has no character, he would side with anyone, no matter how egregious a person they are.
Tom Ettinger says
We need a third political partly as the two dominant parties in my view do not represent a majority of Americans whose views are not at the extremes of the left or the right. They believe in an effective but smaller and less costly and less intrusive government protecting the Constitutional rights of all citizens. I agree with you, they are not stupid, but frustrated with our current governments at all levels.
John Dean says
Thanks for your comment. I would like to see a moderate party emerge, but worry it isn’t possible. The existing parties are so dug-in that it would be hard to get one started. I hope I’m wrong.
I continue to think that Trump is killing the Republican party, but it just won the House and Senate and returned Trump to office. . .