Avoiding the news hasn’t calmed me down

A few months ago I wrote about trying to avoid “a state of constant agitation over the news from Washington.” The plan involved differentiating between essential and nonessential stories.

Skipping over a lot of news hasn’t make me calmer. I’ve felt similar to the Germans who ignored Hitler’s villainy.

But what to do? Activists urge telling our representatives to obstruct Trump. My representatives are Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth and Congressman Danny Davis, all Democrats. What good would contacting them do? 

Then I read that some on the left think that Durbin, who voted to confirm five of Trump’s appointees, is too lackluster an administration opponent. I was persuaded to write him:

Dear Senator Durbin,

I urge you to do everything you can to oppose the Trump agenda. Please don’t say there’s little the minority can do. Mitch McConnell thwarted President Obama’s agenda with a smaller minority than Senate Democrats have now.

This is not a time for nonpartisan civility. I read a quote from one of your Democratic colleagues: “I think they [the public] watch us supporting his policies and his nominees and come to the conclusion it must not be that bad.”

I am afraid of where the country is going but don’t know what to do except write my elected leaders. You, the #2 Democratic senator, know what tools you have. Please use them to convince the nation — not just Illinois — how bad it is. Please act like the country is on fire.

Sincerely,

Marianne Goss, Chicago

For a couple of days I felt good that I’d finally done something. Then I read that some representatives are put off by the avalanche of calls and emails. “Don't call the Democrats,” Rep. Jonathan Jackson of Illinois’s first district was quoted by Axios. “You can call a Republican senator from another state. We're all federal elected officials.” 

Call Republicans? That seems even more futile.

This Wednesday longtime political commentator Laura Washington wrote in the Chicago Tribune: 

“It is time for Democrats to stop the gnashing of teeth over Trump. Cool the rhetoric. Get with a program that is in sync with real voters. Not the people on the extreme, but the majority. ... Gavin Newsom, [California’s] uber-ambitious governor, has finally realized that standing up for transgender women who want to play in women’s sports is a losing battle. ... Then there is the issue of student loan forgiveness. Tell me how the so-called party of the working class benefits from a policy that leans heavily white-collar. ... And for the progressive Democrats who support universal basic income: Fairness, you say. Tell that to the millions of regular people working at fast-food joints and factories who must go to work every day to earn their keep. No free checks for them. It sends a message to those workers that the value of their labor doesn’t tip the scales.”

Washington's views are those of the pragmatist Democrats who think the party should prioritize working-class issues. Axios says that pragmatics and progressives are splitting the party over how to resist the Trump administration. The progressive faction has been urging senators and representatives to be more obstructive. My letter to Durbin reflected the progressive view.

Then came the current debate in the Senate over the continuing resolution to fund federal agencies through September. If they vote yes, Democrats would give Trump (and Musk) even more latitude to decide how funds are spent. If they vote no, they could be blamed for shutting down the government. Centrists argue for voting yes, progressives for voting no. Would I still tell Durbin that “this is not the time for nonpartisan civility”?

Now I feel more confused and helpless than before. If the party leaders can’t agree on what to do, how is the average person supposed to know?