The MAGA Republican triumphalism unleashed by Donald Trump’s return to the White House has extended, unsurprisingly, to many of my most antagonistic correspondents. They urge me to bow down to the president and accept his victory as a mandate against all they despise about the progressive left: its insistence that centuries of racial and gender discrimination will not magically disappear without intervention, that women should be able to control their own bodies, that all Americans should have health insurance, that the very rich should pay their fair share of taxes and that we are – proudly – a nation of immigrants.
They want me to pretend that we have an alien invasion at the Southern border and that deporting those who are here illegally will somehow make everyone else’s lives better rather than impose a reign of terror and raise the cost of goods and services. They want me to agree that keeping Russian aggression in check by helping Ukraine’s defense is a waste of American treasure.
Often, they accuse me of aping Democratic talking points. I am a registered Democrat, but that is the extent of my relationship with the party. I’ve also been accused of being a “socialist,” which I suppose I am if they mean that I avidly support Medicare and Social Security.
Essentially, my critics want me to admit that I was wrong to oppose Trump and his policies because he won.
I never will. And at least half the country feels the same way.