Biden is right that America needs healing. Just not
yet.
Opinion by
Opinions contributor and consultant
November 11, 2020 at 12:31 p.m. CST
President-elect
Joe Biden says America is ready for healing. Of course, he’s right, but I would
add this: eventually.
First,
this new administration, and indeed all of America, needs to deal with some
hard truths. Chief among them is that the current president and the party he
represents deserve censure instead of grace.
The
talk of healing is understandable and even laudable from a statesman like
Biden. It sends a signal of stability to world leaders. It sends a message of
calm to the financial markets. It reminds young people that adults can work
together after doing battle — but right now, that is really just wishful
thinking.
What we
are seeing from the other side is a far cry from Little League, where the defeated
team sucks it up and shakes the victors’ hands. President Trump and the
Republicans who have allowed him to remake their party have no intention of
working alongside Democrats. Division itself is the fuel that drives their
engine.
Talk of
healing would normally strike the right chords after a hard-fought election,
but in this interminable scrum, it is a little like bringing an olive branch to
a knife fight.
Biden’s
natural instinct is to be a peacemaker. It is rooted in his Catholic faith. It
is the underpinning in his campaign pledge to fight for the soul of America.
But the
diverse coalition of voters who stood in long lines and voted as if their lives
depended on it is expecting Biden to do just that: fight. They are looking for
a righteous warrior more than a peacemaker in this moment.
Almost
half the country supports a president and a party that seem to care nothing
about upholding democracy as they mount a massive disinformation campaign about
an allegedly stolen election with no evidence offered for this claim.
The
threat of an eroding democracy does not seem to present a deterrent. Trump has
consistently argued that his supporters were going to lose some of the things
they hold most dear — safety, security, status, wealth. His campaigns were
built around the psychology of loss aversion — the theory that the threat of
losing something is much more persuasive than the promise of gaining something
of value in the future.
In this
case, that something they are willing to forgo is democracy. The party that
extols the importance of the Constitution, and never misses an opportunity to
fly 50 flags when a few would suffice, does not place a high value on electing
a government through free and fair elections with the full participation of all
people.
Instead,
the GOP is hellbent on preserving power by making it harder for people to vote
through suppression, lawsuits and misinformation campaigns. A conservative
talk-show host went so far as to suggest that Republican state legislatures
step in to invalidate some election results and
claim victory for Trump.
Damage
is being done to our country, damage that could be lasting and that goes beyond
this outrageous attempt to mount a slow-moving coup. Millions of Americans are
suffering because of covid-19 and economic uncertainties. Our standing abroad
has toppled. After years of slow but somewhat demonstrable racial progress, we
are witnessing a tide of racial hatred and unapologetic calls for white
supremacy.
Reconciliation
requires truth. Truth requires courage. Justice, if we can ever hope to get to
that, requires atonement, respect for the rule of law and a shared set of
facts. This is a tall order right now. Again, almost half of America supported
a president who promotes policies and an ideology seen as hostile to many of
the people who swept Biden to victory.
The
road to healing will be long, and healing, as we know, can come in many forms.
We often think of it as forces coming together in unity. Too often healing
requires a certain degree of amnesia with calls to forgive and forget in an
effort to move on.
I
understand why Biden instinctively calls for healing. I just hope there will
not be an accompanying expectation for amnesia. We must never forget what we
have just witnessed; indeed, what we are still living through. America revealed
herself in this election. And America, as we know, has a way of expunging the
most shameful chapters of her history.