the problem. Because if, with religious intensity, I think that I am right and know better than the critics, how can I ever actually change? If I’m already right, ANY actual change has to be in the wrong direction!
And I am so mired in the idea that I (ME!) am too smart and good to ever be wrong, so the very idea of change is anathema to me. No, I will ignore evidence and cut off any friend or relation who thinks differently. So actual change is impossible for me. Sound familiar? It should…
At most there is what old-time Psychologist George Kelly called “Slot Movement.” You “flip” positions, but your way of being in the world is exactly the same!
You know, one day I think you’re all good, but the next I think you are all bad. Sure, there is a patina of change, on the very surface, but no real change–I still think you are either all good or all bad. The paradigm has not changed one little bit…
And so the Democrat party simply cannot change. Any difference is both ephemeral and fleeting.
The Democrats can’t fix what we see as wrong with their party because they drift along on a fairytale sea of blamelessness. They’ve always been good at deflection, but it’s become a pathology that has them blaming President Trump for all that they do wrong.
Change and painful growth require self-reflection, another thing that’s not a part of the aforementioned fairytale. The reflexive “But Trump!” blame assignment has them forever looking outward. Inward glances are anathema to them.
… One thing is certain: there won’t be a course-correction because there isn’t anyone in the party who thinks one is necessary. Yes, some prominent Dems have been squawking about leaving the party or their votes being in play, but I’m not buying any of it. In the end, the Democratic Party is a Borg hive mind.