To drive across northern California is to drive across Trumpland. Forget Jefferson, this area has sold its soul to a charlatan from New York. Driving down I-5 to the Sacramento airport the other day, I was assaulted by banners that cover whole semi-trailers, four of them strung together, parked on the side of the freeway, with bold twenty-foot letters spelling out “Farmers For Trump 2020.”
And if you think you are going to avoid the Trumpian display by coming back from the Sacramento airport on Highway 70, think again. There is a stretch from Marysville to Oroville where the Trump banners and flags dominate and burden the landscape. Rural California is drunk with Trump.
I’ve written about the flags before. They are plentiful everywhere. What I didn’t write about was just how bellicose and aggressive the flags have become — much like their dear leader. Some of the blue flags say “No More Bullxxxt. Trump 2020” and one very offensive flag said: “Fxxk Your Feelings. Trump 2020.” Disgusting.
Two weeks from the election and Trump has resurrected all his 2016 ploys. Suddenly, we have a laptop from Hunter Biden with, what else, e-mails on it. NBC news reported that the FBI is allegedly investigating this as a Russian disinformation ploy designed to influence the election. I watched Trump’s rally on Saturday and all the usual racial and misogynistic tropes are there. “Build the Wall.” “Lock them up.” The unmasked crowd eats it up.
Trump openly predicts that if Biden is elected, the “radical left” will lead us into another depression and “Illegals” will overrun the State of Michigan. Taxes will increase by 400 percent and Trump says he might leave the country if he loses. Of course, all of this is BS — directly contradicting the Trump flag to which I referred.
So perhaps you are a bit embarrassed by this president who so cavalierly has rallies that have been proven to spread the coronavirus as we move into a third spike in the nation. Maybe you are fearful of those “radical leftists” in the Democratic party and are hesitant to darken the circle for Biden.
Well, here’s the thing: Biden is a centrist. And the Democratic Party, as a whole, the way it functions, is a centrist party. On the ideology spectrum, you’d be voting for what a Republican used to look like in the ’70s. Go ahead. Darken that oval for Biden. He is a good man. He’s no radical.
Character used to matter. If you are one of those folks who “vote for the person and not the party,” well, your choice is pretty clear this year.
Local conservative columnist Don Polson, whose column shares the page with this one, likes to brag about a hashtag movement called Walk Away. This is a tiny group led by a hairstylist from New York that urges Democrats to leave the party due to its alleged radical leftist nature. It ain’t much of a movement. They’ve raised some $20,000 as of last summer and have a couple dozen videos and testimonials on their website of people saying pretty much the same thing you hear on Fox every night.
David Love of CNN reported that Russian bots push the walk away movement to spread disinformation. InfoWars weirdo, Alex Jones, gave them $10,000. Think Progress called the group a grifting operation while the Washington Post called it an astroturf organization. It appears to be a little of both.
The real walk away movement has been in the Republican Party. For heaven’s sake, George Will quit the party. The hugely influential columnist who coached Ronald Reagan in the 1980 debates with Jimmy Carter’s stolen debate books is going to vote for Biden. George Will is joined by conservative columnist Bill Kristol, who is a major contributor to several conservative publications, in endorsing Joe Biden.
Compare the Walk Away movement with its minuscule influence to the Lincoln Project made up of former Republican party leaders and strategists like Steve Schmidt who ran John McCain’s 2008 campaign and George Galloway who is KellyAnne Conway’s husband. Michael Steele, former GOP chairman during the successful 2010 midterm elections, is in the group along with Rick Wilson, a Republican media consultant. This is a very consequential SuperPac that has raised $60 million as of September 30.
The Lincoln Project points out the dangerous character flaws and horrific policies of Donald Trump in biting and truth-telling commercials and social media campaigns. They tell it like it is. And they are Republicans.
Frankly, politicians like Rep. Doug LaMalfa and all of the House and Senate Republicans have been spineless in stepping up to the errors and narcissism of Donald Trump. That doesn’t mean that everyday Red Bluffian Republicans can’t say, “Enough” and pull the lever for decency.
Tehama Republicans have an opportunity to send their party a message by voting for Biden. And while they are at it, they should give Audrey Denney a chance too. She is actually within the margin of error in the latest poll against LaMalfa. She’d bring creative, non-dogmatic representation to our district. She is a serious candidate who deserves a chance to serve.
Allan Stellar is an RN and a freelance writer who moved to Red Bluff after the Camp Fire. He can be reached at Allan361@aol.com.