by Rob Lyons
It began on June 27 and lasted 18 days, less than three weeks, a run of startling good fortune for Donald Trump and his candidacy:
- On Thursday June 27 Trump trounces Joe Biden in a debate in Atlanta. Biden appears old and slow and tired, and incapable of countering Trump’s torrent of lies and attacks.
- On July 1 the US Supreme Court rules that Presidents have broad immunity from prosecution for official acts they undertake while in office.
- On July 13 at a rally in Butler, PA a young man fires 8 bullets as Trump speaks to a rally crowd. One bullet strikes Trump’s right ear, and as he is hustled offstage by his Secret Service entourage he thrusts a clenched fist into the air and shouts “Fight, fight!”
- On July 15, Judge Eileen Cannon dismisses the Federal case against Trump that he had mishandled classified documents and obstructed attempts to recover them.
- Also on July 15, the Republican National Convention opens in Milwaukee. Trump is formally nominated as the Republican Presidential candidate, and selects J.D. Vance as his VP.
These events seem a perfect storm to many, and have precipitated an existential crisis within the Democratic Party. Eighteen Congressmen and one Senator have publicly called for Biden to exit the race. George Clooney published an op-ed piece in the New York Times, asking for him to step aside. Adam Schiff has warned of a Democratic wipeout in November unless there is a change atop the ticket. So far Biden has vowed to stay the course, and the majority of Democratic governors and lawmakers continue to back him. In the words of Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, one of Biden’s staunchest allies: “We’re ridin’ with Biden.”
I have a naturally upbeat temperament, but I confess I’ve begun to feel the dread that so many others have been struggling with for some time now, dread of a catastrophic loss at the polls in November, and of future in which my country is invaded and captured and twisted into a cruel caricature of its former self. If Trump is victorious – particularly if Republicans capture the House and Senate as well, we could be headed toward the future described so ominously in Project 2025.
And then I take a breath and settle myself, and I recall the line in Maylie Scott’s Metta Prayer:
“May I continually cultivate the ground of peace for myself and others and persist, mindful and dedicated to this work, independent of results.”
Independent of results. We do our work because we have a goal in mind, of course, but we’re not working in a way that’s fixated on the Result at the expense of the work itself. We work because the work needs to be done, because we’re devoted, because it’s the right thing to do. It’s the way we live our lives: we work, and we offer our effort for the benefit of all beings. Any immediate result is a momentary by-product of our effort, but it’s the effort that matters, the continuous practice.
In our culture there is a tendency to conflate the terms “Optimism” and “Hope.” This is an error. Optimism is wonderful, it is the attitude of looking at the bright side and yearning for a beneficial outcome. It’s a positive outlook on life, but fundamentally it is wishful thinking. It‘s mild. Optimism can brighten your day, but it lacks vigor and agency.
Hope, by contrast, is a strategy and a program of action. It is based on conviction, that if you dedicate yourself to working toward a goal it is more likely to come about – and even if it doesn’t, or if it doesn’t as soon as you want it to: keep working. You work because this helps create a field of benefit, it helps draw others together and reinforce your benevolent intentions. You persist in your work the same way you persist in raising your children, or eating, or breathing. It seems preposterous to me that you would consider stopping the work if you don’t get what you want, or if you’re afraid of some dark future. Just as soon stop breathing.
So we persist. Even perfect storms blow over. It’s more than three months till November, and a lot can happen in that time (a lot has happened in the past three weeks!). We would like to place our trust in the fundamental sanity and common sense of the American people, and we are optimistic that they won’t let us down. We have deep hope and bedrock determination, and we will persist.
