We are Together, They are Disintegrating
After World War II, a Russian journalist described a pivotal moment in the German failure to capture Stalingrad:
An extraordinary change takes place at the turning-point in a battle: a soldier looks round, after apparently gaining his objective, and suddenly finds he has lost sight of his comrades; while the enemy, who had seemed so weak, scattered and stupid, is now united and therefor invincible. A deep change in perception takes place at this mysterious turning-point: a gallant, intelligent ‘We’ becomes a frail, timid ‘I’ while the enemy changes from a hunted, isolated prey to a terrible, threatening ‘Them’.
As he overcame the enemy resistance, the advancing soldier had perceived everything separately: a shell-burst here, a rattle of machinegun fire there, an enemy soldier there, hiding behind that shelter and about to run … He can’t not run — he’s cut off from that isolated piece of artillery, that isolated machine-gun, that isolated soldier blazing away beside him. But I — I am we, I am the masso of infantry going into the attack, I am the supporting tanks and artillery, I am the flare lighting up the common cause. And then suddenly I am alone — and everything that was isolated and weak has fused into a solid roar of enemy rifle-fire, machine-gun fire and artillery fire. This united enemy is now invincible; the only safety lies in my flight, in hiding my head, in covering my shoulders, my forehead, my jaw …
Often it is the understanding of this transition that gives warfare the right to be called an art. This alternating sense of singularity and plurality is a key not only to the success of night-attacks by companies and battalions, but to the military success and failure of entire armies and peoples.
The Republican attack on democracy has likewise failed. We have passed this pivotal moment in the battle.
They are Disintegrating
Republicans are fighting like weasels in a hole. Trump humiliates Martha McSally in front of her voters in Arizona, he attacks Susan Collins no matter how quietly she tries to position herself, he threatens to ‘fire’ a republican governor. Tucker Carlson blames Lindsey Graham for the Woodward interviews, Fox news cuts Lindsey off, Giuliani attacks Fox news, Brad Parscale resigns from the Trump campaign after threatening suicide, loyal supporters are abandoned in the cold, Trump cannot negotiate a stimulus package because Republican senators do not support him, twitter wars break out, and Trump supporters picket William Barr’s house while Republicans step up to make the kind of gut punch ads that the Biden campaign doesn’t quite want to do.
They are finger pointing and fighting each other. They know they are losing. Each of them knows that he/she is alone.
We are Together
To see the sense of unity within the American center and left, look first at the response to the George Floyd video.
The immediate response was a massive shift in public opinion regarding race and justice, and a dramatic increase in electoral activism among African Americans.
The Republican strategy, to promote division among the Democrats, has failed. Biden is endorsed by Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Noam Chomsky, Cornell West, Marianne Williamson, and Andrew Yang. As the articles note, none of these people are giving Biden a pass when they disagree with him. I myself have actively disliked Joe Biden since the Anita Hill hearings. Anita Hill has endorsed Biden. The flood of Republicans endorsing Biden is well known, even the financial industry is getting on the bandwagon.
What next?
A victory is coming, we want to make it as decisive as possible. Of course, make sure you vote. If you have problems voting, contact Election Protection. You can join a last weekend phone bank at Swing Left.
Looking beyond the election, there will be plenty of trouble between now and the inauguration in January. We have been building solidarity all year. We will need it now. Reach out to your friends and family. Connect, always connect. We have been through a dark breakdown. We are on the verge of social renewal. Our unity — standing together — will carry us through.
