“Democracy can only be saved by democratic men and women,” Dorothy Thompson, an American journalist once wrote in the midst of the Great Depression and fascism’s rise. “The war against democracy begins by the destruction of the democratic temper, the democratic method and the democratic heart.”

As I’ve grown older, and hopefully a little wiser on the edges anyway, I have gained a deeper appreciation of the essential place role of democracy in society. Neither as a core value or necessary practice is it expendable. And this is so in capitalist and socialist societies.

Trump did’t start disinformation and polarization. Right wing Republican extremism preceding him did. But he has taken it to an entirely new level. Even in the midst of a pandemic, he is at it. In fact, he is cranking it up in hopes of boosting his standing in polls as well as providing red meat to his base.

Can you imagine a president mocking governors in the midst of a pandemic crisis? I can’t. And, worse still, it is a crisis that his words and actions have made far worse than it had to be.

“So long as the human spirit thrives on this planet, music in some living form will accompany and sustain it.” – Aaron Copland

This is a good time to listen to music, the unfamiliar as well as old favorites. Here’s a song I’m listening to as I write on my blog. Gary Clark Jr. is the singer. I wasn’t familiar with him until I saw him live at the Mountain Jam summer concert a few years ago. He and the late Tom Petty closed out the day and no one was disappointed. Especially me, but that is another story.

In this moment the task of progressive minded people isn’t to litigate and re-litigate the past positions of Joe Biden or the Democratic Party. What’s foremost — especially with Trump recklessly and dangerously mismanaging a pandemic and imploding economy — is that we think outside the box, that we grasp the strategic and tactical policies and issues that will activate and unite a sprawling and diverse coalition for the election battle this fall.

In other words, big tent thinking, a search for common ground. utmost flexibility, and practical action are in order.