Pelosi, Schumer, and Congressional Democrats did well in fighting for a better stimulus package. And bear in mind, the balance of power in Washington isn’t in their favor. Moreover, they also had to be mindful of the desire of tens of millions to get something done, not to delay, even if it wasn’t the perfect bill.

I began reading a collection of MLK’s speeches and letters last night. I thought they might provide good therapy as well as political insights, given the times in which we live and the challenges that we face. And I had hardly turned a page when I came across this gem.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” ( Letter from a Birmingham Jail.)

In “A Modest Proposal,” written in 1729, Jonathan Swift suggested that the Irish eat their children to combat famine and mass hunger. Yesterday Trump suggested that the country resume its normal activities and go back to work on Easter weekend. It would be, according to Trump, a Great Resurrection.

But here’s the difference between the two proposals. Swift was being satirical and poking fun at (or calling out) the aristocracy. Trump was dead serious. And, if taken seriously by too many people, his immodest proposal would result in real “killing fields” across our country. Older people in the first place, but younger generations as well. What Trump said wasn’t simply ill considered, it was criminal and worthy of jail time. Short of that, he should be unceremoniously evicted from the White House on Election Day this November.

The embrace of a united or popular front strategy by some on the left strikes me more as decorative facade than a substantive shift in their politics. It is more rhetorical than substantive, concealing a strategic orientation that still pivots around class against class. But the latter is precisely the wrong strategy at this moment. In fact, nothing good will come from it. If this approach were to capture the thinking and shape the actions of a significant number of people it could greatly weaken the effort to win back the presidency and the Senate in this fall’s election. But so far it hasn’t. Tens of millions of voters have embraced a far more expansive strategy in the face of the existential danger of Trump’s reelection. And I don’t expect to change.

Trump did’t start disinformation and polarization. Right wing Republican extremism preceding him did. But he has taken to an entirely new level. Even in the midst of a pandemic, he is at it. In fact, he is cranking it up.