Broken Norms -- A Conservative Perspective
--guest post by Jim Cherveny, Local 328 executive-board member--
AFSCME Local 328, much like the Portland metro area, tends to lean to the political left. But our union is not a monolith. Just as we have a diversity of skin colors, ethnic backgrounds, genders, abilities and ages among our membership, we also have a diversity of thought and political affiliation. I am a respiratory therapist who grew up in a Lutheran household, and I consider myself a libertarian. I want to share a different perspective on the upcoming election.
This election presents a unique danger to our country and to our democracy ─ one that is unifying us in ways we may not have found possible four years ago. The current administration has shown itself to stand against norms and values that many Americans share, leading us to transcend our differences.
Anyone who has used #resistance on social media in the last four years can give you a list of things that Trump has done to trample on the rights of workers and the vulnerable. But what about the ways that he and his allies are breaking conservative norms?
First and foremost: there exists an enduring moral order. In Mark 12:31, Jesus says “‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater.” With travel bans, the separation of children from their parents, a public history of words and deeds that show a profound lack of respect for women and policies that benefit only the wealthy, no one embodies these words less than Donald Trump.
Custom, convention, continuity and prudence are all principles I was taught growing up in a Lutheran house. Trump is the most tactless politician I've ever seen. Rather than talk about their differences in policy or philosophies, Trump’s strategy for the first presidential debate was to try to take advantage of Joe Biden’s stutter, which he has struggled with since childhood. Trump acts less like a President and more like a schoolyard bully.
Despite Trump’s pro-Second Amendment rhetoric, his actual policy is to take guns first and worry about due process later. You can’t trust what he says ─ you have to look at what he does. And what he does is dangerous for gun owners.
On multiple occasions, when given the chance to condemn white supremacy (which the FBI and Trump’s acting director of DHS agree is the most dangerous terrorist threat to the people of the United States), Trump has equivocated, obfuscated and tried to deflect. In the first debate, he tried to make a personal attack against his opponent’s son rather than simply say that he stands against those who are responsible for the murder of police officers and innocent citizens.
Trump makes us less safe by breaking promises with our allies, sometimes completely betraying them, like he did in Syria. When he calls our neighbors “shithole countries,” it others them and helps them see us as others, too. This makes it easier for the citizens of these countries to become radicalized against America.
The final straw for me, a former active duty Army paratrooper, was the disrespect Trump has shown and continues to show to service members and our families by mocking John McCain’s time as a prisoner of war, being dismissive of grieving Gold Star families, blaming those same families for his COVID-19 infection and using a song about rich men who avoid going to war in his campaign videos (despite the artist’s wishes). While Trump and his children have avoided serving their country, he has mocked those who have given their lives for their country and their fellow service members, calling them “losers” and “suckers.”
Trump’s refusal to act when it comes to COVID-19 while thousands of small businesses fail will gut the middle class. His refusal to act has led to almost 230,000 American deaths and will have an impact on public health for years.
Just as we stand together when we demand fair wages and benefits, we need to stand together in this election. We may not agree on everything, but decency, integrity and honesty are values we can all rise up to defend.