Once again Donald Trump has enlisted the media to attempt to give legs to a faux scandal and they may be falling for it. The fact is that Donald Trump and the Republicans are scared of Elizabeth Warren.
Unlike many politician, she is not an empty suit. She understands the economy and can defend every single one of her Progressive positions.
The Native American faux scandal is just that. Recently I wrote the piece “We must not allow the ‘Hillary-fication’ of Elizabeth Warren” where I stated the following.
Progressives cannot allow the Hillary-fication of Elizabeth Warren. It has already started. Politico’s article, “Warren battles the ghosts of Hillary.” is a case in point.
The anti-Elizabeth Warren narrative was written before the Massachusetts senator even announced she was exploring a presidential run.
She’s too divisive and too liberal, Washington Democrats have complained privately. Her DNA rollout was a disaster — and quite possibly a White House deal-breaker. She’s already falling in the polls, and — perhaps most stinging — shares too many of the attributes that sank Hillary Clinton.
In the year of the woman, it adds up to one unwelcome mat for the most prominent woman likely to be part of the 2020 field. But it also presents an unmistakable challenge: How does Warren avoid a Clinton redux — written off as too unlikable before her campaign gets off the ground?
Ironically, this chatter is coming from the sect of Democrats who form the left rail of the track I spoke about in “Forget the left/right fight and start thinking derailment.” It makes said article, that more probative.
America is ready for politicians who they believe will fight for them. If they believe a Progressive leader will show the spine to support America’s real convictions, they will offer their support. It is clear that this cycle we will have at least two unabashed Progressives running in the Democratic primary. One hopes they derail the status quo.
It was refreshing to see the following article from Robert Reich laying it out.
Trump’s Assault on Elizabeth Warren
by Robert Reich
Elizabeth Warren is one of the most talented politicians and policy leaders in America. We must not allow Trump or anyone else to “swift-boat” her because she identified herself as an American Indian three decades ago.
At worst, Warren may have stretched the bounds of the definition of whiteness. That’s understandable. She grew up in Oklahoma, a state created from Indian Territory. She probably witnessed the disrespect and occasional brutality that Native Americans were, and still are, subject to. Her own genetic test showed at least one Native American ancestor. She has stressed that she is not a member of a tribal nation.
Warren didn’t call Mexicans rapists. She didn’t call nations populated primarily by black or brown people “shitholes.” She didn’t assume all Muslims are terrorists. She didn’t characterize black neighborhoods as war zones. She didn’t assert that an American president was born in Africa. She has not sexually assaulted anyone. She has not paid hush money to prostitutes. She hasn’t insulted Native Americans by calling a leading politician “Pocahontas” and joking about the Trail of Tears in the 1830s.
Warren got no career benefit from her self-designation. At every step of her exceptional rise in the legal profession, those responsible for hiring her saw her as a white woman. The fact that she claimed Indian descent on a Texas bar form that was meant to be confidential is further evidence that her identification arose from sincere belief.
In a larger sense, our Native American heritage should be a point of national pride. Bill Clinton proudly claimed in 1998 that his grandmother was “one-quarter Cherokee.” I remember former Republican Senator Alan Simpson beaming proudly as he showed me an old family reunion photo in which several of the eldest attendees were Native Americans.
It’s far better for a presidential candidate to err on the side of racial or ethnic inclusiveness than for a president to whip the nation into a dangerous and delusional frenzy of racial or ethnic divisiveness.
Source: Robert Reich
We will need to be relentless with our defense and counter-attacks. Robert Reich hit the nail on the head.