Thanksgiving at my Michelle Bachman supporting sister’s house was nice and completely devoid of political friction. My children, some of whom dreaded the occasion and the potential for recriminations almost didn’t come. But they did, and we were able to have a wonderful time by completely ignoring, on all sides, the events of the month.
The pain is still raw, and the dashed hopes replaced with fear and more than a little apprehension.
As an oldster, I have lived through this before. An frankly that is one of the main reasons I see myself as a midwest moderate. Yes, the Bernie people had passion, but as much as they may think otherwise, their ship was doomed to hit the rocks as well.
We need centrist candidates to win. And even when we do, the outcome is not at all certain. But that is not the topic of the day.
Instead we are looking to find ways to make lemonade. We know the supreme court was the real loss of this election.
And it is a forgone conclusion that Roe vs Wade is in deep trouble. That will mean both the need, and opportunity to take the fight back to individual states. And maybe there is some weak lemonade there. Those for whom this issue is the major rallying cry, will need to regroup at the state level across the nation. I am sure they are to some extent already, but the battle front will now be back to the state houses.
It is no secret that Republicans hold sway in most. And the hope is that the renewed battle at the local level will refocus activity there and begin the process of winning back some seats in legislatures.
The stronger lemonade may be in another supreme court decision. And to the extent moderates can have any sway on the new Trump regime and on Trump himself, this should be our target. Citizens United and the peoplehood of corporations from a political contribution point of view may be a point we can win Trump over on. 
His professed dismay over the “corruption” of money in politics, “I know, I was one of them.” give me hope that a concerted effort to focus his attention on that issue may bring some discernment to the particular selection he makes to the court.
The issue will certainly come up in the confirmation process. The key is to raise the issue in advance as effectively as possible so that it influences the President Elect’s actual selection process.
I am looking for ideas on how to take the need for action in this regard and move it forward. How can we present the issue in a form and manner that will catch his eye and win his attention?
Now is certainly the time to act. And so this Thanksgiving I am grateful for the ability to act in our democratic society, even when on the losing side, again.
http://theweek.com/cartoons