New York Times bestselling author and Washington Post columnist E. J. Dionne, Jr. sounds the alarm in Code Red, calling for an alliance between progressives and moderates to seize the moment and restore hope to America’s future for the 2020 presidential election. Will progressives and moderates feud while America burns? Or will these natural allies take advantage of the greatest opportunity since … take advantage of the greatest opportunity since the New Deal Era to strengthen American democracy, foster social justice, and turn back the threats of the Trump Era?
The United States stands at a crossroads. Broad and principled opposition to Donald Trump’s presidency has drawn millions of previously disengaged citizens to the public square and to the ballot boxes. This inspired and growing activism for social and political change hasn’t been seen since the days of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal policies and the Progressive and Civil Rights movements. But if progressives and moderates are unable–and unwilling–to overcome their differences, they could not only enable Trump to prevail again but also squander an occasion for launching a new era of reform.
In Code Red, award-winning journalist E. J. Dionne, Jr., calls for a shared commitment to decency and a politics focused on freedom, fairness, and the future, encouraging progressives and moderates to explore common ground and expand the unity that brought about Democrat victories in the 2018 elections. He offers a unifying model for furthering progress with a Politics of Remedy, Dignity, and More: one that solves problems, resolve disputes, and moves forward; that sits at the heart of the demands for justice by both long-marginalized and recently-displaced groups; and that posits a positive future for Americans with more covered by health insurance, more with decent wages, more with good schools, more security from gun violence, more action to roll back climate change.
Breaking through the partisan noise and cutting against conventional wisdom to provide a realistic look at political possibilities, Dionne offers a strategy for progressives and moderates to think more clearly and accept the responsibilities that history now imposes on them. Because at this point in our national story, change can’t wait.
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CODE RED is both a political science treatise and an historical overview of the actions of administrations, both Democratic and Republican, that have led the United States to the debacle we are facing today. As I was reading, I reflected several times on the fact that even five years ago I would have given this book, and any like it, a pass. At that time I was a voter but not overly concerned about politics per se. I had some strong feelings about specific actions of government, but I didn’t feel the need to spend time studying the issues or going out to protest. Since the leadup to the 2016 election, the subsequent Electoral College win, and all that has transpired since the inauguration, I find myself devouring books that purport to explain the chaos or provide coherent accounts of obscured events.
E. J. Dionne, Jr. is one of my favorite guests on prime time MSNBC. He is erudite and always brings his journalistic analysis to the table. Having once studied a bit of journalism myself, I am aware of the tenets of the discipline’s basic who, what, where, when, and sometimes why process that separate reporting from editorializing. Dionne seems to always put reporting above his opinion even in the fraught world of cable news. Even in opinion pieces, he manages to look at both sides with a certain amount of dispassionateness.
Although Chapter 1 seems to be aimed at political scientists and other such wonks, there are some valuable gems for the average voting citizen, or perhaps even more so for the non-voting citizen that needs to become informed. In other words, the numbers are thoughtfully explained.
I find it rewarding to have opinions that I formed over the years proven true. Dionne examines the ways in which the Reagan, Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama administrations aided the current administration’s rise to power. As an information technology support specialist, I had one overriding tenet by which I did my job… ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ in reading CODE RED, I understand more fully that our government and politics are ‘broke’ and in dire need of fixing. The status quo is not working for too many Americans, most notably the economy, and this has led to a breakdown between Washington policies and kitchen table realities. Understanding and repairing the many inequities will require a united front on the part of Democrats who will need to finally understand that liberals and progressives are really working toward a single goal. The goal of the Democratic Party is the betterment of life for all Americans. That includes affordable health insurance, an infrastructure in good repair, an immigration policy that treats those who are already here with dignity and respect while providing a path to citizenship, and transparency and decency in government.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants to try and understand how we got to this space as a nation. There are places you may find yourself confounded by the presentation of polling numbers and statistics, but I can emphasize enough that the text before and after such sections are readable and do much to explain those conundrums facing the American electorate today.