The Decency and Common Sense Caucus

By Don Mohler

If this were football, they would say that I am calling an audible. Weeks ago, I suggested that the next few visits to the Front Porch would focus on how Democrats could improve their messaging on the issues, often fictitious, that MAGA World uses to divide and conquer. A few days into the Trump presidency, that seemed like a reasonable way forward.

Boy, was I wrong.

As Project 2025 is implemented, it is clear that the goal of the Trump administration is not to make government more effective and efficient, something we can all agree on, but rather to destroy the federal government as we know it. And no, I do not believe I am being hyperbolic. Chain Saw Elon’s’s approach to viciously firing thousands of civil servants in the middle of the night has nothing to do with efficiency. It has everything to do with burning the place down. So, a discussion of Democratic messaging must wait. Fighting back in real time must take center stage. It is time to remember, as a friend once told me, “The cruelty is the point.”

Obviously, Democrats need to fight in the courts each and every day. This is a stress test, and we must hope that the judiciary branch of the government holds. If it does, we have a chance. If it does not, then we are entering a very dark place and a nation that our Founders would not recognize. Despite what the Vice President thinks, most of us watched Schoolhouse Rock in elementary school and know that it is the judicial branch of government that decides what is, and what is not, constitutional. Game. Set. Match. So, to the attorneys and labor groups filing those court challenges, keep on keeping on. We need you now more than ever.

While it may not be time to focus on messaging, even though it remains on the to-do list, it is time to share our values far and wide. Forget labeling these values as Democratic or Republican, let’s just call them the values of people everywhere who care about their fellow citizens. Maybe it is the “Decency and Common Sense Caucus,” the DCSC. What are those values that must continue to bind us together? These are core principles that we must never back away from because they make us a better civilization. We can tweak our message to be more appealing, but we can never blink on core beliefs. They mark a clear divide between a true community and the false outrage used to manipulate so many. So, over the next few weeks, we will build our list of the core principles of the DCSC. Today we will start with diversity, equity, and inclusion because that is under attack daily with a force that Steve Bannon calls “muzzle velocity.”

The Decency and Common Sense Caucus Believes:

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are not the enemy. Let’s just look at the simple definitions: Diversity values the differences among people. It accepts others regardless of “race, gender, religion, and sexual orientation.”

That seems pretty straightforward, doesn’t it?

Let me cite just one example of why diversity in the workplace is important. When I was County Executive in Baltimore County, there was a video that appeared on local television that some were claiming showed that county police officers used excessive force to apprehend an African American male at a shopping center. I looked at the video and drew a conclusion, but I was a sixty-eight-year-old white man, and I wanted another opinion. I invited several of my African American staff into the office to view the video with me and asked what they saw. We saw the same video, but in fact, we did not. Our discussion was honest and heartfelt and very important to the county’s response. Our response was nuanced and sensitive to both the police officers involved and the increasingly diverse community in the county. Our response recognized the complexity of the situation. I could not have written that response initially. Diversity made that happen. Diversity made Baltimore County stronger. It is not an abstract concept.

Equity simply means that we do our best to provide everyone with the resources they need to have a chance at success. It recognizes that not everyone starts at the same place. The best example of why equity matters take place in our classrooms across the country daily. If a little boy or girl in the third grade has trouble seeing and needs glasses, we believe they should have glasses and possibly sit in the front of the room. We do not say to that child that it is unfair to have glasses because no one else in the class has glasses. We do not say that you may not sit up front because then everyone will want to sit up front. Equity is different than equality. Do not confuse the two. Equity is not treating one group preferentially over another. It is giving everyone what they need to be successful. It does not disadvantage those who don’t need glasses. It is about decency and fairness. When we get our MAGA friends to think of their sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters who need glasses, suddenly equity is not so scary.

Inclusion is the belief that we should create an environment where everyone “feels welcome and respected.”  If you need an example of why inclusion represents decency and common sense and not the threat that Trump acolytes would suggest, then marriage equality is Exhibit A. If you don’t think the Project 2025 Presidency is coming for the LGBTQ community, you just aren’t paying attention. Cancelling the renowned Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C. performance at the Kennedy Center, along with the tour of the musical Finn, should set off alarm bells. It is the opening salvo of community and culture erasure. It is cancel culture on steroids.

Believing in inclusion means that people have the right to love and marry whoever they choose. I did, and I’m happy to say that some 54 years later, I chose well. Shouldn’t my gay and lesbian family and friends have that same choice? Why on earth would I be threatened by the loving couple living next door because of their sexuality? That literally makes no sense.

Doesn’t common decency dictate that we do whatever we can to make others feel welcome and included? That defines inclusion. MAGA devotees have been sold a bill of very-dangerous goods. We have to help be part of their reeducation. And we do this by telling our own personal stories and helping others make similar personal connections. My goddaughter enjoys a wonderful marriage with a wonderful and caring woman. I have many gay and lesbian friends who enjoy loving and committed marriages. Their relationships warm my heart. I am sickened when others choose to demonize them. We just cannot let that happen.

Every person in this nation- every single one- has a friend or relative who is a member of the LGBTQ community. When they stop and think about that personal relationship and not some screed by Steve Bannon, they understand the true meaning of inclusion. When they think about their brother or sister, cousin, or aunt and uncle, they will come to understand the damage done by the demonization of the MAGA crowd. Believing in an inclusive society is not some left-wing plot. It is simply common decency. It is common sense, and your’re damn right this is personal to me. I believe that it is also personal for many on the right. We need to help them make that connection.

Why do I take the time to share these examples? Because I believe that most Americans, yes, most, will look at these and agree that DEI is not some sinister boogeyman lurking just around the corner. They’ve been fed a narrative of hate and anger about the “others,” and they feel threatened. We have to do our part to break through the right-wing echo chamber that is designed to drive us apart hoping that our nation will be left in rubble.

Continue to have discussions with your neighbors and your family in which you share specific examples of why the current darkness is so dangerous. Change won’t happen overnight, but we have to fight this war every single day, because that is exactly what it is- a war for the soul of our nation. I know you are tired. This is exhausting, and that is part of the President’s plan. He is counting on you to give up and let 200 years of freedom and liberty just slip away. We can’t let that happen.

And as promised, the Front Porch will continue to fact check the news coming out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue:

Donald Trump Said This

“Ukraine started the war.”

 The Fact Is

“On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, escalating a conflict that had been ongoing since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea.”

Next on the Front Porch: The Decency and Common Sense Caucus on foreign policy.

Don Mohler is the former Baltimore County Executive and President and CEO of Mohler Communication Strategies. He may be reached at don@donmohler.com.