I’ve done a string of pieces recently that focus on Trump outrages. There’s a lot of material to work with. My pieces were heartfelt and timely. Moreover, such pieces get the most views, most readers and shares. Trump outrage is you might say “good for business.”
But I have mixed feelings about such a focus. Sometimes you just have to say something. But I also don’t like giving Trump any more rent-free space in my head and heart than he already has. Which is hard to avoid, given his gift for monopolizing — even controlling — our attention.
There was a great, longish piece by James Pogue in The New York Times the other day on Washington’s maverick Congressperson, Marie Glusenkamp Perez. Pogue went deeper than a lot of the articles about MGP. Instead of just the “thorn in the side of the Democratic establishment,” story Pogue tried to understand what really motivates MGP and her fellow “Blue Dogs,” and the alternative they are offering.
Toward the end of the piece MGP used a term from the world of motorcycling, “obstacle fixation.” It is relevant to my dilemma of how often or how much to focus on Trump outrages. The idea of “obstacle fixation” is that you’re so worried about an obstacle looming in your path that you increase, rather than decrease, your chances of running into it. The idea applies across the board. You can get so frustrated with a particular person or problem — something you perceive as an obstacle — that you narrow your field of vision and reduce your imaginative capacities. Tunnel vision, tunnel brain.
Let’s face it, Trump has a knack for trolling we liberals. Like Pavlov’s dogs, we foam at the mouth right on cue. And sometimes we absolutely need to do that.
But MGP’s point, as well as that of the article’s author, James Pogue, is that in doing so we overlook and miss other things. Things that we need to see and factor in, lest we crash and burn. MGP and the Blue Dogs in Congress are trying to get us to see other aspects of American life and politics that are also crucial and where we might sidestep predictable polarization in favor of making common cause across the divides that keep things stuck.
“Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez,” writes Pogue, “is offering her party a path out of this trap. Her central argument is that academics, economists and political consultants tend to fixate on a set of narrow, divisive issues that obscure what’s really driving alienation and anger in our society today. That angst, for many, is about a basic worry that neither party is seriously listening to today: a fear that we are losing what the philosopher Henri Bergson once described as an ‘open society’ and replacing it with a society of the ‘anthill’ — with most people living a drone-like existence, reduced to data points in a system run by technocrats and corporations. It’s a way of life that’s anathema to both America’s economic promise and its cultural traditions.”
Life in the anthill is largely about being consumers, consumers of crap, rather than being makers, makers of substance. See the article to have this fleshed out.
Another, and more pointed, version of this concern came recently from the syndicated columnist, Lynn Schmidt, writing about, “Why Democrats Keep Losing Support Even As Trump Falters Badly.” “As President Donald Trump’s approval continues to decline,” writes Schmidt,” expect the attitudes toward the Democratic Party to drop as well.
“You read that right: Not the Republican Party, but the Democratic Party, as many Americans blame Democrats for this second Trump administration. Voters understand that the Dems were unable to put the country ahead of obfuscation and identity politics in the 2024 presidential election.”
We have Trump 2 because Democrats played it so very badly in 2024. That said, the point isn’t to hold a grudge against the Democrats for 2024 (though I for one do), but to hope that they have learned some lessons that will mean Trump’s power is limited in 2026, and that a new direction is set in 2028.
Back to “obstacle fixation.” We can’t be so focused on Trump outrages that we are blind to the need for the Democrats to unhook their wagon from the professional political classes, and the rarified world they inhabit, in order to listen to people like MGP about the experience and frustrations of normal people.
In conclusion, Pogue writes, “This is the kind of moment Democrats are facing today. It’s entirely possible that Republicans will prove so divided and incompetent that they will virtually hand power back to Democrats, the party promising to restore us to normal. This won’t absolve Democrats, or anyone hoping to govern America, of the need to offer a political vision that speaks to the great issues of our age: the tyranny of tech in our lives, the financialization of our economy and the geographic and social cleavages shaping our country.”
Do read the entire piece by Pogue. It will — I promise — help to overcome “obstacle fixation” and reframe the deeper challenges before us.
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Yeah, yeah, we all loathe the mainstream Dems, but let’s not confuse MGP’s swerve from her party with actually taking a stand where it is needed. Not a fan of her many votes to approve funding or otherwise legitimize the policies of this administration (she voted for the spending package increasing funding for ICE early last week and then logged her outrage at the Pretti killing on Saturday). Democrat Derangement Syndrome is also a thing — let’s stop looking at labels and start asking ourselves if these politicians stand for the things we want. What’s the point of having a “D” next to her name anyway?
That isn’t a very good metaphor. Target fixation is a thing – you can read about it – but it’s relevant only where it’s relevant – skis, cars, motorcycles, aircraft etc. These modes of travel operate substantially on reflex that works through the motor cortex that is integrated with your eyes.
All we do when we turn our gaze away from what’s going on here, is limit our knowledge about it. About something a very large number of people in America need to wake up and see.
It is true that we also need to think harder about directions we need to go for a better country. That has been a head-scratcher for generations, and politicians that can deliver the double-talk on this subject have done great. Ronald Reagan being a great example. Protestant Christians voted for Trump because he took advantage of their mental shortcomings – credulity, chauvinist xenophobia, misplaced faith, self interest – and he’s taking them to the cleaners. Selling Americans on a responsible course is a lot harder.
That’s a great comment. Thanks.
I’ve attended many “Protestant Christian” churches in my day. Most churches and their members (not all) are repulsed by Trump and aghast it his tactics. Many pastors I know have spoken and posted this online. And none portray to your hateful, stereotypical infantile characterization above.
Per the author you need to over you own childish “fixation” as well. Grow up.
“MGP” is simply trying to get re-elected in her semi-conservative district, many of whose voters live there because they don’t want to pay income taxes. I read the entire NYT piece on Gluesekamp Perez. But you realize, don’t you, that she was one of seven Ds who voted in favor of funding the ICE Nazi-like outrages. “Obstacle fixation” is a construct without any real critical analysis. Your nice “Christian” approach and faux outrage, and your blaming Democrats for electing Trump in 2024, was getting old during Trump’s first term. The blame for electing Trump in 2024 falls on you, on Joe Biden, and on the low-information voters who could not vote against “Project 2025”. Unfortunately, you are part of the religious wing of the “professional political class” that you inveigh against.
Agree that MGP is acting over real concern over her reelection in a right-leaning district. However, ignoring Trumptist bait has its own dangers. Personally, I have always weighed responding to Trump’s moves after remembering Pastor Martin Niemoller’s powerful Holocaust poem: “I did not speak out when they came for the communists…” Overlooking supposedly less than only the most destructive outrages has led to stepped up provocations. Well worth debating where to draw a line.
Thanks for your comment. More cogent than the article. As a lobbyist and attorney for 20 years, I have consistently avoided the common easy partisan answers and personal fixations on labels and categorizations that are often applied to both issues and politicians with very little or no critical thinking. Your “Overlooking ….” sentence is true and on-point.
Gluesenkamp-Perez says, regarding her vote on funding ICE: “In a DHS shutdown, ICE would continue operating with limited oversight thanks to funding in the One Big Beautiful Bill, which I voted against. Meanwhile, agencies like the Coast Guard or FEMA–and communities like mine–would take the hit.”
The government shutdown gambit might be not be a guaranteed winner every time. I hope congress can muster up some more direct tactics.
The idea is to have the Rs amend the bill to reform DHS actions and policies re. ICE. Did she try to amend the House version? Will she vote for an amended bill? What does she think about Trump’s ICE policies and actions?
“Obstacle fixation,” or perhaps “reverse obstacle fixation” is Donald Trump’s go-to strategy. He always works to turn all the eyes on himself. Hostile eyes are almost as good as favorable eyes, maybe better. When the eyes are on him, he leads them where he wants. Was the Greenland, or was it Iceland thing, important to Donald? Nah, he just did it for the attention. He called it Iceland to grab more hostile eyes. And what did he lead us away from? The coming mid terms, a stuttering economy, food prices, agriculture shattered by ill-considered tariffs, there’s a whole raft of things that he wants our eyes to miss while he keeps the gaze on him. Even the ICE tactics are eye-grabbing diversions.
For myself, I’m convinced that he is in the grips of dementia and a possible stroke, but Donald’s skill at diverting attention to himself has not diminished.
What the opposition needs is concrete proposals to improve the mess we’re in. Which industries should be forstered and how? Steps to improve our science, technology, and education. Ignore Greenland and his latest spectacle and concentrate on what must change to strengthen our society.
Good comment. Biden’s economic policies were working well but not great. More could be done if the Trump tax cuts were repealed and taxes increased for incomes over $500,000. Your last paragraph is on target.