At this point, the scope of our post-election enemies needs to be larger. We can't simply focus our efforts on Donald Trump; we also need to encompass other targets, including the miscreant right-wing and useless Democrats. While we're at it, I'd like to add useless (or even worse, counterproductive) writers and pundits to this list. My preferred target: Kevin Drum of Mother Jones.
You've probably never heard of Drum, most likely because you don't read Mother Jones. I don't blame you. What once was one of my favorite sources for articles has been poisoned by Drum. How can one person do such a thing, as opposed to (for example) David Brooks or Thomas Friedman, who both write for the New York Times? Allow me to explain.
One post Drum wrote just a few days ago is a bunch of hot air. He quotes a NYT story about Trump's actual health, then hyperventilates about Trump lying about his health. News flash: Trump lies. A lot. You're not adding anything to the conversation. Now, if you used your space to speculate about, say, if Trump's health was a signal that we would be seeing a President Mike Pence in the near future, that would be different.
Of course, Drum's mortal sins were committed long before the election was called. The real reason why Drum is so contemptible, and so toxic to Mother Jones, is because he's so far deep into Clinton idolatry that it has warped his entire worldview. And as such, he's become an insufferable acolyte, the kind that should've been eaten alive when Trump won.
To give just two examples of this, Drum actually thought it was a good idea to argue for less (but, in his words, "faster, more effective") transparency when it comes to government things like emails. Why the outrageous argument? Is he actually an enemy of the Freedom of Information Act and a secret small-government conservative? No, the answer is much more simple and depressing: he can't stand the fucking fact that Hillary Clinton was getting raked through the coals because she used a private email server. Nothing in his argument suggested a more thorough solution, like requiring every federal official to use government email for government purposes, or removing the exemptions of FOIA so that everything and everyone is subject to it. Of course, by the time he wrote that piece, he knew perfectly well that Clinton did not ask and receive permission for such a setup, to use just one example of the whole disgusting affair. Fortunately, at least one person of the Left called Drum and Matt Ygelsias from Vox both out for their ridiculous arguments. We need more of that, especially now.
However, Drum's uselessness was confirmed when he became a Bernie Sanders. For some fucking reason, he accuses Sanders of being some sort of con artist because of the things he said. Honey, if being excited for a political candidate who offered an alternative politics is a crime, then lock me in jail and throw away the key! What are people supposed to do, get beaten into submission until everyone looks at Clinton and believes in their very souls one of Margaret Thatcher's most memorable quotes, except applied to Clinton's worldview? It's the same kind of bitter vitriol that smeared Bernie supporters, and even led to weird articles like this. Clearly, Drum has an issue.
Of course, you'd think Clinton's loss would lead to introspection. Instead, Drum doubled down on his Sanders grudge, partially blaming him for Clinton's loss. I'm sure that people like David Brock would be happy for you to join the club, bucko (if Brock and Drum share something, it's that they blame James Comey to some degree for Clinton losing). For fuck's sake, would it have killed you to realize how terrible Clinton would have been as President? Hell, her own aides recognized how disastrous her presidency would've been, in one way or another. Then again, that Trump piece is actually telling. It's almost as if he subscribes to this school of thought.
The solution for Mother Jones is simple: They need to fire Kevin Drum. Immediately. If he started writing inspiring, intelligent stories about fighting Donald Trump, there would be a reason to keep him on the payroll. Alas, Drum isn't in the same company as Brooks or Friedman, whose writing is so bad that they inspire devastating responses. Drum's humorless, sickening prose is enough to drive readers away. Which is a real shame, because Mother Jones is still capable of incredible writing, including a cover article about Bernie Sanders. If only Drum would get his head out his ass long enough to make the same kind of impact.