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A Historian's Perspective: Trump and Nanny State "BRING BACK PLASTIC!" while Dems Defend Status Quo [1]
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Date: 2025-02-08
This is an addendum to a post I made earlier today about the Court/Country Party dynamic in the United States, where the Republicans continually position themselves as political outsiders and agents of change (the “Country” Party) while Democrats simply let themselves be positioned as the incumbents who defend the status quo— regardless of which party actually controls power in Washington. All the while, Americans on both the political right and left express outrage at the status quo and demand significant changes to the national government. It is a recipe for disaster for the Democrats that has, predictably, led to disaster.
Trump’s announcement yesterday that he will issue an executive order to ban paper straws and bring back plastic straws is a perfect example of the absurdity of continuing to hold this position for the Democrats. First, let’s look at Trump’s announcement itself on Truth Social: “I will be signing an Executive Order next week ending the ridiculous Biden push for Paper Straws, which don’t work. BACK TO PLASTIC!” Notice how Trump positions himself as the agent of change against previous government overreach. In reality, the Republican Party used to have a term to describe exactly what Trump is doing: “the Nanny State.” Rather than let Trump position himself as the Country Party, or the political outsider, the Dems need to consistently remind Americans that Trump’s trying to tell people how to live their lives, that his government is going so far as to tell people what kind of straws they can use. Trump is embracing the Nanny State and trying to dictate what people can say, use, and buy.
Instead, how are the Democrats reacting to the situation? By acting as if this is a policy debate. If you look at threads about Trump’s plastic straw mandate on social media, the political left is talking about microplastics in the environment and the damage to sea turtles and other marine life plastic straws cause. Personally, I agree with all of these reasons for moving toward paper straws and away from plastic, but framing this as a policy debate where Democrats support the status quo and a seeming attempt to control what people are able to purchase is a losing strategy. Arguing that they were right to promote paper straws to save sea turtles is how we got to Trump 2.0. No, this is an opportunity for a change in rhetorical tactics, an opportunity to outflank Republicans and claim the mantle of the agents of change, the Country Party, the political outsiders, for themselves.
Democrats and Progressives should be shouting from the mountaintops that this is yet another example of Trump and Big Government trying to control people’s lives. That Trump is trying to tell people what kind of straws they can use and purchase. That Trump is in charge of the Nanny State, and that if returned to power, the Democrats will champion individual freedoms and defend against the Nanny State and Big Government overreach. Until the Democrats understand that Americans want change, and that they need to position themselves as the political outsiders that will deliver it, this won’t be the last time Trump tries to use the power of government to control Americans. And we know next time won’t just be about straws.
-Peter Porcupine
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