This article originally appeared in Tom Cummings' substack publication, The Liberal Buddhist Review, on March 31 and is reposted here with Tom's kind permission.

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I’ve been developing the idea of “the two tasks” for nearly two and a half years now, over the course of no less than five previous posts. You can go back and read them, should you wish, by accessing the following links: the first one here, the second one here, the third one here, the fourth one here, and the fifth (and most recent) one, from just a few weeks ago, here.

In order to refresh my memory, I’ve done my own review of these five posts over the past few weeks. What follows is a brief overview of how my thinking about the two tasks has evolved over time.

Originally, in the hopeful days of late 2022, just after Democrats had successfully prevailed in the hotly contested midterm elections, I proposed them as a pair of parallel tasks to be undertaken simultaneously by the progressive community …

“Our first task, over the short-term, is to prevail at the polls in 2024. We can’t afford any let-up in the energies we expended over the past year in successfully holding off the widely predicted ‘red wave’ deluge in the 2022 midterms.

“Our second task, over the long-term, is attempting to communicate effectively with some of those enthusiastic Trump-supporters, in the hope of persuading them to let go of the extremist views they currently cling to. While I have no idea [if] it’s even reasonable to undertake it in the first place, I also have no doubt that the work called for by the first task - while vitally important in the short-run - will in fact fall short in the long-run.

“In the short-term, of course, we absolutely must keep plugging the holes in the dyke (task one: prevail at the polls). But in the long-term, we need somehow to bring about a receding of the waters still ominously edging their way up to the brim of the dyke (task two: persuade the extremists).”

A few months later, in April 2023, I was quite optimistic about the first task, as the chances of preventing Trump’s return to the presidency seemed favorable at that time; and in this hopeful frame of mind, I committed myself to try listening with a more non-judgmental attitude to my MAGA-supporting siblings in pursuit of the second task.

But then, nearly one year later, in February 2024, Trump’s chaotic public rallies were still holding a lock on the MAGA community and the Republican establishment, while Biden’s compelling campaign ads and rousing (but tele-prompted) campaign speeches were failing to assuage the growing fears among an increasing number of Democrats about his continuing fitness to stump as well as to serve. My optimism of the previous year had now given way to a sense of cautious concern, and reluctantly, I revised the relationship between two tasks from parallel to sequential …

“The urgency for task one has grown exponentially, and the viability for task two has diminished significantly.

“Prevailing in this year’s elections - both the presidential contest and the congressional races - could not be more important. A second presidential term for Trump will be catastrophic for our own country, and for every one of those countries allied with us in the struggle to preserve democracy and some sort of rules-based global order. And, if we are to be faced with Trump’s return to the White House, all that will separate us from a lawless and autocratic presidency will be a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress.

“Bridging the gap between us and MAGA supporters could not be more impossible in these next nine months leading up to the November elections. Violent rhetoric is sure to pervade the national discourse, and threats of violent action are likely to be looming as a constant backdrop to that dysfunctional discourse. Attempts to bring skillful speech to the forefront during these contentious months are almost certainly doomed to instant and ignominious defeat.

“Accordingly, from now until November, our two tasks reduce to one task only, that of prevailing at the polls. It’s essential that Trump never gets his threatened opportunity to be “dictator on day one”. Our second task must await the outcome of that election, at which point we will need to revisit it - hopefully from a proactive place of attempting to heal the ongoing polarization resulting from a MAGA defeat, but possibly from a reactive place of trying to mitigate the harm that will surely result from a MAGA victory.”

Just before the election, in October 2024, I offered this final assessment in preparation for renewing our focus on the second task …

“A recurring theme across multiple issues of TLBR over the last twenty two months has been our ‘two tasks’ as liberals and as Buddhists: (1) defeat Donald Trump’s bid for a second term as president; and (2) begin devising ways to bridge the seemingly unbridgeable gap between his MAGA supporters and those of us who oppose him.

“We are nearing the end of the first task. Most of what we’ve needed to do has been completed. All that remains is to await the outcome.

“Our second task, bridging the gap between MAGA and us, has been on hold since I first proposed it twenty two months ago. The overriding importance of the first task - defeating Trump and saving democracy, at least in the short term - dictated this deferral. But this second task has always been waiting in the wings, ready to assume its own importance.

“How we go about undertaking this second task will depend greatly, of course, on whether Trump is resident at the White House or in Mar-a-Lago next year. Accordingly, further discussion must await the results of the tumultuous events that will unfold in the aftermath of the election and in the lead-up to congressional certification of the results in January. Nonetheless, let’s begin thinking about the need for this second task, even though we can’t yet know the circumstances under which it will have to take place.”

Now, of course, we know exactly what dire circumstances our second task needs to take place in. And further, we can see clearly now that our first task cannot be dismissed due to not having been successfully accomplished, but instead must be revised. As I wrote in the last issue, we need to …

“… revisit the ‘two tasks’ that I’ve been writing about for the past two and a half years, and attempt to refashion them into more appropriate tools for us to make use of, as we navigate our way through this new and very alarming reality that we now find ourselves in.”

And so, here they are, updated in order to more effectively address this dangerous new era we’ve been plunged into, and also restored to their original pairing as parallel tasks to be undertaken simultaneously:

1. Stand courageously and nonviolently against the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the constitutional rule of law here in the United States and to disrupt the established international norms of mutual respect and cooperation with our traditional allies abroad.
2. Practice deep and sustained habits of skillful speech, and bring those skills to the forefront in each and every conversation we have with MAGA supporters - especially those who are wavering in their support of Trump as a result of being personally impacted by his personal behaviors and/or his administration’s policies.

There is much more to say about both of these newly updated tasks, and I promise to write at greater length about each of them over the course of the next few issues. For now, I would be grateful for any thoughts you might care to share in the comments section with regard to this initial update of these two tasks for this new era.