Sometimes there are just no good options! It truly, deeply sucks!
I think the unfortunate answer is that it will not be a normal shutdown and will be used to cause further chaos and damage and it’s still better than handing these guys a blank check to do whatever the fuck they want for six months
shitty, miserable options all around— Micah (@rincewind.run) March 13, 2025 at 3:54 PM
This will please nobody, but it might as well be read into the record. Opinion piece in the NYTimes, “Chuck Schumer: Trump and Musk Would Love a Shutdown. We Must Not Give Them One.” [gift link]:
… As I have said many times, there are no winners in a government shutdown. But there are certainly victims: the most vulnerable Americans, those who rely on federal programs to feed their families, get medical care and stay financially afloat. Communities that depend on government services to function will suffer.
This week Democrats offered a way out: Fund the government for another month to give appropriators more time to do their jobs. Republicans rejected this proposal.
Why? Because Mr. Trump doesn’t want the appropriators to do their job. He wants full control over government spending…
This, in my view, is no choice at all.
For sure, the Republican bill is a terrible option. It is deeply partisan. It doesn’t address this country’s needs. But even if the White House says differently, Mr. Trump and Elon Musk want a shutdown. We should not give them one. The risk of allowing the president to take even more power via a government shutdown is a much worse path.
To be clear: No one on my side of the aisle wants a government shutdown. Members who support this continuing resolution do not want that. Members who oppose it do not want that…
As bad as passing the continuing resolution would be, I believe a government shutdown is far worse.
First, a shutdown would give Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk permission to destroy vital government services at a significantly faster rate than they can right now. Under a shutdown, the Trump administration would have wide-ranging authority to deem whole agencies, programs and personnel nonessential, furloughing staff members with no promise they would ever be rehired.
Mr. Musk has reportedly said that he wants a shutdown and may already be planning how to use one to his advantage.
Second, if we enter a shutdown, congressional Republicans could weaponize their majorities to cherry-pick which parts of government to reopen.
In a protracted shutdown, House and Senate Republicans could bring bills to the floor to reopen only their favored departments and agencies while leaving other vital services that they don’t like to languish.
Third, shutdowns mean real pain for American families…
Finally, a shutdown would be the best distraction Donald Trump could ask for from his awful agenda.
Right now, Mr. Trump owns the chaos in the government. He owns the chaos in the stock market. He owns the damage happening to our economy. The stock market is falling, and consumer confidence is plummeting…I believe it is my job to make the best choice for the country, to minimize the harms to the American people. Therefore, I will vote to keep the government open.
This is the basic conflict over all of Democratic strategy related to Trump for the foreseeable future. There is no option without cost, there is no option that makes us look like heroes. We have no formal power except to obstruct & protest, & we cannot sufficiently predict how that will resolve
— Chatham Harrison is tending his garden (@chathamharrison.bsky.social) March 13, 2025 at 6:15 PM
I miss the late Harry Reid (D-Nevada) so much.
— Ragnarok Lobster (@eclecticbrotha1.bsky.social) March 13, 2025 at 7:38 PM
War for Ukraine Day 1,113: You Can’t Handle the Truce
Big R
I think where things come apart for me is that two days ago Schumer was breathing fire and vowing to oppose the CR. I think that’s why I am annoyed by Chuck Schumer as the Democratic leader; I could handle a regretful announcement of “we have to do this bad thing to prevent many much worse things” if it hadn’t been preceded with “call our bluff, we dare you.” The lesson that Donald Trump takes from that is probably the right one: Schumer is always bluffing, and therefore you never have to even consider the possibility that he has leverage.
One really stupid (in the sense of “this seems pointless if you’re not paying attention”) constitutional amendment that I would like to see is that neither house of Congress can adjourn except via joint session, which adjourns both chambers. Or even just “Congress is always in session and members are permitted to come and go as they please, subject to the call of the chair.”
Martin
If you want bipartisanship, you need to be willing to shoot the hostage. Democrats keep signaling they are unwilling to do that, and as a result there is no point trying to win them over.
Again, they are trying evaluate this in terms of economic harm rather than power dynamics and demonstrating that there is some – ANY – institutional force left in this country, the latter being by far the more important thing in a marginally fascist state. You can’t mitigate the economic harm until you remove Trump from power. The only task is removing Trump from power, and if you have to shut down the government for 4 years to achieve it, then do that.
For all the goddamn rhetoric about the existential crisis that Trump presented, their actions sure as shit suggest they were lying to us.
mapanghimagsik
I feel Schumer burned a lot of bridges here, and clearly doesn’t mind fucking over Democrats. Its not that I want a shutdown, and I’m not entirely sure what move was right, but Schumer has an uncanny ability for picking the wrong one. Between him and Newsom, the next fundraising email I get is going to get an earful.
And we can corner the dry powder futures market!
eclare
@Martin:
All good points.
eclare
@Big R:
Agree that the crime here was Schumer saying the Republicans didn’t have the votes then capitulating one day later. It seems like most of the House is pissed, JFC Seth Moulton even called Schumer out for not having a spine!
https://bsky.app/profile/chrisgeidner.bsky.social/post/3lkcquad4522w
Suzanne
@Martin:
I was fiery mad yesterday, and this is what I kept coming back to. They might think Trump is bad, but, like, they obviously don’t think he’s bad enough to do anything different than they know how to do.
I’m sure someone will accuse me of thinking “only Democrats have agency”, but what supposedly differentiates our party leaders from a well-meaning person on the street is their strategic abilities.
Anne Laurie
Caveat from a Masshole: Seth Moulton, in his heart, is a born & bred Republican — one of those classic ‘Rockefeller Repubs’ that have been so effectively weeded out by MAGAts and grifters. But Mass voters only elect Republicans as governors (an almost powerless legislative position here), so Moulton has allowed his handlers to brand him with a (D) without actually believing any of our Democratic happy-talk about ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’ and so forth. So you want to be very, very careful about accepting Moulton’s ‘as a Democrat’ opinions, lest you find yourself disappointed later…
eclare
@Anne Laurie:
Point taken, of course I don’t know him as well as you do. But he voted against the CR…
mapanghimagsik
@Suzanne:
That’s been bugging me, too. A lot. Can’t say I’m eager to support any candidate, right now, and I thought it was the *Republican* strategy to make disengage.
WTFGhost
“…but if the government shuts down, and he furloughs tens, maybe hundreds of thousands MORE people, with no promise they’ll ever be re-hired, he won’t own that, because because because because because (fritz)”
Listen, fuc….uh, CHUCKY, he is showing the American people who he is. And you’re saying “but but but if we give Republicans the tools, they’ll do serious damage!” like they aren’t already!
If Trump furloughs tens of thousands, and refuses to rehire them, good, now there’s enormous pressure on him, right when he wants to coast on his CR. You really think he has the courage of his principles to refuse to rehire them? You really think Republicans will continue to let him coast, after such wholesale slaughter? If so, America is already toast, and it’s time to admit it, so we can try to figure out what the hell we are.
Show Trump is no hero, slicing into the fat of the federal budget. Show the world he’s a desperate, little, slimy coward with no principles.
mapanghimagsik
@WTFGhost:
That misery will still come, but now its bipartisan.
p.a.
When as level-headed an observer as Josh Marshall rips Schumer a new one, it’s something to note.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/black-thursday-in-the-democratic-senate-an-explainer
Nukular Biskits
Good mornin, y’all.
Said this last night and see no reason to change my mind about it: I understand Schumer’s position on this but I don’t think I entirely agree with his course of action.
And, after further reading (H/T to @p.a. for that TPM article), I am angry that Schumer publicly did a complete 180. If he knew this was going to be the inevitable outcome, then why all the posturing in the first place? He should have been straight up from the beginning.
As someone who lives in a backwards MAGA-red state, I have to rely on the Democratic representatives and senators of other “blue” states to preserve my rights, my privileges, maintain a working federal gov’t and address the needs of the entire nation, not just those who are well-connected or wealthy.
Now … I don’t know I can rely on them either.
no body no name
@p.a.:
I’d love for AOC to take his seat but I also think I’m happier with her as future speaker. She can be a lot stronger in the house than the senate. Also the senate fucking sucks.
Nukular Biskits
@no body no name:
I think the flawed Founding Fathers were right in setting the terms of office for US Senators at 6 years to have a stable upper legislative body … but that has resulted in a rather ossified institution.
But, then, no one is forcing voters to “rehire” those US Senators every 6 years, so ultimately we is the enemy.
eclare
@no body no name:
I think she would have a hard time winning state wide in NYS, Wall Street and its money would definitely be against her. Like you, I think Speaker of the House would be a better fit.
eclare
@Nukular Biskits:
Same here in TN…sigh.
Baud
lowtechcyclist
Adam Jentleson:
Josh Marshall has a lot of respect for Jentleson, who was Harry Reid’s right-hand man, and so do I.
The problem with his logic is, there is no other fight. After giving in on this not-a-CR, which gives FFOTUS an unreasonable amount of power to shift spending around as Russ Vought damn well pleases, there will be no ‘next’ Congressional battle until this funding bill expires next year. There would be no other fight in 2025, and it’s only mid-March. A year of helplessness lies ahead. Swell.
Maybe a shutdown will enable DOGE to do plenty more of what it’s already doing, but a shutdown won’t make it any more legal AFAICT. Maybe the Rethugs will try to reopen the government one agency at a time, and leave the Dems’ favorite agencies shut down – but the Dems could block that too, just the way they could block this not-a-CR.
I’m starting to think blue state secession looks – well, not good, but better than being a helpless participant in an authoritarian state.
eclare
@Baud:
Wow. I have so much respect for people who change their mind for the better, especially as they get older.
Nukular Biskits
@lowtechcyclist:
I’m ready to move.
no body no name
@lowtechcyclist:
When you realize a ton of our leadership and our upper middle class white professional prized voters are the old moderate Republicans the actions of the party, especially from wealthy states with predatory industries like NY make sense.
p.a.
There has been legitimate talk that tRumpism could break the Republican Party. Will it break the Democratic Party first!?!? Black Swan gonna black swan…
Personally I think the Dems will continue on as currently constructed, since in the presence of the malignancy of tRumpism any other choice is… not better.
Baud
@p.a.:
Alternatively, Trumpism exists because we were already broken.
no body no name
@Baud:
This is correct.
Chris Johnson
Pretty sure what Schumer expects is that, in a shutdown, Trump will simply blame everything that’s happening on Democrats, and expects that will work.
I don’t know if that’s correct, but I do think Dems forcing a shutdown implies that everyone will remember it’s for the purpose of fighting saboteur Republicans BEFORE they have entirely succeeded in their sabotage. That gives me pause. They control all the legacy media and Twitter and all the platforms where the CEOs were literally on stage with Trump (for instance Facebook).
Also, will the courts function during a shutdown?
David_C
In other news, we are in the early stages of the gutting of biomedical research, starting with Columbia University and Johns Hopkins University. Hopkins is, along with Harvard University, where science-based medical education was first practiced in the US.
BellyCat
Re Chuck: Neither Jewish nor Palestinian, apparently. Instead: The Untrustworthy Mediator.
Maaaaaybe the right call, ultimately (from a humanitarian perspective)? But could not have been made in a worse way (from a power perspective).
Baud
@BellyCat:
Why is he not Jewish?
lowtechcyclist
@no body no name:
Maybe. But as one of those former moderate Republicans and as an upper middle class white professional, I still think it stinks.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@David_C: Hopkins is laying off 2,000 employees. The damage goes well beyond federal workers already.
BellyCat
@Baud: See Trump’s insult about Chuck a few days ago.
ETA: “Schumer used to be Jewish”
Baud
@BellyCat:
Trump called him Palestinian as a slur. I thought Schumer was Jewish, however.
Gvg
@Nukular Biskits: succession is war. War in a nuclear age is unthinkable. Also the states are even more mixed with families and companies all spread freely over all states. Succession is impossible. Do not talk about it even jokingly because it would be worse than genocide in reality. It would also destroy our prosperity, which most of us value even if we say freedom is more important, eating and warmth is freedom too. We need to be more serious about how to break through propaganda and education. Long run plans. And I have no idea how to do it. I know I am not a good persuader, to my frustration.
That makes me one of those critics without helpful suggestions too. Drat, darn etc. I am sorry .
Baud
Via Reddit, sleepy Joe facts.
Pittsburgh Mike
This bill gives Republicans legal cover for some of the things Trump is doing, such as more control over tariffs. It cuts funding for DC’s government by $1 billion. Our voting for it makes it our bill, and makes us look incredibly weak as well.
Honestly, why give money to a party whose leaders seem to enjoy playing defense, and losing.
Darkrose
These seem to make sense. I don’t think Schumer has realized how angry people are, and it’s absolutely not just the online lefties.
satby
@Baud: The felon proclaimed him so.
Anyway
Voting for a bill that guts DC’s budget is unconscionable. African Americans are going to be hit hard by Federal layoffs. DC budget cuts is another punch — how can any D pol vote for such a bill?
ETA Schumer’s lost the plot
Gvg
@Baud: I assume there have been several reasoned responses pointing out that Trump is being a typical bigot by that slur. I would also like to see some more common responses like my own, which would be Trump is a jackass for saying that. He doesn’t even understand basic facts about Jewishness, Palestinians or what a terrorist really is and is just having a rich never grow up man’s tantrum at not getting his way every time.
Darkrose
If for no other reason than this, the CR needs to go down. How is giving Trump more power supposed to help anything? How is cutting funding for DC going to do anything but punish people who have no voice in the federal government?
eclare
@Darkrose:
Abso-fucking-lutely.
satby
@Chris Johnson: Also, will the courts function during a shutdown?
A very pertinent question, especially given the double loss handed to the Trusk administration yesterday in 2 federal courts.
Pittsburgh Mike
Exactly. This was our opportunity to make a stand, and Schumer and the rest of the Senators walked away from it.
Winning this battle required a little planning and strategy. You had to have everyone explaining to voters that Trump & co were breaking the law and we wouldn’t vote for anything they want until they stop.
Instead, we cower in fear that we’d be blamed for fighting back. Incompetent behavior by Schumer.
BellyCat
@Gvg: The “succession” has been organic for decades. Those who can have moved from shithole (rural towns and) states to more urban areas for decades.
What we are seeing now is the resulting war.
The part not imagined was Silicon Valley jumping in bed with the Evangelicals. Deregulation is a helluva drug.
eclare
@Darkrose:
There was an article, I think in the WaPo (I signed up for a year membership a while back, I will not renew) about how Mayor Bowser removed all of the Black Lives Matter signage and met with FFOTUS, and then got hit with the $1B cut.
It makes me want to scream! When will people learn caving to bullies emboldens them? Caving will never protect you, as it teaches bullies that there are no repercussions.
It’s like going back to an abusive partner. They abused you, you’re back, no reason to change behavior.
I realize options are limited, but it broke my heart to see the Black Lives Matter signage removed.
satby
The momentum has been with us in court cases, especially yesteday. I wonder if shutting down, hence shutting down the courts too, factored in at all in the calculation. I don’t know and I’m glad I’m not in any elected office to have to decide.
Geminid
@lowtechcyclist: I read Adam Jentlesen from time to time and I find I disagree with him as much agree with him. But I think this time Jentleson’s take is the correct one. I believe stopping this bill by denying cloture would have played into Republican hand. Shumer and company avoided a political trap for Democrats, and they left the political burden of a failing economy squarely on Republican shoulders.
Ksmiami
@lowtechcyclist: I think I’m there. Trump is national suicide so we should work on saving what we can.
sentient ai from the future
so we know that GrOPers are willing to abdicate their constitutional responsibilities and prerogatives so long as their party controls things, that much was never in question.
but i thought, all else being equal, that Dems would not ALSO be willing to give up those prerogatives in the face of fascism.
he’s Chuck Petain to me now, for all the good that does.
i wish we knew who else was on that list of senators willing to vote for cloture so that we could make calls today. i already called both of my senators and i’m sure they will both vote against, but thats a lot of why i fucking live here in the first place. it’s the ret of the country and world that i’m concerned about.
circular reasoning
I am waking up to this news and realizing that Dems are probably feeling a lot like most of the world has likely felt about the US. We put our trust in you and take you at your word that you will support and protect us. Then as soon as it might cost your elites some discomfort…POOF…you’re gone. Why the fuck would anyone ever trust them/us again?
different-church-lady
@Martin:
It doesn’t do that.
Darkrose
Exactly. I guess Mayor Bowser was trying to protect her city, but the only thing she could do that would placate Republicans would be to stop being a Black woman, or resign.
Columbia apparently thought throwing their Palestinian students to DHS would save them. Now the “Department” of Education is telling them to crack down harder and suspend or expel anyone who protested, centralize all disciplinary proceedings in the Office of the University Presiudent, and put the entire department of Middle Eastern and African Studies under receivership, with a chair imposed by by the president, who would have control over the curriculum. It’s straight-up Orbanist shit. That’s what appeasement gets you.
BellyCat
Same. A Canadian wag suggested that the plaza be renamed and dedicated to the fine work of the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”)!
satby
Voting against the bill, even as a unified block, ultimately won’t stop it, right?
eclare
@circular reasoning:
https://theaviationist.com/2025/03/13/portugal-f-35-plans/
They already don’t trust us. The defense industry was a big contributor to FFOTUS, so, womp womp.
different-church-lady
@eclare:
The key to understanding abusers is that they are not going to change behavior no matter what you do.
Darkrose
@Geminid: And what will be left with Trump having unilateral power to impose tariffs, Washington DC decimated, and zero guardrails on Elon and his DOGE youth?
This CR is Congress giving away its Constitutionally-mandated power of the purse. In what universe is Trump going to give that back?
eclare
@Darkrose:
Holy shit! I read that there were conditions for the grant money, but wow. I hope they refuse. I have to think their endowment can draw down funds for a few years.
Darkrose
@satby: The vote in question is the cloture vote. It has to get 60 votes in order to go for a yes or no vote.
The GOP doesn’t have 60 votes, so they need Democrats to vote for cloture. At which point, it’s a done deal even if all Democrats vote against it.
The cloture vote the only leverage the Democrats have, and Schumer is giving it away.
Geminid
@Chris Johnson: I think people would blame a shutdown on both parties. The headlines and newscast leads would be, “Shutdown Day [X]: Congressional Republicans and Democrats Remain Deadlocked.”
BellyCat
Only when he’s pushing up daisies.
eclare
@Geminid:
The recent Quinnipiac poll says otherwise. IIRC 53% would blame FFOTUS/Republicans for the shutdown, around 30% would blame D’s.
sentient ai from the future
@different-church-lady: my experience has been that they sometimes will, if there are swift consequences imposed by an outside actor for deviation from well defined standards.
sometimes.
eclare
@sentient ai from the future:
I was bullied in elementary school. When I reached my breaking point, I hit the main bully in the face. After that, no more bullying.
The school and teacher didn’t punish me, they knew what was going on. That was decades before schools realized that they should do something about bullying.
satby
@Darkrose: I understand that.
Edit: I’m just not sure that there’s not a way the majority couldn’t change the rules anyway.
Geminid
@Darkrose: I don’t see how this Continuing Resolution gives away consitutionally mandated power of the purse any more than the preceding CRs did, or the underlying legislation they extended did.
As for tariffs, I don’t think this Congress was going to curb Trump’s tariffs anyway. But if Republicans want to publicly neuter themselves in this area they’re handing Democrats another good election issue.
Geminid
@eclare: That poll shows both parties being blamed for a shutdown, Republicans more than Democrats. It sounds like it was an either/or question without a “Both” option.
I’m saying it’s likely more and more people would pick “Both” as a shutdown progressed.
I don’t want people giving Democrats half the the blame, or even 40% of the blame which is another way of looking at that Quinnipiac result. I want people to give Republicans 100% of the blame for this lousy budget bill and this faltering economy.
satby
@Geminid: And I want the courts to keep ruling against the Trusk regime, and they can’t do that if they’re closed.
When voters handed a trifecta to the Republicans, this is where we end up and blaming Democrats is like blaming the victims. I don’t know what the correct action is right now, but I’m not convinced a performance leading to a shut down is it. And who’s more likely to vote to reopen? Us, because we care about harm to people. And then it would appear that the Democrats were at fault all along.
Ohio Mom
@Baud: Schumer is most definitely Jewish.
Trump is leveraging the “good” Jews, the Ultra-orthodox who voted for him, and are loyal Republicans, against the “bad” Jews, the 80% (I don’t know the exact percentage) who are loyal Democrats.
I expect Trump to do favors for the ultra-Orthodox and shit on tne rest of us (along with everyone else who is going to get shit on).
Almost Retired
@satby: I agree with this 100 percent. I’ve come around to the view that we’ll get more blame than pre shutdown polling suggests when the Republican disinformation machine kicks into high gear and people start hurting in real time. I could have done without some Dems’ “will they or won’t they” Sam and Diane-style tease, but ultimately think (hope) avoiding the shutdown was the right call. For now.
lowtechcyclist
@Geminid:
I remember reading earlier that this not-a-CR just appropriates money to Cabinet departments as a whole, rather than to specific programs under each department, which would give the Executive Branch unlimited power to determine which programs within each department get funded, and which ones don’t.
If that recollection is correct, then they could shut down programs for the duration of the period this bill funds the government for, RIF the people who work on those programs for the remainder of that period, and the courts couldn’t do jack shit about it.
lowtechcyclist
@Geminid:
If a faltering economy was the worst that would happen, I’d be right there with you.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
The thing about blame avoidance as a strategy is it makes it awfully hard to claim credit for anything. Also at some point you have to find a way to drive the narrative in your direction. Decade after decade of duck and cover and the party still hasn’t come up with a way to go on offense. Wait till they fuck up so bad people see us as the only option. Then you half fix things but let them paint a picture of failure because things aren’t 100% great. Cycle repeats because again blame avoidance means you miss out on taking credit too.
Anyway
I thought if all Ds voted no ReThugs lack 60 votes needed to pass it.
AM in NC
@Martin: “Again, they are trying evaluate this in terms of economic harm rather than power dynamics ”
100% this. Because Democrats aren’t sociopaths, they think in these terms, which is EXACTLY HOW I WANT THEM THINKING most of the time.
But not in these times. When fighting sociopaths, the only thing to do is defeat them and punch them in the face any and every time you can to show YOUR power and to get “normies” to see that you are powerful and can/will fight for them too.
The only way we can protect anyone is to get back into power. And the only way to do that when the other side is destroying norms is to oppose them with everything you have got and then when back in power, fuck over the norms to re-establish LAWS to replace them. Republicans need to be reined in hard, and quaint norms just don’t cut it any longer.
We need to get money out of politics, period; rein in the corrupt Supreme Court; JAIL the elite criminals for EVERY CRIME they commit; deal with gerrymandering; re-establish fair elections in every state (not just the Civil Rights Act states); break up the tech-bro monopolies; basically sociopath-proof our government and society.
It is a long and heavy lift. And there is going to be pain on the way, but it’s at least pain with potentially positive results.
And it is going to take ALL of us – not just relying on Democrats in office to effect change.
brantl
@no body no name: you need to use commas.
Glidwrith
@David_C: The entire California coast, from San Diego to San Francisco is packed with biotech industries and the universities that started them. There are only a couple of other places, like the NC golden triangle and around Johns Hopkins, that are similar and they still don’t come close.
San Diego has more PhDs per capita than any other city. I wonder if east coast bias will make the thugs overlook us and the coast for a while?
Hoodie
@lowtechcyclist: The courts will not do jack shit when they decide not to do jack shit. I’m not familiar with the details of the CR, but I doubt it repeals a bunch of statutes or makes executive impoundment legal without the Court saying so. At least there will be arguments to that effect. Of course, that leaves us to the mercy of the Court, but we’re already there and they’re really the only institution with a chance of constraining Trump. Democrats have no power to do anything.
I hope people will get past this and quit finger pointing. Whether or not you agree with Schumer, everyone should realize there are no good options and this is mainly a judgment call with arguments for and against either position. I can be ok with what Schumer is doing, but I hope there is a longer term strategy that’s more than simply waiting for Trump to fuckup sufficiently to piss everyone off. He’ll probably do that, but there has to be some sort of alternative messaging to gets out to the normies and lets them know that Dems are on their side. For example, Trump is setting up a situation where rich folks are going to get a ginormous tax cut while the lower and middle classes will be hammered by tariffs. Maybe the Dems should be thinking of some way of saying “hey, since tariffs are going to pay for everything, why not give a big income tax break to the people who will be paying them?” Yes, that would blow an even bigger hole in the budget, but that’s on the Republicans, right?
YY_Sima Qian
The policy substance would demand voting no against the CR, & really any R proposed legislation, period. The cynical political calculation could go either way. However, whatever political “benefit” from letting the CR pass & avoiding a government shut down, was wiped out by Schumer doing a 180, & w/o getting any concession from the Rs. His basic conception of politics in these trying times has to be called into question.
Why does Orban dominate Hungarian politics even though his party is not anywhere near majority? Why has Bibi managed to survive for so long & done such damage inside & outside of Israel, despite only being able to scrape together the smallest of ruling coalitions? Because the oppositions are divided. Dem leaders such as Schumer are doing little to unify & coalesce the opposition.
As mentioned by other commenters, at best, the strategy of blame avoidance & trying take advantage of popular backlash to Trumpian misrule, gets the Dems back in power for a couple of cycles, until they are voted out again for failing to fix all of the damage caused by the Rs, perpetuating the cycle we have been in for 4+ decades. That’s the Dems advertising themselves as the “lesser evil”, against an extraordinarily low bar, telling voters to voter for Ds because they are not Rs, not even because they are against the Rs. Perpetuating the cycle does not solve the US’s deep problems, nor safeguard the US against Fascism.
Ruckus
I very much realize that we are at, not a crossroads but at the end of the alley. By which I mean that can we accomplish any kind of compromise with people that do not want a working government unless working government means they get everything and the very vast majority get jack shit?
Which is obviously not in any way a positive concept of governing.
For anyone.
So let’s look at what the far, far, far right wants – every damn thing. They want what they think will be a great country – for them and them alone. They want all the money, all the power and none of the responsibility of being an actual working government. I have no idea where they got the concept that screwing every single citizen, including themselves into what I can only envision as an extremely dictatorial government that shuts out/eliminates everyone but themselves. Does not sound like any kind of democracy whatsoever. Does not sound like a workable government that would be viable at any time in the last say, 500 years. I’d bet that even a lot of republicans would not actually want that “government.” Hell a king with more intelligence than a piece of dry toast wouldn’t want that government. Conservatives in this country have been losing the concept of an actual government for most of my old fart life. What they seemingly want is something that has only worked in a very, very small country, where most people left rather than put up with their shit. It for sure isn’t any type of democracy, not even the worst type, where most think they have a voice but they absolutely do not.
I have a feeling that they have zero idea of what history has shown us time and time again, that the meek do not actually inherit the earth, unless they eliminate every other human, which is not a meek accomplishment. It is a very horrible one, as history has shown. Time and time again. The world has changed dramatically, in the lifetime of many still alive today, in so many ways that it’s difficult to count. Who is going to grow their food, build their cars, defend their government/land? Who is going to enforce the guidelines that we call laws? Because what they seem to want takes total devotion to pain, hunger and disease. And we have history to show us that. Who is going to provide their fuel for the cars that no one is laboring to build, from the providing of all the materials needed, and the food and medical care for the people doing all that manual labor? Who is going to train the doctors/nurses so that they have reasonable healthcare and manufacture all the medicines and supplies that are needed to maintain that? The world is a hell of a lot different than it was in the lifetime of humans alive today. I have a 98 yr old neighbor. That means she was born in 1923. She is not yet in the century club, but millions are.
My point is that government is not easy, and decent government is a hell of a lot harder. It is not getting rid of everyone you don’t agree with, it is learning to live and prosper with humans that you will never always agree with. It isn’t winning every battle, it is figuring out how to live without having battles.
Eolirin
@Martin: Do you have any idea how many millions of people that would kill?
Ffs.