1- If Democrats had voted against all Republican bills, we’d be in a shutdown right now.
2- Booker’s filibuster is good. There were also many, many options available to Democrats early in the confirmation process that they chose not to take. For example, if they demanded unanimous consent on every procedure, a roll call roll vote would be required to move anything forward. They could file deleterious motions constantly to slow everything down. McConnell successfully used these tactics just a few months ago to force Schumer cut a deal on judicial appointments at the end of the last Congress.
3- The suits are being brought by Democratic Attorneys General, who have been killing it. They remember how dangerous Trump was and prepared accordingly. The national Democrats, however, clearly had no plan other than, “Kamala will win,” and didn’t adapt at all in the months between the election and the inauguration.
Chuck Schumer is the poster boy for this shortsightedness. The only possible explanation for his actions on the budget bill is that he assumed at least a few House Republicans would defect and the bill wouldn’t reach the Senate. When that didn’t happen, he had to suddenly decided between funding the government, which would a terrible move since (aside from being an awful bill) every House Democrat had just stuck their neck out to try to shoot it down, or defunding the government, which had its own risks, but it’s own benefits as well. Not only did he make the wrong choice, but he made it so abruptly he threw his entire party into chaos.
4- All of this is indicative of a party that is working from an out of date playbook that is hopeless obsolete in the face of fascism. Schumer and James Carvil started the term by telling Democrats to lay low and wait for Trump to screw up. Jefferies was advocating for bipartisanship for the fiest two months of the administration. The general consensus is that the legislative branch is completely helpless, and they simply need to wait for the courts to save us.
None of this will work. The Trump administration’s fuck-ups don’t matter if they’re not planning on holding free and fair elections. Bipartisanship has been dead for almost 20 years. Court rulings won’t save us; Trump is already defying court orders, and the Supreme Court has been pack with regime loyalists. Some Senators, like Booker, seem to be waking up to these realities, but the entire Democratic party needs to be looking to every single opportunity to slow and obstruct the Trump regime, and the leadership is not doing that.
Defeating the Trump administration will require widespread public mobilization and and an opposition party that’s ready to play hardball. The Democratiic leadership seems to content with only doing the first half, and fundraising in lieu of opposition. That’s going to get us all killed.
1- If Democrats had voted against all Republican bills, we’d be in a shutdown right now.
2- Booker’s filibuster is good. There were also many, many options available to Democrats early in the confirmation process that they chose not to take. For example, if they demanded unanimous consent on every procedure, a roll call roll vote would be required to move anything forward. They could file deleterious motions constantly to slow everything down. McConnell successfully used these tactics just a few months ago to force Schumer cut a deal on judicial appointments at the end of the last Congress.
3- The suits are being brought by Democratic Attorneys General, who have been killing it. They remember how dangerous Trump was and prepared accordingly. The national Democrats, however, clearly had no plan other than, “Kamala will win,” and didn’t adapt at all in the months between the election and the inauguration.
Chuck Schumer is the poster boy for this shortsightedness. The only possible explanation for his actions on the budget bill is that he assumed at least a few House Republicans would defect and the bill wouldn’t reach the Senate. When that didn’t happen, he had to suddenly decided between funding the government, which would a terrible move since (aside from being an awful bill) every House Democrat had just stuck their neck out to try to shoot it down, or defunding the government, which had its own risks, but it’s own benefits as well. Not only did he make the wrong choice, but he made it so abruptly he threw his entire party into chaos.
4- All of this is indicative of a party that is working from an out of date playbook that is hopeless obsolete in the face of fascism. Schumer and James Carvil started the term by telling Democrats to lay low and wait for Trump to screw up. Jefferies was advocating for bipartisanship for the fiest two months of the administration. The general consensus is that the legislative branch is completely helpless, and they simply need to wait for the courts to save us.
None of this will work. The Trump administration’s fuck-ups don’t matter if they’re not planning on holding free and fair elections. Bipartisanship has been dead for almost 20 years. Court rulings won’t save us; Trump is already defying court orders, and the Supreme Court has been pack with regime loyalists. Some Senators, like Booker, seem to be waking up to these realities, but the entire Democratic party needs to be looking to every single opportunity to slow and obstruct the Trump regime, and the leadership is not doing that.
Defeating the Trump administration will require widespread public mobilization and and an opposition party that’s ready to play hardball. The Democratiic leadership seems to content with only doing the first half, and fundraising in lieu of opposition. That’s going to get us all killed.