I woke this morning with the same shock, anger, and dismay I felt last night, when a handful of Democratic senators decided to capitulate on the shutdown, just as it was finally inflicting real pain on the Trump regime and its pathetic enablers in Congress.
I don’t think I’ve ever used the word gobsmacked in this newsletter, and today seems like the perfect time to trot it out.
What Beltway insiders called a “risky strategy” — Democrats refusing to give votes to the Republican sycophants in Congress to keep the government open — was actually working. And if there was any doubt, last week’s drubbing of Republicans from coast to coast and everywhere in between was hard proof of what both polls and vibes have been screaming: Americans do not like this president. At all. They are desperate for elected leaders willing to stand up and fight the madness.
To be sure, this shutdown has caused real pain — uncertainty around food stamps as millions face hunger, federal workers going without pay, an air traffic system snarled by cascading delays.
But the deal these turncoat senators struck last night does nothing meaningful on any of the big issues Democrats have been fighting for — the spike in health care premiums, and bigger still, the need to repel a regime that is viciously, corruptly, and vindictively destroying our democracy. All it does is release the hostages (for now) that Republicans took in the shutdown fight, returning this country to a status quo where the status quo is being ruled by the erratic whims of an aging would-be monarch.
Many are speculating that one reason the seven Democratic senators — and Democratic-leaning independent Angus King of Maine — folded was to protect the filibuster. Trump had been calling for its abolition as a way to end the stalemate, and it was causing real dismay among Republican senators who understand that this archaic lever of senatorial privilege, which lets them gum up the legislative process, has long allowed them to avoid taking tough votes and deny the will of the people. It would have been great if the filibuster had been abolished — and even better if Republicans had to own its demise.
Across social media and in the publications I read, the outrage at the “cave caucus” is something to behold. Some of these senators are retiring, and others won’t face voters for years. But it’s worth noting that the vast majority of Democrats — including many so-called moderates — voted nay on the surrender.
As I peer into the wreckage this vote is causing, I search for signs of hope. And I find it in how reviled this vote seems to be across the vast majority of the Democratic electorate. This is a disaster, but I wonder if, in the long run, it is one of those clarifying losses that leads to eventual wins. Because while I am very worried about the continuation of our democracy, I am almost just as worried that if and when the political winds do shift, as they seem to be doing, and the Democrats return to power, they might not have the courage to do what needs to be done.
This regime has exposed serious flaws in the systems and mechanisms of our democracy. It will take radical, bold, and courageous thinking to repair the damage and rebuild the nation. We are at one of those rare inflection points — like after the Civil War, the Gilded Age, the Great Depression, and World War II — when the country as it was must be reimagined into something new.
In recent weeks, many — especially in the pages of the New York Times — have been calling for moderation. But last night showed exactly where a misplaced sense of moderation can lead. It’s refreshing how few Democratic senators fell for the trap. Maybe they can already picture the next round of No Kings rallies, where the anger will not only be directed at the regime but also at those in the Democratic Party who aren’t fighting back. I can already imagine signs calling out the “cave-men” and “cave-women” in the Senate.
The energy and passion are on the side of the fight, not the surrender. That spirit will need to carry us through the midterms and the next presidential election — and beyond. Then it must drive us to expand the Supreme Court, grant statehood to Washington, D.C., radically overhaul our voting rights and tax codes, break up monopolistic corporations, and prosecute members of this regime for corruption and other crimes.
I like to think what we saw last night was the last gasp of the politics of the past — from cowards who either don’t get it or never were up to the fight in the first place. It’s not enough that their political careers should be finished. The message must be unambiguous: anyone who would join them in this kind of shamelessness won’t have a place in the party’s future either.
We need to make it clear — with our words, our votes, and our dollars — that capitulation has consequences. That this is not what we expect from our leaders. Because this is not what the democracy we intend to build and fight for will look like.
