Democrats: Fight Now!

The auction house paddles were dumb. The pink outfits were pointless. The Resist tee shirts are still available from HouseDems.com, but only in XX-Large while supplies last!

Aside from their weak and embarrassing antics during the convicted felon Donald Trump’s aggressively stupid speech last week, the Democratic leadership seems to have been pursuing a rope a dope strategy. Like Muhammad Ali, just lay on the ropes and let your opponent waste his energy while flailing away. (Okay. So, any comparison between Ali and the current Democratic Party is, you might say, a strain at best. I just felt I needed to explain the analogy.)

But now’s the time to turn and fight. If the Dems don’t do it now they may not get another chance.

The occasion is the bill, passed by House Republicans, to keep the government running past Saturday. That bill cannot pass the Senate without at least eight Democratic votes. Those votes should come at a high price.

If the Democrats allow the House bill to become law it essentially rubber stamps all the havoc that Trump and Elon Musk have been hoisting upon the American people and it empowers them to keep going. The blind slashing to public health programs, food inspections, funding for rural schools, even weather forecasting will only intensify.

Sure, they risk being blamed for a government shutdown, but it’s worth taking that risk. For one thing, they need to be strong and clear: any shutdown is the fault of the Republicans. They control both houses of Congress and the White House. It’s up to them to get the votes. It’s not like the Democrats won’t vote for something. But Senate Republicans have to deal with them. It’s how our democracy works.

Moreover, Democrats have a strong hand to play. They can insist that they won’t vote for any bill that doesn’t protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Republicans will argue that this bill doesn’t deal with those items, but the bill does offer leverage for the Dems to include assurances in this bill anyway. It’s not like Trump/Musk haven’t shown that they’ll take a chain saw to everything without regard to the consequences. If the Dems don’t use what leverage they have now, what’s to stop Trump/Musk from gobbling up even more unchecked power than they have already?

Congressional Republicans have been weak. They’ve been complicit with Trump in the dismantling of the checks and balances that are at the center of our democracy. They’ve been complicit in the early stages of setting up a an autocracy. History will not treat them kindly.

And if the Democrats don’t take this chance — what could be the last one they’ll get — to fight back, history might be justified in viewing them as no less complicit.

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