If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times: I hate criticizing fellow Democrats. But these are not ordinary times. Existential threats require strong and decisive leadership, Chuck Schumer is a fine peacetime Senate leader but we’re at war with MAGA Republicanism. It’s time to just say no to Republicans instead of caving.
Leader Schumer said this about the cloture vote yesterday afternoon:
Schumer: "For sure, the Republican bill is a terrible option. It is not a clean CR. It is deeply partisan. It doesn't address far too many of this country's needs. But I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option."
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur.bsky.social) 2025-03-13T22:32:58.942Z
That’s not what Democrats needed to hear. The election loss and the illegal Trump-Musk wilding has demoralized the Democratic base. We need a fighter as Senate leader. Harry Reid would have told John Thune and Donald Trump to shove the poison pill continuing resolution up their asses. Harry might have even put a foot in to ensure it was securely lodged where the moon don’t shine.
Harry Reid was literally a fighter as a young man:
Harry was still a fighter when he became Senate Democratic leader. He was a fighter regardless of whether Dems were in the majority or minority. Harry Reid was a wartime consigliere.
Chuck Schumer is a nice guy best suited to cutting deals. There was no deal on the table. Sometimes you have to stand and fight even if the alternatives are unpalatable.
Chuck Schumer is NOT a wartime consigliere, neither is minority whip Dick Durbin.
I usually don’t offer unsolicited advice to Congressional Democrats BUT these are not normal times. We need someone of national stature to counter the Kaiser of Chaos and Reich Chancellor Musk. Since Adam Schiff is a freshman Senator, my choice would be Elizabeth Warren. She recognizes the nature of the crisis and will do what it takes to battle back. Besides, it would drive Trump crazy; make that crazier. Kicking the can down the road is not a viable option in the face of the DOGE threat.
Senate Democrats don’t have the votes to pass legislation, but they have the votes to deny cloture to the majority’s CR. It’s the only leverage they have. Caving is political malpractice.
I have always opposed government shutdowns. Back in 2013, my posts about the shutdown were called America Held Hostage, stolen from ABC’s coverage of the Iran hostage crisis. That’s how much I hate government shutdowns but bullies need to be stood up to as Josh Marshal put it:
The other issue is that is the simple and unlovely one that people who get hit and abused and take it tend to get hit and abused again and again. That’s all the more true with Donald Trump, a man who can only see the world through the prism of the dominating and the dominated. It is a great folly to imagine that such an abject acquiescence won’t drive him to up the ante.”
Democrats are used to fixing Republican messes: FDR, Clinton, Obama, and Biden were crack repairmen. But things are worse now with Trump’s attack on everything that is decent and humane in our country. He’s not going to back down in the face of sly backstage tactics, he needs to be confronted strongly and publicly and told, Get your fucking hands off our Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Steve Bannon, of all people, has been critical of Elon Musk saying, “Lots of MAGAs are on Medicaid.”
President Pennywise is an abuser. The duty of the opposition party is to oppose the abuser, not temporize and wait for his poll numbers to crater. We need to try to minimize the damage before it’s too late. Not fighting back is political malpractice.
Democrats used to be tough. Nobody dominated Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, or Lyndon Johnson. Harry Reid was that kind of Democrat. Chuck Schumer is not. In this instance I agree with Leo Durocher whose memoirs were titled Nice Guys Finish Last. This game it too important to lose.
If Schumer stays on as Senate Democratic leader, it’s tantamount to raising a white flag and begging for mercy. Mercy is not Donald Trump’s jam. Weakness doesn’t work with an abuser.
Repeat after me: Democrats need a wartime consigliere. It’s time for Schumer to go.
The last word goes to The Isley Brothers:
In addition to a wartime consigliere, the Democrats need an effective opposition to trump and the republicans. I continue to speculate what an effective opposition would be. How do other countries do an effective opposition? Would those tactics work in this situation?
I feel like we need a coordinated and unified pushback on the actions of trump and his enablers. Every day. Every action. At a high enough level that the public won’t ignore it.
I’m not sure who or what that would be, or how it would happen.
Thoughts?
🤔 Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was on Chris Hayes’ show on MSNBC last night. Schumer is being hit from all sides to stand tough and allow a shutdown and I would usually agree that we should shutdown and make Republicans eat the problem. But, Schumer made two arguments I had not considered and I am now thinking a shutdown should be avoided.
First, during a shutdown, Republicans will have full control of what parts of the Federal government to shutdown…those guys do not make good choices. (I know, I know…the Republicans are already shutting down whatever they want.) And, second, they could shut down the Federal courts system which is our most successful resistance to date. (Yes, they could shut down the courts anyway, but why give them fodder to argue that we didn’t care enough to stop them?) As bad as the CR is, I think we must let our best parts of government keep working! 💪