This is not necessarily about the Friday cloture vote to enable Trump’s not-really-a-clean CR bill’s passage. But Chuck Schumer is the latest in Democratic leaders who need to step down for the good of the nation.
The Democratic Party has an unfortunate track record here. Ruth Bader Ginsberg was a legend, but her hanging on too long enabled Trump to appoint Amy Coney Barrett, although she might not be the MAGA monster the right was hoping she would be. Diane Feinstein clung on to the point where it became grotesque. Joe Biden eventually did the right thing but quite possibly it was too late. Chuck Schumer is now the latest version.
There are going to be those who tell me that we have to support our leaders no matter what, for they are the wizened ones, so demands for Schumer to step down are counterproductive. Perhaps these people might fall back on the old saw that the progressives are a bunch of head-in-the-clouds sillies. The problem here is this is not really a left v. moderates fight.
I agree with every single word in this for only adults rant that Rick Wilson is saying. Every single word!
— Tony Negron (@tnite02.bsky.social) 2025-03-15T20:14:10.974Z
Rick Wilson is hardly a leftist. Not in the least. Neither is Adam Schiff.
We need leaders who see what is happening right now, clearly. Clear enough not to say the things that Schumer said in his New York Times interview, which was a disaster. He sounded out of touch, and let me tell you, that top video doesn’t help. You cannot spend time less than a year ago messaging that Republicans are an existential threat to our democracy, an accurate warning, and then while they are in the midst of destroying our democracy talk about how when Trump gets unpopular (like now!) this will occur:
When it happens, I am hopeful that our Republican colleagues will resume working with us. And I talk to them. One of the places is in the gym. When you’re on that bike in your shorts, panting away next to a Republican, a lot of the inhibitions come off.
My God, Chuck, do you really think this will happen? He also said the Democrats have “real direction” now and that he has little interest in changing anything he is doing.
Schumer also rejected the idea that corrupt New York mayor Eric Adams should resign, dismissed any suggestion that Israel is doing a thing wrong with Gaza, and sounded like a Republican regarding the ignoring of the rule of law in the Mahmoud Khalil case. This is not the leader we need now, someone who insists on pretending despite Trump not much has changed.
This is the kind of leadership we need.
Murphy: "If we continue to observe norms, if we continue to engage in business as usual, this democracy could be gone. I don't think we have a year to save American democracy. I think the way the president is acting … puts out democracy at immediate risk."
We need fighters, not people who make bizarre statements about reaching across the aisle between the exercise bikes at the gym to reach out to those who have no interest in any sort of compromise whatsoever.
The last word goes to Neil Young.