Dems still believe the political adage that you don’t interrupt your political opponent when he is busy shooting himself in the foot. But when Trump shoots off all day long, and Ds refrain from interrupting, all the electorate hears is Trump. And “restraint” in the form of silence from Democrats.
Democrats are far too deferential to attack from Republicans. They clearly lack spines. Their are too many Casper Milquetoasts in their midst. If you were prone to conspiracy theories, you might think some are Republicans.
History tells us that the “night of long knives” is coming, it is practically here. Pink suits, sour expressions, and little signs won’t stop it. Whatever democracy defenders can do they need to do NOW. They need to be bold. Action is required. There is no time left to flit about fecklessly.
Fear has crippled the democrats. You know that feeling where you have so many things to deal with that you’re paralyzed with indecision and where to start? They’re trying to deal with symptoms instead of the problems themselves.
But all this is nothing new, right? Think about all those Dems who told MLK and the Civil Rights Movement to, ‘back off on their protest and toe the line. I’m mean we’re for you, but do you have to be so disruptive. Equal rights will come eventually.’
Just got a fundraising text that began "Hi, it's Hakeem Jeffries..." -- replied STOP and then called his office to say how disgusting it was that the Dems did not support Green when he was kicked out. They all should have walked out behind him. Total failure of leadership.
So many Dems are still just shell-shocked by the election results and never found their bearings.
They saw all of the awful things Trump campaigned on, and then saw that he won (though by a still pretty narrow margin), and they think his overall platform is more popular w/Americans than it is
They're all political animals...undue influence from folks who fill their political coffers is definitely part of the issue, but most of them don't have strong convictions of their own and are willing to do whatever will most boost their profile going forward.
So they don't want to be too forceful in their opposition because they fear it'll turn a large number of Americans away from them.
But the reality is a lot of Trump voters just decided shit is expensive, and they wanted that to change and blamed Dems for it. They ignored the rest of Trump's message
Democrats are afraid of the ruling oligarchy. Truthfully attacking their GOP political machine of deregulation and tax cuts (indirectly them) is not tolerated if you want to keep in good favor with the people who really run things, and not have have your career tanked by their media operations.
I'm so tired of everyone shitting on the democrats. Sure, some of them genuinely suck. That's true in every profession. But most of them are ordinary people that chose to run for something. They don't have any more special skills in fighting autocracy than any of us. This has to be people driven.
Take the scene last night, trump sneering at and insulting the Dems in the audience while they hold up their "I'm upset but dear god think of the norms" paddles.
Take 30 seconds of that to make a campaign ad. Would any Dem use it? No?
Agree and disagree. Better to appear undeterred by abuse and willing to stand your ground in spite of it. That's not easy to do. Folding their arms while expressing contempt or something like that seems like a better response to me.
I'd give them the benefit of the doubt if we hadn't already tried this - have been trying since Obama to reach out to some sensible center that believes in decorum. But that center, if it exists, does not care about dignity. They're fine with vulgarity.
“Taste of their own medicine.” That’s it! That’s all people opposed to Trump are asking the opposition party to do. Shove the lies right back in their face. That’s a great starting point.
The Democrats could have had each member do an Al Green one by one. That would have taken Johnson _hours_ to remove them individual by individual. It would throw the Republican's medicine back in their face and make a strong showing to the American populace.
I can't understand why they don't understand that the message they're sending is, "we won't fight to defend ourselves, so why should you believe we'll fight to defend you?"
Last night was the Senate confirmation hearings all over again. “Rectitude” is not really the correct word; decorum, though — seemliness, inoffensiveness, advertising a desire to be “normal” — fits well. Congressional Democrats probably thought holding up those stupid signs was pretty bold.
And they mistake tactics for political positions. You could be a centrist and still stand up for those beliefs against authoritarianism, but they think that anything that causes disruption makes them seem like radicals.
Comments
They saw all of the awful things Trump campaigned on, and then saw that he won (though by a still pretty narrow margin), and they think his overall platform is more popular w/Americans than it is
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/07/hakeem-jeffries-silicon-valley-donors-00203076
They're miscalculating what that is
But the reality is a lot of Trump voters just decided shit is expensive, and they wanted that to change and blamed Dems for it. They ignored the rest of Trump's message
Take 30 seconds of that to make a campaign ad. Would any Dem use it? No?
Instead we got paper signs. And buttons.
(It's money, I know.)
Shame on all of them for sitting there silently😡👎
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNdeRPxc8/
Wide open lane for anyone who has a modicum of courage & any desire to be the future of the party—Members of Congress: Show some goddamned ambition!