dims have failed to lead, to help build civil society as they have focused mainly on micro-data and fundraising the past 40+ years. shameful. it is up to citizens and small d democrats. we must rebuild civil society and make it better.
I’m afraid that most of the leaders of civil society simply don’t believe the stakes of a Trumpian constitutional order are as dire as you’ve suggested here. And even if they did believe that privately, they could never act on that belief in an institutional capacity. Many of their sponsors and friends are Trump donors. More broadly, they rely on access to Republicans for revenue and political support. Asking them to choose a side is tantamount to asking them to destroy their own institutions.
preaching to the converted here, and making me want to turn from Substack to a long and complex dystopian novel in which the good guys eventually win. Sigh.
A referendum on democracy, yes. But a lopsided one. The ‘22 election also was about democracy, yet the party we elected to protect and bolster democracy did nothing to stem the tide of authoritarianism. Now we’re being asked to ensure their victory again. Some of us are being branded agents of Putin for demanding ceasefire in Gaza - while simultaneously getting hit up for contributions. And the people demanding we all get on board with the lesser of two evils come with zero demands to Dem leadership. No one is saying “reelect Biden… and we’ll end the filibuster. Re-elect and SCOTUS will see term limits or expansion. Re-elect and we’ll fight to end the electoral college.” At some point it begs the question: How sustainable is it to keep reelecting a party that allows authoritarianism to expand - at least at the state level - the whole time they’re in office, and seems perfectly content overseeing the least democratic, most counter-majoritarian of all modern democracies? Is there any reason to expect that, short of a painful confrontation with fully empowered fascism, we will ever have a real opposition party in the US?
This post is a cold water shower and a very helpful alert. Thank you!
dims have failed to lead, to help build civil society as they have focused mainly on micro-data and fundraising the past 40+ years. shameful. it is up to citizens and small d democrats. we must rebuild civil society and make it better.
Sean, I wish we were simply voting on who the better guy is. No contest there.
I’m afraid that most of the leaders of civil society simply don’t believe the stakes of a Trumpian constitutional order are as dire as you’ve suggested here. And even if they did believe that privately, they could never act on that belief in an institutional capacity. Many of their sponsors and friends are Trump donors. More broadly, they rely on access to Republicans for revenue and political support. Asking them to choose a side is tantamount to asking them to destroy their own institutions.
preaching to the converted here, and making me want to turn from Substack to a long and complex dystopian novel in which the good guys eventually win. Sigh.
A referendum on democracy, yes. But a lopsided one. The ‘22 election also was about democracy, yet the party we elected to protect and bolster democracy did nothing to stem the tide of authoritarianism. Now we’re being asked to ensure their victory again. Some of us are being branded agents of Putin for demanding ceasefire in Gaza - while simultaneously getting hit up for contributions. And the people demanding we all get on board with the lesser of two evils come with zero demands to Dem leadership. No one is saying “reelect Biden… and we’ll end the filibuster. Re-elect and SCOTUS will see term limits or expansion. Re-elect and we’ll fight to end the electoral college.” At some point it begs the question: How sustainable is it to keep reelecting a party that allows authoritarianism to expand - at least at the state level - the whole time they’re in office, and seems perfectly content overseeing the least democratic, most counter-majoritarian of all modern democracies? Is there any reason to expect that, short of a painful confrontation with fully empowered fascism, we will ever have a real opposition party in the US?