Looking at posts like these and comments in kind on other posts, had Sen. Schumer led the Senate Democrats in filibustering the vile Republican budget into a government shutdown until the Republicans met Democratic demands,* I’m confident that most of these commenters would’ve been praising Schumer for that too.
Consider what Schumer gained for the Democrats by avoiding a shutdown: • What Schumer left unsaid..… • Schumer was correct • Why Schumer Made The Right Move • My Last-Minute Reversal on the Shutdown Question • I Too Agree With Schumer • Why I agree with Chuck• Keep Your Anger Focused in the Right Direction
How do I know? The same dynamic occurred in March 2019 when, with pressure mounting for the new House Democratic majority to impeach Trump over obstructing the Mueller investigation along with dozens of other abuses of power meriting removal from office, then-Speaker Pelosi adamantly said, “I’m not for impeachment,” accompanied by the meaning-destroying cliché, “He’s not worth it.” With that, sentiment among many registered Democrats turned sharply against impeachment, to the point where the national grassroots group pushing it called By the People almost collapsed. Try bringing up impeachment in normie Democratic activist meetings, and people would get hopping mad at you. But pressure for impeachment from individual Democratic representatives gradually built, Rep. Nadler broke with Pelosi and started hearings (important, if botched), and finally Trump’s Ukraine influence scandal made it politically untenable for Pelosi to resist. Still she artificially limited impeachment to that one scandal, when even the likes of establishment battle axe Rep. Hoyer wanted another article on the Mueller obstruction. Yet what if she had instead come out as pro-impeachment from the start? I asked that exact question here, and a third of the Pelosi-supporting poll respondents plus some in the comments admitted that they would’ve supported her in that case too! And those were just the ones willing to say so. Today the myth persists that Pelosi bravely led the Democrats into both impeachments, when the reality was quite the opposite.**
Back to present circumstances, that some Senate Democrats voted against filibustering the Republican budget is unforgivable. That budget was the USA’s Enabling Act. It ratified Musk/DOGE’s unconstitutional and illegal role as actually superior to Congress’s spending authority, plus it gifted Trump an even greater chunk of our public wealth—our money—to impound and redirect. Those Democrats threw away their last substantial leverage, and that of Congress as the first branch of government, on purpose. Note that some who voted for filibustering would’ve instead also voted against it had their colleagues not given them cover (the only ones coming out clean on this being the eight who publicly announced support for filibustering before Senate Democratic caucus meetings that made the outcome a foregone conclusion). The refusal to filibuster also put the lie to how so many Senate Democrats insisted in the past that we must keep the filibuster around despite its white supremacist, oligarch-enabling purpose and effects, so that they can have it around to protect the country when they are in the minority. Here were are, and they did not.
What would it mean for them to let it pass without filibustering it?
It will mean that, complain as they might, Democrats fundamentally find acceptable the fascist Trump/Musk/”DOGE” sabotage of the federal administration: the unconstitutional impoundment of congressionally-appropriated funds, the illegal mass firings, the forfeit of federal buildings, all of it. Because if they found it unacceptable, Senate Democrats would show that by stopping it, using the official power that they have.
On top of that, it will mean that the Senate Democratic leadership from Sen. Schumer on down and the Democratic majority that continues to choose them as their leaders are actively taking up the space that party leadership worthy of the name should be in. Just sitting there, blocking actual patriotic leadership. Apparently they—and their top-dollar funders—want it like this. (I mean, can’t be letting people get ideas, y’know!)
Why am I bringing up this issue again? Because the country needs you, dear reader, to not surrender your political agency to anyone else. Democratic leaders aren’t your parents. You don’t need to rush to defend their honor. The Democratic Party isn’t even a real party, in the parliamentary sense—it’s one of the two permanent coalitions, due to the spoiler effect in our long-obsolete political system. Do you owe loyalty to a coalition? No. To turn this country around from fascism, we should demand that our coalition kick out the oligarchs and their money and instead actually represent us people, with aggressive employment of official power and earnest persuasion of the wider public. It should be the avowed goal of congressional Democrats to end the fascist Trump regime and not wait until the next election, by when it may well be too late. In fact it would already their avowed goal, if they actually meant it when they solemnly recited their oath of office, instead of acting like the 2024 election somehow cancelled it. Worse, Schumer’s highest priority in the country’s moment of crisis wasn’t stopping the Trump regime’s onslaught, it was lying to you the Democratic voter, specifically. Schumer staying on as leader of the Senate Democrats is incompatible with the conditions for ending fascism. If you have Democratic senators, please call them and tell them so.
* What demands? That Musk and DOGE be banished from government and all their cuts and sabotage undone. Not Democratic senators give up filibustering in exchange for symbolic amendment votes that are guaranteed to fail, i.e. the 30-day CR misdirection.
** Did you know that during and after Jan. 6, 2021, Pelosi and Rep. Schiff were against impeaching Trump again? Even after Trump directly incited people who personally threatened Pelosi‘s life? What motivates a thing like that, you wonder? Preservation of empire. Making sure that the public doesn’t get expectations about Democrats striking when the iron is hot and wielding official power on the public’s behalf against the greed of powerful, rich, straight, Christian, white men. Anti-leadership.
P.S. For how adamant Schumer was that shutdown was the worst option… after the filibuster forfeit, he voted against the budget resolution. In other words, for shutdown. But when it wasn’t consequential anymore, of course. Of course.
And now, what else to do? Among everything going on with joining organizations, protests, court cases, pressure against Musk’s and other fascist-supporting businesses, forming neighborhood mutual aid groups, supporting assertive primary candidates, and the rest, let us demand that House Democrats file privileged resolutions of impeachment, with one article for each act meriting removal for each member of the Trump regime committing them, and force recorded votes. Actually use the formal mechanism for congresspeople to abide by their oaths of office to protect and defend the Constitution. Press the case with the public. Politically squeeze Republicans congresspeople. Put the idea in everyone’s minds that impeachment and removal is what should happen. And build the pressure so that when the next Trump regime atrocity comes along, public and official support for real accountability and consequences ratchets ever higher.
Rep. Green is drafting an article on bigotry against Palestinians and more. I came up with six more traditional articles of impeachment for Trump on day two, and that was an undercount. Heck, we can start tomorrow with impeaching everyone on the Yemen bombing Signal group chat.
When in doubt, first tell the truth.