The Silence of the Lambs

What are we to make of the astounding passivity of the Democrats in the face of Trump’s wanton smashing of America’s rule of law, the federal government, and US foreign policy? What doesn’t the party understand about what is happening?

Here’s James Carville’s¹ recommendation in today’s New York Times: “And there’s nothing Democrats can legitimately do to stop it — even if we wanted to. With no clear leader to voice our opposition and no control in any branch of government, it’s time for Democrats to embark on the most daring political maneuver in the history of our party: roll over and play dead. Allow the Republicans to crumble beneath their own weight, and make the American people miss us.”

Last week NYT columnist Tom Friedman² said this: “I’ve kind of given up on politics when dealing with Trump because at least until the midterms, there are no levers to pull. The Senate is all in on him. The House is all in on him. The Supreme Court is all in on him. His media ecosystem’s all in on him. I’m now entirely betting on physics, on the hard realities of things…eventually, the laws of gravity will make themselves felt. Unfortunately, as I said, we are in the back seat and he’s driving.” I.e., we’re helpless and maybe something will turn up.

Democrats continue to vote in shameful numbers to confirm Trump’s appointments. Marco Rubio got 99 votes (presumably a “Senate courtesy”) and then promptly turned around and became Trump’s hatchet man in betraying Ukraine. Given Rubio’s long record of spineless obsequiousness, everyone should have seen this coming.

We now have a Justice Department and FBI that are being purged of apolitical professionals and replaced with MAGA zealots. The same process has started in the armed forces. Today columnist Michelle Goldberg³ writes: “We’re in an uncanny interregnum where Trump and his coterie are laying the foundation for autocracy but have yet to fully consolidate their power. The liberal democracy most of us grew up taking for granted is brittle and teetering, but its fall still feels unthinkable, even if it also seems increasingly inevitable. Perhaps this is one reason Democrats, with a few admirable exceptions, seem so frozen. People who’ve spent their lives working within a system of laws and civic institutions may be particularly unsuited to respond to that system’s failure.”

The problem about passivity and “just letting it happen” is that there is no guarantee that mid-terms will even take place—or if they do, that it won’t be under restraints that make regaining power all but impossible. That’s what happened when the Nazis took power in 1933. There was one more election after that in which opposition parties were placed under severe restrictions, but even so the NSDAP still couldn’t win a clear majority. There were no elections after that. (I don’t really like making so many comparisons to 1930s Germany, but unfortunately they just are way too apt.)

The other big problem with passivity is that it breeds contempt. Even longtime Democrats like me have lost respect for the party leaders when they see them essentially acquiescing to the destruction of American governance. We want to see resolute resistance! Fuck “working across the aisle”! Haven’t we all seen just how that works? Above all, we want to see real passion and anger! If Democrats act like wusses, no one will respect them—or vote for them.

Here’s Joseph O’Neill in the New York Review of Books⁴: “Democrats have disgraced themselves. They’ve looked terrified and defeated and confused. They’ve hidden behind consultant-devised talking points about grocery prices. They’ve cast votes to confirm Trump’s extremist cabinet nominees (for example, the oil executive Chris Wright as energy secretary, the notorious right-wing hack Lee Zeldin to head the Environmental Protection Agency, the unprincipled Marco Rubio as secretary of state). They’ve proposed obviously futile legislation such as the Stop the Steal Act to counter DOGE. We’re talking about full-time, professional politicians with support staff and expense accounts and good lawyers. They have solicited and accepted pro bono labor and vast campaign contributions from millions of concerned citizens. They must start to fight back with whatever power they have.”

So far, the only thing that seems to make any difference is mobilization on the streets and showing up to make things hot for senators and congressmen when back in their districts. But this needs to happen on a far more massive scale! And it needs to be organized and coordinated. Unfortunately, the Democratic Party is what we have. We can’t depend on isolated individuals and grassroots groups to do this. The Democratic Party needs to step up!

Some Republicans mumble privately that they are afraid to do the right thing because they have received threats to them or their families. This is bullshit! The worst thing that has happened to any Republican who bucked Trump was being primaried. In this country, poll workers get death threats, and they still do their jobs. In this country, school kids are under a more credible danger when they are in class. If any Republicans with a conscience still exist, the only thing that is going to make them turn on Trump is if they fear us more than they fear him.

1. http://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/25/opinion/democrats-trump-congress.html ↩︎
2. http://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/opinion/trump-putin-ukraine-europe.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawIrASZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHcAefGc2J_IWxAoxiRZ9q1TRbZzGpzScs1jx8y1ABYzhyK4Yo0P2wWaJ9g_aem_GrDQS4_O2mnsPOC9vfnPYA ↩︎
3. http://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/opinion/fbi-trump-dan-bongino.html ↩︎
4. http://www.nybooks.com/online/2024/11/09/all-bets-are-off-joseph-oneill/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NYR-022525-Hammer_theme&utm_content=NYR-022525-Hammer_theme+CID_056b66e6f4b3f4c53adb11950ddb52d5&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_term=Joseph%20ONeill%20interviewed%20by%20Daniel%20DrakeAll%20Bets%20Are%20Off ↩︎