“First They Came”: For Dems Who Dare to Do Nothing

The party "plays possum" as the steamroller approaches.

It’s astonishing, really. Democrats spent ten years warning us that Trump wants to “destroy democracy.” Now that Trump and Musk are actually carrying out that threat, what do Democrats think they should do?

Nothing.

That’s right During this crisis of governance, one Democratic leader after another is arguing that it’s time to do ... nothing. Or, as James Carville puts it, to “play possum.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says that litigation (which takes time, is hard for voters to understand, and will sometimes be adjudicated by Trump’s judges) is the party’s “first line of defense.” And House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says, “I'm trying to figure out what leverage we actually have.”

It’s not hard. Julie Hollar of FAIR.org does an excellent job of laying out that leverage (and indicting the media for not challenging the Dem’s refusal to act). Meanwhile, Democrats are standing firm—in their refusal to stand firm. As Jeffries insists, “We’re not going to swing at every pitch.”

Apparently, it’s never occurred to them to throw a pitch.

The Party That Cried Wolf … Until the Wolf Showed Up

For ten years, Democrats have warned of MAGA totalitarianism—often to the point of incredulity. For ten years, the party used the fascist threat as an excuse for not taking on popular issues like raising the minimum wage, strengthening unions, or expanding Social Security and Medicare. They drummed up the false Russiagate scandal, which bolstered the national security state while fizzling with voters. But now that there’s a frontal attack on democracy, they fall silent.

Think about it. A billionaire, bling-laden buffoon abuses, humiliates, and fires government workers while sending coded messages to fascists and “accidentally” seig-heiling the world—and now Democrats have nothing to say. What do Trump and Musk have to do: spell out the word “oligarchy” in hundred-foot-tall neon letters on the National Mall?

Overpaid consultants like Carville insist that elected Democrats should stay silent because the Trump juggernaut is about to implode on its own. You know, just like it did in 2015 ... and 2016 ... and 2017... and 2024 ... and all the other times they said it would.

Oh, wait: no, it didn’t. That should be food for thought, but apparently they’re not hungry. The party would rather “play possum,” even as a steamroller bears down on them … and all of us.

The Sounds of (Democratic) Silence

Could this administration collapse under the weight of its own antidemocratic ambitions? Of course—not in thirty days, as Carville thinks, but perhaps at some point. But that’s by no means a sure thing, and how much damage will have been done by then? Even if it does, who’ll be admired for fighting back against totalitarianism? Not the Democrats. They’ll be seen as cowards, if not silent collaborators.

Who will have spoken up for government, for public service, for Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid? Not the Democrats.

Who will have defended and fought for the people who work for our government who are being insulted, abused, and threatened every day? Not the Democrats.

To be fair, not all elected Democrats have been insufferably passive and self-satisfied. Sens. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Chris Murphy of Connecticut have said they’ll vote against all of Trump’s nominees, and Hawaii’s Brian Schatz has said he’ll but a “blanket hold” on Trump’s nominees until USAID funding is restored.

Blaming the Base

But a divided party is ineffective. That’s why the dominant “do-nothing” faction is attacking the left with more ferocity than it is the right. Carville whines about Sen. Elizabeth Warren and the “progressive advocacy groups” for daring to argue that leaders should lead. “They never, ever learn to shut up,” Carville adds (an especially ironic complaint coming from one of the most notorious motormouths in American politics.)

Jeffries complains that “the extreme left”—i.e., his party’s voters—"protest me more than they protest Donald Trump,” a statement that’s both inaccurate and grandiose.

“I've chosen,” Jeffries said with hauteur, “not to bend the knee to either people on the far left and certainly not to Donald Trump and the far right.”

Herein lies a longstanding problem with the Democratic Party: it equates its own base with its supposed ideological enemies, except that its leaders seem more aggrieved by their own voters than by their opponents. How dare the people I represent express their opinions!

Then they act surprised when they lose.

The Money Fountain

This dreadful approach confirms that the party still depends on a “business model” which requires a never-ending stream of Big Money contributions. Party operatives mustn’t do or say anything to threaten the flow of billionaire cash—a money fountain that has enriched Carville, made Jeffries’ career, and paid hefty salaries to thousands of apparatchiks in the Democratic ecosystem of think tanks, media jobs, and consulting firms.

Money still talks, even if Democrats won’t. As Sludge.com reports (via FAIR),

“the House Democrats’ campaign arm accepted over $2.5 million in January from the top lobbyist for Musk’s SpaceX and for Peter Thiel’s Palantir, which has been helping to staff DOGE, and whose ‘artificial intelligence-powered software is well positioned to win contracts to replace functions eliminated by DOGE’s slashing.’”

It turns out that doing nothing pays pretty well.

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“First they came …”

In honor of the feckless formation that is the institutional Democratic Party, I have updated Martin Niemöller’s famous 1946 confession, which came to be known as “First they came.” Here it is:

First they came for USAID employees, and I did not speak out—because I was not a USAID employee.

Then they came for Department of Education employees, and I did not speak out— because I was not a Department of Education employee.

Then they came for all federal employees, and I did not speak out—because I was not a federal employee.

Then they came for Social Security Medicare, and Medicaid, and I did not speak out—because I don’t need Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

(Nobody wanted to vote for me, either.)