Meanwhile Trump gives a speech at the DOJ in which he said that he thinks that the coverage of him on CNN and MSDNC is illegal, and lists a number of political opponents by name that he wants the DOJ to go after.
The bill basically gives Trump what he wants for 6 months.
The Ds have lost their mind.
Senate Ds. The House Ds are pissed.
Can someone explain the rationale that a government shutdown makes it easier to fire folks?
Iâve never been disappointed with the Republicans, because theyâve always told you who they were; the surprise is when they didnât do batshit crazy stuff like they talked about doing.
The Democrats in 2025, though ⌠holy fucking fuck. Led by Senator Milquetoast himself, Chuck Schumer, way too many members of the party have looked for ways to suck up to Republicans and Trump knowing that theyâre going to get knifed in the back anyway, but âjustifyingâ selling out with âstandardsâ and âmoralsâ and âdecorumâ and âcivilityâ and all those other buzzwords they think will resonate with voters and buy them votes in 2026, 2028 and beyond. Their apparent current plan of ânever stop the enemy when theyâre making a mistakeâ would make sense, except the enemy is saying âweâre going to stab you through the fucking heartâ and Democrats think the appropriate response âlol, theyâre really joking, Iâm going to give them a sword and a pair of scissors because theyâll only hurt themselves.â
The sad part is, when (if) the American public rejects Republicans in 2026, the alternative is to vote for a party where members are all too eager to help Republicans carry out their plan, self-sabotaging the partyâs ideas in the process. I have zero desire to reward Democrats for their incompetence, but I have less than zero desire to allow the party supporting Nazis to stay in power and do further damage.
Remember, it was important that the Democrats not nuke the filibuster when they had a Senate majority because they needed to be able to filibuster future Republicans.
Once furloughedâŚwho says they get summoned back when the government reopens?
The Ds would have taken the blame for the shutdown among swayable voters. Shutdowns are horrible, disruptive things (unless youâre a minarchist libertarian, perhaps), to be avoided when possible.
Capitulating makes sense from a purely âlooking towards 2026â perspective.
Unfortunately, this bill partially legitimizes some of the unconstitutional, authoritarian things the administration has been doing. I can see the logic behind saying that taking that stance now risks the chances of the midterms reining in KrasnovâŚbut I disagree with that stance.
So just a paycheck or two until they get fired anyway?
Ds would have taken the blame because currently theyâre fucking abysmal at messaging. Like, abysmal even compared to their usual standard. You would think at some point over the last 7+ weeks, leadership could have put together some campaign for the public to explain what the hell Republicans were doing. No, theyâre too busy offering weak-ass 32 chapter responses to things and then selectively voting for stuff with even worse excuses.
âWeâre voting against this CR to save America from immigrant Elon Muskâs âeliminate Medicare and Social Securityâ agenda.â Simple, to the point. Musk is already hated, people donât want Medicare and Social security cut. Tie those to him, paint him as a villain and run it 24/7 - and, run ads asking Republicans if they support Musk cutting Medicare and Social Security.
No, Democrats will vote for this on principle and trying to be nice, get gutted like a deer during hunting season, and if theyâre lucky to hold a majority 4 years from now Rs will all line up to vote against cloture for even a clean one-line CR, and theyâll shut down government alleging that Democrats want to use government money to force all Christians to have sex-change operations to get abortions.
Republicans have always taken the blame for shutdowns, and they donât fucking care. Why give them the free W now?
NYT has a long interview with Schumer. Gift link:
The Ds should have let them do all that.
And the blowback against the Rs would have been immense.
The Ds need to realise that those programs are popular and that they need to stop being blackmailed by an opposing side that is behaving dysfunctionally.
Let them try to burn those programs. And then hammer them about it at every occasion going forwards.
Schumer needs to step aside. He is too old and set in his ways to effectively counter Trump. The Ds desperately need fresh blood here. Dinosaurs like Schumer need to leave asap.
Râs will find a way to do massive damage, they need to be held accountable
The Dems need to rally around a new leader. Schumer is not that person, and without that person, he is probably right to not shut down the government. People want Trump to stop what he is doing, but no one can really articulate why. For now, it is bunch of things that individually make people upset, a leader is needed to bring this all together.
This is an important point. Dem leadership is totally misreading what is going on as they cling to the old rules. fascists donât play by rules they only understand power and control. If you want to be an opposing party to a fascist movement you need:
- Clearly define your principles. (ex. Life, liberty, etc)
- Apply those principles to the programs/spending/decisions you support. A clear simple message. (ex. food aid equals life)
- Advertise, advertise, advertise. Dem leadership needs to be in front of cameras everyday.
- Do not get distracted by the petty, do not whine, point out the positive, point out the threat in tangible examples.
The fascists will eventually start killing their own citizens. They always do. Force them to do so earlier rather than after they consolidate enough power to ride out the inevitable public backlash.
Except the Rs wouldnât actually do all that. I mean, itâs not impossible-- they have some face-eating leopards on the prowl. But most Trump/R/Musk moves are strategic.
They destroy unpopular but necessary programs. They harm disliked people. And they trade away long-term health, wealth, and prosperity for short-term culture wins.
If the shutdown empowered them somehow, theyâd continue that track. Not bulldoze medicare.
Fundamentally, I donât think âweâre going to shut down the government unless you stop shutting down the governmentâ is much of a threat.
I guess itâs a question of what happens if things stayed shut down for 6 months. Do the Rs get the blame? Does Trump get more desperate? Does it make his coup easier?
Project 2025 wants to do exactly that, so let them, and let the rage of thier own supporters consume themâŚ