If you’re wondering whether resistance or appeasement is the better path forward, consider three events from the first month of Tr*mp presidency:
1. Travel Ban (Resisted, then revised quickly to exclude green card holders, and soon, visa holders.)
2. McMaster picked to succeed Flynn as National Security Advisor
3. Acosta tapped to replace Puzder as Labor Secretary Nominee
In each case, Trump’s opening move was bold and disastrous. When he met resistance, he did not double down. He folded. And while we didn’t exactly end up with progressive orders or candidates in these cases, we made Trump back down, and ended up with a better solution for America. Trump is not an ideologue, and he is not a policy zealot. He cares more about winning than he does about the battle field.
Compare this to the appeasement plan Democrats followed for Secretary of State Tillerson, and for the almost complete lack of outrage around the failed Yakla raid. It’s clear to me that Trump has neither the knowledge, the passion, or the work ethic to fight any prolonged battles over civic policy.
I’m in favor of an all-out push for impeachment, but Democrats in Congress who lack that fortitude should at least be able to see that robust resistance has worked against Trump, but playing nice hasn’t.
So let’s carry that forward to battles over the budget, Obamacare, and Gorsuch.
