All Talk and No Action
Those of you who follow this diary series also know that editorial cartoonists rarely post cartoons featuring Democratic leaders. Given the pathetic response by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to Republican demands — one which has angered most of the Democratic Party’s base as well as many elected officials — this week’s cartoons include a healthy dose of ridicule directed Schumer’s way.
I’ll post additional cartoons as manual updates to the diary and in the comments section.
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In case you missed my recent diaries, here are the links.
Pathetic Response
Manual Updates Posted Here
The Message is Clear from the Base
Tariffs for Dummies
An Idea Whose Time Should Never Come
Trump’s BFF
The Beginning of the End?
Profiles in Courage
Republican Being Booed by Their Supporters
Passivity and Timidity
For the past decade, Democratic politicians have been warning us about Donald Trump’s fascistic tendencies and authoritarian instincts. Now that he is back in the White House, are they effectively opposing him? Not at all.
What did Chuck Schumer do when Democrats had the opportunity to make their stand — one enthusiastically supported by most of its base and elected officials? What Democrats frequently do. If you spend years calling someone Hitler, treat him as such. Don’t fold like a cheap suit.
No. More. Excuses.
As this article in the Jacobin magazine recently pointed out, Schumer completely ignored the Democratic base.
Democratic Party leaders want the benefits of an engaged activist base like the one currently challenging Donald Trump without actually having to listen to or engage with it.
Can a party mount a comeback by rejecting its own activist base? Democrats seem to want to use Donald Trump’s second term to test the idea.
This certainly is not what the Right has done. Republicans waged one of the more shockingly successful comebacks in US politics during the Barack Obama era. Only two years after Democrats took control of the presidency and both chambers of Congress, the GOP was mired in crisis, and there was widespread talk of a “permanent Democratic majority,” Republicans took back the House. Six years later, they had the Senate and the White House too...
It’s not a novel point that while Republican leadership is disciplined by its activist base, Democratic activists are disciplined by their party leadership...
This is the paradox at the heart of the situation the party finds itself in: Democrats want the high voter turnout, committed pavement-pounding, and grassroots energy of an excited base but seem to resent that they should have to do anything to get it.
An excellent article below examines why Democratic leaders behave the way they do. I can’t say that I disagree with anything the author has written.
Lowering expectations and trying to placate Donald Trump is a recipe for political disaster. If the current leadership of the Democratic Party is unwilling or unable to lead, it is time to replace it.
No wonder a new NBC Poll released just today indicates that only 27% of respondents have a favorable view of the Democratic Party — its lowest rating since 1990. Pollster Jeff Horwitt concluded: “With these numbers, the Democratic Party is not in need of a rebrand. It needs to be rebooted.”
Given current poll numbers for the GOP and a sour mood around the country, it is entirely possible that the Republican Party could politically implode. But, why count on that happening? There’s no harm in collectively looking at ourselves in the mirror and asking: how can we improve our performance? A political party afraid to counter criticism directed at it is inherently insecure and does not deserve to win.
A Thought Experiment in Political Surrender
Attribution: Drew Sheneman, Tribune Content Agency
Mike Brock: “If you were designing the perfect opposition to facilitate the consolidation of executive power—one that provides the appearance of resistance while ultimately enabling its advance—what would it look like?
It would likely make forceful statements about the threats to democracy. It would marshal righteous indignation in speeches and press releases. But when confronted with moments of consequential choice, it would invariably find reasons why resistance is too risky, too politically costly, or simply impossible.”
Oh, Sure!
“It would train its supporters to expect and accept defeat as the prudent choice.” “The genius of this approach is how it transforms surrender into a form of responsibility. Those who advocate for more forceful opposition are cast as naive, reckless, or politically unsophisticated. The language of pragmatism becomes a shield against the charge of complicity.”
The perfect opposition in an era of democratic erosion would look exactly like this: perpetually concerned, occasionally outraged, but ultimately acquiescent to the new parameters of power being established around it. It would train its supporters to lower their expectations, to accept the managed decline of constitutional constraints as the best possible outcome.
Schumer’s “Winning” Strategy
Read the above article in full: "The Perfect Opposition" — A Thought Experiment in Political Surrender. It is worth a read.
Desperately Needed: Re-training
The Ides of March
Uh, No!
The New Landscape
x
Continuing to fund the federal govt under the GOP’s unilaterally drafted spending bill is to encourage the further destructive dismantling of vital services. Musk and DOGE need TO GO, at the very least, before the Dems agree to keep the funding going. Trump should fully own his chaos.
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— Frank Bajak (@fbajak.bsky.social) March 13, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Oppose Him Forcefully, Or He’ll Destroy This Country
It’s a Start
Of Trump’s Trade Wars and Tariffs
Landing on His Rear End
Quick, Look Over There!
Tastes Good, But Less Filling
Mr. Know-It-All
Torching the Constitution of the United States
Collateral Damage
If it Walks Like a Fascist, Talks Like a Fascist…
Authoritarianism’s an Expense We Can No Longer Afford
What is it Worth Now?
The editorial cartoonist whose name was misspelled is Barry Blitt, who is with the New Yorker magazine. You can see many of his New Yorker covers here.
The Reality of the American Economy
Winging It
The Wild Ride
Mission Accomplished
We’re Working on It
The Savior
CYA Explanation
Remembering the Good Times
A Bad Ending
Serious Implosion
Diary Poll
What should the Democratic Party’s strategy be in coming weeks and months? Aggressively oppose the Republicans, or seek deals with them? Can Congressional Democrats effectively be trusted to have a coherent approach to counter Trumpism? Is the current leadership capable of providing meaningful political leadership?
Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the Democrats’ prospects in 2026 and 2028? Remember to take the diary poll.
