The Reichstag Rule, revisited.

I have read several diaries and many comments offering different perspectives on how Democratic Senators should respond to the Republican Continuing Resolution. I am on the side for a shutdown, but I appreciate that there are strong arguments to be made against that. In the interest of clarity, I propose a simple standard for judging how to proceed—the Reichstag Test.

It’s straightforward: Instead of the present day in Washington, imagine you are confronting this decision as a politician in the Reichstag in 1932. What is the right choice in that environment?

From that perspective, appeals to working together for the good of all or reminders that leaders come and go, but God is eternal, feel dangerously inadequate. Our only concern should be dismantling Trump’s coalition and defeating his rule while we still have a functioning democracy—if it’s not too late already.

Too simple? Perhaps. But I can easily imagine someone making the same excuse back then. History has not been kind to them, and it will not be kind to those in our generation who lack the moral courage so clearly needed at this moment.