“You’ve got to give the Republicans this” is a phrase you have never heard me say.
But now I’m going to say it. You’ve got to give the Republicans this: they have a terrible philosophy, but they’re willing to use power to get the world they want.
I wish I could say the same about others with a considerably better philosophy.
Being caught, as the rest of us are, between malevolent actors who believe in the use of their power and tender-hearted souls who believe in strongly worded letters — well, it threatens everything we have.
Today I talked to my friend Elie Mystal — lawyer, author, explainer of our judicial mayhem — about whether Democrats can learn something about the use of power.
We talked about a lot: How to imagine what an energetic Democratic Party could do, not just to protect, but actually to expand rights. About what those who dread this seemingly sudden descent into authoritarianism can learn from what Black people have always experienced in America. About what forms of resistance are actually likeliest to work. About what old-guard Dems can learn from Elie’s soccer dadding.
The left, Mystal argues, needs a Project 2029, and Chuck Schumer’s not going to write it — it’s up to all of us. He explains how.
Elie Mystal’s new book is Bad Law: Ten Popular Laws That Are Ruining America
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And a programming note: More Live conversation!
Join us tomorrow, Thursday, March 27, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, for a conversation with New York State Representative and New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, the progressive who hopes to succeed Eric Adams.
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