I hate to be a party-pooper but if we wait for the Democrats, we're screwed. Reason being, in very large measure, they a part of the problem: They have become the party of appeasers--"Peace in our time!" And that's because the Dems have always had one foot in-and one foot out of a true, and unwavering, moral compass. If we are ever to steer this "unsinkable republic" around in time to save itself, nothing less than a massive, non-sectarian, collective movement can save us. We don't need a party, we need a movement! There are substantive movements in existence now; perhaps more will emerge. If they can put aside anything that smacks of dogma, tribalism, ideology and correct thinking, maybe they can merge objectives with a unified goal of restoring law and order. We don't need a single leader, but leaders in tandem.
I don't particularly want to go back to what we had---that's how we got here. I want to rebuild for something even better. But for now, restoring what is lost is a must beginning.
Here is a micro example of the macro problem. I live in Maryland and just am amazed by how little my reps are doing for federal employees, and I have always really respected and liked them, but boy, they are dropping the ball. Maryland has 150,000 federal employees (3rd in the nation) and I see no evidence of coordinated action, strategy and effective tactics. This is an excerpt from what I wrote a local rep:
"Specifically what is the federal Maryland delegation doing to help and protect federal workers? Why aren't Jamie Raskin, Senators Van Hollen and Alsobrooks regularly featuring and PROUDLY talking about federal government service and what federal government employees do? Who is speaking up for them and fighting for them?
I hope you and others in the Maryland delegation will fight for them,"
Anand: While I agree with virtually everything you said in today’s installment there are two things I must take issue with.
First: Based on the Democrats refusal to speak out, let alone buck, Donald Trump’s illegal moves or to call out the GOP for both their hypocrisy and criminality, and the very real possibility that the next head of the DNC is going to be yet another corporate hack, it is clear that the Party is beyond all hope. At least in the near term. To that end I think, and I fully appreciate the electoral implications of this, it is time to form a truly socially-democratic third party. Given the Democrat’s refusal to accept reality, and the moral bankruptcy and obdurateness of Trump voters, it is unlikely the Democrats will be able to make a compelling enough case to voters in 2026, or even 2028 to return them to power. Because the Democratic Party is like a house that has so many problems that it is better to knock it down and rebuild than to try and fix it, the only thing I can see that might scare Democrats enough to do something is a legitimate third party competitor. There is a precedent for this — The People’s or Populist Party of the late 19th century. While the Populist were certainly guilty of many short-comings and the victim of poor decision-making, the reality is that what they advocated actually became the reforms of Progressive Era and were important to the New Deal innovations of the 1930s. Though it might take time, a truly socially democratic third party could play a similar role today.
Second: You give way too much credit to the legacy media — the New York Times, NPR, PBS, and all the rest. In a democratic society, if it is to do its job, the press must speak truth to power and our corporate media is simply not up to the task. If it was, with all respect, we wouldn’t need alternative journalism such as the type you practice. “Sobriety and carefulness” in pursuit of balance, when it actually results in misleading press coverage, as is the case at present ,are not virtues. One need only read, or listen to the equivocal way the mainline media covered the recent incident between the U.S. and Colombia over deportees and tariffs to see how cowardly the press is and how appalling its coverage of political developments in the U.S. is as a result.
I agree with you. I would add that the legacy media have become whores of the party in power. They are willing to bow and scrape , as long as they can show that they have access to the people in power. Further, they have no concept of their responsibility in society. They are there to REPORT the news and not explain what they see. We have eyes too. And they are News purveyors, not showmen. We need to be informed not entertained. If they had done their job, maybe we would have had a different outcome.
I feel the same. Crickets from Democrats. Where is the guidance? Where is the critical messaging? Where is a LEADER? How about Pete Budigieg? He speaks his mind in a clear and intelligent way. Someone needs to take charge. Now. Today. Immediately.
Establishment Dems need to step aside and let the new guard take over. AOC should have received the ranking member on the oversight committee as a start. Perhaps Schumer needs to retire?
Senator Warren: pls lead the Senate. Senator Schumer, pls step aside. And Michigan Dem senators, pls pls pls have someone answer calls to your office. We are feeling abandoned.
Judge Loren AliKhan's ruling Tuesday during a hearing conducted on Zoom came just minutes before the freezing order was set to take effect Tuesday at 5 p.m. ET. At stake are funds potentially worth trillions of dollars. The nonprofit organizations that won the temporary stay Tuesday had claimed in their filing that the memo "fails to explain the source of OMB's purported legal authority to gut every grant program in the federal government." No such authority exists and violations of the Impoundment Act have occurred.
Shortly after the stay decision by the federal Judge Tuesday, a group of attorneys general from 22 states and the District of Columbia filed a separate challenge in federal court. The Trump Administration was left stumbling with mixed messages. They know they have no legal recourse and backed down quickly.
“This is an important victory for the American people whose voices were heard after massive pressure from every corner of this country—real people made a difference by speaking out,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. “Still, the Trump administration—through a combination of sheer incompetence, cruel intentions, and a willful disregard of the law—caused real harm and chaos for millions over the span of the last 48 hours which is still ongoing.”
And Murray's message should be getting more headlines than Trump's recklessness. The Democrats need to also understand how communication works nowadays...
As a lifelong organizer, who spent the past three years training and doing Deep Canvassing with people like Dave Fleischer and Adam Barbanel-Fried, I know that I am not alone in feeling that several things are simultaneously true. Those of us who worked hard the past 8 years -- or decades before -- are continuing to "make the road by walking".
I am staying connected with my circle that includes people from all walks of life. People are willing to act. People want to do the things that make a difference.
It is not just the Democratic Party that's hollowed out. There has been an absence of relational organizing and base building in the nonprofit world.
An early organizing lesson for me was the importance of people feeling possibility and hope in order to act. We need to share ideas and models and experiments.
I am grateful that Democratic Attorney Generals like Phil Weiser are standing up and filing lawsuits while we figure our way forward. Let's keep challenging all people in leadership roles to show courage and leadership.
We need more than analysis and disappointment at this moment. We need to hear from people who are in the trenches organizing, re-organizing. We need to hear what they're doing and to share ideas and to help us all build better strategies.
You may already be doing this, but I hope you will increase the interviews you do with folks who're doing organizing in Germany and around world to build and protect democracy. Bring on Dave and Adam and Labor organizers and anyone who's doing good base building work. Bring on the Attorney Generals who are filing lawsuits. Bring on national organizational leaders and ask what they're doing to build more power by working with other organizations.
Thank you.
We need to work together to bring together the best of relational organizing and messaging and policy and election work. We need to
"relational organizing" - Love that you called attention to this and the need to share the stories of those in the trenches worldwide who are and have been doing the work with little attention very often. This ties into Anand's discussion of the media as well. Their focus is also swayed by entertainment, celebrity, money, powers that be, the status quo, etc.
Thank you for your RANT... The party needs a complete re-vamp. If you are not able to fight in this moment, get out of the way! The "big tent" has only led to fragmentation and needs to stop being the excuse for the dems not being able to rally around a common purpose. This is not a time for caution; it's a time for action and being able to call things out for what they are, and to fight for the country we all love so much.
I think we need a 21st century strategy for reclaiming the pillars of this democracy. When we are faced with leadership that has no boundaries based on the rule of law, and no degree of decency that limits cruelty, what worked in the 1960s won't work in this moment. Money and power are at the core of today's challenge. So how do we effectively boycott in a monopolized corporate economy? How do we effectively engage citizens beyond writing letters to elected officials who themselves seem paralyzed? Can we create a think tank room made up of people who can actually frame the issues and build strategies? Instead of just endlessly announcing the administration's executive orders, can we get journalists to cover the impact of these measures on people's lives? That's what we need to see and read every day to begin to provoke meaningful action.
Thank you Anand for the post this morning about the way we use language creating meaning. I am so ready for a DNC with teeth. All we have done for years is move right as a way of winning. It's a losers strategy, look where it got us. And I am a sixty-nine-year-old working woman who wants bench warmers out of office.
Building effective resistance takes time, extraordinary efforts & persistence.
Firings, buyouts, impoundments...based on zero legal authority:
Trump admin's email titled “Fork in the Road” to federal workers offering to let them resign and keep their pay until September is a transparent attempt to clear places for loyalists. Elon Musk used the same subject line to Twitter employees when he bought the company.
Former CNN host Jim Acosta: “It is never a good time to bow down to a tyrant. I’ve always believed it is the job of the press to hold power to account.”
The GOP has been captured by fraudsters & power by any means authoritarians. The projection & propaganda never stops.
Thanks Anand, I recently wrote about this in a comment on Robert Reich's substack, because everyone seems to be happy just to complain and criticize Trump. I'm so glad you and other journalists are writing about the need for Dems to ACT. We voters/citizens need to spend our energy and time pushing the democratic leaders to DO and stop the bla-bla. Start by working to get those 2-3 Republican votes for ex to refuse the nominations for a start! However, I fully agree with Philip, we ALSO need to form a movement that is audible and visible because there are alot of rudderless and mute democratic politicians!!!!
This is just regarding the Hakeem comment (and I greatly respect him). However, I had a similar response from a friend earlier this morning and wanted to share my reply with the Christian and Christian-adjacent folks who might be reading. ;)
Pray and fight back with love! That’s the revelation Christ brought to humanity, yet we have barely tapped into it to bring about the world change He promised. Within us lies the same divinity that Christ fully expressed. The mess we’ve made of the world is ours to fix, not God’s. He exists in us as we exist in Him. When we recognize this truth, we can heal, resurrect, and bring new life to all things, all people, and all nations! 🫶🏼🙇🏽♀️💥
We need a leader, someone to rally us, inspire us, get us up and off the couch. We need a MLK type personality to step up. We are all lost and floundering. The Democratic politicians could be those voices, but they’re not. Who will it be?
There are very few, if any, politicians who won't play for pay. That's how we got here. We can't rely on politicians. As you say, someone like MLK, with an incorruptible moral compass is what we need. Pete Budigieg might be such a person. We're going to have to look far and wide and---dig deep. And not pick the first pretty face that comes along.
It’s true we need leadership. But it’s also true we need to lead ourselves into a movement. We have to create new tools, new meaning, new ways of resisting because this assault is new…to us.
All that came before led us to this point. I see it as a profound teaching: we have to look at all our assumptions anew. There is no going back anymore than there is making America great again. We have yet to make her great.
I hate to be a party-pooper but if we wait for the Democrats, we're screwed. Reason being, in very large measure, they a part of the problem: They have become the party of appeasers--"Peace in our time!" And that's because the Dems have always had one foot in-and one foot out of a true, and unwavering, moral compass. If we are ever to steer this "unsinkable republic" around in time to save itself, nothing less than a massive, non-sectarian, collective movement can save us. We don't need a party, we need a movement! There are substantive movements in existence now; perhaps more will emerge. If they can put aside anything that smacks of dogma, tribalism, ideology and correct thinking, maybe they can merge objectives with a unified goal of restoring law and order. We don't need a single leader, but leaders in tandem.
I don't particularly want to go back to what we had---that's how we got here. I want to rebuild for something even better. But for now, restoring what is lost is a must beginning.
Here is a micro example of the macro problem. I live in Maryland and just am amazed by how little my reps are doing for federal employees, and I have always really respected and liked them, but boy, they are dropping the ball. Maryland has 150,000 federal employees (3rd in the nation) and I see no evidence of coordinated action, strategy and effective tactics. This is an excerpt from what I wrote a local rep:
"Specifically what is the federal Maryland delegation doing to help and protect federal workers? Why aren't Jamie Raskin, Senators Van Hollen and Alsobrooks regularly featuring and PROUDLY talking about federal government service and what federal government employees do? Who is speaking up for them and fighting for them?
I hope you and others in the Maryland delegation will fight for them,"
Anand: While I agree with virtually everything you said in today’s installment there are two things I must take issue with.
First: Based on the Democrats refusal to speak out, let alone buck, Donald Trump’s illegal moves or to call out the GOP for both their hypocrisy and criminality, and the very real possibility that the next head of the DNC is going to be yet another corporate hack, it is clear that the Party is beyond all hope. At least in the near term. To that end I think, and I fully appreciate the electoral implications of this, it is time to form a truly socially-democratic third party. Given the Democrat’s refusal to accept reality, and the moral bankruptcy and obdurateness of Trump voters, it is unlikely the Democrats will be able to make a compelling enough case to voters in 2026, or even 2028 to return them to power. Because the Democratic Party is like a house that has so many problems that it is better to knock it down and rebuild than to try and fix it, the only thing I can see that might scare Democrats enough to do something is a legitimate third party competitor. There is a precedent for this — The People’s or Populist Party of the late 19th century. While the Populist were certainly guilty of many short-comings and the victim of poor decision-making, the reality is that what they advocated actually became the reforms of Progressive Era and were important to the New Deal innovations of the 1930s. Though it might take time, a truly socially democratic third party could play a similar role today.
Second: You give way too much credit to the legacy media — the New York Times, NPR, PBS, and all the rest. In a democratic society, if it is to do its job, the press must speak truth to power and our corporate media is simply not up to the task. If it was, with all respect, we wouldn’t need alternative journalism such as the type you practice. “Sobriety and carefulness” in pursuit of balance, when it actually results in misleading press coverage, as is the case at present ,are not virtues. One need only read, or listen to the equivocal way the mainline media covered the recent incident between the U.S. and Colombia over deportees and tariffs to see how cowardly the press is and how appalling its coverage of political developments in the U.S. is as a result.
I agree with you. I would add that the legacy media have become whores of the party in power. They are willing to bow and scrape , as long as they can show that they have access to the people in power. Further, they have no concept of their responsibility in society. They are there to REPORT the news and not explain what they see. We have eyes too. And they are News purveyors, not showmen. We need to be informed not entertained. If they had done their job, maybe we would have had a different outcome.
No no no. We have been down that road before with Ralph Nader and that is, in my opinion what started us down this path
I feel the same. Crickets from Democrats. Where is the guidance? Where is the critical messaging? Where is a LEADER? How about Pete Budigieg? He speaks his mind in a clear and intelligent way. Someone needs to take charge. Now. Today. Immediately.
Establishment Dems need to step aside and let the new guard take over. AOC should have received the ranking member on the oversight committee as a start. Perhaps Schumer needs to retire?
YES Shumer needs to retire!!!
Senator Warren: pls lead the Senate. Senator Schumer, pls step aside. And Michigan Dem senators, pls pls pls have someone answer calls to your office. We are feeling abandoned.
Judge Loren AliKhan's ruling Tuesday during a hearing conducted on Zoom came just minutes before the freezing order was set to take effect Tuesday at 5 p.m. ET. At stake are funds potentially worth trillions of dollars. The nonprofit organizations that won the temporary stay Tuesday had claimed in their filing that the memo "fails to explain the source of OMB's purported legal authority to gut every grant program in the federal government." No such authority exists and violations of the Impoundment Act have occurred.
Shortly after the stay decision by the federal Judge Tuesday, a group of attorneys general from 22 states and the District of Columbia filed a separate challenge in federal court. The Trump Administration was left stumbling with mixed messages. They know they have no legal recourse and backed down quickly.
“This is an important victory for the American people whose voices were heard after massive pressure from every corner of this country—real people made a difference by speaking out,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. “Still, the Trump administration—through a combination of sheer incompetence, cruel intentions, and a willful disregard of the law—caused real harm and chaos for millions over the span of the last 48 hours which is still ongoing.”
And Murray's message should be getting more headlines than Trump's recklessness. The Democrats need to also understand how communication works nowadays...
As a lifelong organizer, who spent the past three years training and doing Deep Canvassing with people like Dave Fleischer and Adam Barbanel-Fried, I know that I am not alone in feeling that several things are simultaneously true. Those of us who worked hard the past 8 years -- or decades before -- are continuing to "make the road by walking".
I am staying connected with my circle that includes people from all walks of life. People are willing to act. People want to do the things that make a difference.
It is not just the Democratic Party that's hollowed out. There has been an absence of relational organizing and base building in the nonprofit world.
An early organizing lesson for me was the importance of people feeling possibility and hope in order to act. We need to share ideas and models and experiments.
I am grateful that Democratic Attorney Generals like Phil Weiser are standing up and filing lawsuits while we figure our way forward. Let's keep challenging all people in leadership roles to show courage and leadership.
We need more than analysis and disappointment at this moment. We need to hear from people who are in the trenches organizing, re-organizing. We need to hear what they're doing and to share ideas and to help us all build better strategies.
You may already be doing this, but I hope you will increase the interviews you do with folks who're doing organizing in Germany and around world to build and protect democracy. Bring on Dave and Adam and Labor organizers and anyone who's doing good base building work. Bring on the Attorney Generals who are filing lawsuits. Bring on national organizational leaders and ask what they're doing to build more power by working with other organizations.
Thank you.
We need to work together to bring together the best of relational organizing and messaging and policy and election work. We need to
How How How do we JOIN FORCES????
"relational organizing" - Love that you called attention to this and the need to share the stories of those in the trenches worldwide who are and have been doing the work with little attention very often. This ties into Anand's discussion of the media as well. Their focus is also swayed by entertainment, celebrity, money, powers that be, the status quo, etc.
Thank you for your RANT... The party needs a complete re-vamp. If you are not able to fight in this moment, get out of the way! The "big tent" has only led to fragmentation and needs to stop being the excuse for the dems not being able to rally around a common purpose. This is not a time for caution; it's a time for action and being able to call things out for what they are, and to fight for the country we all love so much.
I think we need a 21st century strategy for reclaiming the pillars of this democracy. When we are faced with leadership that has no boundaries based on the rule of law, and no degree of decency that limits cruelty, what worked in the 1960s won't work in this moment. Money and power are at the core of today's challenge. So how do we effectively boycott in a monopolized corporate economy? How do we effectively engage citizens beyond writing letters to elected officials who themselves seem paralyzed? Can we create a think tank room made up of people who can actually frame the issues and build strategies? Instead of just endlessly announcing the administration's executive orders, can we get journalists to cover the impact of these measures on people's lives? That's what we need to see and read every day to begin to provoke meaningful action.
How? build a movement, but how, and now!!!
Thank you Anand for the post this morning about the way we use language creating meaning. I am so ready for a DNC with teeth. All we have done for years is move right as a way of winning. It's a losers strategy, look where it got us. And I am a sixty-nine-year-old working woman who wants bench warmers out of office.
Building effective resistance takes time, extraordinary efforts & persistence.
Firings, buyouts, impoundments...based on zero legal authority:
Trump admin's email titled “Fork in the Road” to federal workers offering to let them resign and keep their pay until September is a transparent attempt to clear places for loyalists. Elon Musk used the same subject line to Twitter employees when he bought the company.
Former CNN host Jim Acosta: “It is never a good time to bow down to a tyrant. I’ve always believed it is the job of the press to hold power to account.”
The GOP has been captured by fraudsters & power by any means authoritarians. The projection & propaganda never stops.
Bothsiderism reigns with MSM. #Persist&Resist!
There is an old union song whose chorus was: "Which side are you on?" The right-wing has destroyed any third choice.
Thanks Anand, I recently wrote about this in a comment on Robert Reich's substack, because everyone seems to be happy just to complain and criticize Trump. I'm so glad you and other journalists are writing about the need for Dems to ACT. We voters/citizens need to spend our energy and time pushing the democratic leaders to DO and stop the bla-bla. Start by working to get those 2-3 Republican votes for ex to refuse the nominations for a start! However, I fully agree with Philip, we ALSO need to form a movement that is audible and visible because there are alot of rudderless and mute democratic politicians!!!!
This is just regarding the Hakeem comment (and I greatly respect him). However, I had a similar response from a friend earlier this morning and wanted to share my reply with the Christian and Christian-adjacent folks who might be reading. ;)
Pray and fight back with love! That’s the revelation Christ brought to humanity, yet we have barely tapped into it to bring about the world change He promised. Within us lies the same divinity that Christ fully expressed. The mess we’ve made of the world is ours to fix, not God’s. He exists in us as we exist in Him. When we recognize this truth, we can heal, resurrect, and bring new life to all things, all people, and all nations! 🫶🏼🙇🏽♀️💥
Absolutely, and that’s a better way of making the point.
This is an interesting perspective here as well:
https://open.substack.com/pub/publicwitness/p/john-danforth-former-gop-senator
We need a leader, someone to rally us, inspire us, get us up and off the couch. We need a MLK type personality to step up. We are all lost and floundering. The Democratic politicians could be those voices, but they’re not. Who will it be?
There are very few, if any, politicians who won't play for pay. That's how we got here. We can't rely on politicians. As you say, someone like MLK, with an incorruptible moral compass is what we need. Pete Budigieg might be such a person. We're going to have to look far and wide and---dig deep. And not pick the first pretty face that comes along.
Yes!!!! Budigieg
It’s true we need leadership. But it’s also true we need to lead ourselves into a movement. We have to create new tools, new meaning, new ways of resisting because this assault is new…to us.
All that came before led us to this point. I see it as a profound teaching: we have to look at all our assumptions anew. There is no going back anymore than there is making America great again. We have yet to make her great.