It’s up to us!

November 30, 2023

          The leading candidate for the GOP presidential nomination called for “the government” to “come down hard” and “punish” MSNBC because of political criticism it leveled against Donald Trump on Tuesday. As expected, that threat was front-page, column-one news in every newspaper in America and was the lead story on every nightly news program on every over-the-air and cable channel. Leaders in the GOP rose in unison to demand that Trump withdraw from the GOP presidential primary. . . . and then I awoke and realized I was daydreaming about a time—not that long ago—when the media would have given a damn about such a threat issued by a fascist seeking reelection on a platform of destroying democracy.

          Yes, it is exhausting to constantly condemn candidate Trump for threatening to overturn the Constitution. Care to guess what will be more exhausting? Answer: Living in a country where the constitutional guardrails have been demolished in a second Trump presidency. For journalists, exhaustion is no excuse for complacency so reckless it approaches complicity. The insurrection on January 6 teaches us that Trump's threats are not idle. His followers and minions are biding their time, waiting for exhaustion to overwhelm enough voters for Trump to win in 2024. And then they will do exactly what he asks—including “coming down hard” on a news organization for the imaginary crime of criticizing Trump.

          I would list every newspaper and media outlet that failed to cover Trump's threat to shut down MSNBC, but it is easier to simply say, “All of them” . . .  except for Lawrence O’Donnell and the Hollywood entertainment newspaper Deadline, Donald Trump Wants Federal Government To “Come Down Hard” On MSNBC.

          Lawrence O’Donnell’s criticism of Trump likely provoked Trump's call for retaliation against MSNBC. O’Donnell gave a stirring, fifteen-minute condemnation of Trump and the media’s silence in the face of his threat against the free press. I urge everyone to make the effort to watch O’Donnell’s ten-minute brilliant response to Trump and withering criticism of his colleagues in the media. See Lawrence: Media still not ready to cover Trump after years of his lies (msnbc.com)

          Lawrence O’Donnell ends his commentary with the observation that “The media is not going to help you defeat Donald Trump. You must save democracy on your own.”

          The situation is enough to cause despair and exhaustion. It shouldn’t. We have been here before and prevailed—in 2020, 2022, and 2023, no thanks to the media, who saturated their coverage with Trump's “sleepy Joe” attacks (2020), said that Americans only cared about the price of gas (2022), and that Americans had lost interest in reproductive liberty (2023).

          Still, it is unfair that Democrats must win in a disinformation environment where the media has lost its collective mind—despite the flashing red lights. Jonathan V. Last of The Bulwark addresses this phenomenon in a tongue-in-cheek article (that will leave you feeling good), Dear Democrats: Here Are the Facts of Life. Last writes,

I regret to inform you that America is relying on you to win a presidential election less than 12 months from now. In order for you to accomplish this objective, you will have to do many things. Some of these things may seem unfair. Many of them will be hard. A few of them are probably impossible.

But the country is counting on you, so please get to work.

First, you’ll have to give up on a bunch of your policy preferences. You may want to expand voting access, or make D.C. a state, or forgive student loans. Don’t do any of that.

Rights for certain groups—gays, trans people, Muslims—may be important to you. Please do not talk about them. And whatever you do, don’t try to pass any federal legislation to address your concerns.

          Jonathan Last continues in this vein, but turns serious as he concludes:

There is no cavalry coming over the hill, no mass of Republican voters and politicians who watched Trump’s attempted coup and will say, “Never again—even if it means voting for Joe Biden this one time.”

Democrats are on their own.

All of this is—if you’re a Democrat—deeply unfair. Why should you have to compromise on your policy preferences just because the other party has gone insane?

The unsatisfying answer is that none of this is fair.

But “fair” doesn’t matter.

What matters is what’s true.

So no, it isn’t fair that Democrats are being asked to save the country for a fifth straight election.

But they are.

          Well said, by Jonathan Last! (I omitted contiguous passages for brevity; read the full essay in The Bulwark.)

          Here’s the point: Those of you who choose to carry on despite the unfairness and exhaustion are heroes, whether you know it or not. Our democracy is in peril. It always is, but that doesn’t change the fact that only a small portion of American citizens are responding to the call of our nation in its hour of distress.

          We are being asked to do hard things. We are compelled to care, we can’t look away; we must accept unpleasant truths; we must compromise, cajole, and lead by example; we must bite our tongues and shout from the rooftops. Yes, it is hard. Yes, it is exhausting. But failure is not an option. We will win. It is only a matter of time. Ours will not be the generation that falters in preserving democracy for the next.

          Still, it is okay to bend, to rest, to collect ourselves. The emails in my inbox are telling me that many readers are feeling the need for a break. The last two months have been especially difficult for many. As I wrote to a reader this evening,

I constantly remind myself not to collapse the future into the present moment—especially all of the stuff we fear. Most of it won’t come to pass, so we will pay an emotional penalty worrying about events that will not happen. And don’t assume that you must change the future by yourself. There are tens of millions of Americans who are by your side, working to protect democracy and making the world a safer place.

           I have wandered a bit from Trump's threat to “come down hard” on MSNBC. But not much. We must take his threat seriously and warn others—by shouting from the rooftops. I am glad to be in this fight with you.

Reactionary majority on the Supreme Court signals willingness to continue dismantling of the “administrative state.”

          America is the world’s biggest economy—by a lot. One reason for its success is that we have a strong regulatory environment that helps to keep the marketplace honest and fair. (It’s not perfect; I know. I am making a point, so please give me some license.) Participants in an honest marketplace feel freer to make investments and purchases, and to otherwise conduct business.

          In the world’s largest economy, the job of policing the marketplaces is beyond the ability of Congress or the judiciary. So Congress has created agencies that help regulate those markets. Those agencies have the regulatory authority to levy fines and issue sanctions in administrative proceedings. Hence, the “administrative state” hated by conservatives who profit handsomely from robust and honest markets.

          The reactionary majority on the Supreme Court appears to be on the edge of dramatically paring the authority of administrative agencies to enforce congressional statutes through administrative proceedings. See Mark Joseph Stern in Slate, The Supreme Court will gut a bunch of key federal laws at once. Per Stern,

The case, Jarkesy v. SEC, is complicated in the details but pretty simple in the end. It asks whether federal agencies can continue to do something that they’ve done for more than a century and that no court (including SCOTUS) has ever forbidden: adjudicate the government’s claims against a private party for violating “public rights” established by Congress.

Do you think that securities fraud, consumer scams, environmental crimes, labor violations, and a ton of other misdeeds should be efficiently and consistently penalized? [If so], you are out of luck, because the Supreme Court is poised to strip much of that enforcement power from the federal government.

          Just another reason to expand the Supreme Court to overcome the death grip of a lawless reactionary majority that cares nothing for the rule of law or precedent—except when it serves its purpose of curtailing freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. Vote for Biden. Demand that he expand the Court.

Musk at NYTimes event has a message for advertisers: “Go f--- yourselves.”

          The New York Times hosted a vanity event for movers and shakers so they could explain why they are cool and you are not. One of the “cooler than you” participants was Elon Musk.

          When a moderator asked Musk about Disney CEO Bob Iger’s explanation of why Disney pulled advertising from Twitter due to Musk’s promotion of antisemitic conspiracy theories, Musk responded as follows:

If someone is going to try and blackmail me with advertising? Blackmail me with money? Go f— yourself.

Go f— yourself, is that clear? Hey Bob [Iger], if you’re in the audience. That’s how I feel, don’t advertise,

          A couple of observations: First, Musk did not belong on the stage, even with the cool kids. The NYTimes got what it deserved for giving a platform to a man-child and treating him as though his opinions have substance and seriousness. Second, he must have a secret plan to destroy Twitter. No rational person would tell the real customers of Twitter—its advertisers—to go “f--- themselves.”

          For those braves souls still fighting the good fight on Twitter, it may be time to start dual platforming on Threads. A guy willing to tell his major customers to “go f--- themselves” while on center stage is willing to shut Twitter down without notice.

Quick political notes.

          As I am both short on time and under the weather, I am going to wrap up early with a few quick notes:

          Speaker Mike Johnson is experiencing stiff headwinds in the GOP caucus. There is no indication of an immediate “motion to vacate,” but the concept is beginning to move through the halls of the Capitol in whispers and quiet conversations. See Politico, Speaker Mike Johnson singed by a blast of conservative fury.

          A resolution to expel GOP Rep. and record-breaking fabulist George Santos from the House will likely come to a vote on Friday of this week. Indications are that the resolution will succeed. See Politico, House GOP appears to have the votes to expel Santos. Santos has announced that he is considering offers to become the next CEO of Twitter or Trump's ghostwriter on Truth Social.

Concluding Thoughts.

          While I was writing this edition of the newsletter, Israel and Hamas announced a one-day extension of the pause in fighting. See The Guardian, Israel-Hamas: Ceasefire to continue amid efforts to secure more hostage releases.

          Tomorrow, my Managing Editor and I will be meeting with several hundred grassroots leaders to discuss burnout. After interviewing a dozen grassroots leaders in preparation for the conference, we have changed the focus and title of the forum to “burnout and sustainability.” As my comments above note, burnout—or exhaustion—is understandable, natural, unavoidable—and something that can be overcome.

          The two most important lessons we learned in talking to grassroots leaders are that community and gratitude are key to helping sustain volunteers (and leaders) over the long term. Indeed, they are key to happiness in life. So, as we do the hard things necessary to preserve democracy, let’s celebrate the fact that we are part of a community of millions of Americans who are grateful for the freedoms we enjoy and willing to fight to preserve them.

Talk to you tomorrow!