Democrats Need To Take More Swings

"They want to flood the zone with outrage. But we can’t chase every outrage. One of the reasons that [Aaron Judge] is a great hitter is that he does not swing at every pitch. He waits for the right one.”  -- Hakeem Jeffries 

Imposing tariffs. Pardoning all the insurrectionists and purging federal law enforcement agencies of those who worked on January 6 cases. Firing inspectors general. Attempting to halt federal funding and grants. Giving Elon Musk unfettered access to the Treasury Department's data. Blaming people of color and women for a tragic air crash. Indiscriminately deporting undocumented immigrants and revoking protection for many who are here legally. Declaring an end to birthright citizenship. Attacking transgender Americans. Freezing foreign aid and humanitarian assistance around the globe. Each of these is treated by the Democrats (and the mainstream media) as isolated events. They need to be discussed, analyzed, and attacked as an interconnected assault on our Democracy. 

It is critically important to make sense of the chaos and to understand that what we are witnessing is a true and immediate constitutional crisis; indeed, an actual coup.  Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat explains that what is happening comes right out of the classic authoritarian playbook: "There is always an 'inner sanctum' that really runs the show, with its mix of family members and cronies, some with histories of working with or for foreign powers. And there is almost always a purge of the federal bureaucracy."  Sound familiar?

Heather Cox Richardson describes three different factions "whose only shared ideology [is] a determination to destroy the federal government": (1) the group "gutting the government both to get revenge against those who tried to hold [Trump] accountable before the law and to make sure he and his cronies will never again have to worry about legality"; (2) the MAGA crowd that embraces Project 2025, pushing "discrimination against women and gender, racial, and religious minorities; rejection of immigrants; and the imposition of religious laws to restore a white Christian patriarchy;" and (3) Musk and his tech bros, who, among other things, seek to slash government regulations, gut the safety net, and decimate civil service.

Asha Rangappa also organizes Trump's actions into three buckets: (1) "purging of civil servants and 'hollowing out' of democratic institutions, in order to eliminate and/or privatize large swaths of government, or to create space from them to be filled with loyalists; (2) "An attempt to create the infrastructure to assert police and military authority over people within the United States"; and (3) "the apparent takeover by Elon Musk ... of the Office of Personnel Management and, it seems the sensitive payments systems at the Treasury Department, which gives him single-handed control over the financial levels of our government, as well as the personal data of millions of Americans."

As Ben-Ghiat puts it: "All of these individuals and groups want to rearrange government around an extremist ideological project of Christian nationalism and white Supremacy, and most of them want to enact neoliberal deregulation and privatization measures."

Rather than appearing to be too alarmist, the Democrats cautiously search for the right poll-driven messaging, seek to compromise where they can, and oppose only the most egregious actions. So we get deer-in-the-headlights silence followed by de-contextualized retorts, like this one from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer: "You’re worried about tomato prices. Wait till Trump’s Mexico tariffs raise your tomato prices."  Chuck, what I'm worried about is that you have outlasted your shelf life.  

Then there's Hakeem Jeffries, the House Minority Leader, who ignores the big picture. Rather, he preaches message discipline and warns against "chas[ing] every outrage," explaining that like Aaron Judge, Democrats need to wait for the right pitch to swing at. Now I'm all for baseball analogies, but when Judge does swing he often hits home runs. Democrats are more likely to take the walk. And when they do swing, they talk about the price of tomatoes. Democrats need to take more -- and better -- swings. Credit to Connecticut Senator Christopher Murphy, who pushed back: “right now, you have to swing at every pitch,” and "[i]f you let some of these egregious acts of his early days on pass without real protest, it normalizes the behavior...Trump floods the zone, every hour of every day. We have to do the same thing.” 

Today was more encouraging. You had Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz put a hold on all of Trump's State Department nominees to protest efforts to shut down the the U.S. Agency for International Development, which also drew protests from progressive Democrats who attempted to enter the agency's headquarters. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, described Musk's role as a “five alarm fire,” a “grave threat to national security,” and "a plutocratic coup." Rep. Ilhan Omar said, “[w]e are witnessing a constitutional crisis,” and that "[t]his is what the beginning of dictatorship looks like. When you gut the constitution and you install yourself as the sole power, that is how dictators are made.” Meanwhile, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren demanded answers from new Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, for his role in allowing Musk’s team access to the Department's payment system.

More swings like this, please.