The response, meanwhile, by Democrats has been unconscionably weak. It’s no coincidence that governors like Gavin Newsom and J.B. Pritzker have been the leaders of recent days; they are clear-eyed about what is happening. As Greg Sargent writes, “Newsom shapes everything around the brute fact that Trump is serially breaking the law and using government sponsored violence and intimidation to entrench authoritarian power. He accepts this as the core fact of our moment.”
By contrast, I challenge you to find even a moderately tepid and clear-eyed statement from any national Democrat. National Democrats seem all invisible as the military takes over policing the streets of the capital and prosecuting its crimes. This should be a lay-up to oppose — the most basic duty of any congressional figure, and yet, “House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, along with other senior Democrats, have not been a part of any concerted effort to voice opposition to the occupation.”
– from Slouching Into Fascism by Garrett Graff, Mother Jones
One thing that’s been increasingly clear over the years – if it wasn’t already – is that many mainstream Western politicians don’t know how to fight a bully.
PUTIN
When Putin invaded Ukraine, I was baffled when Western countries did not offer full weapons support for Ukraine with no strings attached. They purposely limited Ukraine’s ability to fight back, which has led to a long, costly, and drawn out war with an uncertain outcome.
The explicit reason was that they didn’t want to provoke Putin further. That’s an example of a hesitant response to bullies, and one that the bully – in this case Putin – tends to see as a sign of weakness and be encouraged by. (I suspect there was another reason for limiting Ukraine’s ability to fight back. They wanted to drain Russia’s military resources and weaken Russia in general, even if it comes at the cost of death and enormous suffering, the possibility of Ukraine losing the war, and the encouragement of Putin’s imperial ambitions.)
TRUMP
We see something similar with how the Democratic leadership, with a few exceptions, have dealt with the Republicans, especially since the tea party era of the 2000s. The Republicans play dirty and have thrown out the rule book, and the Democratic leadership acts as if nothing has changed and everyone still plays by the old rules. They have, in practice, rolled over and allowed the Republicans to get what they want.
The Democrats had control of Congress and the White House and chose to not eliminate the filibuster. (Due to pressure from within their own party.) That allowed the Republicans to block voter rights legislation and more. Trump was impeached twice, and the Democrats chose to not forcefully push for consequences. Biden and the Democrats chose to not expand the Supreme Court, even if the Republicans had already politicized the court to an extreme.
When Harris became the Democratic candidate last summer, she and Walz used a more direct and effective verbal strategy for some weeks – fighting dirty, ridiculing Trump, and calling him out for what he is. That worked and they gained in the polls. Then, for some inexplicable reason, they went back to the “high ground” approach and lost traction.
Now, it seems that some Democrats are again growing a spine, especially Gavin Newsom and some other Democratic governors. Newsom aims to redistrict California to mirror what the Republicans are doing in Texas. He has run ads in Republican-led states mocking conservative leaders, and he is mimicking Trump’s own slogans and style to expose their absurdity. If it’s ridiculous when Newsom does it, what does it say about the president? We’ll have to see if it continues, and if others join him and the other governors.
HOW TO DEAL WITH A BULLY
In some cases, it is possible that being polite, playing by the rules, and treating bullies with respect may work. It’s rare, but it may happen, especially if the bullying behavior is not deeply ingrained in the personality of the bully.
But in most cases, bullies need to be met with actions and a language they understand. As Newsom says, we have to fight fire with fire. They have to be met with strength and consequences, and that’s best done when we strategize and coordinate our efforts. It’s scary to stand up to a bully, so it’s better done together.
History shows us that appeasing authoritarians rarely works. We know that from 1930s Europe, and we see it again today.
WHY AM I CONCERNED ABOUT THIS?
Why am I concerned about this? After all, I don’t live in the US, I live in a functioning democracy, and I don’t seem directly impacted by any of this.
It’s partly because I experienced bullying as a kid, and I have seen what it does to people. Authoritarians are bullies, just on a national and international scale. Our political views inevitably reflect personal experiences and concerns.
Democracies are eroding around the world these days. Current democracies are far from perfect, but they are the best we have, they can improve, and they are far better than the alternatives.
Even if I happened to agree with some of the policies of an authoritarian leader, I would still far prefer a flawed democracy with leaders I don’t necessarily agree with. At least then, there is the possibility of peaceful course correction coming from the people.
I don’t live in the US anymore, but as someone said: When the US sneezes, the world catches a cold. What happens in the US tends to impact the rest of the world, both directly through US foreign policies, and indirectly by people in other countries mimicking – and also responding to – what happens in the US.
I live in Norway, a neighbor of Russia, and I know Russia’s historical imperial ambitions and how Putin have adopted those for himself. If Putin gets his way with Ukraine, there is no reason to assume he will stop there.