Donald Trump has unleashed a “flood the zone” strategy: a cascade of executive actions aimed at rapidly reshaping the federal government and the country. The scope of changes is staggering: massive reductions in the federal workforce, the dismantling of USAID, signaling departments of labor and education are next, and the firing of Justice Department prosecutors.

Amid this whirlwind, a critical question emerges: Where is the opposition? What concrete steps are Democrats taking to counter this aggressive agenda? Senior politics reporter Akela Lacy says there are some very obvious things the Democrats could be doing. “Movement people are asking the obvious question right now, which is:

Why are there any Democrats — at all — voting to confirm a single Trump nominee? That’s one of the lowest hanging pieces of fruit,” she says. The Democrats had no plan, Lacy says, despite there being “no confusion about the fact that these nominees were going to be coming up for a vote. And still there were Democrats who voted for several of Trump’s nominees.”

  • deadtom@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    18
    ·
    3 days ago

    Because Democrats are the controlled opposition party bought and paid for by the same billionaires that own the Republican party?

    Billionaires wealth is exploding, while the rest of us suffer. But hey Biden and Harris patted themselves on the back saying they did their best. Zero messaging that questioned billionaire stranglehold on our country. Zero comments on the plight of the American worker beyond “the economy is going fine!” which is contrary to the reality that most Americans don’t have $500 saved for any kind of emergency and for most of us the economy is not reflective of our prosperity.

    They did try to cozy up to Republicans for their votes though! Remember during covid when Republicans were complaining about any $1000 checks for Americans suffering from the realities of covid because those checks were going I make them fat and lazy and not want to work anymore? I bet the people cheering those guys on have had a change of heart…

    Corporate Democrats run the party. Corporate Democrats are closer to Republicans that they are the Progressives in their party. It’s why after the election their thought wasn’t “did we fight hard enough for working americans?” it was “hey maybe we should start bashing trans people, it worked for Republicans”.

    For Corporate Democrats this is business as usual. They lost but so what? Their donation machine brought in a shit ton of money under the auspices of “this is the end of democracy if we don’t win”, but if they acted like that in their day to day it would piss off their billionaire owners. The billionaires bought fascism, why stand in the way of your masters?

    Remember our new DNC chair committed to make sure they only take money from “good billionaires”. How long ago was it Elon Musk was seen as a “good” one? The Tony Stark of business and technology. It’s almost like the DNC is more interested in easy cash instead of meaningful representation…

    • Fredthefishlord@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      9
      ·
      3 days ago

      Biden did do his best. He pushed through an incredible amount of legislation and real change for someone in his position and there’s few who could’ve done as well he did breaking through a Republican congress…

      They’re corrupt. They’re corporate. But there’s a world of difference between them and Republicans. They aren’t purely bought by the same billionaires.

      • TheCriticalMember
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        4
        ·
        3 days ago

        Agreed. I don’t think Biden was perfect, not by a long shot, but he got a massive amount of legislation passed that was helping average Americans, and the media, the general population, and even his own party gave him very little in the way of recognition or thanks. I wasn’t expecting much from his presidency at the outset, but I think ultimately he was one of the most successful and productive presidents in modern history.

        • BrainInABox@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          9
          ·
          3 days ago

          He’s a genocidal was criminal, it’s fucking ghoulish to complain about him not getting enough “recognition and thanks”. If he got the “recognition” he deserves he’d be executed at the Hague.

            • dx1@lemmy.ml
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              7
              ·
              edit-2
              3 days ago

              Trivializing genocide is psychotic. If the wholesale slaughter of an ethnicity is meaningless to you, you have no ethics, which means you have no selfless thinking when it comes to politics, which means your opinion is absolutely worthless. Political analysis requires caring about the fate of humanity. If you’re only interested in your own benefit, or some benefit of a group you delusionally limit your empathy to, you are literally incapable of analyzing politics objectively. I mean this not to insult but literally to say, this is a complete disqualification of you ever talking about politics. You do not have the skills or motivation required to do it.

  • surph_ninja@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    12
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    4 days ago

    They’re not surprised. They’re complicit.

    The real question is, why is anyone surprised at the Dems, after they’ve supported fascism over and over and over. What will it take for y’all to see them for who they are?

    • Snapz@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      8
      ·
      3 days ago

      Your comment ignores the fact that the US, realistically, has a binary choice in leadership - the third party in this country only serves to spoil elections to the benefit of the GOP whenever they pass 1% of the vote. We choose the lesser evil and hope that in unprecedented times, reps will allow the facade of decorum to fade so they can actively fight. The facade is the safety blanket though.

      We’ll all cling to norms as this coup progresses - we’ll continue to pay our bills, we’ll go to work for companies funding horrific shit, we’ll pay our taxes in April… And we’ll pay those taxes to a group that is clearly cutting the social programs our taxes fund and funneling the $$$ to themselves using 19 year olds (who must have just the most fucking horrible people as parents. Why is nobody profiling the fucking parents of elon youth? The people that fucked these little ghouls into the world?).

      But we’ll continue with norms because we’re human and following the rules feels like order, in a world that has less every day.

      • dx1@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        3 days ago

        Your arrogant framing that he’s “ignoring” some “realistic” choice - Dem vs. Repub - is simply an idiotic restatement of the circular reasoning that, “we will only vote for the duopoly, because we will only vote for the duopoly, because we will only vote for the duopoly, […]”. This self-defeating thinking, when adopted by the general public, completely neuters the public’s democratic recourse against a tyrannical system. We are not ignoring anything. We have heard this reasoning you’re using, and have understood and described the problems with it, over and over again. You are ignoring the real problem - an oppressive political system that’s methodically stripped any power from the people, using useful idiots like you to attack any attempt at democratic expression.

        There is no legal enshrinement of the two party system. Nowhere is it written in law that only Democrats and Republicans can win elections. Ballot access, which isn’t even required to win an election, is granted by petition and filing paperwork. The only thing stopping a “third party” from winning is the public’s self-inflicted unwillingness to vote for them, stemming solely from partisan fear and ignorance. And, consequentially, after the support has been whittled down sufficiently, the media refuses to even cover them, compounding the problem.

          • surph_ninja@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            2 days ago

            Your ‘third parties don’t do anything between elections’ is a funny way to admit you don’t pay attention between elections. Acting like things you don’t notice don’t exist, like a damn child lacking object permanence.

            • Snapz@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              arrow-down
              2
              ·
              2 days ago

              You very conveniently ignored the word “meaningful” in your paraphrasing of what I said - actually says a lot about the value of anything you have to offer in a conversation. You also just completely fell on your face by not even attempting to offer any tangible examples to make a flailing attempt to prove your false assertion here

              Stein herself was forced to admit that if she somehow won the presidency, she’d have no existing coalition in government to start working with, because none of them hold ANY meaningful office, because they aren’t serious or consistent parties. But of course again, her point was never to win, it was to make the republicans win by diluting the dem vote.

              You’re not a good spokesperson for your cause, quit while you’re behind.

              • surph_ninja@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                2
                arrow-down
                1
                ·
                edit-2
                2 days ago

                The leftist parties in my state are constantly running local programs to help the most vulnerable, as well as pushing more public organization and education drives. Pretty damn meaningful to the people who depend on their help. So again, what the fuck are you talking about? You think these things aren’t happening, because you don’t look at them?

                Tell me what the “serious parties” are doing to help our community right now. I see Dems helping confirm Trump nominees. I certainly don’t see them helping any of us. Matter of fact, we end up having to fight the Dems in Atlanta from trying to shut down organizers as much as we have to fight republicans.

                You’re not even a good spokesperson for a human being. Too fucking clueless and too dedicated to bootlicking genocidal maniacs.

                • Snapz@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  arrow-down
                  1
                  ·
                  2 days ago

                  I’m referencing the major third parties that have traditionally drawn relatively large amounts of votes in our general elections, mostly green party historically. Parties that stay on the ballot through election day and can draw that meaningful 1% number that sways elections historically.

                  DSA obviously does a lot and has meaningful seats in Congress and state and local office, but they aren’t the third party that stays in to knowingly sway elections when we get close to election day. They are adults that concede to the lesser evil (in our current broken binary system) when the tea leaves are clear and for the greatest good.

      • NSRXN@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        3 days ago

        the third party in this country only serves to spoil elections to the benefit of the GOP whenever they pass 1% of the vote.

        ross perot was found to have decreased clinton’s margin of victory.

  • MerrySkeptic@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    4 days ago

    The truth is that the party as a whole is far more interested in converting the moderate Republican than the progressive voter. If they show a willingness to work across the aisle then in their minds they are more appealing to these voters. In reality, they are eroding what’s left of their base, looking weak af