‘We Need a Win’ Editor’s Blog – Talking Points Memo / by Josh Marshall /

‘We Need a Win’

Editor’s Blog – Talking Points Memo / by Josh Marshall / 4h

Whether or not this perception is true (and there are various reasons I think it’s not or is incomplete) this perception is real and is a very real issue for Democrats. The reality is that Democrats control one house of Congress. That effectively blocks any new legislation and gives a cudgel for investigations. But it’s still a pretty limited patch of power when the other party holds the presidency, the courts and the senate. I’ve made a lot of these arguments myself because I want people to have a concrete understanding of what the Democrats are up against. But at the end of the day, just saying no there’s nothing that can be done about this or that just isn’t a workable message. From TPM Reader RS …

I know that the wheels of justice turn slowly but my question is, are they turning at all? I was so encouraged after the 2018 mid-term elections and believed that at long last, Trump and his administration would be held accountable for all of their misdeeds. We needed a win and we got one, but lately, it seems that our “win” was really no win at all. The border crisis is getting worse by the day; child abuse continues unabated; Republicans continue on their quest to rig voting in red states by passing draconian laws to keep people of color and younger Americans from voting; the Republican senate is working overtime to appoint as many right-wing judges as they can while they still have power; our standing in the world continues to erode; environmental protections are being gutted on an almost daily basis; the planet continues to warm and severe weather and its attendant consequences are already upon us; we finally get rid of corrupt Trump appointees who are then replaced by people who are worse than the ones that came before; the Mueller report essentially fell upon deaf ears (at least where the American public is concerned); good legislation passed by the House dies in the Senate and Trump’s malfeasance, incompetence, narcissism, and bullying go on and on and on.

What I’m trying to say is this: If Democrats don’t wake up soon, their reluctance to take the strongest actions the law will allow, both legislatively and legally, to reign in this administration, will soon convince a large portion of the electorate that their votes in 2018 were meaningless. We need a win and we need one badly! Instead, we see Nancy Pelosi trashing A.O.C. and other progressive freshmen, no meaningful action whatsoever on impeachment, a lot of words from a lot of Democrats followed by little, if any, meaningful action. Right now, we are losing and it seems as though very few of our so-called leaders can see it. I feel it and I feel it deeply.

Every day there is another abomination, another illegal act, another embarrassment, another case where the Constitution is ignored or its precepts and principles shredded by this administration. The clock is ticking and people (like me) are beginning to give up hope. I’m not there yet, but if positive things don’t start to happen soon, I fear we are all but handing the 2020 election to Trump and his band of merry crooks and liars. We need a “take-no-prisoners” response to Republican hard-ball tactics. They seem to be willing to continually fight for what they (and their donors) want while we “little people” are left holding the bag (and the bill) for their dirty deeds while Democratic leaders sit and fret over what to do. Something has gotta give … and SOON! Our democratic-republic hangs in the balance and our Democratic leaders act like everything is as it’s always been (it isn’t) and they can fight this president the same way they fought against Bush (they can’t). Pass the damn torch already and let’s get some leaders with some guts who will actually fight for “truth, justice, and the American way!”

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