As I read this, I think about how I *should* be outraged at the WH demolition. But yet it doesn’t emotionally register. After reading this I realize why.
It’s pointless. Without leaders making it an issue it will go nowhere, so why bother.
Meanwhile Jeffries still dances around endorsing Mamdani. Democrats have been gifted what appears to be (he hasn’t been elected yet) a generational political talent and our leaders are distancing themselves. Un fucking real.
Personally my shock and outrage was genuine and spontaneous and irrespective of the consensus or the meta-punditry of "but will the normies care?" The fact that the democratic leadership is so slow to act on that just adds fuel to that fire. This and blowing up random boats in the Caribbean have me pretty upset, for similar reasons - the cavalier irreversible destruction of things for no reason, with no apparent checks or consequences.
thank you, Brian, and congratulations for delivering this first-rate analysis without the carping whine of most "time for some tough love, Dems" pieces. just a clear-eyed observation of how the two sides respond differently to what's happening on the ground and what Dems ought to be doing to rebalance views of our opponents. hope it gets a wide audience, it sure could do us some good. I will never understand the self-generated impotence Democratic leadership holds to as cant and am concerned it could render us way less effective in this struggle to save the republic.
Brian, you are absolutely brilliant. I get the Taylor Swift analogy though I am also no fan and I keep asking why aren’t the Democrats interviewing people all over the country about the demolition and putting up clips of what regular people say about it? Can we push them to be Smarter and tougher or do we just need to find completely different kinds of candidates???
Also: I have been thinking that the Democrats are maybe horrendous leaders because, in fact, we are IMPOSSIBLE, fickle followers who will turn on you in a dime if you're not fucking careful. I've seen it over and over again, on the national stage and in private "Dems only" spaces. If I were Kamala, for example, I would have also avoided longform podcasts—literally millions of minutes' worth of opportunity to LOSE support with a much slimmer chance, honestly, to gain it. Pick up 3 votes, lose 5,000 with an ill-chosen word. That's the Democratic "followership."
When my daughter was in 10th grade or so, as the whole "college process" was looming on the horizon, she made (what I felt was) a brilliant observation: every single goddamn application asks the students to articulate their leadership skills. But what about knowing that you have what it takes to be a "great follower"? A giant hole in our culture, and a recipe for a bunch of smug self-described "leaders" demanding to be heard. Utter stupidity.
As an antidote, I would prescribe some kind of citizenship pledge among pro-democracy citizens. SOMETHING VERY BASIC LIKE "I GOT YOUR BACK. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE FROZEN IN TERROR TO OPEN YOUR MOUTH. IF YOU HOLD THESE 10 VALUES (IE THE CONSTITUTION, RULE OF LAW, DUE PROCESS, ETC) WE CAN WORK OUT THE REST LATER. And somehow hold them/each other to it through community self-regulation (obviously the devil is in the details lol).
By all means, we need to keep the pressure on Dem leadership to do better. But they probably poll-test everything like an abused child who's afraid of pissing off her parents. Out of a (frankly) well-earned abundance of caution.
Lastly, why don't we turn the "Kamala is for they/them" thing on its head and just put out a single ad EVERYWHERE: "TRUMP IS FOR THEY/THEM [FEATURING PUTIN, NETANYAHU, KUSHNER, HIS KIDS, MILLEI, HIMSELF, etc]. End of story; and you know it in your gut." Something like that.
People can’t ‘care’ about things if they don’t even know they’re happening.
Dems should be screaming about every awful thing this admin, and republicans in general, are doing from destroying the people’s house to dropping bombs on boats to working to eliminate Special Education and everything in between.
Not everyone is going to care about everything but there are a lot of people who might care about some of it - if they knew it was happening.
I am still shocked and traumatized by the images of the White House. There are no limits to what this president will do in the desire to aggrandize himself.
It is hard to reconcile the image of Jackie Kennedy eloquently presenting her version of our house with what this man is doing.
We're simply not going to focus many people's attention on policy. We need to go where the attention is. This administration does so many awful things, and we should be screaming about the large and the small. Throw it all at the wall and see what sticks.
And it *all* feeds into the perfectly truthful narrative that: "... Trump’s party loyalists are depraved, greedy villains, and he is a demented mad king..." I'd add to that that none of them give a flying f*ck about *you*.
Here is what scares me: I read this piece and I thought "he is right, why didn't I think of this myself?" We are so used to the way Democrats do politics we don't even notice when they pass by an opportunity like this. This scandal will stick around though, the West Wing is gone for good and a glaring, ugly gap is going to be there in its place. Plus--if Trump sticks with his plan--there will be a massive noisy and dirty construction site right next to the White House (assuming he doesn't tear down more of it).
I was truly shocked by the pictures and I am an immigrant who did not grow up steeped in the national symbols of this country. The White House is the republican (note the small r!) answer to Versailles; it is a "house", not a palace. It means a lot. Specifically the fact that there is no ballroom means something. It means something to almost all Americans and even to informed foreigners.
This is emotionally a stronger argument for more people than the cruelty and lawlessness of ICE or the massive incompetence everywhere in the administration. And it fits "no kings" like glove fits hand.
Much of Taylor’s power comes from her ability to channel emotion. Like All Too Well really exposes you to pain.
Democrats seem convinced that emotion is not part of politics. The way to succeed within Dem politics is to suck up. So there is no effort to connect with and channel people’s visceral feelings, something that Trump and the rw noise machine do relentlessly.
You’re right, alas. Yet, to think that emotion is not part of politics requires holding an obviously false understanding of human nature. Wow. How can that notion persist in the face of constant, overwhelming evidence to the contrary? People are not Vulcans.
That Cracker Barrel comment burns. Like, I flinched when I read it. So true.
REALLY.
Brilliant article. I will forward to a few smart people I know.
As I read this, I think about how I *should* be outraged at the WH demolition. But yet it doesn’t emotionally register. After reading this I realize why.
It’s pointless. Without leaders making it an issue it will go nowhere, so why bother.
Meanwhile Jeffries still dances around endorsing Mamdani. Democrats have been gifted what appears to be (he hasn’t been elected yet) a generational political talent and our leaders are distancing themselves. Un fucking real.
Personally my shock and outrage was genuine and spontaneous and irrespective of the consensus or the meta-punditry of "but will the normies care?" The fact that the democratic leadership is so slow to act on that just adds fuel to that fire. This and blowing up random boats in the Caribbean have me pretty upset, for similar reasons - the cavalier irreversible destruction of things for no reason, with no apparent checks or consequences.
Couldn’t agree more..even if I don’t know much about Taylor Swift..How can we make your post go viral??
thank you, Brian, and congratulations for delivering this first-rate analysis without the carping whine of most "time for some tough love, Dems" pieces. just a clear-eyed observation of how the two sides respond differently to what's happening on the ground and what Dems ought to be doing to rebalance views of our opponents. hope it gets a wide audience, it sure could do us some good. I will never understand the self-generated impotence Democratic leadership holds to as cant and am concerned it could render us way less effective in this struggle to save the republic.
Brian, you are absolutely brilliant. I get the Taylor Swift analogy though I am also no fan and I keep asking why aren’t the Democrats interviewing people all over the country about the demolition and putting up clips of what regular people say about it? Can we push them to be Smarter and tougher or do we just need to find completely different kinds of candidates???
Thanks for this, Brian. You’ve got that persuasive knack for making me nod my head vigorously as I read along. Well done, as usual.
I really appreciate your work.
If you haven't read Rick Wilson's post about the East Wing, it's really something. https://therickwilson.substack.com/p/the-east-wing-obscenity?r=1831a&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true
Also: I have been thinking that the Democrats are maybe horrendous leaders because, in fact, we are IMPOSSIBLE, fickle followers who will turn on you in a dime if you're not fucking careful. I've seen it over and over again, on the national stage and in private "Dems only" spaces. If I were Kamala, for example, I would have also avoided longform podcasts—literally millions of minutes' worth of opportunity to LOSE support with a much slimmer chance, honestly, to gain it. Pick up 3 votes, lose 5,000 with an ill-chosen word. That's the Democratic "followership."
When my daughter was in 10th grade or so, as the whole "college process" was looming on the horizon, she made (what I felt was) a brilliant observation: every single goddamn application asks the students to articulate their leadership skills. But what about knowing that you have what it takes to be a "great follower"? A giant hole in our culture, and a recipe for a bunch of smug self-described "leaders" demanding to be heard. Utter stupidity.
As an antidote, I would prescribe some kind of citizenship pledge among pro-democracy citizens. SOMETHING VERY BASIC LIKE "I GOT YOUR BACK. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE FROZEN IN TERROR TO OPEN YOUR MOUTH. IF YOU HOLD THESE 10 VALUES (IE THE CONSTITUTION, RULE OF LAW, DUE PROCESS, ETC) WE CAN WORK OUT THE REST LATER. And somehow hold them/each other to it through community self-regulation (obviously the devil is in the details lol).
By all means, we need to keep the pressure on Dem leadership to do better. But they probably poll-test everything like an abused child who's afraid of pissing off her parents. Out of a (frankly) well-earned abundance of caution.
Lastly, why don't we turn the "Kamala is for they/them" thing on its head and just put out a single ad EVERYWHERE: "TRUMP IS FOR THEY/THEM [FEATURING PUTIN, NETANYAHU, KUSHNER, HIS KIDS, MILLEI, HIMSELF, etc]. End of story; and you know it in your gut." Something like that.
Your 15 year old daughter is far wiser than the adult I had been until at age 42 or so I encountered the idea of collective action!
Me too!!!!!! Seriously! These kids are light years ahead of where I was, just making sure I had the right Cavariccis.
Excellent article, wise words… thank you!
You are so smart, Brian Beutler, and articulate, and funny, and very wise. I enjoy every article you write!!!!! Thank you 😊
People can’t ‘care’ about things if they don’t even know they’re happening.
Dems should be screaming about every awful thing this admin, and republicans in general, are doing from destroying the people’s house to dropping bombs on boats to working to eliminate Special Education and everything in between.
Not everyone is going to care about everything but there are a lot of people who might care about some of it - if they knew it was happening.
I am still shocked and traumatized by the images of the White House. There are no limits to what this president will do in the desire to aggrandize himself.
It is hard to reconcile the image of Jackie Kennedy eloquently presenting her version of our house with what this man is doing.
The Dems are just too damn polite!
This. This. This. So much this.
We're simply not going to focus many people's attention on policy. We need to go where the attention is. This administration does so many awful things, and we should be screaming about the large and the small. Throw it all at the wall and see what sticks.
And it *all* feeds into the perfectly truthful narrative that: "... Trump’s party loyalists are depraved, greedy villains, and he is a demented mad king..." I'd add to that that none of them give a flying f*ck about *you*.
Here is what scares me: I read this piece and I thought "he is right, why didn't I think of this myself?" We are so used to the way Democrats do politics we don't even notice when they pass by an opportunity like this. This scandal will stick around though, the West Wing is gone for good and a glaring, ugly gap is going to be there in its place. Plus--if Trump sticks with his plan--there will be a massive noisy and dirty construction site right next to the White House (assuming he doesn't tear down more of it).
I was truly shocked by the pictures and I am an immigrant who did not grow up steeped in the national symbols of this country. The White House is the republican (note the small r!) answer to Versailles; it is a "house", not a palace. It means a lot. Specifically the fact that there is no ballroom means something. It means something to almost all Americans and even to informed foreigners.
This is emotionally a stronger argument for more people than the cruelty and lawlessness of ICE or the massive incompetence everywhere in the administration. And it fits "no kings" like glove fits hand.
Much of Taylor’s power comes from her ability to channel emotion. Like All Too Well really exposes you to pain.
Democrats seem convinced that emotion is not part of politics. The way to succeed within Dem politics is to suck up. So there is no effort to connect with and channel people’s visceral feelings, something that Trump and the rw noise machine do relentlessly.
You’re right, alas. Yet, to think that emotion is not part of politics requires holding an obviously false understanding of human nature. Wow. How can that notion persist in the face of constant, overwhelming evidence to the contrary? People are not Vulcans.