Joy Reid summarized Trump’s cracked NYT interview on Twitter last night, concluding, as most of us have, that it’s further evidence that Trump is dangerously delusional. I recommend Reid’s entire thread, but I’m particularly interested in the implications for elected Democrats, and Reid explores that. Here’s an excerpt:
I’ve never observed anyone who is more precisely like his biographers have described him. And Trump’s biographers have, to put it mildly, not been kind. He lives inside his own reality, where he is part beloved autocrat/dictator and part main character in a never-ending TV show.
It is absolutely stunning that this person is president of the United States.
I’m not sure, by the way, what this means for Democrats. Trump clearly assumes that they HAVE NO CHOICE but to come crawling to him to do infrastructure, DACA, and inexplicably, to make a new, *better* healthcare (he specifically says “not Obamacare.”
He clearly thinks this will happen, and that somehow magically, they will “do bipartisan.” That’s his actual phrase: “do bipartisan.” Not “do bipartisan legislation,” just “do bipartisan.” He thinks it naturally will happen.
If Democrats go along, it will only feed his grandiosity. If they don’t, it feeds his rage and opens the black hole of vengeance inside him, which he could take out on them, vulnerable populations, maybe other countries (war is still not unthinkable…) I just don’t know.
But it’s absolutely stunning that this is what’s happening. But it is what’s happening.
Right on cue, Trump tweeted the following this morning:
The Democrats have been told, and fully understand, that there can be no DACA without the desperately needed WALL at the Southern Border and an END to the horrible Chain Migration & ridiculous Lottery System of Immigration etc. We must protect our Country at all cost!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 29, 2017
So, put yourself in Schumer and Pelosi’s shoes this morning. Your choices for the coming year are to work with this pinwheel-eyed lunatic and his fawning enablers in congress to try to govern in a way that minimizes the damage to vulnerable people and the rest of the country. That risks exacerbating said lunatic’s grandiosity, as Reid pointed out. It also risks demoralizing the base and normalizing Trump.
Or, you go all-in on obstruction, knowing that your power is limited due to your minority party status and that further enraging the lunatic and his lackeys might result in worse outcomes for the country. (I say “might” because I’m not confident Dems are in a position to extract significant concessions from Trump and the Republicans anyway.) You also have to consider your blue dogs, who could be tempted to break ranks with the right incentives.
What the fuck do you do? They’re going to have to figure this out quickly — the continuing resolution bill congress passed last week only funds the government for a few more weeks.
Cheryl Rofer
Right on, Betty. I was going to do a post on Democrats’ strategy in light of how Joy Reid analyzed the interview, but you’ve done it for me. Will add more (if the jackals haven’t beaten me to it) when I come back from grocery shopping.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
Obstruct, obstruct, obstruct.
OzarkHillbilly
The #1 lesson of donald trump’s life is that one should never work with trump. Time and again those who did got screwed.
Major Major Major Major
I think a boondoggle wall is a reasonable trade for DACA legislation.
JMG
This is easy. Tell him he’ll get nothing and like it from the Democratic party. Ozark Hillbilly is exactly right.
Tom Levenson
Agree w. OzarkHillbilly and Comrade. There is almost no short term benefit to be gained by being the adult in the room between the insane GOP congressional caucus and a demented Dear Leader. There are short and long term negative consequences to normalizing any part of the GOP agenda. We’ve got ten months in which we have to focus with brutal priority on the midterms. Anything that weakens our coalition in that time is a deep danger to the nation and deeper still for the party. The Republicans control the government. Make them govern, and let people know exactly who twists the knife. And tell them just as exactly how we’ll do much better.
Downpuppy
I don’t think either choice for the Democrats is real. Any attempt to work with Trump & the Republicans will spin into craziness, since he has no clue what he’s doing & the Republicans only want to cause pain. All out opposition? They’re already at 0 votes on all major bills. I think the only thing they need to do more of is investigations, and as a minority party, with the majority shamelessly covering up, it’s tough, but maybe they can find something creative. (An obscure committee, with an innocent seeming topic?)
debbie
I see zero down side to exacerbation.
I hope the Dems don’t come storming out with a 100% obstruction attitude (even if that is their intent). If they decide to oppose something, they need to make sure to say exactly what it is they would support and why.
Timmeh
Yes let us wring our hands worrying about what the right thing to do is while the country is ablaze and neon Nero fiddles.
There is no upside for Democrats working with Trump or Republicans. None. The only people in this entire frelling planet who cares about bipartisanship are floppy brained libs whove ceded race after race to right wing monster.
We care about everyone, they don’t. There is no electoral, ethical, or moral reward for collaboration.
debbie
@Tom Levenson:
A zillion times this.
SenyorDave
I don’t see how you can compromise (or worse, grovel) with Trump. To me, that is like dealing with the devil. Trump is deranged and evil. The GOP is just evil. The Democrats will have to work with the GOP leadership, but Trump needs to be treated as an aberration. Other than the occasional taunt on twitter, I’d like to see the Democrats treat Trump as if he was an imposter or a figurehead.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
He’s a liar, and delusional. Democrats need to use everything they have to obstruct everything.
oatler.
I have a feeling Pelosi is going to “work with” Ryan on gutting the safety net.
Major Major Major Major
@Tom Levenson:
A few hundred thousand undocumented immigrants on an easily searchable federal database might have an opinion on the matter.
Josie
@Tom Levenson: Elegantly stated.
Gvg
Um, he breaks his word on a whim. He doesn’t understand the implications of anything so he is incompetent to sign a contract anyway. The next person he talks to can get him to change his mind and he is prone to grudges.
Even though it’s a responsibility of good legislatures to talk to many sides and compromise, I don’t see how it’s even possible to do a deal with him.
The GOP congressmen are almost as bad but not quite and the democrats have a lot of experience in dealing with them. Trump is actually not that strong. I say cautiously try to work out deals within congress. Trump will probably sign whatever they come up with. Keep in mind the GOP congressmen are pretty treacherous and also not that unified so,it will be difficult to get a good deal. We will have to keep it focused on a minimum nessesary for survival and long term precedents.
Jeffro
@JMG: yup – never cave to evil, even stupid evil
Dems should propose their own ‘clean’ DACA legislation and point it out at every opportunity. They should not join the GOP in any way. If Repubs want to, they have the votes to enact anything they want (including the blessed wall). In order to secure the Freedumb Caucus ‘ votes, it’ll have to be pretty draconian too – heightening the differences all across 2018.
So – fuck the GOP. No accommodation
Villago Delenda Est
The treason is everywhere in the GOP…putting party before country.
Jeffro
@Tom Levenson: and of course you already said it better ?
feckless
Anyone who does anything to help tRump and GOP/KKK/KGB is a traitor. Starve this beast.
People who collaborate with Nazis should be treated like nazis. bipartisanship with evil is still just evil.
If the Pelosi/Schumer are stupid enough to play ball with these monsters, all that will happen is that the vulnerable will still get screwed, but the republican media will then tell everyone it is the democrat’s fault. Its what the party of tRump does.
Look at Alexander-Murray. No chance of passing, but it did give Susan Collins media coverage for screwing her constituents.
Instead of condemning the tax bill, Murray should be screaming about the tax payer money wasted by the false representation of Alexander. The GOP brings NOTHING good to the negotiating table.
HinTN
Do not enable anything the Rs attempt. State clearly what the party stands for and (politely but firmly) those things for which its members will vote. Make the Rs own everything.
Everyone above has said this already.
Happy New Year
OzarkHillbilly
@Major Major Major Major:
Why do I suspect that they are almost universally of the opinion that no matter what, trump will break any deal he makes just to screw them? Just like all the deals he has broken a thousand million times before?
hedgehog the occasional commenter
What Tom said. Also, you cannot compromise with someone who is trying to kill you.
The midterms are coming, and they need to be a bloodbath for the Rs. I’m going to get active with Swing Left to get rid of Coffman, and also I’ve got to pay attention to the Colorado statehouse races.
Roger Moore
You don’t deal with Trump. Maybe you cut deals with the Republicans in Congress on important things like continuing resolutions, but only for critical issues. To me the key point is one you didn’t raise: Trump can be trusted to renege on his deals. That makes the question of whether to deal with him much simpler.
dmsilev
@oatler.: The tax bill got precisely zero Democratic votes, as did the attempt at ACA repeal. What makes you think Pelosi and her team are going to be any more accommodating on abetting Ryan’s wet dream, especially since that would be a 60-Senate-vote threshold bill?
Hildebrand
I think the best thing the Democrats can do is to sell a straightforward, constructive alternative to the lunacy of the Republicans. Every single day the Democrats need to be out there saying, ‘Look, the other side isn’t interested in governing, so they are going to cough up the boogeyman of the day to keep you scared and distracted. We, on the other hand, know how much needs to get done, so we are going to go about the business of offering actual ideas about what will help everyone.’
All questions about Mueller’s investigation get answered, “We trust the process. We trust the system in place to do that job. That is not our job, our job is to govern effectively for the benefit of all.”
All questions about Trump. “If the President wants to work with us to govern, fine and dandy, but we cannot compromise on the integrity of our ideas because we know that they are best for the people of this country.”
The Democrats have to give the voters a reason to vote ‘for’ the good guys. We have seen this in Virginia and Alabama – its not about the lunatic you are running against, its about governing effectively for the people. Yes, you can take a few whacks at the lunatic, but 95% of what comes out of your mouth better be about good governance.
Major Major Major Major
@OzarkHillbilly: this is why I specified DACA legislation.
HinTN
@SenyorDave:
THIS
Timmeh
@OzarkHillbilly: this is correct. It’s his actual goal, to make Dems compromise and then betray them. That is his plan.
Any functioning party in the western world could make what’s happened this year, combine it with a a fight for 15/ immigration fix platform, and take control in both houses.
Just stop listening to people like Joy fucking Reed. Jesus
NotMax
Dear Dems,
Chowing down on half a loaf of moldy, wormy horsesh*t bread is still munching moldy, wormy horsesh*t bread.
The right is wrong. Period. Full stop.
OzarkHillbilly
@Major Major Major Major: He is already ignoring many long established laws and constitutional provisions. What’s one more?
HinTN
OT but dammit the Pets of Balloon Juice 2018 calendar link is still hosed.
ETA – Yes, it’s a slow day at work. Why do you ask?
FlipYrWhig
Trump clearly continues to think about immigration in terms of the Mariel boatlift and believes that foreign leaders are conspiring to send dangerous criminals to America. SO MANY THINGS in Trump’s head got there around 1979 and will never be updated. Then again, whoever first told him about immigration and used the word “chain” knew exactly how to make a new thing stick in his feeble mind.
Downpuppy
Postmaster General Ronald A. Stroman & Chairman of the Rate Commission Robert Taub have to be pouring whiskey in their coffee this morning after the Moron in Chief dumped all over the USPS rate setting today.
FlipYrWhig
@Hildebrand:
This isn’t usually what people mean when they say “a reason to vote for the good guys,” though, right? I mean, I live in Virginia and Northam basically ran on being not-a-dick. _Maybe_ a bit on expanding health care. At any rate my suggestion for meta theme for Democrats is “I care about people’s basic needs and I’m not egregiously corrupt.”
Sloane Ranger
I have a question. During the interview and the Nuremberg rally during the Alabama Senate race, Trump talked as if foreign countries were responsible for selecting who among their citizens gets to emigrate to the US through the lottery system. I distinctly remember him saying they select their worst and miming someone palming a piece of paper and substituting another name.
That’s not correct surely? Don’t US officials manage the process and don’t all applicants have to pass security checks before being allowed into your country?
If I’m right, why isn’t he being called out on such an outright lie? Or is he right? In which case maybe something does need to be done about that part of your immigration system.
trollhattan
Have we seen the worst of Trump?
Can Trump be any worse?
What would Worse Trump look like?
These are what keep me from sleeping. In the meantime I’d focus on limiting the damage his cabinet are raining down on America and the world. Fight Sessions, Zinke, Pruitt, DeVoss, et al tooth and claw. Do so while treating the ’18 midterms as a battle that must be won at any and all cost.
rachel
@oatler.: Pelosi wouldn’t work with W to gut the safety net, and W was pretty popular before then. What makes you think she’s going to help Trump?
O. Felix Culpa
@Gvg:
This. Trump is not only evil, he’s an untrustworthy bargaining partner. You can only rely on him to break his word at will. So no negotiations, no collaboration. Just proclaim loudly who WE are and what we stand for and campaign like heck for 2018 and beyond.
Another Scott
@Tom Levenson: This.
Nothing (much) is going to change (for the better) until Donnie and the Trumpists are voted out of office. Every action every day must be building toward the goal of voting them out of office.
In other news – Reuters is reporting that there’s an outbreak of “highly pathogenic” H5N2 bird flu in Russia… :-/
Cheers,
Scott.
NotMax
@NotMax
No edit function, otherwise would append one more terse sentence, as follows:
The right is wrong. Period. Full stop. Resist, don’t assist.
schrodingers_cat
Conduct the last rites of bipartisanship, cremate it and throw the ashes in the Mississippi. The problem is not just the person in the WH but the entire party.
sherparick1
Obviously, I picked a bad year to give up sniffing glue. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlDXQdgx_QU
Betty Cracker
@Sloane Ranger: As you suspected, he lied. And you’re right — he wasn’t called out forcefully enough on that particular lie. The volume of lies is such that none get the attention they warrant.
FlipYrWhig
@Sloane Ranger: That’s because he’s thinking of the Mariel boatlift. It goes back to the original contention about Mexico “not sending their best.” This is how he thinks immigration works: foreign governments shipping their problem children to America to become criminals and terrorists. It’s all over everything he says about immigration and foreigners. And he isn’t called out on it because our media is filled with stupid lazy people who don’t check into things or even care enough to contemplate checking into things.
Major Major Major Major
@OzarkHillbilly: he’s even enforcing fucking Obamacare, doing nothing because he might do something illegal is stupid. And the legislation would outlast him.
schrodingers_cat
@Major Major Major Major: Rs are insincere about DACA, every step, every action the current administration has taken regarding immigration has shown that this administration considers immigrants to be the other. They have treated and continue to treat immigrants like shit, and the administration has made getting any visa a huge hassle (from a visitor visa to permanent residence).
ETA: They have added layers of bureaucratic hassle to an already cumbersome process.
dr. bloor
This isn’t a dilemma. First, he can’t be trusted to keep his word. Second, they’re going to be campaigning on a two-year stretch of a Republican house, a Republican Senate and a Republican White House raining havoc on the country. Republicans campaigning on a platform of “obstructionism” will find it works out for them about as well as it did for the Dems during Obama’s midterms.
However demented his base is and however hard the media tries to keep him propped up, digging in against this Congress and this President is an easy choice.
Jinchi
The only reason there is a need for a DACA fix is because Trump deliberately created the problem. Same thing with the need for a deal on CHIP and on stabilizing the health care markets.
The Republicans are taking hostages and demanding ransom. This kind of negotiation works to provide excuses for “moderates” like Susan Collins and Jeff Flake, but Democrats shouldn’t fall for it. That path simply encourages more bad behavior.
mike in dc
@Major Major Major Major: Why don’t we check in with the Latinx portion of our base on that first?
Sloane Ranger
@Betty Cracker: @FlipYrWhig: Thanks both of you. I must admit that his idea of how it works is totally bat shit insane!
oatler.
@rachel: I remember a lot of news stories about Pelosi being willing to work with Obama on SS cuts. Maybe I’m wrong and wanted to assume a lot.
bemused
He’s the neediest person over the age of two that I’ve ever seen and a lot of two year olds are less needy. There is no amount of adoration and “loyalty” that would fill his bottomless hole of neediness.
Jinchi
@trollhattan:
Well starting a nuclear war would look pretty bad.
OzarkHillbilly
@Major Major Major Major:
Aiding and abetting him in his destruction of our country is worse.
I get where you are coming from, really I do, and it would be nice if we could help the Dreamers, but trump WILL use any cooperation he gets from DEMs to justify something even worse, and ICE is out of control right now with their extra legal actions. I see no reason at all to trust trump to rein them in after he just gave them carte blanche.
Another Scott
@oatler.: Yeah, I remember stories about Obama wanting more than anything to give away the store for a Grand Bargain with the Republicans, also too. Funny how those stories weren’t accurate, huh.
Nancy has been a great leader and has shown no signs of ever being the evil sellout that these stories try to paint her as.
Cheers,
Scott.
schrodingers_cat
@Sloane Ranger: Foreign governments have little to do with the diversity visa. I know two people who actually won the lottery, one was from Mali, and the other from Nepal. They were already in the United States. One had a PhD in Chemistry and other had a Phd in Food Science . The entire process between winning the lottery and getting the Green Card, typically takes a couple of years. So its in no way like the President’s description.
trnc
I’m confident democrats are not in a position to extract ANY concessions. The party line from our leadership needs to be, “We do not trust the president or republicans to follow through on any promises they make to democrats.”
mike in dc
The Dems should try to get CHIP funding, DACA, and should try to get an infrastructure bill that isn’t a corporate giveaway and actually addresses real infrastructure needs across the country, including in blue and purple states and districts. Beyond that, zero cooperation on entitlement “reform”, building a wall, or any of the other items on the Trump/GOP agenda. They should have a policy platform sometime in late summer.
khead
I take blood pressure pills even though I usually don’t have high blood pressure. Because someone asking if Dems should compromise instead of obstruct makes my pressure spike about 30 points when I read it. Why is the question even being asked?
JMG
In all likelihood, since the last time Trump bargained with Pelosi and Schumer he gave away the Republican position, any “deals” Ryan and McConnell seek will be negotiated with Trump out of the room and better yet, out of DC. They will then present any agreement to Trump as a huge personal triumph, so he’ll sign it without reading it. It will be very difficult for the two parties to reach agreement, and it should be, but at least Trump won’t be in the mix.
JR
After Nero there was Vespatian and finally the five good emperors. Let’s hope we get there.
schrodingers_cat
Ds need their own non-cooperation movement.
rikyrah
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 12/28/17
African-American vote threatens redness of Southern states
Alabama State Representative Merika Coleman talks with Joy Reid about how the African-American community expressed themselves in the Alabama special election of Doug Jones and the emerging strength of African-American voters, including in red Southern states.
rikyrah
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 12/28/17
Trump DoJ assertion more than Nixon would have dared: Beschloss
Michael Beschloss, NBC News presidential historian, talks with Joy Reid about the historical context for Donald Trump’s assertions about his power over the Justice Department and its investigations.
Jinchi
@oatler.: Obama briefly spoke about making a Grand Bargain with John Boehner. Luckily, Republicans wouldn’t accept the deal. Democrats joined in with the ‘fiscally conservative’ nonsense for a while, but the $1.5 trillion looting of the government seems to have cured them of that.
Sloane Ranger
@schrodingers_cat: Thanks. The way he described it did seem totally insane.
Miss Bianca
@Major Major Major Major: you think we’d actually get it? DACA protection, I mean? This is a president who clearly thinks he controls All The Things, and who lies constantly. What’s to actually prevent him from screwing over the Ds on this? Certainly not the Republicans in Congress. Not the SCOTUS.
I dunno what that means for D strategizing and decision-making.. I just feel failrly certain that we’re facing a “Charlie Brown and the football” situation no matter what.
brendancalling
My girlfriend is from Ukraine, and has applied for a green card both through her job and through the lottery.
She was not amused to learn that she was one of the worst people in the world.
Dave
@FlipYrWhig: Miller did. I’m going with Miller. This stuff is exactly that….. gentleman’s… wheel house and he’s a true believer.
brendancalling
Oh and don’t work with him. Obstruct obstruct all the way.
McConnell gave us our precedent. Let’s run with it.
Betty Cracker
@khead: Because young people who grew up here will be rounded up and summarily deported to countries that are utterly alien to them. Because children with brain tumors will lose healthcare coverage and die. Etc.
I’m not saying the answer is to try to negotiate with the evil fucks — I lean toward the all-obstruction, all-the-time strategy myself. But the question should be asked, if only to acknowledge the toll obstruction will take on real people.
It is not a stupid question, IMO, to ask if we should consider trading an ugly, ineffective, expensive wall for permanent status for the Dreamers, for example. The right answer might be no, but it’s not a frivolous question.
Major Major Major Major
@Miss Bianca: I will reiterate that not pursuing good legislation, to protect those already here and formalize a process for those to come, because we’re worried that a succession of people will all take the worst possible action, is dumb.
chopper
if there’s any work schumer et al will do as to DACA it’s likely gonna be on the hill without trump. and good, it’s not any more likely to happen with the shitgibbon involved and leaving him out will definitely make him blow his top.
no fucking wall is all I gotta say.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@oatler.:
Those “news” stories were from FDL and TYT, and a bunch of other emoprogs. Funny how they always get around to blaming the woman and the black for things they’re not responsible for.
schrodingers_cat
@Major Major Major Major: No trusting the Rs after their unflinching support for T’s policies is what is dumb.
woodrowfan
@oatler.: I don’t think she will….
@Betty Cracker:
except that it
1. will do a lot of damage to the local border area even as a worthless project
2. it will insult and alienate an important part of the Democratic coalition. We can’t just rely on Hispanic votes because the repubs are worse.
feebog
I don’t agree that Democrats have no leverage. They made a huge mistake agreeing to a three month funding bill. but that comes due in mid-March. The Republicans need Democratic votes for a long term funding resolution. That bill must include funding for CHIP and DACA, or not a single Dem votes for it. Dems can point out they were promised action repeatedly on these issues and there has been no action.
Major Major Major Major
@schrodingers_cat: so we will make no laws at all while there’s a republican majority on SCOTUS because an appeal might get there and they might rule against us? Where does this stop? How many republicans do we have to get rid of before we’re allowed to do things?
JMG
It is not as if the Republicans’ bargaining position is so strong, either. The only reason the Dems have any leverage at all is that neither Ryan nor McConnell can muster a party-line majority for just keeping the lights on and the government functioning.
Miss Bianca
@hedgehog the occasional commenter: I wish Gail Schwartz would run again against Tipton in CO3, but whoever runs – and I’d back Kerry Donovan after Gail, and since she’s young, photogenic, got good politics, and is a native Coloradan and a rancher, I’d give her really good odds – I’m actively working for that person’s campaign.
But yeah. I think at this point we’ve got to stop pretending that any Democratic concern for vulnerable constituencies is going to matter a damn in the face of GOP fecklessness, intransigence, and in Trump’s case, barking madness.
El Caganer
@schrodingers_cat: I think you could probably expand on that – nothing in reality corresponds with what Trump thinks it is.
schrodingers_cat
@Major Major Major Major: No we make no laws until Rs deal in bad faith and have Congressional majorities.
Rs have majorities, let them govern for a change. If they want Ds to save their asses on the spending bills, it has to happen on D terms. Otherwise fuck them. They want to kill us, why should we compromise with them.
Jinchi
@Another Scott:
Don’t kid yourself, Obama did want a Grand Bargain. The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform aka “Simpson Bowles” was created by Obama in 2010.
It was the same impulse that led him to negotiate the Sequestration deal when the Republicans were threatening to shut down the government. The idea was that Sequestration was so painful it would force Congress to work towards a solution.
For Republicans, it was the solution.
Democrats had a dangerous flirtation with austerity policies for about 20 years. They seem to have been cured of it, but let’s not let them forget what a disaster it was.
Uncle Cosmo
@NotMax:
gene108
I want a Wall on the Northern Border. A giant huge wall. A wall to end all walls. A wall so big, that all the friggin’ cold Arctic air Canada sends us every winter can be turned back at the border, and we will never be cold again.
schrodingers_cat
@gene108: With the air temperatures below zero right now, I have to agree.
randy khan
In terms of the D coalition, good faith negotiations on must-pass legislation the Rs don’t have the votes to pass in which the Dems insist on a DACA fix seem like something that would make sense. But they can’t allow the Rs to use the DACA fix as a bargaining chip to get bad things – it has to be “we won’t talk at all until the DACA fix is in the bill.”
Otherwise, they should be a no on everything the Republicans want.
Roger Moore
@FlipYrWhig:
I think he’s seen the pattern of immigration in his own family. Any system that lets people like the Trumps in needs serious reform.
Spanky
What to do? Cleek’s Law in reverse. On steroids.
kindness
There aren’t that many Blue Dogs left. Nothing like the Freedom crazies the other side has. And a couple of them have already picked up challengers for this next year from the good team (us).
I think Democrats are going to have to say no to a couple things in order to get anything. The upcoming negotiations on next year’s budget, the debt ceiling…those are Democrats only choke points. They can’t get everything with just those hostages but they can get most of what they need. CHIP, Dreamers. I don’t think Republicans will fight those for all the marbles. Any vote that requires 60 Senators we can also do. That will help. Really we need to focus on getting people registered to vote, getting people the ids they need and driving them to the polls next November. Then do it again in 2020.
Cheryl Rofer
@trollhattan: Worse Trump would be simultaneous wars in North Korea and Iran. Although if he starts the one in North Korea first, none of us may get to the second.
schrodingers_cat
@Roger Moore: According to the Brietbartian definition T Sr was an anchor baby, so he (DT) is the beneficiary of “chain” migration.
mai naem mobile
Obstruct . Seriously there is no other option. I know several DACA people and even I am willing to sacrifice the DACA people. Mitch,Ryan and Dolt45 have given the Dems zero reasons to offer any support.
Miss Bianca
@Major Major Major Major: Who’s saying “don’t pursue good legislation”? Not me. But, grasp…there will BE no good legislation possible with these GOP fucks in power. We have nothing to gain in this situation. There is no good-faith negotiation possible with madmen wielding chainsaws. You have to take them down first and then patch up the carnage afterwards.
Rob in CT
@JR:
Trump is an aged Commodus.
schrodingers_cat
@mai naem mobile: I don’t think there is a serious possibility of a good DACA legislation, Rs are not sincere about it, they do not care.
les
@feebog:
What in the last 7 years of repub majorities makes you think they give a shit about long term anything? What’s the last time the house even bothered to debate a budget?
No Drought No More
It occurred to me that Trump having cited TV ratings as a guarantor that his presidency will be supported by American journalism is a tell because he foresees their TV ratings skyrocketing- that is, once the sky and Mueller’s report drop on him like a cartoon piano. I well recall the 3 major networks in the summer of 1973 needing to work out a schedule between themselves to broadcast the Watergate hearings, by which each network would televise the Watergate hearings in turn, such was their thirst to pursue the unfolding constitutional drama. Not one of them was prepared to forsake coverage in order to run soap operas all day and leave the story to their competitors. And the American people paid very close attention, which is why Nixon fell. It’s simple common sense to assume the televised Fall of Trump will earn the greatest ratings in the history of the world, and that realization scares the hell out of him for very good reason. In fact, as insight into the televised viewing habits of the American people may be the only area of expertise that pissant can lay claim to, democrats everywhere- including congress- can take great heart to his copping to his deepest fear (albeit in roundabout fashion).
trollhattan
@schrodingers_cat:
True, and mom was a freakin’ direct immigrant. SAD!
lowtechcyclist
@Tom Levenson: IMHO, the way for Dems to show how they’ll do it better is to go big in their demands for the CR, to demand not one thing like DACA, but four or five significant things. Like:
1) DACA, of course.
2) A multi-year extension of CHIP.
3) An immediate minimum wage increase of at least $1.
4) Restoration of the individual mandate.
5) Restoration of the stuff the Republicans took away to ‘pay for’ the CHIP extension.
By including a short-term CHIP extension in last week’s CR, the GOP had the Dems over a barrel: pass the CR or you’ll be taking health care away from children. But since they funded CHIP through the end of March while the CR expires in 3 weeks, now the Dems have the GOP cornered. They can name their price for keeping the government open. They can say, “Do all this good stuff we shouldn’t even have to make you do, or we shut down the government.” And they can say to the voters, “We’re doing this to force the Republicans to make your lives better. We’ll do more of this next year if you vote for us.”
hedgehog the occasional commenter
@Miss Bianca: Schwartz sounds great–I hope she does run! At this point, I’ll work for a bowl of sentient tapioca pudding over Coffman. I don’t live in his district (I’m in safely blue CD-1 with Diana DeGette); the district boundary is only 3 miles from my house, and we were in Coffman’s district until redistricting. I haven’t paid much attention to the statehouse; our excellent Democratic senator Andy Kerr is term-limited, and our representative is the usual empty suit Republican whose name I don’t even know. I think the statehouse tends to be ignored, but that’s where the real action is on the local level.
Patricia Kayden
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Obstructing every dang thing President Obama did worked fine for Republicans. Democrats have no incentive to not do the same with an unpopular idiot like Trump. Don’t work with him on anything. Don’t “do bipartisanship” with him on any of his policies so that when they fail, Republicans are 100% to blame for the fallout.
schrodingers_cat
@trollhattan: I believe she changed her visa status while she was here, something that Tom Cotton’s new bill wants to penalize.
FlipYrWhig
@Jinchi: IIRC Simpson Bowles didn’t even manage to come to any agreement _within the commission_. The whole thing seemed like an exercise in “well if by some chance these disparate people DO come up with something, maybe it’ll be worth a shot.” That may be very Obama but it sure ain’t “austerity” either in principle or in outcome.
Patricia Kayden
@schrodingers_cat: But the right (white) kind of chain migration though. Republicans are cool with that kind of migration.
cain
@Hildebrand:
That will be difficult in an environment where the media doesn’t focus on content but on perception and horse race. Their job is not to inform, but to generate revenue and keep you glued to the TV. We have to not only give a relevant position, but all of us older demographics need to completely utterly turn off 24 hour news and reward news outlets that actually inform (if such exists). If they don’t exist, create a market for one or maybe head to al-jazeera or something.
Gretchen
@Downpuppy: Especially since Amazon uses UPS not USPS.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@FlipYrWhig: My recollection is Evan Bayh and Kent Conrad made S/B the price of their vote on the ACA. That was right around the time Obama single-handedly austreritied the US auto industry back to life, wasn’t it?
mai naem mobile
@schrodingers_cat: I agrew. . With the unemployment rate as low as it is, it’s going to be the GOP business people who are going to miss the DACA employees. Kick the DACA kids out. Lumpys hotels will be crying for labor. As far as CHIP, it’s more GOP governors who will.have to deal with the cost of kids’ care. Go the fuck ahead… let CHIP go assholes.
Another Scott
@Jinchi: Meh.
Obama wasn’t going to sign any deal that didn’t give him what he wanted. Many of those things that he wanted (increased taxes on the wealthy, rational budgeting, etc.) were things that the Teabaggers were never going to accept.
Critics conveniently seem to ignore that.
But this is all ancient history that has been argued over many, many times.
The point is, Nancy isn’t going to give away the store any more than Obama did.
Cheers,
Scott.
Redshift
I don’t think those are the two choices. Trump is mostly irrelevant to anything the Democrats do. No one is going to be “crawling” to him for any deals (other than getting him to “agree” to things that annoy his base and embarrass Congressional Republicans), because he’s erratic and doesn’t understand anything he’s “negotiating,” so any deal could disappear five minutes after he agrees to it.
It’s still possible Democrats could extract some concessions from Republicans in Congress, and they should try on DACA and CHIP at least, because people are going to suffer if those don’t get done. They definitely shouldn’t pay any price for them other than providing the votes for routine government business that the insane caucus in the House is blocking.
TriassicSands
@Timmeh:
Pure fantasy.
cain
@rachel:
Worse, she would risk her entire political career on an unreliable partner. She would lose all respect for a person who has systematically destroying every matter important to a Democrat. His word means shit. The best they can do is manipulate him so that they can sow discord amongst Republicans.
If Nancy wants to commit political suicide. Please proceed.
cain
@oatler.:
Sure, because every program like SS could use with a refresh and get things fixed up. There is nothing wrong with trying to fix SS to be more efficient or find ways to be a better program overall.
Scotian
@schrodingers_cat:
That is it in a nutshell. I still remember a quarter century back when the GOP took back Congress they immediately did changes to reduce bipartisanship ,things like House bills could only be voted on if they cleared the “majority of the majority” first. That compromise (which is essential for bipartisanship to exist in) is another word for date rape. The GOP built this monster, this bed, they must be forced to sleep in it in full. It is the GOP and the right which has spent the last two decades delegitimizing Dems and liberals as traitors to be destroyed and never allowed to be win let alone govern when they do (see GOP behaviour during Clinton and Obama Presidencies when they had majority as proof).
When one side in a democracy decides that they and only they are patriots, that their political rivals are not honourable opponents and fellow citizens with a different but legitimate political POV into traitors to the nation to be destroyed utterly at any and all costs, and the other keeps trying to act responsible, you get where you are today. It is long past time the Dems, far left, and center finally see what they are in the eyes of Trump and his GOP lickspittles in Congress and “the base”, and realize that they really are trying to kill you all. The fact this took a Trump Presidency and the public gang raping of HRC politically speaking to apparently finally start getting this across scares me.
I am all for civil discourse (hey, Canadian by birth and heritage, its our thing…LOL) and trying to govern. You cannot compromise to govern with those that are inherently anti-governing to begin with, and when that is combined with insisting only their own side has any moral right to hold and use governing power and the other side is full of traitors to be stopped at any and all costs (and collaborating with Russia clearly meets that “any and all costs” threshold IMHO), it cannot exist.
I weep for what has already been lost, and I shiver in terror for what may yet happen. You cannot compromise with evil, especially evil as clearly in plain sight as the modern GOP and President Trump have shown themselves to be. That isn’t about being a partisan, that is about being a responsible citizen in one of the most important democracies this world has ever known. It is really that simple at this point IMHO. When I listeb to FOXNEWS, I hear strong echoes of PRAVDA from the USSR days, and listening to Trumpistas and many GOPers they sound like the Soviet sailors that used to show up here in Halifax telling us all about the real state of truth in the world instead of all the lies we in the west were told. I cannot begin to put into words just how much that freaks me out and in how many ways. It is NOT something that can be compromised with, it can only be ruthlessly defeated and discredited.
Betty Cracker
@mai naem mobile:
@mai naem mobile:
For some of us, these are faces we see around the holiday table. I know you didn’t mean to come across as cold, but damn.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
but the underlying idea– that rhetoric and performative anger count for more than voters, elections and How A Bill Becomes A Law– remains loud on the left, maybe even louder now than it was in 2010. So we get Dreamer activists camping out in Dem Senate offices instead of those of vulnerable and/or ambitious Republicans (Dean Heller, Martha McSally) or leading voter registration campaigns for plausible long-shots in places like Texas. Also a certain phenomenon that happened in 2015/16
Mary G
All the cliches of the world apply. Charlie Brown should not try to kick the football. When your opponents are bent on self-destruction, keep quiet and let them do it. Give them enough rope to let them hang themselves, etc.
But they should not talk all the time about how crazy/senile/evil Twitler and the Republicans are. That’s playing into their hands and the both sides frame. Take a cue from Danica Roem, Doug Jones, and the Italians who finally took down Berlusconi. Talk calmly and sanely about fixing traffic congestion and other things people care about.
OK, I just wrote that paragraph and thought to myself, well great in theory but isn’t that exactly what Hillary did?
I don’t know. Probably both. Now I’m just rambling. Turnout and fighting voter suppression is critical.
Schlemazel
@JR:
Rome still fell and left a thousand year dark age in its wake.
way2blue
Congressional Democrats need to state their terms, then find the courage (& backbone) not to blink. This of course includes an effective strategy to convey their motivations to the public. As well as educate them on why some of the Republican terms are bad policy for ALL Americans, and will trigger ‘unintended consequences’ for the ‘average American’…
'Niques
@trnc: I would amend that to read: “We do not trust the president or republicans to follow through on any promises they make.”
schrodingers_cat
@Betty Cracker: I don’t want the DACA kids to suffer but Rs don’t care for immigrants is the bitter truth. You can’t compromise with those who are unwilling to see you as human.
Yutsano
@feebog:
Wait,,,when did this happen? The current CR expires on the 19th of January.
glory b
@FlipYrWhig: I dunno, we African American women have been voting “against” for decades, and we have the highest voting percentages in the country. Voting to keep the crazy and evil out of office seems to be enough.
The Repubs voted “against” ever since the beginning of Obama’s administration. Didn’t work out badly for them.
Some pollster said that anger is probably the best motivating force in voting outcomes.
TriassicSands
@cain:
You’re right about the media, but it’s not like most Americans are hungering for lots of policy coverage. The Dems are in a tough spot because their big advantage is in the facts. But every year facts and reality mean less and less.
Schlemazel
If the Dems want to work with hair furor on immigration the trick would be to get a deal on DACA, the lottery and the rest then agree to the wall as long as funding for it is not provided until all the rest is in place and the proper environment and economic studies have been completed. That should delay it at least 5 years during which time the thing can be killed by a Democratic Congress.
BTW after the moron signs it the Dems then run on the specific platform of killing the wall. That should ensure their majority
Kelly
@Tom Levenson:
I also agree with this.
FlipYrWhig
@Mary G:
IIRC when Hillary went into that mode, like in the debates, her numbers went up. When she was being harangued by Republicans, media, and law enforcement about her supposed corruption, her numbers went down. The lesson I take from that, and from the Jones and Northam wins, and from the Obama win before that, is that sane, calm, _and not corrupt_ is a pretty solid profile for a Democratic candidate. Obviously the right tries very hard to _depict_ all Democrats as corrupt, and the media is very open to that story, but IMHO that’s going to get harder and harder because Republicans are so SPECTACULARLY corrupt and ruinous now.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Sounds like dumb ass Donie think he has a line item veto, because that’s the only way his offer to the Democrats could of worked. Admittedly it would be funny to see Trump start a crises that way, but really no point in trying to cut deals with a guy who doesn’t keep his word and doesn’t understand jack shit anyway.
Jinchi
@FlipYrWhig: The starting point of Simpson/Bowles was that social programs had to be cut over time to address the debt. That was Obama’s position.
We’re fortunate that SB didn’t come up with a viable solution, but that doesn’t void the fact they were commissioned to look for one.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Jinchi: social programs like Medicaid and subsidies for health insurance?
StringOnAStick
@FlipYrWhig: I went to a presentation of the Simpson-Bowles report put on by both our senators (D’s) with Gary Hart as the moderator (because the senators were stuck in DC); I still have the handouts. Lyin’ Ryan was on that committee, and refused to sign off on the results because they didn’t address the deficit, which is Ryan-speak for “didn’t kill SS, Medicare, or Medicaid”. You could see how they’d all worked and worked on ideas like killing the home mortgage deduction plus supposedly closing all the corporate loopholes so corporations would all actually pay a flat tax rate (now, who’s niave?), but it finally got down to a magic asterisk. Basically it was “trust us, we’ll take away all the tax breaks from everyone and then in the end we’ll have all the same services plus lower taxes (that we have yet to actually work out, but we figure something like 10-15%, maybe, who knows?)!” Eh, bullshit, pure and unadulterated.
I think the whole point of the S-B commission was to get the R’s to put their cards on the table in a published fashion, and Obama thought that this would wake people up when they saw it, and like most D’s, he thought that if we just explained it better and showed some charts and graphs, the people would be informed enough to go D. We all know better now, right? Obama knew it would never end up with a rubber hits the road bill.
mai naem mobile
@Betty Cracker: I know 5 DACA kids. One IIA pretty close to. They all work their asses off. Honestly, I don’t see the GOP kicking them out. They will do some temporary extension and Mae tu pay some extra fines/fees. I can guarantee you the fast food/hospitality industries are going to be screaming bloody murder if they let DACA end.
Jinchi
@Another Scott: “Obama wasn’t going to sign a deal that didn’t give him what he wanted.”
Obama signed on to sequestration. It wasn’t what he wanted. It crippled his ability to bring resources to solve the economic crisis and weakened federal agencies by capping new hiring and spending. That is austerity policy.
Trump’s agenda attacks a federal government already weakened by that deal. It wasn’t 11 dimensional chess and neither was Simpson Bowles.
We don’t do ourselves any favors by ignoring our past mistakes. No matter how much we like him. Obama made a few.
Ksmiami
@Miss Bianca: or turn them into the carnage. To quote Churchill.. the GOP must “be ground into powder.”
Chyron HR
@Jinchi:
You know, most ‘alternate history’ sci-fi novels select a more interesting premise than “what if Obama had cut social security”.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Sure. Everyone does. But your incoherent buzzword salad– “Simpson Bowles”, “sequestration”, “austerity”– doesn’t make much of a useful argument about the past or the present. Unless your argument is that you thought Obama was going to be a benign autocrat and he wasn’t.
Brachiator
This is the key. Trump may be semi-senile, but he is strong willed. Ultimately, he only cares about what he wants. The GOP is tuned into this for their and Trump’s mutual benefit.
There is no upside in trying to appease Trump. His ego needs are too great. He would never praise a move by the Democrats toward bi-partisan cooperation, but would brag incessantly about how he had beat them. And again, the offer of cooperation is empty. There is no sign that he would ever yield on his own, worst policies.
Jinchi
@StringOnAStick: Take a look at the Wikipedia page on Simpson Bowles. Take a look at the names of the Democrats who supported it. This was not some brilliant political move on Obama’s part.
Brachiator
@mai naem mobile:
Interesting. I guess some Republicans favor the program. Any important GOP figures supportive?
I am not sure I follow you here. Are you suggesting that low end food/hospitality jobs are filled mainly by DACA people?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Oh, you’re so close… Here, take a look at this. Maybe we can get you over the line.
Brachiator
@No Drought No More:
Trump is weirdly mixed up here, but still on point. Broadcast TV and print journalism are dying, nearly extinct media. Fewer younger people give a hoot about tv. But Trump is a master of new media like Twitter, especially since it let’s him bloviate unfiltered and unchallenged.
cain
@TriassicSands:
The best we can do is to ourselves remove ourselves from the media. If they want to entertain the bedwetter assholes, then let them. For now, they are propped up by the sheer strength of Baby Boomer numbers. But that isn’t going ot last very long. In a decade, the media market is going to be different. We need Democrats to start focusing on that next generation of media. Our entire outlook on life lends us to be able to adapt much faster than conservatives. We should have the advantage. Let’s use it.
BCHS Class of 1980
@Betty Cracker: That was a little cold. But as many a jackal has bayed on this thread, Trump has always been a bad-faith partner. On any issue related to immigration, which has a large executive-branch component, it’s fair to ask if Trump would even honor it.
cain
@FlipYrWhig:
I don’t think it matters. people have now spun their own reality thanks to regular feeding of demogoguery. Our biggest problem is in fact the media. We need to figure those guys out somehow. Things need to change.
BCHS Class of 1980
@Jinchi: The miscalculation there was that the GOP would hate defense cuts enough to save the domestic programs. Trump’s GOP hates domestic programs far more than they like defense spending.
mai naem mobile
@Brachiator: Jeff Flake, McCain and I am guessing Dean Heller. I wouldn’t be surprised if Cornyn and Rubio support DACA. With a 4.5 percent unemployment rate DACA recipients become more important for low end hospitality/food jobs
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@mai naem mobile: Rubio has expressed support, but he’s fuckin’ Rubio. Cory Gardner I believe has also expressed some rhetorical support, but he has about as much heft as Li’l Marco
ETA: off the top of my head: it would pass in the Senate if McConnell brought it up, but Ryan would have to be willing to take on his own far right, and I don’t think McConnell will force the issue on him. I really think the R leaders don’t know what to do, which route is the greater threat.
Another Scott
@Jinchi: Revisionism, much?
Ezra at WaPo:
There was lots and lots of posturing about The Deficit that Is Going To Kill Us All in Our Beds back then. Obama was trying to come up with a way forward. Republicans were never serious about supporting anything that Obama supported. Obama wasn’t going to sign off on anything without getting the Teabaggers to give up something substantial, and they weren’t interested in doing that – they just wanted a political cudgel.
And, as was pointed out above, S-B couldn’t even come up with a plan that the commission itself supported. It was a failure in its own terms.
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
sherparick1
@oatler.: Really, are you just kidding me. Pelosi has repeatedly held the line this issue, both against George W. Bush in 2005-06 when he took his wack against Social Security and even against Obama in 2011 when BHO offered Chained CPI and other cuts to Ryan and Boehner as part of the “Grand Bargain.” So based on what evidence, after a year of holding her caucus completely unified against the ACA repeal and Trump’s and Ryan’s Make A Billionaire’s Day Tax cut, do you believe she will make a deal with Ryan on Social Security cuts? Also, Ryan has never shown any inclination, whether a the Budget Chairman, Ways and Means Chairman, or as Speaker to make a deal with Democrats, even conservative or moderate Democrats, since he considers all Democrats “moochers and leaches” and they should either vote with a bill he and the Republicans like or go away. The only time he needs Pelosi votes is for when it comes time to fund the Government or raise the debt ceiling, 150 Republican members prefer posturing, and there is only so much she can extract from that situation.
The President* did just do her an Schumer a big favor with that latest twit since if the Government shutdowns next month Trump’s extremism and cruelty on immigration will be clearly to blame for the lack of an agreement.
central texas
Trump loves to humiliate. Trump does not reward those who humiliate themselves. He simply prolongs and deepens the humiliation. He will neither recall nor honor any “promise” he makes or implies.
That said, I believe we need to break the rhetorical habit of “Democrats .vs. Trump” and acknowledge that our adversary is every single ass-kissing, boot-licking, sociopath in the republican party. (based on voting records and rhetoric that means every single one of those assholes with an “R” behind their name) Until they are rendered harmless or at least less harmful, at the ballot box, no principle, property, or historical precedent in our country is safe from corruption and destruction. Cut no deals with any of them that compromise the goal of removing them from their majority. Anything else will only prolong the wait and increase the damage.
Bill Arnold
@Downpuppy:
No, there’s plenty to do. Argumentative Democrats need to push push push to get invited to panel discussions on talk shows, show up and take the shows over to the best of their ability, and most importantly win advertising $dollars. The press in general needs to be aggressively courted, with material that wins eyeballs (and advertising $dollars). Social media needs to be played more effectively. The Believing Right need to be engaged in their own private discussion spaces. Democrats need to push back on Republican framing, hard and with message discipline. Etc.
SgrAstar
@oatler.: no, no she isn’t.
Bill Arnold
@Hildebrand:
Interesting point. The Republicans have been demonstrably piss-poor (aka incompetent) at crafting legislation; perhaps (any real students of government please correct this where in error) the Democrats could introduce a some well-crafted legislation (in House and perhaps Senate) in areas known to be key concerns of voters(and perhaps with some actual-left content), and then discuss it at every opportunity, comparing it with Republican alternatives when appropriate. I know some of this happens already; just make it better organized with improved message discipline.
Bill Arnold
@Sloane Ranger:
It is a lie, quite close to a pure lie:
Pick them from a bin? Donald Trump mischaracterizes diversity visa lottery
Or:
Trump Calls Immigrants With Lottery Visas ‘Worst of the Worst’
Or:
Trump’s Baseless Immigration Claim
This last article is worth skimming because it does outline some potential vulnerabilities.
Paul W.
Token wall funding for DACA is fine, otherwise just blow the whole fucking thing up because if Democrats can’t support DACA then what’s the use? The Republicans don’t have the votes (or the ability to do another reconciliation vote) until after October, so they need us or they can pass their own funding bills.
SgrAstar
@Gretchen:
Not so. Amazon has ongoing contracts with USPS. Easily googleable.
Bill Arnold
@Bill Arnold:
While looking for recent video of Trump to do some informal timings (mental processing speed in a couple of categories), found this, where he’s at his best (mentally, he’s within the acceptable range for turn-taking timings, though still not fully coherent):
Trump Full Interview With Ingraham: Dossier, Justice Department, Immigration, DNC Primary & Sanders (November 2, 2017, realclearpolitics if it matters to people)
At 3:30 he says the “Lottery Lie”.
Bill Arnold
@Paul W.:
FWIW I have a hunch that they will struggle to find reputable contractors for such a project, since reputable contractors know that doing business with anything Trump-related involves taking a big risk.
Vhh
@Major Major Major Major: 26
Bill Arnold
@lowtechcyclist:
Or alternatively, “You Republicans shut down the government”. It’s not the Democrats’ fault that the Republicans don’t have votes within their majority to keep the US government working. That they have members of their majority that hate America enough to shut down its government.
Something like that. At any rate, the Democrats need to craft the framing.
J R in WV
@Sloane Ranger:
Trump is completely ignorant about the operation of the US government, including immigration rules. Yes, of course, the US controls who gets visas to enter the US. Is Trump lying, or just totally incompetent, who knows? If it is a deliberate lie, it is one among hundreds monthly, thousands since he took office.
Trump lies about law enforcement and how it works. He lies about legislation and how it works. He lies about international affairs, about economics and business contracts, and military strategy. Or else he is totally ignorant about all these things and doesn’t know any better, which may be worse, actually.
I went to several liberal arts schools before finally seriously enrolling at a state university and studying computer science. But I read a lot, and most of that sticks pretty well. I appear to know more about international affairs and business than Trump does, which is scary as I am in no way prepared to try to lead the free world.
fuckwit
Just say no to anthrax and tire irons.
It is the only way.
Marcia
@Josie:
Style over substance. It never gets old.
Art
Recommend that Dems not give a substantive inch.
On the other hand make a show of cooperating and pandering to the Donald. Speak sweetly and warmly about our willingness to cooperate with The Donald and his cooperate/plutocrat minions. Offer up ‘concessions’:
We really want, and feel entirely justified by the vital and necessary need to defend the American people, to cut defense spending by 70% but will, as a generous concession to the bloated and ossified GOP defense establishment, we will settle for a mere 33% cut. We ask for a small act of good faith in the cancellation off the F-35 program as ante for further negotiations. Doing any less would show a shocking lack of faith in bipartisanship and a dangerous willingness to risk the security of the nation.
Women’s health issues are always at the top of Democratic concerns for the health of the American people. While we would like to move toward Universal Healthcare we will unilaterally offer up a concession to prime the pump and make reasonable concessions more palatable. We offer up the anti-abortion measure of fully funding unlimited access to all forms of birth control free to all Americans at local health departments. In return we ask for the entirely reasonable and practical measure of limiting profit margins on any drug created using government funded research to 10% over the actual cost of manufacture.
The most difficult aspect of this plan would be maintaining a straight face while offering up ‘concessions’ and suppressing the gag reflex when publicly kissing the ‘ring’.
Tactical note: Make sure all the offers are so massively outrageous and poisonous to the Conservative dogma, base, and future prospects that there is no chance they might win by going along.