I’m working hard at staying true to my commitment of not only talking about politics here (and have a few additions almost ready to put up elsewhere on my site!) but after Sunday night’s news, I have to say something, even if it’s just to Bobrov and bot-friends.
We had a good night on the 4th. Mamdani took center stage, but he was just leading the charge so to speak. Win after win for Democrats—for people who reject this administration and all the pain it causes. People were speaking more positively about the midterms, and a few doomer friends I have actually were saying they had more confidence the midterms would happen. We had a breath of grace that allowed us to have, to pull from elsewhere, the audacity of hope.
Then, Schumer and friends took that out from under us. He didn’t vote to end the shutdown, but his fingerprints of feckless capitulation are all over this deal—nevermind the fact that Senator Maggie Hassan (NH) said as much outright.
Forty days of suffering. Workers going without pay, pawning goods to get by or skipping bills and dealing with credit impacts. Food lines, impeding holiday travel disasters and the total kneecapping of SNAP programs that aren’t half as much as those in need deserve. The decision to keep the shutdown going was causing suffering to those who did no wrong. It was a heartbreak to witness and a waking nightmare to endure.
In war as well as politics, there are no clean engagements. No battle is won without casualties; no deal is made without compromise or leverage. The Republicans would not compromise, so we had no choice but to resort to leverage—in this case, the fact that the shutdown would hurt Republican and Democrat supporters. Allow the American people to suffer for a time, and in exchange ensure millions can continue to get healthcare. Overpriced healthcare, but healthcare. I’ve faced both the implacable walls of debt closing in as well as the panic of being sick with no coverage, and let me tell you: debt is preferable to sickness, let alone death.
It was not an easy choice, but it was a simple one: keep the shutdown going, pressure Republicans, make them agree to a deal that’d extend ACA subsidies. The turnout on the 4th and the President’s deranged decrees were working. Even the second-most insane member of the House (with first place going to Boebert), Marjorie Taylor Greene herself was deciding that it was time to give up the MAGA ghost. The strategy was working. The suffering had a purpose.
Then, this deal comes out of the woodwork. Eight goddamned traitors decided that the past 40 days meant nothing. That they were okay with suffering, but not too much. That’s uncomfortable to watch! A little is fine, but 41 days? That’d be too far. Best to end the shutdown now and stop Americans from hurting. What’s that? Now healthcare premiums shooting up triple, even more is guaranteed to stay for at least a year? Not our problem!
Fuck the promise to hold a vote. It’s practically a mob trick to offer consideration, but nothing concrete. ‘Yeah sure, I’ll put in a good word for you.’ It’s not a guarantee. It’s not anything but a maybe possibly. If you have no leverage, if you have no standing, it may be the best you can get. But we had leverage.
There’s no forgiveness after this. Any further suffering that comes because of the Trump administration now, these eight senators and Schumer are equally guilty of. They just said they didn’t care about 40 days of suffering, that it didn’t matter. They sent their troops in to stop the enemy army, then got scared at the sight of a little blood. Now, we have no defenders, and are at the ‘mercy’ of Republicans. A little blood? We’ll wish for such an outcome by the time midterms roll around.
Oh, and SNAP is still out of the picture. Remember, all we got for letting the American people suffer for 40 days was a pinky promise. Don’t worry, they’ll consider a vote! Political cuckolds like them are why despite my desperate desire to be a moderate again, I’ll likely be in lockstep with progressive politics until I die. At this point I’d side with the fucking Tankies over the Democrat establishment.
