Senator Schumer,
I have noted over the course of many years that you present as an exceptionally weak leader. I watched first with dismay and then with real annoyance as you addressed every government crisis by donning your granny glasses, wagging your finger, and tsk-tsking the Republicans. Apparently, you have not noticed that your grandmotherly approach has done nothing to beat back the menace that is MAGA. You have failed to recognize your own enfeeblement, but be advised that the rest of us have noticed it repeatedly, and we are livid.
Democrats do not need a grandma, Senator; they need a gladiator.
The election on November 4 should have served as a clear mandate from the electorate to continue the battle for affordability and civil rights. The American people told you, through their votes, that they wanted you to continue to fight like hell; instead, the Democrats of the Senate took the first opportunity to surrender to a bunch of neo-fascists. It seems that whenever there is a street fight, the Republicans bring flamethrowers and grenades; you bring quiche and green tea.
In case no one in D.C. has gotten the memo, your constituents are stampeding away from you in record numbers because the only song in your political hymnal appears to be “Kumbaya.” They are sick of it, and they are justifiably enraged. They are out in the streets every day—marching, confronting ICE, getting arrested and beaten up, showing up at food banks and providing assistance to their neighbors, writing letters, sending money, and screaming from the rooftops, while all of you sit in Washington thinking of new ways to cover your asses.
You could have continued the shutdown and directed the Democratic National Committee to open its coffers to fund community-based food assistance programs, and then all of you could have fanned out across the country to deliver that food assistance, in person, to struggling citizens in all 50 states. It would have been great optics and a huge public relations win, and it would have thrown into even sharper relief the cruelty and indifference of the Republican Party.
But you have not done that, and now Senate Democrats have folded yet again, even though they had a powerful wind at their backs after a major electoral victory. When Republicans win, they press their advantage to the hilt. When Democrats win, they capitulate at their earliest opportunity. Your entire conference is pathetic.
Two days after your capitulation, your apologists fanned out across the media landscape to justify and defend the behavior of the Gang of Eight, in an entirely predictable “circle the wagons” moment. Thus, your senators demonstrated more interest in shielding their colleagues from the contempt of the electorate than they did in staying in the fight for the rest of us. And in exchange for your surrender, you received… nothing. Nothing, that is, unless you call the disingenuous Republican promise to allow you to vote on continuing the ACA healthcare subsidy a win.
When I think of you, Senator, I think of Charlie Brown, the bumbling sad sack who never seemed to learn that no matter how sincerely Lucy assured him that she would hold the football steady so that he could kick a field goal, she always moved the football at the last minute, and Charlie Brown always landed flat on his back.
Charlie Brown was uniquely incapable of learning that Lucy was among the most duplicitous of playmates, just as all of you are incapable of learning that your counterparts across the aisle are the least trustworthy people on the planet. “Bait and switch” is their game; “swallow it whole” is yours.
None of you are worthy of our continued support, and you have lost mine permanently. I will never donate another penny to the Democratic Party or any of its candidates—I am done. I had hoped that for one brief, shining moment, my former party had finally found its spine. I had hoped that our duly elected representatives had noticed the durability of the No Kings movement and borrowed a cup of courage from the ordinary Americans who take to the streets every single day, at significant personal risk, to defend democracy. I thought that maybe we had inspired you, through our own resolve, to finally fight it out.
I was wrong.
Going forward, I will be looking for principled, fearless, independent candidates who are not afraid of their own shadows and show far more evidence of political pluck than any of you.
Senator Schumer—may I call you Charlie?—you clearly lack the temperament and resolve that would have enabled you to meet the moment. The time is long overdue for you and every other out-of-touch, calcified, cowardly Democrat to retire, and if any of the legislators who have consistently bungled the fight against MAGA, including you, have the poor judgement to run for office again, I will make it my mission to support the campaigns of principled third-party candidates who run against you.
Resign, Charlie, and take your granny glasses, your waggy finger, and your whole doddering, cowardly conference with you. All of you are “Exhibit A” in the argument for term limits.
You have failed your base, and the American people, yet again.
Take your football and go home.
