Democratic Response Much Too Tepid - James Israel, Humor Times

An Editor’s Letter on the Democratic response to the Musk/Trump fiasco, from the April, 2025 issue of the Humor Times.

The Democratic response to the Musk/Trump Coup Klux Klan has been tepid, at best. Times like these call for bold action and dogged resistance – rarely has our republic faced such a contemptible autocratic takeover attempt, a so-far bloodless coup.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is a perfect example. Caving in to Trump, he announced he would not force a cloture vote on the upcoming government stopgap funding measure. Previously, the Democrats had planned to take a stand and filibuster the measure.

Sen. Corey Booker, with his record-breaking 25 hour speech before Congress, calling attention to the constitutional crisis at hand, is a notable exception. As are Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, with their nationwide speaking tour to rally Americans to the cause.

But in general, Dems are too fearful of being seen as radical, when radical action is what’s called for. Like forcing the government shutdown – formerly the purview of Republicans, who regularly threaten such a move for the flimsiest of reasons when Democrats are in power. But this is a much different situation, and the party should at the very least have forced some public debate on it in Congress. Republicans would rather not speak of it, lest they anger their vengeful “Dear Leader.”

That situation, in case you’ve been in a coma since the inauguration, includes the fact that Trump has handed the keys of all our important democratic institutions over to a petty, irresponsible, vindictive billionaire, who with his teenage DOGE crew in hand, is infamously chain-sawing his way through said institutions without regard to the stability of our government or the lives of its dedicated civil servants. Most of these civil servants – despairingly dismissed as the “Deep State” by the far right – have served under multiple presidents of both parties, and have done so with skill and dedication, keeping our foundational institutions – and by extension, the government – humming along.

Do our government institutions need updating? Of course. That is a never-ending task, as times change. But this is no careful operation, and instead seems intended to kill the patient. After all, it fits right in with the long-standing aim of the far right to “drown government in a bathtub,” as Grover Norquist once quipped. For, the bigger the mess they create, the more demand there will be for a “strong” leader to be given ultimate power to “fix it” – in other words, Trump’s authoritarian wet dream.

Trump is already acting like a dictator, even without yet being granted sweeping powers. He has ordered arrests without a charge, simply because he doesn’t like what people say. And he has promised many more. First, they came for the Palestinian activists, and we did… nothing?

He recently marched into DOJ headquarters, and in a long, unhinged rant, basically gave orders to investigate and arrest opponents, truly weaponizing the justice system. He’s imposed senseless tariffs, caused economic havoc, cozied up to dictators and so much more.

The Democratic response of hand-wringing will not do — for the party, nor for the public at large. We need to strongly resist this sudden turn towards authoritarianism, aided and abetted by the entire spineless Republican Party in Congress. We, the people, need to exercise our constitutional right to demonstrate for redress of grievances, before it is taken away for good. And the opposition party needs to grow a spine.

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James Israel

The Humor Times founder/publisher/editor/writer may wear a lot of hats, but he likes it that way. Still, his favorite job is writing fake news articles. He is also a musician and songwriter, who plays guitar, mandolin and harmonica, with several CDs to his credit.

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