RED ALERT: Now Is the Moment, Folks

Over recent weeks I’ve told you several times that while Democrats are shut out of power in Washington and few means of arresting the Trump-Musk spree of criminal conduct across the executive branch they do have two points of leverage: the need for a new “continuing resolution” to keep the government funded by March 14th and the need to raise the debt ceiling at some point in the coming months – the exact date on that isn’t clear. At present Republicans are on course to shut down the government on March 14th. Essentially the Freedom Caucus is holding them hostage demanding not the draconian budget cuts favored by most of the GOP caucus but draconian-plus cuts, the kind that they fear will get their members in swing districts defeated. So they’re coming to Democrats, hat in hand, asking for help. I’ve explained in probably a dozen posts over the last month that this is the line not just on policy and anti-constitutional actions but also a key moment in the drama of performative power between President Trump and the opposition that will have repercussions and reverberations for months and perhaps years to come. There are already plenty of signs the public is turning against Musk’s wilding spree of criminal conduct through the federal government. To put it in the vulgar and rapacious terms that are the only ones that do it justice, Donald Trump and Elon Musk have spent the last month slapping around like bitches the Constitution, federal workers, the Democrats and really the sovereignty of the American people. Democrats have this moment to decide whether they’ll not only arrest the damage but change the tone through the idiom of power.

Well, now we appear to be at the crunch moment.