Dear Senator Sanders,
I heard your interview today on Vermont Edition, and I'm sorry to say, "No. Not good enough." If we are truly in the midst of a constitutional crisis in the form of a coup-from-within due to the Musk/Trump regime's project of ignoring the separation of powers in favor of an untrammeled, unlimited, dictatorial executive, it's not enough for you to say, "Well, it's up to the courts and the voters to stop them and I'll make speeches to cheer them on."
NO. By its open, demonstrated contempt for the law and the constitution, the Musk/Trump regime has shed the cloak of democratic legitimacy. You have a necessary role in resisting it, beyond making speeches. The least you can do is to vote against each and every of its nominations and legislative proposals. You point out that this will not change the result, Democrats being in the minority. (I am glad that you do not seem to share the delusion that some Republicans will at some point "come to their senses" and join the resistance. They know what they're doing and they have no sense of shame about it.) But you are wrong, in that any "yes" to their cabal implicates you in its actions, which are rooted in an ultimate disdain for everything worth preserving in our flawed but beautifully aspirational system of government.
What else can you do? Much. You can filibuster. You can delay. You can deny unanimous consent, forcing roll call votes for everything. You can demand a quorum be present at all times any business is being conducted. And so on. In short, impeding and obstructing this lawless, illegitimate regime at very turn is within your power, and is your obligation.
Why bother? Simply because their agenda is one of autocratically directed cruelty, suffering, and death. Every day one of their initiatives is delayed, misery is postponed and lives may be saved. Every day that an opportunity for delay is squandered, the resultant death and destruction are on your hands.
I heard a Representative this weekend tell an interviewer that he is against the kind of scorched-earth tactics that I'm proposing because "we don't want to become like them." He is failing to make a crucial distinction. When the Rethuglicans fought Biden and Obama and Clinton tooth and nail over every little thing, obstructing in every way they could, they were squabbling over matters of policy. But the authoritarian current that underlay that party's activity has finally surfaced and come into the open. The party is ruled by the Fuehrer Prinzip. What we have not is not a squabble over policy. The stakes are about as ultimate as can be: existential for so many individual people in America and worldwide; existential for our democracy; potentially existential for our species, considering the damage the Musk/Trump regime already has done to medical and scientific research and the fight against climate change.
You need to face these realities and act accordingly. You talked about your "bipartisan" collaboration with Josh Hawley on a bill to cap credit card interest. You pointed out that you and Mr. Hawley have been able to come together and cosponsor the bill, despite the fact that you "disagree" with Mr. Hawley on "many issues." It is hard for me to understand how you could so throughly miss the point. Mr. Hawley, who raised his fist in support and encouragement of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists, is part of a powerful machine that is devoted almost entirely to destroying everything you stand for. Temporary, situational collaboration with him on discrete issues only serves to feed the delusion that the situation is otherwise. No true collaboration is possible. Your cosponsorship with him is meaningless. If he wants to put forward a legislative proposal, his caucus can pass it. If he and his Fuehrers Musk/Trump don't want that legislation, nothing you can do or say will be enough to pass it. Your cosponsorship amounts to a scribble on a piece of paper; a "bipartisan" fig leaf to cover the nakedness of the authoritarian project. Stop kidding yourself. Any "positive" contribution you make under this regime is merely a step in the direction of your own self-destruction.
Sincerely,
your constituent Seth Steinzor
