Kicking the can down the treadmill
It's outrunning us
Elected on false pretenses as a progressive in Pennsylvania, John Fetterman appears to be going white Christian nationalist.[1] But it’s not only Fetterman. Democrats have largely gone quiet as Donald Trump announces nominees and appointments[2] in a horrifyingly execrable incoming administration.[3] It isn’t even only Fetterman about thawing relations with Elon Musk,[4] who turned Twitter into the white Christian nationalist cesspool known as ‘X.’
It's tempting to suggest this is about taking a breath, trying to recalibrate following Kamala Harris’ failed run.[5] For me, it looks like more of the same, with Democrats preferring to sit in opposition where they can complain about the Republicans (for now, emphasizing their “differences”) without ever actually being expected to accomplish anything.
There’s more to it, of course. I’ve previously noted a repudiation of liberalism in which the promises of ‘progress’ have delivered only for the very wealthy.[6] If we’re really to deal with this issue, it will mean going far beyond raising stagnant and measly wages while reducing inflation. It will mean meaningfully addressing widening social inequality. It will mean expropriating ludicrously vast wealth—the very thing James Madison feared in Federalist no. 10 and that he promised that the U.S. Constitution would protect against.[7] It will mean embracing the full panoply of international human rights law, not just those parts that are compatible with capitalist libertarianism.
All of which strongly suggests that we won’t really deal with this issue. As with the climate crisis, we’ll just keep kicking the can down the road, perhaps pretending to incrementalism[8] when in fact the incrementalism has been working in the opposite direction, with conservatives and white Christian nationalists steadily rolling back the gains of the New Deal and of liberation movements since the 1950s (when feminism’s second wave began to gather steam).
Which is further to say that we aren’t even really kicking the can down the road. We’re kicking it down a treadmill that we can’t keep pace with. We’re losing a fight I have long thought we must ultimately win.
[1] Christa Case Bryant, “As Democrats pull back on Israel, one unlikely senator is doubling down,” Christian Science Monitor, May 17, 2024, https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2024/0516/israel-gaza-democrats-john-fetterman; Mia McCarthy, “Fetterman on pager attack in Lebanon: ‘If anything, I love it,’” Politico, September 22, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/22/fetterman-israel-pagers-hezbollah-00180393; Fallon Roth, “John Fetterman says Marco Rubio, another staunch supporter of Israel, is a ‘strong choice’ for secretary of state,” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 12, 2024, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/john-fetterman-marco-rubio-secretary-state-20241112.html; Ashleigh Fields, “Fetterman says Trump should be pardoned of New York conviction,” Hill, December 5, 2024, https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5025241-fetterman-says-trump-should-be-pardoned-of-new-york-conviction/; Filip Timotija, “John Fetterman: ‘I admire Mr. Musk,’” Hill, December 6, 2024, https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5026058-john-fetterman-elon-musk-praise-2024/; Fallon Roth, “John Fetterman joins Truth Social and says a pardon is ‘appropriate’ for Trump’s Manhattan hush-money case,” Philadelphia Inquirer, December 11, 2024, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/pennsylvania/john-fetterman-trump-biden-pardons-20241211.html
[2] Abby Livingston, “Democrats’ Big Chill,” Puck, December 10, 2024, https://puck.news/why-democrats-are-staying-quiet-on-trump-cabinet-nominees/
[3] Mary Ann Akers, “Why Trump FBI Pick Kash Patel Has QAnoners in a Frenzy,” Daily Beast, December 2, 2024, https://apple.news/AoEQvIkydTe-8oACOdOSk9w; Jacqueline Alemany and Liz Goodwin, “Documents with damaging Gaetz testimony accessed in apparent breach,” Washington Post, November 19, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/19/gaetz-investigation-hack-evidence-senators/; Jacqueline Alemany, Liz Goodwin, and Perry Stein, “Two women testified that Matt Gaetz paid them for sex, lawyer says,” Washington Post, November 18, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/18/matt-gaetz-ethics-report-allegations/; Isaac Arnsdorf, Marianne LeVine, and Ashley Parker, “Trump pushes past sting of Gaetz’s exit with flurry of new picks,” Washington Post, November 22, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/23/trump-gaetz-withdrawal-loss-senate/; C. Ryan Barber, “Special Counsel Drops Federal Prosecutions of Trump,” Wall Street Journal, November 25, 2024, https://apple.news/Ad0kjSFSMS-qEU1UWQKCdOg; Mark Berman, “Trump says he will replace FBI Director Wray with loyalist Kash Patel,” Washington Post, November 30, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/30/trump-kash-patel-fbi-director/; Mark Berman and David Nakamura, “Pam Bondi, Trump’s AG pick, said ‘prosecutors will be prosecuted,’” Washington Post, November 23, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/11/23/pam-bondi-doj-attorney-general-trump-pick/; Abha Bhattarai, Jeff Stein, and Scott Dance, “Trump selects Howard Lutnick, Wall Street CEO, as commerce secretary,” Washington Post, November 19, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/11/19/howard-lutnick-trump-commerce-secretary/; Michelle Boorstein, “Huckabee pick as Israeli ambassador reflects long evangelical alliance,” Washington Post, December 2, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/12/02/evangelicals-israel-trump-huckabee/; Walter Bragman, “Everything You Need to Know About Donald Trump’s (Likely) FDA Pick,” Important Context, November 20, 2024, https://www.importantcontext.news/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about-cce; Desmond Butler, Lauren Weber, and Caitlin Gilbert, “Potential conflicts of interest may haunt Dr. Oz’s confirmation to run Medicare, Medicaid,” Washington Post, December 2, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/12/02/dr-oz-medicare-medicaid-ozempic-conflicts/; Bernd Debusmann, Jr., and Mike Wendling, “How would Trump’s promise of mass deportations of migrants work?” British Broadcasting Corporation, November 18, 2024, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce9z0lm48ngo; Dan Diamond, “Trump picks Dr. Oz to oversee Medicare, Medicaid and Affordable Care Act,” Washington Post, November 19, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/11/19/dr-oz-medicare-medicaid-obamacare-trump/; Dan Diamond, Rachel Roubein, and Frances Vinall, “Changes RFK Jr. could make as HHS secretary, from vaccines to raw milk,” Washington Post, November 15, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/11/15/rfk-jr-department-health-human-services-changes/; Ian Duncan, “Trump picks former congressman Sean Duffy to lead Transportation Dept.,” Washington Post, November 18, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/11/18/sean-duffy-transportation-secretary-nominee/; Josh Gerstein and Nahal Toosi, “Could Trump sideline government watchdogs? Some are already quitting,” Politico, November 25, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/11/25/trump-inspectors-general-watchdogs-00191381; Liz Goodwin et al., “Matt Gaetz attorney general confirmation was in doubt ahead of withdrawal,” Washington Post, November 21, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/11/21/gaetz-withdraws-attorney-general-ethics-investigation/; Stephen Groves, “Senators took down one Trump Cabinet pick. But the fight over their authority is just beginning,” Associated Press, November 25, 2024, https://apnews.com/article/trump-cabinet-senate-republicans-cee5cddaa714b8874db05356c6af2a04; Lauren Kaori Gurley, “Trump picks Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon for labor secretary,” Washington Post, November 22, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/11/22/lori-chavez-deremer-labor-secretary-trump/; Evan Halper et al., “Trump picks fracking firm CEO Chris Wright to be energy secretary,” Washington Post, November 16, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/16/energy-secretary-trump-chris-wright/; Fatima Hussein, “Trump names Massad Boulos, campaign liaison and family relative, as a senior adviser on Middle East,” Associated Press, December 1, 2024, https://apnews.com/article/trump-boulos-mideast-michigan-arab-americans-israel-1c3a1a53c78682daf9011735cb37dbb1; David Klepper, Ellen Knickmeyer, and Edith M. Lederer, “Gabbard’s sympathetic views toward Russia cause alarm as Trump’s pick to lead intelligence services,” Associated Press, November 17, 2024, https://apnews.com/article/gabbard-trump-putin-intelligence-russia-syria-a798adaf9cd531a5d0c9329f7597f0f6; Hannah Knowles et al., “Hegseth defiant as Trump considers replacing him as defense secretary pick,” Washington Post, December 4, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/12/04/pete-hegseth-ron-desantis-defense-secretary-trump-pick/; Michael Kranish, Josh Dawsey, and Jonathan O'Connell, “Defense pick Hegseth paid accuser but denies sexual assault, attorney says,” Washington Post, November 16, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/16/pete-hegseth-sexual-assault-accuser-paid/; Marianne LeVine, “Pam Bondi, Trump’s pick for attorney general, is a longtime loyalist,” Washington Post, November 21, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/21/pam-bondi-trump-attorney-general-florida/; Marianne LeVine, Leigh Ann Caldwell, and Mariana Alfaro, “Republicans take a closer look at Trump’s Pentagon pick Pete Hegseth,” Washington Post, December 3, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/12/03/republicans-take-closer-look-trumps-pentagon-pick-pete-hegseth/; Abby Livingston, “DOGE-Ball: Elon vs. The F-35,” Puck, November 30, 2024, https://puck.news/doge-ball-elon-vs-the-f-35/; Abby Livingston, “Hegseth Senate-ology 101,” Puck, December 3, 2024, https://puck.news/will-the-senate-actually-confirm-pete-hegseth/; Justine McDaniel, David Ovalle, and Marianne LeVine, “Trump’s pick to head DEA withdraws after GOP criticism of his covid policies,” December 3, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/12/03/trump-dea-florida-covid/; Laura Meckler, “Trump taps transition co-chair Linda McMahon to be education secretary,” Washington Post, November 19, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2024/11/19/trump-education-secretary-linda-mcmahon/; Allison Neitzel, “How Dr. Oz Hyped Trump’s COVID Snake Oil,” Important Context, November 21, 2024, https://www.importantcontext.news/p/how-dr-oz-hyped-trumps-covid-snake; Caitlin Owens, “Trump taps Johns Hopkins professor Makary as FDA chief,” Axios, November 22, 2024, https://www.axios.com/2024/11/23/trump-fda-marty-makary; Tara Palmeri, “The Hegseth Sitch & Trump Confirmation Dominoes,” Puck, December 5, 2024, https://puck.news/if-pete-hegseth-withdraws-who-could-be-next/; Danielle Paquette and Jonathan O'Connell, “Police records reveal new details about sexual assault allegation against Pete Hegseth,” Washington Post, November 21, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/21/pete-hegseth-monterey-police-report/; Martin Pengelly, “Trump’s Gorka pick met with outrage: he’s ‘as dangerous as he is unqualified,’” Guardian, November 27, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/27/trump-national-security-gorka; Amber Philips to 5-Minute Fix list, “Could martial law happen in the U.S.?” Washington Post, December 3, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/newsletters/the-5-minute-fix/; Hafiz Rashid, “Trump Team Is Having a Terrifying Debate on How to Invade Mexico,” New Republic, November 27, 2024, https://apple.news/AW86WkTV4QiKoASBybl8w5A; Qasim Rashid, “Trump Nominees Are Not Just A Joke — They Are Dangerous,” Let’s Address This, November 15, 2024, https://www.qasimrashid.com/p/trump-nominees-are-not-just-a-joke; Beth Reinhard and Abha Bhattarai, “Linda McMahon made a fortune with WWE. Wrestling scandals now shadow her rise,” Washington Post, November 19, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/19/linda-mcmahon-trump-administration-wwe-allegations/; Neal Rothschild, “Trump neuters the watchdogs,” Axios, November 30, 2024, https://www.axios.com/2024/11/30/trump-staff-investigation-fbi-doj; Melody Schreiber, “‘He is one of us!’: US anti-vaxxers rejoice at nomination of David Weldon for CDC,” Guardian, December 1, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/01/antivaxxers-david-weldon-cdc-nomination; Deepa Shivaram, “Trump nominates Russ Vought for White House budget director once again,” National Public Radio, November 22, 2024, https://www.npr.org/2024/11/22/nx-s1-5193351/trump-russ-vought-omb-budget-director; Ishaan Tharoor, “Trump and the Israeli right resume their embrace,” Washington Post, November 15, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/11/15/trump-israel-right-wing/; Casey Tolan, Scott Glover, and Sara Murray, “Police report reveals new details from sexual assault allegation against Trump’s defense secretary nominee,” Cable News Network, November 21, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/21/politics/pete-hegseth-police-report-defense-secretary-trump/index.html; Nick Paton Walsh, “Trump’s Ukraine envoy has a plan to end the war that Putin may revel in,” Cable News Network, November 29, 2024, https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/29/europe/trump-new-ukraine-envoy-analysis-intl/index.html; Michael Wilner and Max Greenwood, “Matt Gaetz withdraws as Trump’s attorney general pick amid sexual misconduct allegations, Sacramento Bee, November 21, 2024, https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/article295925304.html; Emily Zemler, “Pete Hegseth's Mom Calls Him ‘Abuser of Women’ in Released Email,” Esquire, November 30, 2024, https://apple.news/AuE1xwOjBRCO-owoAJrGyNQ
[4] Holly Otterbein and Brittany Gibson, “Some Democrats want to thaw their frosty relationship with Elon Musk,” Politico, December 12, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/12/12/democrats-elon-musk-relationship-000579;
[5] Abby Livingston, “Democrats’ Big Chill,” Puck, December 10, 2024, https://puck.news/why-democrats-are-staying-quiet-on-trump-cabinet-nominees/
[6] David Benfell, “The failure of progress,” Not Housebroken, November 24, 2024, https://nothousebroken.substack.com/p/the-failure-of-progress
[7] James Madison, “Federalist No. 10,” in Federalist Papers, ed. Garry Wills (1982; repr., New York: Bantam, 2003).
[8] Bill Moyer with JoAnn McAllister, Mary Lou Finley, and Steven Soifer, Doing Democracy (Gabriola Island, British Columbia, Canada: New Society, 2001).