We had already ceded the hill we were to die on
Understanding the Democratic Party’s capitulation on the government shutdown
It looks like Dan Rather may have this right. George Monbiot argued that we are ruled by psychopaths in a system that rewards and encourages psychopathy.[1] “To understand what happened in Washington on Sunday night,”[2] that is, a deal to end the government shutdown,[3] Rather writes, “you must recognize one immutable fact: the president was never going to negotiate. This is a game to him. The suffering of the citizenry is just part of his playbook.”[4]
Many, certainly not just I, have observed that white Christian nationalists seem to revel in cruelty for the sake of cruelty. Health insurance premiums going up, government workers getting laid off or working without pay, food stamps being withheld—these all fit the bill. Donald Trump himself fits the description of narcissistic rage[5] like a glove. And that of psychopathy as well.[6] And it’s not just Trump: It’s white Christian nationalism in general.
The eight senators who capitulated, with Chuck Schumer’s—at least—acquiescence, were arguably recognizing that reality.[7] I suspect many more did as well but feared the blowback from a constituency that is furious with Democratic Party capitulation—as I have said many times, they seem desperate to sit in opposition, where they can complain about Republicans without ever actually being expected to actually accomplish anything—as the vote to pass the continuing resolution was 60-40,[8] just barely enough to clear a filibuster. The eight yes votes provided just enough cover for the rest to vote no. And so Schumer may indeed deserve blame for failing to hold his caucus together.[9]
My problem is this: If we’re going to be adamant about saying no, we need to have a plan for getting to where we can say yes. The shutdown is already the longest on record[10] with no otherwise apparent light at the end of the tunnel. I don’t have an alternative plan short of a likely futile attempt at armed rebellion.
That makes it hard for me to argue for continuing intransigence. But I think it’s also possible to argue that Democrats effectively enabled this outcome with their own decades-long rightward shift and with their longstanding unwillingness to stand up for anything or anyone besides their donor class. Republicans have seen and certainly will have argued among themselves that if they held out long enough, Democrats would eventually fold. Because it’s what they always, always do.
We do not have and have not for decades had an effective opposition to conservative cruelty. Many Democrats are themselves conservative (so-called ‘liberal interventionist’), with their support for neoliberalism (which is a moral imperative of neoconservatism) and with their embrace of neoconservative warmongering.[11] Which is to say we had already ceded the hill we were to die on.
At minimum, we need an effective, by whatever means are necessary, opposition that actually wants to win elections, that actually wants to improve the lives of our people. I don’t know how we get there. But Democrats are not the answer.
[1] George Monbiot, “Outer Turmoil,” June 17, 2025, https://www.monbiot.com/2019/06/17/outer-turmoil/
[2] Dan Rather and Team Steady, “Furious? You Should Be,” Steady, November 10, 2025, https://steady.substack.com/p/furious-you-should-be
[3] Riley Beggin and Theodoric Meyer, “Deal to end government shutdown passes Senate, heads to House,” Washington Post, November 10, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/11/10/government-shutdown-senate-bill/; Sam Gringlas, “Senate approves shutdown ending legislation, sending bill to the House for a vote,” National Public Radio, November 10, 2025, https://www.npr.org/2025/11/10/g-s1-97245/senate-shutdown-vote
[4] Dan Rather and Team Steady, “Furious? You Should Be,” Steady, November 10, 2025, https://steady.substack.com/p/furious-you-should-be
[5] George Simon, “Understanding and Dealing with Narcissistic Rage,” Counseling Resource, July 24, 2017, http://counsellingresource.com/features/2017/07/24/understanding-narcissistic-rage/
[6] George Monbiot, “Outer Turmoil,” June 17, 2025, https://www.monbiot.com/2019/06/17/outer-turmoil/
[7] Dan Rather and Team Steady, “Furious? You Should Be,” Steady, November 10, 2025, https://steady.substack.com/p/furious-you-should-be
[8] Riley Beggin and Theodoric Meyer, “Deal to end government shutdown passes Senate, heads to House,” Washington Post, November 10, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/11/10/government-shutdown-senate-bill/; Sam Gringlas, “Senate approves shutdown ending legislation, sending bill to the House for a vote,” National Public Radio, November 10, 2025, https://www.npr.org/2025/11/10/g-s1-97245/senate-shutdown-vote
[9] Dan Rather and Team Steady, “Furious? You Should Be,” Steady, November 10, 2025, https://steady.substack.com/p/furious-you-should-be
[10] Riley Beggin and Theodoric Meyer, “Deal to end government shutdown passes Senate, heads to House,” Washington Post, November 10, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/11/10/government-shutdown-senate-bill/
[11] David Benfell, "Conservative Views on Undocumented Migration" (doctoral dissertation, Saybrook, 2016). ProQuest (1765416126).