The attacks on Ali Velshi's monologue yesterday - "Where's the Party?" are out of line. [View all]
Ali is right. The Democratic leadership is is not meeting the moment. We need war time consiglieri. The “same old same old” tactics are not good enough.
The Dems have a reputation for bringing a pencil to a gunfight for a reason. The Dems have to give up on the idea of going along to get along.
I have been criticizing Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries since the beginning of this take over. They were standing back and letting things play out, because they were convinced that the grifter and his minions would self destruct as a result of their extreme actions. They figured they could then pick up the pieces, and win the mid terms. Schumer even said something along the lines of watching the poll numbers going down and that is what we want to see. From my perch, they did not take into account the enormity of the devastation that would ensue. Is this a time to be focused on poll numbers?
When DOGE was actively taking over federal buildings and agencies, Chuck Schumer was out front holding Maxine Waters' hand chanting “We will win”. Win what? This is not a football game.
Why didn't members of Congress enter the federal buildings that DOGE employees prevented them from entering? The Treasury and other agencies are their purview. They shouldn't have backed down. They should have gotten arrested, if necessary.
The excuse I have heard over and over again in the past eight months is – the Dems are in the minority...and they can't do anything. Yes, they can. Look what Tuberville did to hold up military promotions. I heard someone say the other day - “What would Mitch do?' The Dems are finally using what little power they have to pursue the Epstein files. What – destroying USAID and other agencies wasn't important enough? Violating Article 1 powers wasn't enough? Firing IG's wasn't enough?
Does anyone remember the CR? There was supposed to be a party line held on voting for the CR. Schumer said he was holding that line. He flipped at the last minute.
Strongly worded letters don't meet the moment.
When Corey Booker spent twenty-five hours on the Senate floor, he and his staff did a great job of framing all the facets of the take over, and the dangers to our Democracy. It was passionate and informative. He created an opening, an atmosphere of sorts, that set the stage for a paradigm shift. There needed to be a next move that created that paradigm shift. That best next move would have been for Schumer to step aside, so someone with the ability to lead in this moment, could do so. It didn't happen. The momentum was lost.
It has seemed to me that Schumer and Jeffries have held some of their members back. There are Dems in Congress who are actively trying to save our Democracy, but they are not the leadership. Chris Murphy is one of those who is focused on addressing the urgency of the moment. Chris van Hollen stuck his neck out. Jamie Raskin is the strongest voice for our Constitution. There are some voices in the House that I would like to see getting more air time, such as Melanie Stansbury. That is not the end of the list.
Finding fault with how our reps are doing their job is the perogative of “We the People”. We elect them and we pay them to be there (supposedly) fighting for us. Criticism is not disloyalty. But I do believe that our representatives not giving their all for us during this Constitutional crisis is a betrayal of their oath.
Ali Velshi is only pointing out what many others of us have observed. (I just heard John Fugelsang make the same point I made earlier – questioning why the members of Congress did not insist on entry to Federal buildings.)
Ali Velshi is one of the smartest people on television. He does a fantastic job of getting granular on a topic. He provides history and background and context. He brings in experts for deep analysis. After his monologue, (Where's the Party?) he had a lengthy discussion with Norm Ornstein and Jason Stanley. They agreed the Democratic leadership is not meeting the moment. They are sounding the alarm. The situation is dire. The clip(s) of the discussion have not yet appeared online, and I will post the video when it shows up.
Meanwhile, Malcolm Nance had an excellent conversation with Steve Schmidt in a podcast on Friday. They came to the same conclusion – Dem leadership is not meeting the moment. Schmidt said the consultants are part of the problem. I agree. Schmidt said the Democratic party needs to work as a team. I agree.
I do not believe Ali Velshi was attacking the Democratic party or the leaders. Ali Velshi is extremely intellectually rigorous. He was identifying a problem that exists in reality. There is no room for error here. We are watching our Constitutional Republic be destroyed.
When the people on this forum (or that woman on Blusky*) attack Ali they are not helping the situation. I am sure he did not intend to offend anyone's sensibilities - Ali Velshi strives to inform. Perhaps everyone could learn more if they listened to each other. Perhaps we should try to avoid division amongst ourselves. Perhaps we should presume that we are on the same team.
(*I may take the time to address her attack, point by point, but for now – this post is long enough.)
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