Editor’s note: The Editorial Board is free to read and always will be, but it’s also how I make a living. It’s how I support my family. If you can, please subscribe or leave a tip. Links at the bottom. Thanks! –JS

There’s no such a thing as a “distraction,” as we understand the term. Our current crisis is complicated, interconnected and grim. The GOP’s budget bill, which threatens to gut Medicaid and ruin healthcare, is just as important, which is to say, just as bad, as the regime’s attacks on the Constitution, individual liberty and the rule of law. It’s all of a piece. 

But there is one distraction that’s real and should be called out. 

It’s when elite liberals make clever arguments in order to make other liberals feel better about themselves, taking limited time and attention away from the fact that there’s an enemy afoot that must be defeated. 

You see them everywhere, but here’s an example. MSNBC ran this one today: “Stephen Miller is a victim of his own deportation success.” 

Miller is, of course, that White House putz who reportedly claims to have been “coronated” by the president in order to commit whatever crime he wishes against brown people. He is responsible for inciting the violence in Los Angeles that became a pretext for a military occupation, a move the regime now claims was necessary for the purpose of “liberating” Los Angeles from the “socialists” who run it. 

The climate of fear and intimidation that Miller has created has led to the arrest of the Democratic mayor of Newark, New Jersey; the arrest and indictment of a Democratic US congresswoman, also from New Jersey; the manhandling, handcuffing and detainment of a Democratic US senator from California; the assassination of a Democratic state lawmaker in Minnesota; and, most recently, the arrest of New York City’s Democratic comptroller, who is also a mayoral candidate. 

All of this is happening against the larger backdrop of Immigration and Customs Enforcement snatching people off the streets in secret: without due process, without identifying themselves and often without showing proper legal documents authorizing use of force. 

The latter is what Brad Lander experienced. Accompanying an immigrant who had lawfully shown up for an appointed federal court date, New York’s comptroller demanded to see what’s called a judicial warrant. ICE agents, who were wearing plain clothes and face masks, refused. In response to his demands, they arrested him. (ICE is now reportedly going to charge Lander with obstruction of justice.)

The point isn’t whether Stephen Miller is a victim of his own success. I don’t care one way or another. Neither should you. The point is this: why are we spending our limited time and attention asking such a question when the consequences of Miller’s “success” are clear? 

The regime is trying to criminalize the Democratic Party so there’s no opposition to its ever-expanding sphere of power and control. We don’t need clever arguments about how Miller’s tactics are going to backfire, as if we are not all witnessing totalitarian drift. What we need is good arguments that give the Democrats ammunition to fight back.

That’s my other point. 

These clever arguments give the impression of fighting – of taking a stand for something meaningful – but they are a distraction, perhaps even a ruse. They dress up cowardice as courage. After all, if Miller’s tactics backfire, there’s nothing Democrats themselves need to do. They can wait around for the regime to implode, whatever that means. 

From this point of view, all that’s needed from the Democrats is the encouragement of public discontent, as if a regime that’s looking for an excuse to launch a military crackdown cares about that. Unfortunately, this passivity is baked in, especially among elite donors, which is to say, among people who get the most attention from the Democrats.

This passivity is so bad that when the regime targets a Democrat, he won’t fight back. He won’t take it personally when he should. I’m thinking of Alex Padilla, who was handcuffed last week for the offense of asking a question of Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem during a press briefing in LA. On the Senate floor Tuesday, Padilla spoke of his experience, how it was wrong and unjust, and how it could happen to anyone if it could happen to him. But, frustratingly, he stopped there. 

He did not say what he’s going to do in concrete terms to prevent it from happening to anyone else. He could have said Kristi Noem has to go and until she does, I’m going to object to unanimous consent in the United States senate. (That would bring business to stand-still or force Republicans who control the chamber to consider a rule change.) He could have said I’m going to blue-slip every nominee for the judiciary. He could have said I’m going to exploit the rules. He could have said I may pay a price for this, but it’s worth it to force the regime to back off its illegal and unconstitutional scheme for more power and control. 

In simple terms, he could have said: So, you wanna play rough, huh? Well, two can play that game. But he didn’t fight. He only scolded.

And he wasn’t alone. 

Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, said: “Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was so derelict in her responsibilities [last] weekend after Senator Padilla was manhandled, thrown to the ground and handcuffed. She lied about it. Nor has she said what action she’s taken to correct it or apologize to send her to Padilla. She is just derelict in her responsibilities as secretary of Homeland Security.”

No plan of action. No call for resignation or impeachment. 

Just words. Just smugness.

I suggest these Democrats feel no need to go further. Their donors don’t want it. As for rank-and-file Democrats, who might light a fire under their feet, they’re spending their time and attention, thanks to MSNBC, on clever arguments, like whether Stephen Miller is a victim of his own success. Their fighting spirit is drained by distractions. 

Meanwhile, everyone else looks at the Democrats and their high-minded ideals, and wonders what the hell they’re waiting for.

They expect us to trust them. They want us to believe they will fight for democracy, for liberty and for the common good. But they won’t even defend themselves. Why would they defend anyone else?

When the time comes, they choke.

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Thank you! –JS

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