Reading this around the same time I read that many Democratic politicians were still, even in this late hour, wary of risking a government shutdown to publicly resist Trump and DOGE really clicked. I am not sure what utility the feckless Democratic politicians currently sitting in congress see in appearing "reasonable" and negotiating at this point, when it's obvious to everyone else that there is none. It reminds me of when way back in 2020 the Squad wouldn't even risk an empty, symbolic opposition vote against Pelosi as house speaker over Medicare for All.

It was at least in the top three events that year when I knew the left was well and truly cooked, that all the time, energy, and money I'd put into Sanders and the DSA was for naught. Literal years of support an organizing and they couldn't even break ranks long enough to put on a dog and pony show of support. The system is broken, top to bottom. Don't misinterpret this, as bad and inept as the Democrats are Trump is orders of magnitude worse and given the choice between a hideously corrupt neoliberal status quo and nationalists who just want to burn everything to the ground I'd take the former ever time. Still, 2020 was the year I knew that the Democratic party couldn't be reformed and by proxy the entire political system was never under our control in a meaningful way.