Mercy Isn't Surrender

WTAF?!

I am beyond disappointed in Senate Democrats. I am livid. I am so angry that I am having trouble finding the words to express how upset I am. Republicans starved people. They stopped paying federal workers. They withheld SNAP benefits. They held millions of ordinary people hostage to their cruelty. And it worked.

It freaking worked.

The Democrats folded. They negotiated with terrorists and are telling us it’s governance because there was no other option. The Republicans are congratulating themselves for reopening the government.

Some Dems have the audacity to claim it was a negotiation and they extracted some wins. Let’s see…they got a pinky promise that the Senate will maybe vote on healthcare subsidies in December. A vote that will almost certainly die the moment it hits the House. They got a rule that prevents the Trump administration from re-firing federal workers who were terminated during the shutdown, but that rule evaporates in February which is less than three months away.

I thought I was missing something and I sincerely hoped I was so I asked smart people I trust, people who actually understand the arcane maze of House and Senate rules (which I fully admit I don’t). Unfortunately they all told me the same thing: I’m not missing anything. I’m seeing it exactly right and that definitely feels worse. There’s no grand plan or strategy.

Meanwhile, Republicans learned that starving people works. Breaking the system works. If you inflict enough pain on enough innocent people, the so-called opposition will cave. And you better believe they will do it again. I mean why wouldn’t they?

Democrats still think “being the adults in the room” is a virtue. If you follow me on social media sites, you know I don’t subscribe to that school of thought. Do not mistake surrender for responsibility; compromise is not always noble. Avoiding more suffering can be a moral choice, but when you reward hostage-taking, you guarantee more hostages. More people will suffer, mark my words.

This isn’t prudence.

This isn’t pragmatism.

It is cowardice pretending to be principle.

I keep thinking about the federal workers who went weeks without pay, who lined up at food banks, who took temporary gig jobs and sold their belongings to cover rent. I keep thinking about the families who rely on SNAP who realized hunger is a political negotiating tool now. These are our fellow citizens and they have been told their lives are bargaining chips.

Of course it wasn’t easy to watch people suffer. I am sure lawmakers were hearing from frightened constituents who couldn’t pay their bills or buy groceries. I don’t pretend that kind of pressure is simple to bear. But mercy isn’t surrender. They could have shown compassion without conceding the fight. Instead, they folded, and in doing so, they guaranteed more suffering down the road. Every time Democrats defer the fight, they make it harder to win the next one.

This isn’t strategy it’s making decisions based on norms that no longer exist. It’s decades of wanting to be seen as reasonable in a political arena that has no rules left. There is no normal to which we can return.

Maybe I’m being unfair. Maybe something will come of this and I can’t see it right now. Maybe that Senate vote on healthcare subsidies will actually happen. Maybe the House will surprise us all and pass it. Maybe we will achieve world peace and harmony by Christmas.

I am tired. I’m tired of watching people who claim to represent working families not understand what real people actually want and need. I am tired of moral cowardice dressed up as pragmatism. I am so very, very tired of the endless rationalizations for weakness.

The only thing I’m not tired of is fighting to make sure people we help and protect people.

Power unused is power lost and I’m not going to stop, nor am I going to be quiet in my criticism (as if!).

Regardless, we have no choice but to keep moving forward. I’m so grateful to be on the same team as all of you.

Rachel 💚