“Do Something” Beats “Do Nothing,” Every Time

Politicians Are The Employees Of The Public

President Joe Biden’s statement following the Supreme Court’s decision to grant imperial status to Donald Trump was lacking.

“Now, the American people have to do what the court should have been willing to do but will not. The American people have to render a judgment about Donald Trump's behavior,” Biden said. In short, the entire onus is on the American public, who are once being told by Democratic leadership that the only way forward is for them to vote harder.

Contrast Biden’s statement to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who wrote, “The Supreme Court has become consumed by a corruption crisis beyond its control. Today’s ruling represents an assault on American democracy. It is up to Congress to defend our nation from this authoritarian capture. I intend on filing articles of impeachment upon our return.”

Sen. Ed Markey released the following in his statement on the decision: “Today’s ruling is devastating to our democracy. We must reclaim the stolen seats, restore balance and legitimacy to the Court, and begin to undo the damage the MAGA Republican party has wrought.”

The statements reveal a very clear dividing line within the Democratic Party that has been clear for some time now. Is it better to urge the public to deliver Democrats veto-proof majorities and the presidency with the promise of great changes on that day, or is it better to fight for things that – in the short term at least – seem doomed to failure?

The latter scenario has been derided with the phrase “do something” and characterized as meaningless theater that raises hopes and supposedly discourages support when the quixotic effort fails.

But the path embraced by Democratic leaders, particularly the president but also major figures like Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is what I would characterize as “do nothing.” And that is a much more demoralizing and vote suppressing posture to take.

We elect our leaders, and they are our employees. We are not indentured servants or their subjects (no matter what the Supreme Court has decided from up on Mount Olympus). Every single one of them, from Biden to the newest members of the House and Senate, has a job to do. Biden himself described that job both in the 2020 campaign and this year as a “battle for the soul of the nation.”

Biden’s characterization of what is at stake is absolutely right, that is why his disinterest in engaging in that battle when it comes to the Supreme Court is so disheartening. His post-decision rhetoric foists all responsibility on the public while he and other Democratic leaders aren’t doing their part. Biden’s job is to set the tone for combat. His position is as the highest ranking general in the nation’s ideological war. A general doesn’t tell the troops, “You guys figure it out.”

I’m not delusional or naïve. I don’t think court reforms have enough support to gain passage and even if they did, Republicans and their allies like Sens. Joe Manchin and Kirsten Sinema would oppose those reforms.

So make them do just that. Make them go on the record, again and again and again and again and again and again. Make them create a track record backing Supreme Court bribery and corruption, Supreme Court support for an armed insurrection, Supreme Court support for banning abortion rights, Supreme Court support for Donald Trump as monarch. If the right and their allies want to embrace such an anti-American, anti-freedom agenda, force them to wear it like a scarlet letter.

Don’t just shrug and say – for the fifteen millionth time – “we don’t have the votes, so go home and vote harder.” People are tired of this always coming up as the answer.

Voting is fundamental and important and vital. Our predecessors fought and died, both on the battlefield of foreign lands and on the streets of America, to defend our right to exercise the franchise. We should always show up and make our voices heard.

But the politicians owe us their work in exchange for our votes. Voting isn’t just the endgame, granting power never to be exercised until that perfect, fairy tale moment when everything lines up just so. Voting gives power to our advocates to continue making noise and as the late Rep. John Lewis said, “good trouble.”

Nothing worth fighting for in American history was ever easy. The founders didn’t just shrug when England said the colonies couldn’t have liberty. The suffragettes didn’t close up shop when the patriarchy said women couldn’t vote. The civil rights movement didn’t say “oh well” when there weren’t the votes in Congress to pass legislation.

When you fight, even if the fight is doomed from the start, it makes clear that you’re doing the thing voters empowered you to do. We understand when the odds and numbers stand against us, and that is the precise moment to continue pounding on the wall so that it crumbles.

You “do something.”

Doing something, particularly in a tough situation with seemingly impossible odds, is as American as it gets. Curling up and dying, issuing banal platitudes about some ideal scenario, is the way of defeat and despair. Doing something makes it clear that the people in positions of power are there for the greater good and not merely occupying a seat to keep it warm.

We didn’t send these people to Washington to be merely seat warmers. You’re there to do something.

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— Oliver

Follow me, Oliver Willis, on Threads @owillis1977

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