Was It Over When The Germans Bombed Pearl Harbor?

Huh?

Animal House, 1978

What's this lying around shit? What the fuck happened to the liberals I used to know? You lost one election and now everyone acts like they’re in an endless doom spiral where all is lost?

Trump won an election by a plurality of the vote, and you’re all acting like he dropped the big one.

I mean I get it, you take a moment after a loss to feel some sense of self-pity over a setback to how you want the world to be, but it’s been months of wallowing. The Democratic Party has largely been unable to sustain any sort of coherent counter-messaging—let alone an actual mobilization of the party.

In terms of legislative efforts, our elected representatives seem more preoccupied with rolling over to the new administration’s agenda than actually asserting their prerogative as the opposition party. More than a handful of our elected representatives have attempted to tack toward Republican policies on immigration or LGBT issues in an attempt to align themselves with their perceived electorates.

Outside of some bright spots like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asserting that Democrats need to stand and fight on their principles, the general vibe has been of resignation and accommodation—typically framed as “saving their political capital” for when it actually matters.

Like the French generals of the Second World War, there’s an overwhelming feeling that leaders have been unable to cope with the shock that events have spiraled outside of their ability to control, subsequently causing them to freeze in a spiral of inaction.

At a grass-roots level, there’s hardly much else in the way of optimism that liberals have pulled themselves out of a tailspin either. The protests scheduled for Trump’s inauguration are anemic at best—and traditional centers of oppositional media have been muted (at best) in their criticism of the incoming administration.

You’d think that we’d be able to offer more than interviews with Curtis Yarvin when JD Vance and the Hitler Youth are in town.

The overwhelming response from business and tech has been we’re too afraid to be oppositional. We don’t want to get in trouble.

There’s a soon-to-be President hawking cryptocurrency, settling spurious lawsuits against media companies, planning mass deportations, and ruminating on the possibility of invading our allies ahead of his inauguration—pick yourselves the fuck up already.

Where’s the spirit? Where’s the guts?

To the idea that liberals ought to forgo our values because of an electoral loss? I’d say—sure maybe liberals had a bad run of things during the Biden Presidency. The problem isn’t if we had some inflation (we did). But you can’t hold liberal ideals responsible for a few supply chain issues. If you do? Then shouldn’t we blame all of liberalism?

If all of liberalism is responsible, doesn’t this become an indictment of our democratic institutions in general? If our democratic institutions are to blame, isn’t this an indictment of our entire American society?

Well, I’m not going to sit here and let some feckless Senators scared for their electoral prospects badmouth the United States of America.

If Republicans attempt to push through laws and policies that go against liberal values there shouldn't be a single vote cast alongside the GOP. They control all three branches of government, why should they need our help?

If there’s any attempt at mass deportations, or wars of aggression against our allies liberals ought to be out on the streets opposing it every step of the way.

When there’s mass tariffs that are destroying our economy? We ought to own the airwaves relentlessly reminding everyone they can’t afford rent because of Trump’s policies. Not whatever the fuck this is.

We can still bring legal suits to challenge and oppose his executive actions, and there shouldn’t be a single Executive Order that goes forward without every legal group working to oppose its implementation.

When it comes to our allies and friends around the world like Ukraine who continue to fight against an authoritarian power—we ought to continue to advocate for them in every forum available and offer them support through non-governmental means where possible.

If you’re too tired or demoralized to keep doing that, leave the organization you work for so someone who cares can do your job instead. If representatives can’t bring themselves to act oppositionally? Primary them. If news agencies can’t cover these topics with the seriousness they require? Stop giving them money.

In this case, even if it’s just a really futile and stupid gesture, the situation requires it. Nothing is over until we say it is.