I’m all for celebrating victories, no matter how small, and boosting / patting Dems on the back on the rare occasions that they do a good job. This is my last repost. But war whoops that we finally got her to cave because Lucy is setting up the football for Charlie are just silly.
This (related to Trump’s impending order on mail voting) is an important limit to the point I’m making here, and here, Bouie is right. The difference is that there’s a lot of gamespace left. Trump could ultimately not attempt intervention, states could ignore his attempts, courts can rule, etc.
There’s a broad array of possibilities and outcomes vs. “SCOTUS takes up / does not take up appellate ruling, issues / does not issue decision affirming / overturning appellate decision on the shadow / normal docket.” That’s a very narrow gamespace, and we all know substantively where it’s headed.
With the voting stuff, none of the moves have been made yet except a shitpost. Conceding defeat now is truly doomer. With the IEEPA tariffs all the action is in the rearview mirror other than some mechanical details, none of which affect the valence of the outcome, which is a foregone conclusion.
That’s an important distinction, IMHO, and it’s not just stylistic. Understanding these differences helps us understand where to obstruct, where to protest, where to call our congressional representatives, etc. It informs strategy, tactics, allocation of limited resources, etc.
That’s why having a realistic, pragmatic view somewhere between “if we fight hard enough and scream loud enough (and give just one more dollar) we can stop it all, and Dems are doing everything they can” and “all is lost, it’s pointless.” Anyway, that’s my very lukewarm take.