At record speed, Donald Trump has completely neutered the Democratic Party.
- edberliner5
- Feb 4
- 5 min read
Updated: Sep 4

There it was, as I expected. A social media post from a lifetime Democrat who is still trying to wrap his head around what happened November 2024.
“What CAN we do now? How did we fail so badly? How do we stop these despicable Republicans from ruining America???”
Here’s the scoop, my friend. You lost that battle a lot earlier than Election Day 2024. As a matter of fact, where we are at the moment, (a President tearing up the US Constitution daily with ease and a the stroke of an egomaniacal pen), is your fault.
Own it. You earned it.
So then, congratulation, Democrats. You’ve officially become the political equivalent of a squeaky toy in a room full of Rottweilers. Ever since Donald Trump clawed his way back into power in this second administration, you’ve been nothing but background noise, barely audible over the sound of democracy being steamrolled. If you were any more ineffective, you’d be mistaken for a bipartisan committee deciding on how to make America great with the manufacture of toilet paper exclusively in America.
And yes, toilet paper is the accurate example of your efforts.
Let’s talk about what’s happened since Trump took office again. It’s been a whirlwind, hasn’t it? Executive orders flying left and right, institutions being gutted, the Constitution treated like an optional guideline rather than the foundation of our government. And what do we get from the Democrats? A few tweets of concern. A couple of strongly worded letters. Maybe an op-ed here and there, written with the tone of a disappointed school principal rather than an opposition party watching democracy slide into autocracy.
What happened to the so-called fighters? The champions of the people? Is there a rock somewhere we need to be looking under for clues? The ones who swore they’d never let Trump get away with his madness again?
Oh, that’s right. It’s hiding behind a carefully crafted PR strategy that amounts to little more than waiting for Trump to burn himself out.
Because that worked so well the first time.
Instead of standing up and screaming from the rooftops about what’s happening to this country, most leading Democrats seem to have opted for the whisper-in-the-corner approach. “We must preserve democracy,” they murmur, as Trump bulldozes through term limits, appoints loyalists to positions of unchecked power, and turns the Department of Justice into his personal law firm. “We need to be the adults in the room,” they say, while Trump and his MAGA army gleefully rewrite the rule book.
You lost your adult card somewhere around the election of Joe Biden when no one, and I mean no one, thought about what was going to happen next and who would take up the reins. You would have done better with contestants on “Wheel of Fortune” spinning for the right to be the next mark.
Let’s name names. Where is Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer? Oh, he’s sent out a statement, maybe even held a press conference or two. Powerful stuff. And newly appointed Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries? He might as well be a cardboard cutout for all the impact he’s had, though we do give him a minor beak as he’s only just ascended to this lofty and mostly (at the moment) useless position.
Even the so-called firebrands of the party, the ones who built their careers on being outspoken, have gone strangely quiet. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? Occasionally pops up with a zinger, but where’s the real fight? One-time Democrat and smartly Independent Bernie Sanders? Still talking about economic justice, but where’s the consistent fury against Trump dismantling the last shreds of our democratic institutions? Bernie gets chops for his interrogation of former heroin addict Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the confirmation hearings, as he remains the only (close to being a Democrat) individual willing to speak up and out at all times, but the unfortunate things is the Democrats can’t clone him a few dozen times and inject some life into their gaggle.
The reality is that Democrats are scared.
You heard me. They’re running scared. Yellow streak. Hiding under rocks. Afraid to come out into the light of day. Last seen scurrying into the hole left vacant by Punxsutawney Phil.
And why wouldn’t they be? Trump has perfected the art of political vengeance. Speak out too loudly, and you’re the next target of a Twitter firestorm, a congressional investigation, or worse—an actual threat from his increasingly unhinged supporters. Maybe some Democrats think that if they lay low, they can avoid the worst of it. Maybe they believe Trump will self-destruct, and they can just sweep in when the dust settles. But in doing so, they’re giving him exactly what he wants: a stage with no opposition, a platform with no rebuttal.
Let’s entertain the idea that this is all part of some grand Democratic chess game. Maybe they’re biding their time, waiting for Trump to overreach so spectacularly that he implodes under the weight of his own corruption. Maybe they think that the American people will eventually wake up and realize what’s happening. Maybe they have some master plan to stop this madness, but they’re just waiting for the right moment.
If that’s the case, they better hurry the Hell up. At the rate we’re going, Trump will proclaim himself Emperor while hosting a mighty national day of celebration featuring all the greasy hamberders and Diet Cokes you can swallow.
Here’s the truth few want to say out loud: Every single day that Trump is left unchecked, he grows more powerful. Every moment that Democrats sit on their hands instead of shouting from the rooftops, Trump gains more ground. Every time they let his ridiculous statements, his blatant power grabs, and his dangerous rhetoric slide without a forceful counterpunch, they normalize his behavior.
And once something becomes normal, it becomes permanent.
So what’s the endgame here? Are the Democrats waiting until the next election? Hoping that voters will suddenly find their spine and boot Trump out for a second time? Spoiler alert: That didn’t work out too well in 2024, did it? Four more years of this and we’ll have cadres of Mad Max-denizens rummaging about the landscape looking for egg trucks to plunder.
Or maybe Democrats are just exhausted. Maybe, after years of fighting the unrelenting tide of Trumpism, they’ve simply run out of steam. But guess what? That’s not an excuse. That’s not an option. That’s what cowards do. Because the stakes are too damn high. If democracy crumbles, history won’t remember the Democrats as the noble opposition. It will remember them as the spineless whelps who stood by and let it happen.
So, to the Democratic leadership: Find your backbone. Find your voice. Find something before it’s too late. Because if you don’t, the next election won’t matter. The Constitution won’t matter. And you sure as hell won’t matter, because you’ll be nothing more than a footnote in the story of how democracy died while you watched from the sidelines.
Your move.
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