Get past the blame game. Ideas for how to move forward

Don’t give in to despair — that’s what autocrats thrive on

The opinion section of Sunday’s New York Times is covered with those all-too-familiar red MAGA caps — 42 of them, in seven columns, six rows deep. Evoking the iconic Andy Warhol artwork of Campbell soup cans in 1962, it makes quite a statement.

So does the headline.

“This Is the New Establishment,” it declares. And the first of several sub-headlines goes further: “MAGA is who we are now.”

Really? It’s not who I am, and, dear subscribers, I suspect it’s not who you are either. And you don’t have to be a registered Democrat — I am not one — to feel that way.

More than 69 million Americans — those who voted for Kamala Harris — would likely agree that they aren’t ready to join that club, even though Donald Trump got more than 73 million votes.

I’m also not too interested in the post-election blame game. The lead headline on the Sunday Times’s print front page: “Democrats Sift Through Rubble, Seeking Answers”

According to various theories, Trump won because Harris was a lousy candidate, or because of the proliferation of dude-bro podcasts, or because incumbents globally are being tossed out of office, or because misogyny and racism are rampant in America, or because of the right-wing media bubble led by Fox News, or because the cost of groceries hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels. Carole Cadwalladr, writing in the Guardian, warns that we now exist in a new, scary world of disinformation ruled by tech oligarchs like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel.

I could go on, but let’s not. There is much to learn from all of this, and by all means, let’s do so.

Supporters react to at Kamala Harris’s election night event at Howard University. Grief is understandable for those who love democracy, but fighting back is crucial / Getty Images

But there’s also a life to live, and a country to live it in. There’s also a future.

So what do we do? What attitude should we adopt?

I’ve been grappling with that question since Wednesday morning. And I’ve been reading a lot and talking to smart people. I also taught my ethics class at Columbia Journalism School, where a room full of smart twenty-somethings, many of them from other countries, provided their perspective. And I wrote this column in the Guardian US, interviewing former Washington Post editor Marty Baron about how journalists can deal with the anti-press siege that’s coming their way. (Would-be autocrats like Trump very much want to kick down the guardrails of democracy and they tend to start with the press.)

So, I offer no definite answers here but some thoughts, along with some references to the best things I’ve read. Please share your own in the comments below. (As with my last post, I’m keeping the comments open to all, not just to paid subscribers; more than 200 of you shared your thoughts just after the election. It seems like it could be helpful to have this way of talking to each other and perhaps finding strength and encouragement.)

Thank you for reading, and thank you to those who decided to subscribe, whether paid or not. American Crisis now lands in 18,000 email inboxes, and circulates well beyond that.

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It’s really important for pro-democracy Americans not to throw up their hands and to consider this a lost cause. As the big thinkers on totalitarianism, including Hannah Arendt, have consistently written, isolation and despair are fertile ground for autocracy.

Timothy Snyder, the Yale historian and author of “On Tyranny,” said this on MSNBC after the election: “Freedom means you decide who you are, and then when things change around you, you continue to be that person. And in so doing, you do constructive work. You set an example for other people. You meet new people who are also trying to remain themselves.”

I was impressed by Elizabeth Warren’s urging to her fellow Democrats. She wrote in Time magazine: “Fight every fight in Congress. We won’t always win, but we can slow or sometimes limit Trump’s destruction. With every fight, we can build political power to put more checks on his administration and build the foundation for future wins.” And she has advice for non-politicians: “We all have a part to play. … Whether it’s stepping up to run for office, supporting a neighbor’s campaign, or getting involved in an organization taking action, we all have to continue to make investments in our democracy — including in states that are passed over as ‘too red.’ The political position we’re in is not permanent, and we have the power to make change if we fight for it.”

Here’s an excerpt from an interview with author and essayist Joseph O’Neill, an extraordinary thinker. I’m quoting at length because you may run into the New York Review of Books paywall, but the entire piece is worth your while.

“The truth of the matter is that, until the next midterm elections — which will take place — we find ourselves somewhat at the mercy of Trump’s will. A successful opposition, in such circumstances, will require unusual measures of courage, imagination, adaptability, disruptiveness. New tactics will have to be employed. New people will have to be given leadership positions. Blue state authorities will have to coordinate with one another to protect vulnerable Americans. To make this happen, the DNC should finally do what it should have done years ago: set up a political operations unit to devise and coordinate anti-GOP actions nationwide. (Fox News performs this function, and others, for the GOP.)

Most importantly, the Democratic Party will have to reinvent itself in a way that restores its credibility and its relevance. The most critical job of Democrats is to fill their supporters with hope: a hopeless population is more vulnerable to autocracy. This requires them to consult with their base about how to fight Trump; and then to fight.

Their basic strategy must be twofold: first, do everything in their power and influence to oppose, slow down, and attach political costs to the Trump agenda. They must show exemplary fortitude and courage. (Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, has already indicated that he will not step down if requested to do so by Trump.) Second, start planning and campaigning for the midterms now. The House and Senate will be winnable. Tactically, all bets should be off. If Democrats have to activate thousands of bots and hire thousands of trolls to penetrate Trumpist propaganda platforms, they should do that. If they have to induce Senator Susan Collins to caucus or side with them, they should offer her every inducement. Collins is up for reelection in 2026. If she stands down, a Democrat will likely succeed her.”

He concludes: “I am sure Trump will overreach. It is up to the opposition to make him pay for his overreaches. It is not our job to help him ‘succeed.’ It’s not our job to ‘unite the country’ or, as President Biden has suggested ‘turn down the temperature.’ It’s our job to make Trump fail, fail again, fail worse.”

As one small step, I made contributions this week to Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the excellent nonprofit which is gearing up for legal fights to defend press rights, and to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Journalists must be able to do their jobs in this new reality. I also think we can help the cause of democracy by talking to each other, which is why the comments below will remain open. Finally, thank you so very much for your encouragement. I’ve received a number of kind messages as people sign up. These mean a lot, so I’ll include a couple of them here. Finally: Be resilient. Resist isolation. Share your thoughts.