Susan Zakin
The Power of the Powerless is the name of a slim volume written by Vaclav Havel in 1978, when Czechoslovakia was a satellite nation of the U.S.S.R. ruled by a repressive Communist regime. It's no coincidence that the introduction to the book's most recent edition was written by Timothy Snyder, the Yale professor who has emerged as one of the definitive interpreters of our current moment.
Havel, a poet and dissident who became Czechoslovakia's president after the country liberated itself from Soviet rule in 1992, described the Orwellian dissonance of a totalitarian regime this way: "...the working class is enslaved in the name of the working class; the complete degradation of the individual is presented as his ultimate liberation; depriving people of information is called making it available..."
Could these words be more prescient? But it's the title that resonates at the present moment. If you voted for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, the sense of powerlessness may be overwhelming right now. Trump's election in 2016 carried a message that was dispiriting enough. That message was stark and it was demeaning: Rational thought no longer matters.
That destruction of rationality - of the Enlightenment - percolated through society. The "elite" institutions we may have resented but grudgingly respected, like The New Yorker or The New York Times, no longer matter. There are far more non-college-educated voters than intellectuals in America, and those "low-information" voters have been weaponized, most recently by Elon Musk, who changed Twitter's algorithm to submit users to a relentless barrage of pro-Trump messaging.
If ever there was an argument for regulating Big Tech as publishers rather than "neutral" platforms, this was it. But signs of the media's irrelevance, and the concomitant loss of respect for expertise, had been appearing for decades. In 2004, the New Yorker made its first endorsement of a presidential candidate: John Kerry. We all know how that went. The coarsening of discourse that followed has been amply documented elsewhere.
America's hollowing out won't be resolved overnight, and salvation won't be found in warmed-over Reaganism promulgated by political consultants. The immediate choice that presents itself to us is, in the words of a psychologist I once knew, not attractive. "You have two choices and both of them are bad." We can be depressed. (Well, we are.) There is an understandable feeling that nothing we do matters. Or we can continue to exercise the rights that we still have, as if America's civil society still existed, because, believe it or not, much of it does.
Journalists are not activists; it's a personality thing. Attuned to the nuances of character and the inevitable recognition of character flaws, we are not true believers. But fairness dictates a recognition that there is good news amid the horror, the horror. Trump's margin was not as large as initially reported. Strong Democratic candidates were elected: Arizona's Ruben Gallego and Michigan's Elissa Slotkin, both to the Senate. Gallego was a U.S. Marine. Slotkin a CIA analyst. These are not creampuffs. The relentless and principled constitutional law scholar Jamie Raskin continues to serve in the House.
On Substack, Robert B. Hubbell's most recent column was called "Put one foot in front of the other. Repeat." This is always good advice, but there was more.
The president-elect has a feral sense that many Democrats are emotionally vulnerable. His cabinet picks are designed to rub salt in our wounds and deepen our sense of bewilderment. We must recognize that the ludicrous nominations over the past week are part of a strategy to dispirit and weaken Democrats—in hopes of reducing their resolve to resist his dark plans.
We cannot give in to the president-elect’s transparent ploy. Although I am not a fan of the Godfather movie franchise (no hate mail, please!), every American knows the line, “‘It’s not personal, Sonny. It’s strictly business.”
Trump’s bizarre, anti-government nominations are not personal. They are strictly business—to Trump and to us. He is using them as an emotional cudgel against Democrats and a test of loyalty for incredulous Republicans. Our job is to defeat as many of the nominations as possible—thereby demonstrating that Trump is vulnerable and weak after his narrow win.
Hubbell, an attorney rather than a journalist, urges readers to do something so familiar we've almost forgotten it amid the sense of our world turned upside down: Write to legislators. He links to Jessica Craven's Substack, Chop Wood Carry Water, which contains scripts for calling legislative offices. Craven is more upbeat than many of us, but her points about down ballot victories are well-taken. Her scripts and links are here, at the bottom of this story. It is worth noting that much of the writing that meets the moment is not to be found at the New York Times or the Washington Post despite strong work by people like Michelle Goldberg and Ezra Klein but on Substack, a long-overdue democratization of our discourse.
"I've found the cure for depression is action," said Yvon Chouinard, the founder of outdoor products company Patagonia. Action may be a transitory balm, but it's something. To be fair, there is also the cynical but perhaps equally justified stance taken by JP Sottile, aka The Newsvandal, who counsels us to let Trump's overreach play out, speeding his self-destruction.
In the meantime, let's take comfort from our own strange bedfellows, as Nancy Sinatra, Frank Sinatra's daughter and singer who's best known for "These Boots Are Made for Walking" makes common cause with Jorie Graham, possibly America's most decorated living poet, on what remains of Twitter/X.
Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
I’m calling in strong opposition to Matt Gaetz’s confirmation as Attorney General. Gaetz has zero qualifications for being the highest law enforcement official in the land. He has never been a government attorney. He has never been a judge. He is also under investigation by the House Ethics Committee in connection with a sex-trafficking scandal and their report, which needs to be released, is apparently damning. This would be a joke if it weren’t so serious. I expect the Senator to vote no. Will s/he? [H/T]
[If your Senator is a Democrat add:]
Also, Democrats need to confirm every single judge they can in the next 67 days before Trump is sworn in. We have lots of vacancies and they need to be filled now. This is urgent. Everything else needs to take second place. Will the Democrats use every single minute to confirm judges and also get any agency appointments done that they can? Thanks.
Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
I’m calling to demand that the Congressmember push the House Ethics Committee to release its report on Matt Gaetz. Trump has nominated Gaetz to be the highest law enforcement officer in the country. If he himself is a sex trafficker and/or statutory rapist we need to know it. If the Congressmember cares about the rule of law s/he will make this a top priority. Thanks.
Extra Credit ✅
Call Democratic members of the House Ethics Committee to urge them to ensure the public sees whatever damning information they have found about Matt Gaetz before any confirmation vote, whether by reading the report into the Congressional Record or leaking it to the press. We can reach them here:
Rep. Susan Wild (PA, Ranking Member) - 202-225-6411
Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (CA) - 202-225-2095
Rep. Veronica Escobar (TX) - 202-225-4831
Rep. Glenn Ivey (MD) - 202-225-8699
Rep. Deborah Ross (NC) - 202-225-3032
A possible script:
I’m calling the Congressmember in his/her capacity as member of the House Ethics Committee. I want him/her to ensure that the public sees whatever damning information the committee has found about Matt Gaetz before any confirmation vote. Either read the report into the Congressional Record or leak it to the press. This is information Americans—and Senators preparing to vote—must have. Thanks.
Susan Zakin is the Journal's editor.