politics – Page 2 – Between Hell and High Water

A Modest Strategy of Great Ambition

By Mike Koetting February 17, 2026

While the mid-term elections are ten months off, and ten months is a political eternity, polling suggests it is very likely Democrats will gain a majority in the House and might even eke out a tiny Senate margin. Inshallah.

One hopes this would allow the Democrats to serve as a somewhat greater brake on Donald Trump’s worst impulses. The degree to which that will happen is unclear since so much of what he does is, to be generous, extra-legal. Thus, the ability to slow him will play out in real time when we get there.

Still, having a plan might be good. Here are a broad set of strategies that Democrats might use as a framework for the following two years—if they are willing and able to do so. I think the difficulty of following these strategies will be less a function of Trumplican opposition and more a function of the party’s internal workings, which, by the way, are not unique to Dems but are inherent in the way we allowed our pollical and cultural environments to evolve.

The Reality of a Progressive-Populist Alliance

By Mike Koetting November 11, 2025

In my last post, I suggested that at least one way forward is some kind of populist-progressive alliance. Although more thinking about such an alliance raises some concerns, as last week’s election results illustrate, this is probably the way forward.

Obvious Convergence on Economic Issues

The primary basis for such an alliance is the concern over economic issues. We are currently in an anomalous situation where the stock market continues to boom. And while numerous other macroeconomic indicators are not plunging, the underlying realities are increasingly wobbly and the stress for many individuals and families acute.

The Unnecessary Scarcity We Tolerate Is Tearing Up the Country

By Mike Koetting October 28, 2025

I’ve been thinking that Abundance, the Ezra Klein-Derek Thompson book, has the right idea but the focus is too narrow.

The Klein-Thompson book starts with the observation that scarcity is a choice. It then proceeds to assume that the way out of the scarcity trap is to make it easier to create more stuff so that all may experience the abundance of what our technology can produce. This clearly has an element of truth. They correctly identify bottlenecks in our current production of social goods and they are right that there is no political appetite for “degrowth.” So power to their suggestions.

That said, however, they miss the urgency of the situation. A large chunk of the population is furious. Trying to remove obstacles to creating greater supply of desired goods, while laudable, is simply not a solution commensurate with the degree of anger in the body politic. I think Michael Hirschorn, in a recent New York Times op-ed piece, has a better handle on where we are: “Trumpism is more than politics. It’s an emotional gas-main explosion, from people who felt unheard, patronized, left behind.”

The Moment of Truth

By Mike Koetting October 14, 2025

I believe we are approaching a “make-or-break” point for Trump’s authoritarian impulses.

It’s not a question of what he wants to do. That’s clear. In the last several weeks, he has replaced Federal Attorneys until he found one who would pursue an embarrassingly flimsy indictment against one of his enemies, he signed an executive order that raised the possibility almost any kind of dissent could be treated as “treason,” he posted on Truth Social that Democrats are “THE PARTY OF HATE, EVIL, AND SATAN,” and he lectured the leaders of the Armed Services that their mission included fighting the “enemies within”.

His approach to controlling immigration is increasingly inhumane. His masked marauders have grabbed people off the streets with little regard for their situations or actual legal status. Here in Chicago, along with the wanton cruelty and indifference to legality, there has been a major performance element designed to intimidate: armed border guards patrolling the Chicago River, military marches down Michigan Avenue on a Sunday afternoon and ICE agents rappelling from Blackhawk helicopters into apartments filled with sleeping families—separating children from parents and causing total pandemonium. Now Trump is calling for Governor Pritzker and Mayor Johnson to be jailed.

Attacking Medical Science

By Mike Koetting September 15, 2025

Every once and a while, you’ll run across an article about a bunch of teens absolutely trashing a local school. You’ll shake your head and wonder, “What the hell is this about? Okay, they don’t like school. But this doesn’t make any sense.”

What Trump and his Republican enablers are doing to the American scientific enterprise is remarkably similar, except with results that are going to be a lot worse. It’s a bit hard to tell exactly how great the damage will be given the uncertainty of what actions will withstand court challenges, what administrative actions will be taken to circumvent courts or where the juvenile in charge will change his mind. But working on this essay made it clear to me it is even worse than you probably imagined. Media covers it one event at a time, without stepping back to see the whole catalogue of damage. Likewise, the more you look at it, not only do you realize it’s more dangerous, but you also realize it is even more senseless than appears.

Old Political Order Fading; Future Is Scary

By Mike Koetting September 3, 2025

David Brooks, taking anguished stock of the depredations of Trump and the Republicans, on PBS NewsHour, wondered why there aren’t more people in the streets. This is a question I have often asked myself. And am not the only one. What Trump and the Republicans are doing is so destructive of the spirit of democracy as to demand vigorous response.

But if the attack on the ideals of America is so fundamental, why aren’t there more people in the streets?

Why Do We Tolerate the Crypto Scam?

By Mike Koetting

Republicans in Congress declared the week of July 14 as “Crypto Week” with the intent of passing three bills on crypto currencies as part of a push to boost and legitimize the U.S. cryptocurrency industry by giving it a regulatory framework that’s lighter than what traditional financial assets and institutions face but at the same time creates an aurora of legitimacy. All three of these bills passed. One, the so-called GENIUS Act, had already been passed by the Senate—with 18 Democratic votes– and Trump has signed it into law. The other two also passed, but face an uncertain future in the Senate. Not surprisingly, the value of existing cryptocurrency soared with the attention. Bitcoin, the best known cryptocurrency, hit an all-time high.

The details of these bills aren’t anywhere near as important as the fact that crypto is being treated seriously. There is no compelling reason for cryptocurrencies and profound reasons why they should simply be ignored. Or banned if ignoring them turns out to leave too many risky possibilities in play.

Are Our Responses Matching the Risks?

By Mike Koetting June 24, 2025

Our country is drifting toward an authoritarian state. This is a fact, not a matter of opinion. One might argue about the speed of the drift or, in theory, even whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing. But one can’t really argue in good faith about the direction.

I am guessing most of the readers of this blog are troubled by this. The question that I can’t get out of my head is how should I feelabout it. And, then, what should I do about it. Asking these questions raises a lot of philosophical questions about what does the abstraction of democracy or, even, of country, mean, none of which have simple answers.

But it seems to me that there are fundamental reasons to believe that democracy is superior to authoritarianism, so much so, I would submit that standing up for it is a moral imperative.

Republican Organization Is (Mostly) an Illusion

By Mike Koetting June 10, 2025

How many times have you heard someone say: “Democrats need to get organized like Republicans.” I don’t have any problem with the idea of getting organized. What I find problematic is the idea that the Republicans have some magic template. For the most part, they are as disorganized as Democrats. They have simply hitched their wagons to one of the world’s most accomplished grifters and let him drag them wherever he wants to go. This simplifies organization enormously. To be sure, Trump has accommodated them by making various nods in the directions of long-time Republican goals. But it is erratic, inconsistent, and can be seen as part of an organized plan only through a peculiar lens. See below about Project 2025.

Democrats Real Problem Is a Lack of Options

By Mike Koetting May 27, 2025

I am increasingly skeptical that characterizations of the Democrats as chronically disorganized are useful. Democrats probably are disorganized. But all political parties are…and the more democratic they are, the more that is the case.

No doubt, mistakes were made in the last election. The biggest one was when Biden insisted on running. Maybe you could blame that on the Party. But just ask the (former) Republican establishment how easy is it is control someone who had structural momentum. And, although a year or so later one can spin all kinds of counter-historical scenarios, at the time there were compelling reasons not to pursue various alternatives.

Post-election, options are even more limited. The other party controls the national government and Democrats have no leverage. Republicans would prefer to toss over all reason (not to mention the Constitution) rather than strike any kind of compromise.