“Do Something!”
If you’re tuning into the news, you’re hearing a lot of reminders of why you stopped bothering watching to begin with. The latest trend is “Do Something!” a phrase you’ve probably heard pretty regularly since at least 2021, and coming from a lot of the same people who were wrong back then too. It’s easy to get caught up in this as well, when Republicans are acting with the same reckless abandon that they promised they would act with whenever they get a lot of power and win elections, and disastrous things tend to happen as a result.
There’s a problem with this line of thinking – and it’s likely also the same reason you’re hearing it amplified a lot. People claim they’re holding the Democrats accountable, whatever that means, by calling them out on not acting out the way they’d like – kind of a way to differentiate themselves from right-wingers who cling to their cult figures regardless of how poorly they’re treated. The trouble is, this line of thinking denies treating Republican politicians like they’re actually adults who have agency – even if they are terrible at governing.
We tend to think that Republicans will always do the evil thing – and that’s not necessarily too far removed from reality – as they likely would if given the chance. However, they’re more likely to do the selfish thing necessary for their own political survival – even if it means going against Donald Trump. Coming out of the gate, we actually did see them engage in some of this, by refusing to advance the nomination of Matt Gaetz.
A better plan is to use the current social media climate to show this is a time that Republicans can’t govern – that their coalition is falling apart while they let someone as lawless as Elon Musk act with impunity. Whether you’re represented by a Democrat or Republican – you should be making calls now to do something about him – and the only ones doing something thus far are the Democrats, while Republicans are hoping we all look the other way.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making