A Losing Battle is Still Worth Fighting
"Do Not Obey In Advance" isn't just a saying
I have no patience for people who won’t take a risk in the face of unavoidable calamity.
As a Red State Democrat, you could say I know a little bit about being backed into a metaphorical corner, having few options, and seeing that you’re likely going to lose the political battle you’re in.
In those situations, you have two choices.
You can use your energy to push back and force them to engage with you, or you can roll over and give them a free pass.
You can guess which path I take.
Last year I reread “On Tyranny,” the book by then-Yale Historian (now American expat in Canada) Timothy Snyder. At just over 100 pages, it’s a quick read and I highly recommend it. Within its pages he lays out the principles and rules of engagement with a budding authoritarian regime.
His first rule is easy enough to say but harder to live out loud: Do Not Obey In Advance.
Snyder goes on: Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.
I’d add a slight caveat, because while I appreciate Snyder’s first rule, these days I see more exhausted resignation than obedience. Perhaps the 2025 version of his first rule should be: Do Not Give Up In Advance. A rule we would do well to abide by.
Because watching the actions and reactions to the ever-growing mountain of DJT’s unlawful actions, it’s clear that even people faithful to the opposition can be lulled into a belief that because the chances for “success” are slim, resistance is not only futile – it’s a waste of precious resources and therefore shouldn’t be attempted.
This is folly – and weaponized nihilism.
The Republican machine learned long ago that Democrats will give up if the fight looks too tough to win. (For example, Democrats taught them that gerrymandering state legislative districts into ever-more-difficult-to-win slices would be rewarded with uncontested and unsupported races.) And unfortunately we’ve reinforced the “nothing matters anyway so why bother” point of view in our own ranks, where a nihilist attitude shows up in social media comments and op-ed essays.
I saw it most recently this weekend, after I suggested that Democrats do everything possible to hold Donald Trump accountable for unilaterally and without congressional approval bombing three nuclear facilities in Iran.
Listen, we can have a spirited debate about the constitutionality of his bombing of Iran; I had one this morning with a dear friend and colleague. But alongside the many comments from those who agreed that we should try to hold Trump accountable were others who didn’t disagree necessarily with the merits – but simply saw any reaction as useless.
They reasoned that nothing can be done because Republicans won’t hold him accountable, and we don’t hold any levers of power in Congress … so why bother?
This toxic outlook is poisoning our country.
It’s also flat wrong.
Democrats have been trained over decades to behave as though the only fight worth waging is the one you can win. But a noble fight has value beyond the outcome.
There’s pride and honor in standing for your principles, and in making the greatest effort, even when (especially when) all looks lost. There’s the value of the message that your effort sends – to compatriots, to opponents, and to onlookers. There’s value in forcing your opponent to expend resources (time, talent, treasure) just on responding to you.
There’s value in delay. (Just ask Trump’s legal team how valuable delay can be.)
And yes, there’s value in spectacle and expressing raw emotion and providing people with clear evidence that you are as angry and offended and horrified as they are. Whether you call it messaging or strategy – if investigations and articles of impeachment didn’t matter, why on earth would Republicans have spent the last few decades drumming up fake charges and filing articles of impeachment?
Fact is, we simply cannot counter an authoritarian regime that has the power of the federal government behind it if we aren’t willing to wage some political battles that on paper look unwinnable – but that we simply can’t back down from because principle demands action.
Take a lesson or two from Red State Democrats – those of us who are in states that have been uncontested, underfunded, undervalued, and overlooked. Refuse to give up. Demand accountability. Force Republicans to expend energy. Force them to spend resources. Refuse them the open runway they so desperately want.
And if things are ever looking bleak (and I know they often do these days), I hope you’ll remember: History has literally been made by people whose circumstances have backed them into a corner. What a boring story life would be if we just gave up when things looked too tough.
Do not underestimate the power of someone who has nothing to lose.
Do not give up in advance, friend.
Let’s get to work.
Actions for the Week of June 24, 2025
Friend, things may be heavy – but you can lighten that load by doing something small – a “small deed” – to bring about the world that you want to see. In doing so we tell the world, the universe, our leaders – and most importantly, ourselves – that we will not go quietly into that good night.
I call it Action Therapy.
That’s why in each Tuesday post I share a few “small things” – usually a Small Thing to Read, a Small Event to Attend, and a Small Call to Make or Action to Take. My intention here is to give you actions you can tuck into your week with ease – and know that you’re doing something today to make tomorrow better.
Join me in doing so. It matters.
Small Call to Make: Oppose Senate Reconciliation Bill
This week the Senate is scheduled to take up the reconciliation bill that, depending upon the source, is called the “big beautiful bill” or the “MAGA murder budget.”
Because I love sharing great resources, I’m going to encourage you to go to 5Calls for a great script and for further information about each of the provisions in this terrible, awful bill, which include:
Deep cuts to Medicaid, including harsh new work requirements
New Medicare eligibility rules and increased costs for dual Medicaid-Medicare enrollees
Tripling the budget for ICE and Trump’s mass deportation effort
Authorization for the sale of public lands and increased incentives for fossil fuel production
Widespread rollback of clean energy tax incentives and climate protections
Unprecedented funding cuts and expansion of work requirements for SNAP
Limits on a court’s ability to issue temporary restraining orders or preliminary injunctions
Funding cuts to clinical care services at Planned Parenthood and gender-affirming care for Medicaid and CHIP recipients
Requiring states block all AI regulation for 10 years in order to receive federal broadband funding
A $150 billion increase to an already bloated Pentagon budget
A national private school voucher program that diverts funding from public schools and sets up a new tax shelter for the wealthy
An increased excise tax on college endowments
Widespread changes to student loan access, protections, and repayment options
Harmful changes to federal worker pay, benefits, unions, and protections against unjust treatment
Slashes to funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) by nearly 70%
Elimination of a tax on gun silencer sales
Raising the debt limit by $5 trillion purely to fund tax cuts for the wealthy, adding trillions to the national debt.
It really is critical that you call your Senators this week.
Here’s the script from 5Calls: https://5calls.org/issue/hr1-one-big-beautiful-bill-act-budget-reconciliation/
Small Event to Attend: Thursday – Mueller, She Wrote + Jess Piper + Me!
Join Jess Piper, the Executive Director of Blue Missouri, and Dr. Allison Gill (also know as Mueller, She Wrote) and me on Thursday night at 7:30 eastern for our Blue Missouri meeting. It’s going to be a lively and fun conversation, and we hope you can join! Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/htNks1fLStOpaJwgUhHEuQ
Small Things to Read: Impact of NIH Cuts + Your Brain on ChatGPT
First, earlier this month, ProPublica published a haunting article detailing some of the impacts of funding cuts to research and the scientists conducting it. The article, Shattered Science, is both expert storytelling and an excellent resource document. It combines quotes from the scientists/patients/study participants with details about the funding cuts and programs impacted. This is a good one to bookmark.
Second, plenty of folks are using AI tools like ChatGPT for tasks; the impact of these technologies is not fully appreciated. I’m actually connecting with some folks on this topic and will hopefully have more for you in the coming weeks.
But in the meantime, I wanted to share a study (yes, the actual study!) by some MIT researchers, who explored the impact of using ChatGPT on you brain. The study is written up here: Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task
You will not be surprised to learn that the researchers concluded that “longitudinal studies are needed in order to understand the long-term impact of [AI like ChatGPT] on the human brain, before [it is] recognized as something that is net positive for the humans.” It’s a worthy read!
Thanks for reading, friend – I’m glad to see you here! You’re making a difference, I promise.
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As a red state democrat (Texas), although I live in the tiny blue dot of Travis County (Austin), I have to say it was gratifying to participate in the No Kings Protest in Pflugerville, which is in the more red area of Travis Co. We had a lot of us out there, many grey hairs, and many young people. We need to keep representing where we aren't the most visible people. At least we do keep putting Dems up against the Rethuglicans around us, and I hope we keep making inroads.
I am standing up, hands clasped over my heart. As I've already done the stuff on your list, I'd just like to highlight a memorable phrase you put out there: "But a noble fight has value beyond the outcome." I watched a short drama (two episodes) last night on Netflix, I think it was (my husband is Master in Charge of the Remote, so). It was about the massacre of a religious sect known as the Cathars, in Medieval France by a cadre of fanatical Catholic Crusaders, for the sin of believing the 'heretical doctrine'of reincarnation. Whatever you might think of that what stood out is the often quiet resistance and heroism of those within the castle and town under seige, who, even at the point of death, remained noble and true to who they were and their ideals. That this story has survived for hundreds and hundreds of years tells a tale like that of quantum entanglement or spooky influence at a distance from quantum physics. Everything is connected, and so everything matters. If we can't find it within ourselves to stand up for who we are and what we hold most dear, we will not only fail ourselves, but everyone who comes after us. Vive La Resistance, my sister.