The Two Games Aren't Level: Dems Shouldn't Cooperate but Countries Should Pander

 I am seeing some stories of Democrats trying to pick off some elements of the Trump 2.0 agenda and agreeing to cooperate with them while I also saw much condemnation of Canadian PM Trudeau for going to Marlago to pander to Trump.  This is exactly backwards.  The key is this: the Democrats and foreign leaders are playing completely different games so don't expect them to behave the same.

The easier thing is foreign leaders: yes, going to meet with Trump legitimizes Trump a bit.  But foreign leaders have no choice--the American people elected Trump president again.  Yes, it sucks, but here we/they are.  The President is the actor for any country around the globe in normal times, and when the President happens to threaten his opponents or even his supposed friends with political violence and when his party is full of cowards yet they dominate every national institution, a foreign leader has to interact with Trump.  

This pic also legitimates Ivanka... yuck

People's memories are short, but very prominent and powerful leaders visited Trump in December of 2016 to get a sense of Trump and also, yes, to pander to him.  Trump is easy to manipulate if you know how, and flattery will get you very far.  Japan's Prime Minister Abe played Trump early and it paid dividends for the entire Trump 1.0 administration.  Did Japan get heaps of crap for not spending 2%?  Not nearly as much as other countries.  As far as I can recall, Japan did not get nearly as much pressure as South Korea for the privilege of hosting American troops.  

To be clear, this time, trying to go around Trump will not work.  Team Canada did a great job playing to Republicans in Congress and to Republican governors to try to minimize Trump's threats to the US-Canada trade relationship.  This time, it will simply not work.  This GOP is not the same GOP--it is now thoroughly Trump's party, which means they will do his bidding most of the time even if it hurts the interests of their district or state.  They live in fear of his encouraging them to be primaried or to have his supporters sicced on them.  So, yeah, Trudeau pandering to Trump's ego is the right move.  Will Pierre Poilevre be able to do so or will Trump look at him like he looks at Ted Cruz?

On to the Dems.  They need to oppose everything Trump does.  They need to make him fail.  This worked for the GOP, so time to learn from the opposition. The Dems need to paint every bad thing as being Trump's fault, they need to block as much as they can for as long as they can.  His policies will do harm, and the "good" ones will only provide cover for the bad ones.  Working with Musk and Vivek on the dodgy DOGE bullshit only grants it legitimacy it should not have.  The problem with government is not that it is wasteful--the problem with government today is that the GOP prevents it from serving the American people.  Remember what the Postal Service did during the first Trump Admin?  FFS.

Musk should be confronted at all times--he has not been confirmed by the Senate, DOGE is not a legitimate government agency, it should not be treated as anything other than a billionaire's club.  

To be clear, the election was close, and Harris lost because the pandemic and international dynamics produced inflation.  It was not a mandate for radical change that Trump proposes.  While the immigration message played well, there is no immigration crisis and it should not be granted the status of a real thing.  The Dems should fight back on that even if it is not popular at the moment.  It will become more popular as Trump's massive deportation hurts lots of Trump voters and everyone else and as it devastates the economy.  Get in front of it, for fuck suck.  

The only thing the Dems should avoid doing is hurting people.  So, the Dems can't close the government in a bargaining situation with Trump.  But then again, they don't control either house, so that's not really a choice.  But they should block everything else.  Stand for something.  And don't grant any of Trump's initiatives any legitimacy.  Unlike a foreign leader, you don't have to work with Trump.