We’re in the middle of fighting off a coup. I know that captures everyone’s attention. But let’s think ahead. Suppose we overcome this MAGA coup. That’s a pleasant thought, right? So, what happens next? We’ll have to deal with long-term issues about the new democracy we might create from these ruins. But there’s an immediate issue we can’t ignore.

What will we do about the criminals who broke everything? They stole billions, broke endless laws, violated our Constitution, and savaged our people. What do we do about them?

We don’t have to make this up from scratch. There are great examples that worked well. Germany’s denazification and South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation process jump to mind. But those were carefully designed and implemented. That doesn’t just happen on its own; it takes planning, funding, staffing, and probably years of intensive work. But it’s possible. We have examples that were effective.

Here’s the depressing part: the Democratic Party is really our only hope to defeat the MAGA coup. They’re all we’ve got. So, what does the Democratic Party leadership propose? You know the answer already: squat. They haven’t proposed anything. I follow the news with an unhealthy focus, but I haven’t seen anything. I rail at our leaders, and while they’re constantly moaning about what they hate, they scrupulously avoid anything about what they’ll do. I mean, anything. The Democratic politicians outside leadership are a well of new ideas, but Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Hakeem Jeffries seem empty.

Look what they did the last time. The Democratic response to Trump’s January 6th insurrection and the behind-the-scenes MAGA fake electors was mostly a feckless, low-energy disaster. They prosecuted some low-level offenders while avoiding every leader of consequence.

The only exception was impeaching Trump. That should have been workable, given that he’d just tried to kill half the people voting on it, but somehow, it wasn’t close. That was a hint. But the Democratic leadership’s reaction was to dawdle, hem, and haw. Apparently, it violated decorum to actually do something.

We already know that doing nothing to hold people accountable *guarantees* we’ll do this again after a few years, but more violently. Look at Hitler.

Now look at Trump’s coup. He already has a personal army that’s better funded than almost any other nation on Earth. He’s directly threatening everything we hold dear.

But as we do our best to fight off a full paramilitary coup with whistles and cameras, we have the same leaders who botched the Jan 6 response.

Remember that mistake. No, Schumer and Jeffries don’t get the benefit of the doubt when there’s no doubt. They haven’t given us anything. They’re already making those same mistakes. “Hey, Chuck! Another CR for DHS?” “Sure,” he says.

It’s their job to make the case about why they should be in charge. That’s how democracy works. And it’d be easy to fire up voters. Just tell us what we can look forward to. What will they do if we put them back in power? They screwed it up the last time, so what have they learned? What will they change?

Sen. Chris Murphy has ideas. Rep. Jamie Raskin won’t coddle criminals. We have better people. We should make them our leaders.