Representative Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) called out Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and their Republican allies in a now a viral speech. Her words, however, echoed in a mostly empty chamber. As Rep. Stansbury noted, many Republicans aren’t even bothering to appear in Congress anymore. The result? Impassioned speeches against injustice and fascism were delivered to rows of empty seats and a handful of cameras. It’s an infuriating symbol of what’s happening in the country at large. Republican and Democratic politicians alike have been complicit, either by silence or deed, as fascism tightens its iron glove around America’s throat. Did Rep. Stansbury’s speech go far enough?
Rep. Melanie Stansbury vs. Trump and Musk
Banning children’s books, gutting federal agencies, cutting life-saving aid programs, and handing sensitive taxpayer info to a rogue billioniare? It’s all in a few weeks’ work for the Trump administration. As the top Democrat on the House’s DOGE subcommittee, Rep. Stansbury recently called on Elon Musk to testify before the body. In her speech, Stansbury had no trouble calling out her conservative colleagues either:
Republicans are acting like there’s nothing to see here because they’re in on it, guys. That’s why they’re not here on the floor. [….] What is happening right now in this country is not normal, and Democrats are fighting back.
Unfortunately, Democrats being on the floor has produced little in terms of results. While everyday Americans take to the streets, liberal politicians have clung to respectability politics and hopes of compromise, even to the point of paralysis. When elected officials won’t even shove aside a white supremacist illegally barring them from the Department of Education, it’s hard to say Democrats are “fighting back.”
Debate and discussion didn’t even work well against the old brand of American conservative. Those tactics can’t succeed against fascists who only use conversation as a stalling tactic until the guns come out. Rep. Stansbury’s assessment of her Republican colleagues is apt, but stopping Trump and Musk will take more than strong words in an empty chamber.
