The Split Ticket
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Listen to this article: How Democratic Elitism Cancelled American Governance
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Listen to this article: How Democratic Elitism Cancelled American Governance

The government is basically the first season of Firefly

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Before you read this essay, please note that I am not referring to the ordinary folks who may have lost their jobs due to Doge—instead, I’m referring to a very specific type of person.

"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."
—The Who, "Won't Get Fooled Again" (1971)

The Democratic Party is full of people who aren’t half as sympathetic as they think—starting with Kamala Harris, who confused her own vacuous charisma for actual popularity. They assume we owe them tears when their grants or cushy jobs get cut. But why? This is the same party that spent the Obama era lecturing us about all the things government can’t do—healthcare, jobs, you name it—while building an administrative state that sidelined Congress. Now Elon Musk is calling their bluff: “Fine, let’s just cut government.” Suddenly, all those professors and DC lifers—the ones who spent years sneering at laid-off factory workers (“Learn to code!”)—are sweating because their sinecures might vanish.

Tough luck. These are the same people who dismissed the idea of a public option & federal job guarantee but never bothered to explain why their gender studies department or consultant cousin’s grant deserved taxpayer money. You end up sounding like those CEOs who demanded bonuses after crashing the economy in 2008. Make the damn case or get out. America’s not your trust fund.

And spare me the meltdown over Musk “destroying democracy.” Democrats paved the way for this. Nancy Pelosi and Dianne Feinstein—brain-dead dynasts clinging to power like Saddam Hussein in a pantsuit—are no more legitimate than Musk. Hell, it’s easier to overthrow Gaddafi than to primary Randy Weingarten at the AFT. Pelosi’s been dodging debates and challengers for decades, and Feinstein literally died in office because the party couldn’t be bothered to nudge her out. You want me to fight for this “democracy”? A system where Pelosi poses in kente cloth for photo-ops while treating Congress like her family’s LLC? Give me a break.

This party’s been alienating its base forever. Remember when they kneecapped Bernie? Told the “unwashed masses” to sit down and let the elites handle things? Congrats—now Musk and Trump are the elites, and they’re handling things their way. You are now the unwashed masses. Poor folks already know the drill: America keeps chugging along no matter how many of them die in the streets. So when DC bureaucrats lose their jobs? Cry me a river. The country won’t collapse. Twitter didn’t collapse when Musk fired 80% of its staff and replaced them with Doge meme enthusiasts. My tweets still go out. The app’s still here, just like the U.S. will survive your layoffs. Turns out, the world doesn’t revolve around your LinkedIn profile.

Being an American now is like watching your favorite TV show get canceled despite a letter-writing campaign to save it. We’re spectators in our own government—cheering, booing, but never deciding. And Democrats have been running this show most of my adult life. I saw the writing on the wall in the early 2000s in San Francisco. There was an election—Matt Gonzalez vs. Gavin Newsom—and even in that “progressive” utopia, the system was cooked. Newsom won, proving SF wasn’t populist enough to elect a guy who literally was Ralph Nader’s friggin’ running mate. That’s when I realized elections are just Netflix reruns: the same cast, the same plot, no surprises.

Now Musk rolls in like Bain, hiring a bunch of Ivy League kids to audit companies and fire people. We were fine when your niece did the same thing at Deloitte or McKinsey—you bragged about her salary! But when Musk does it to your federal contract? Suddenly it’s oppression. Please. You’ve spent decades casually stepping over ordinary folks while clutching your government jobs. Now the market’s coming for you, and all that “expertise” won’t save you. And the entire culture industry failed because this is America’s culture.

If Democrats want us to fight for them, give us something worth fighting for. Open the primaries. Force Pelosi to debate. Toss out the consultants and actually fight for a government that guarantees jobs—not just grants for your buddies. Before we a start a party called the “Luigi” party or something. Otherwise, why should roofers, factory workers, or single moms care when Musk axes 200,000 federal jobs? You didn’t fight for them. You didn’t even see them.

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