"Do not kneel to this dictator. Get off the couch. Don’t hide your head under a pillow. Speak up."
Senator Jeff Merkley, October 5, 2025
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| U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, (D. OR) |
My wife and I held a fundraising event for Senator Jeff Merkley at our home yesterday. It was a beautiful day. The event was well-attended.
The big surprise to me was Merkley himself. I have never seen Merkley like this. He was animated, intense, and angry. He said President Trump is dangerous and that America needed to treat the situation like the crisis it is.
I have known Jeff Merkley for 18 years. I like and admire him. I consider him a Bernie Sanders-Elizabeth Warren-style Democrat, and I am more centrist, but he fits Oregon pretty well, especially now that President Trump is targeting Oregon. A great swath of Oregonians can unify against a common enemy who openly says he wants to punish Oregon financially because we have mail-in elections. How dare we defy him?! He is going to make us pay.
I had expectations that Merkley would be true to type. The Merkley style has appeal as counterpoint to the politics of this Trump era. In 2019 he explored the possibility of running for president and he made some appearances in Iowa. I was happy to help that effort. Possibly, just possibly, Americans would see Merkley as an antidote to Trump. Voters might decide they like the Merkley style of reverse-charisma the way that Jimmy Carter's plain-folk piety was a welcome change from Nixon. And if Democrats wanted a candidate who could relate to working Americans, Merkley was their guy.
But his presidential exploration didn't work out. In a pool of 15 Democrats, an earnest low-key candidate got lost.
Senator Merkley took me by surprise when he spoke at the event on my patio. He still dressed schlumpy -- that didn't change -- but something new is going on with his tone and manner. Mr. Low Key is gone. He is sounding an alarm. America has a big, imminent problem: Our democracy is under attack right now. He referenced the book, How Democracies Die, and said our democracy is on track to die just like the ones the book describes. First, the legislature voluntarily gives up its power; second, the courts consent to lawless action by the executive. The third requirement is an executive with a ruthless temperament and a desire for dictatorial power. All three elements are in place, Merkley said. "We are in trouble. This is the biggest threat to our republic since the Civil War."
He said that way to stop an autocrat is to oppose him and do so immediately. Fighting him in the first year is critical. The public needs to see that the executive's actions are not normal, and that they aren't treated as normal. We cannot let people get accustomed to the idea of autocracy.
Merkley described the ICE presence in Portland. They are not there as peacekeepers. They are provocateurs. They escalate encounters into confrontations. They use pepper spray and tear gas while roughhousing detainees, all for the benefit of video cameras Trump has in place. It is performance with a purpose, to justify declaring an emergency to justify military action against citizens. There is a larger project, Merkley said, and that it to make it impossible for Americans to self-correct through elections. Democracy itself is in danger.
Merkley doesn't sound discouraged. He said that even though Congress and the courts have disappointed, the people themselves are starting to understand. He said that the telephone and letter volume he is getting has ramped up sharply. People are aware of the threat to our democracy.
"Beware the fury of a patient man"
Senator Merkley took me by surprise when he spoke at the event on my patio. He still dressed schlumpy -- that didn't change -- but something new is going on with his tone and manner. Mr. Low Key is gone. He is sounding an alarm. America has a big, imminent problem: Our democracy is under attack right now. He referenced the book, How Democracies Die, and said our democracy is on track to die just like the ones the book describes. First, the legislature voluntarily gives up its power; second, the courts consent to lawless action by the executive. The third requirement is an executive with a ruthless temperament and a desire for dictatorial power. All three elements are in place, Merkley said. "We are in trouble. This is the biggest threat to our republic since the Civil War."
He said that way to stop an autocrat is to oppose him and do so immediately. Fighting him in the first year is critical. The public needs to see that the executive's actions are not normal, and that they aren't treated as normal. We cannot let people get accustomed to the idea of autocracy.
Merkley described the ICE presence in Portland. They are not there as peacekeepers. They are provocateurs. They escalate encounters into confrontations. They use pepper spray and tear gas while roughhousing detainees, all for the benefit of video cameras Trump has in place. It is performance with a purpose, to justify declaring an emergency to justify military action against citizens. There is a larger project, Merkley said, and that it to make it impossible for Americans to self-correct through elections. Democracy itself is in danger.
Merkley doesn't sound discouraged. He said that even though Congress and the courts have disappointed, the people themselves are starting to understand. He said that the telephone and letter volume he is getting has ramped up sharply. People are aware of the threat to our democracy.
"Beware the fury of a patient man"
John Dryden, 1681
Merkley is running for re-election.
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Merkley is running for re-election.
[Note: To get daily delivery of this blog to your email go to: https://petersage.substack.com. Subscribe. Don't pay. The blog is free and always will be.]
4 comments:
He is 100% correct, as anyone with a functioning brain already knows.
Why aren't there any Blacks or Hispanics at this gathering? Looks like a gathering of racist white elites to me.
Merkley is angry. That should tell you something.
So called "moderates" are better than nothing, but they still are enablers. I'm holding my breath. Republicans will "compromise" on healthcare, but the larger issue is the assault on Congress by the other two branches and the Republican surrender. We might as well tear down the Capital and put in a strip mall, at least you can get a sandwich or your nails done.
Attendance was by merit. Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Jews, disabled, young, and elderly were all in attendance.
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