From Marc Elias <[email protected]>
Subject Fools, cowards and the big ugly bill
Date July 4, 2025 4:27 PM
  Links have been removed from this email. Learn more in the FAQ.
  Links have been removed from this email. Learn more in the FAQ.
In a healthy democracy, leaders govern through persuasion. They make arguments and respond to critics. They observe norms and advance proposals through compromise and mutual respect.

Friday, July 4

View in browser ([link removed] )

NL-Header_DD-Premium2 ([link removed] )

In a healthy democracy, leaders govern through persuasion. They make arguments and respond to critics. They observe norms and advance proposals through compromise and mutual respect.

Richard Neustadt, arguably the most influential political scientist ever to study the U.S. presidency, famously concluded that “the power of the president is the power to persuade.”

Authoritarians, by contrast, rule through fear. They seek to impose their will on others through terror, cruelty and physical force. Niccolò Machiavelli famously wrote, “It is much safer to be feared than loved because... love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails.”

We live neither in a healthy democracy nor in an authoritarian regime. Though Donald Trump was democratically elected, he aspires to be a dictator. For him, governing is done only through corrupt patronage and fear. In this regard, his aspiration is to govern in the way Lorenzo de' Medici — the object of Machiavelli’s attention — ruled Florence. A near-dictator who still has a pliant representative government.

Against this background, it didn’t come as a shock when Senate Republicans betrayed their constituents by voting to advance Trump’s disastrous budget bill. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who provided the deciding vote, had already told us she was afraid...

You’re reading a shortened version of The Week, a premium newsletter from Marc, our founder and top voting rights attorney. Every Friday he gives us an insider's look at the most important stories shaping our democracy.

Become and member and find out: ([link removed] )

- The weekly top line

- Fools and cowards of the week

- The week’s siren

- Overlooked this week

- What to watch next week

UNLOCK FULL ACCESS TO PREMIUM CONTENT
([link removed] )

Facebook ([link removed] )

X ([link removed] )

Instagram ([link removed] )

Bluesky_Logo-grey (2) ([link removed] )

YouTube ([link removed] )

Website ([link removed] )

TikTok ([link removed] )

We also understand that not everyone is able to make this commitment, which is why our free daily and weekly newsletters aren’t going anywhere! If you prefer not to receive samples of our premium content and only want our free daily and weekly newsletters, you can manage your preferences ([link removed] ) or unsubscribe ([link removed] ) .

Donate ([link removed] )

Democracy Docket, LLC

250 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 400

Washington, D.C., 20009
Screenshot of the email generated on import

Message Analysis