The Clueless Resistance

Why Democrats are failing to stop Trump’s imperial presidency

Russell Vought, current Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the Trump administration. He was a key architect of Project 2025

The Clueless Resistance

Why Democrats are failing to stop Trump’s imperial presidency

The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #520: Wednesday, September 3rd, 2025.

The Blunt Truth Steven Pinker Just Said Out Loud

Steven Pinker has a way of cutting through the fog.

But first…“Who is Steven Pinker?” He’s the Harvard brain who turned charts into arguments and arguments into bestsellers. Linguist. Psychologist. Professional myth-buster. The Language Instinct. Better Angels. Enlightenment Now.

His pitch: despite the doom, the long arc bends toward less violence, longer lives, more prosperity…when we bet on reason…science…and humanism.

Admirers call him a clear-eyed empiricist.

Critics call him Pangloss with a data set.

Either way, he’s the guy who walks into a bar fight armed with numbers…and dares you to bring better ones. If you want to understand the modern debate over progress…what’s real…what’s spin…Pinker is the doorway.

Where others tiptoe…he hammers. And what he just said about Trump’s second term…and about the Democratic Party’s failure…is a truth bomb that ought to have every American shaking.

“The shock in the second Trump administration is how ruthlessly organized the movement became during the four-year interregnum. This time his administration was prepared with surgical strikes on all the zones of resistance. Apparently this planning came from the architects of Project 2025. The resistance appears to have no corresponding defensive plan.”

No plan. No preparation. No seriousness.

Meanwhile Trump’s machine has been training like a championship team…running drills…perfecting plays…and building an army of loyalists. By the time he retook office… his shock troops were ready to bulldoze every safeguard.

And what did the Democrats bring to the fight? PowerPoints. Poll-tested soundbites. Identity politics panels.

This is how nations lose democracies. Not because a would-be dictator is brilliant… but because those who were supposed to defend the republic came unarmed.

The Anatomy of Democratic Failure

Let’s not soft-pedal this. The Democratic Party has failed the United States on multiple levels. Pinker says it plainly: they are “clueless…captured by identity politicians…and unable to formulate a coherent battle plan.”

But it’s bigger than that. Let’s break down exactly where the collapse happened.

1. Fighting Yesterday’s Battles

Democrats are still trying to win with Beltway procedure. File lawsuits. Negotiate bills. Pray the courts restrain the executive branch. But as Yale’s Jacob Hacker and Berkeley’s Paul Pierson warn…that’s a fantasy:

“Trump and his MAGA movement have amassed considerable coercive power; they face almost no pushback from members of the Republican Party in Congress or Republican-appointed justices on the Supreme Court.”

Translation: the normal guardrails don’t work when the driver controls the steering… the brakes…and the police.

2. Fragmented by Identity Politics

Instead of forging a unifying pro-democracy coalition…Democrats splinter into ever-smaller camps. Pinker skewers this: the party is captured by “identity politicians” while MAGA runs a unified authoritarian project.

3. Too Polite for a Street Fight

Princeton’s Kim Lane Scheppele…who’s studied Hungary and Poland…spells it out:

“Those opposed to autocratic capture put their faith in litigation and elections… but Trump 2.0 already controls the government levers.”

The opposition is playing chess by gentleman’s rules. Trump is flipping the board and beating people with the pieces.

4. Donor-Class Delusions

Historian Jennifer Mittelstadt warns that wealthy donors think they can fund democracy’s salvation. But money shoveled into establishment-run PACs and think tanks just fuels the same strategists who already lost the first round.

Her verdict: “Having rich people fund a rebound might be a path to a one-cycle win, but not to taking back the country. It’s a surefire way to lose in the long term.”

5. No Positive Vision

NYU’s Jonathan Haidt gives the psychological truth: when people feel chaos…they crave order…even from an authoritarian. Trump weaponizes crime videos…border panic…moral decay stories. Democrats? They counter with “We’re not Trump.”

That’s not a vision. That’s a shrug.

The Machinery of an Imperial Presidency

Thomas Edsall’s New York Times column lays out what Trump has done since January.

This isn’t campaign rhetoric…it’s governing reality:

• Universities defunded unless they bend the knee.

• Law firms intimidated into silence.

• Research gutted if it contradicts ideology.

• Federal employees purged.

• Tariffs weaponized against political targets.

• Military deployed domestically.

• Cultural institutions told to shut up about slavery and segregation.

Guided by Russell Vought and Stephen Miller…the administration is methodically remaking America. Vought brags his job is to “bend or break the bureaucracy to the presidential will.” And Miller? He’s the ideological hammer behind the strikes.

This is not improvisation. It’s execution of Project 2025…a blueprint written during the interregnum while Democrats fiddled with hashtags.

The Collective Action Problem

Why is resistance failing? Hacker and Pierson explain it:

Democrats and moderates face a collective-action dilemma. Everyone knows Trump is dangerous…but no one wants to stick their neck out alone. Staying quiet feels safer than fighting. But every person who sits it out strengthens MAGA.

This is how authoritarianism snowballs: through fear…fragmentation…and inertia.

Expert Chorus: The Warning Signs

Let’s hear the chorus of voices Pinker stands among:

Bob Bauer (NYU Law):

Resistance must build a pro-democracy coalition across ideological lines…and hammer home that democracy enables effective government. Trump sells chaos as “change.” The counter must show how chaos destroys governance.

Kim Lane Scheppele (Princeton):

To defeat autocracy, you must commit to transparency…benchmarks…nonpartisan monitors…so your counter-moves are legitimate. Fight hard…but stay clean.

Mike Lux (Democracy Partners):

Don’t let the failed establishment consultants run this fight again. Polite…incremental politics is dead weight.

Pat Dennis (American Bridge PAC):

This isn’t about willpower…it’s raw power imbalance. Trump controls government machinery. Democrats don’t. That’s why state-level fights and grassroots muscle matter.

Jennifer Mittelstadt (Rutgers):

Donor-funded mega-organizations won’t save democracy. Grassroots and coalition work will.

Jonathan Haidt (NYU):

Polarization drives authoritarian tolerance. When people see chaos…they’ll accept strongmen. Democrats must flip that script.

Together, they paint one truth: Democrats aren’t just failing. They’re failing in ways that actually strengthen Trump’s grip.

The Blueprint for Turning Things Around

So what do we do? How do we resist a president who acts without law, shreds institutions, and thrives on chaos?

Here’s the six-point blueprint:

1. Build a Big Tent Pro-Democracy Coalition

From Never Trump conservatives to progressive activists…anyone who values democratic rules must be brought under one roof. Not united by policy minutiae…but by survival itself.

2. Message: Make Autocracy’s Costs Personal

Show voters how Trump’s chaos hits their lives: tariffs that cost jobs…healthcare gutted…universities starved…civil liberties trampled. Don’t preach norms…show consequences.

3. Organize Like an Insurgency

Democrats need their own Project 2025. Call it Democracy 2030. A long-term strategy to train leaders…fund local fights…and build infrastructure outside D.C.’s donor bubble.

4. Use Every Legal Lever Relentlessly

Boycotts. Lawsuits. Ballot measures. Worker strikes. Civil disobedience. Trump plays hardball with government. The resistance must play hardball with society.

5. Go Local…Stay Resilient

Federal government is compromised. The fight must be waged in states…cities…school boards. Protect democratic zones and build firewalls.

6. Offer a Positive Vision

Trump offers order through fear. Democrats must offer order through freedom. Safety without authoritarianism. Prosperity without oligarchy. That’s the counter-narrative that inspires…not just resists.

2026 and 2028: The Crunch Years

Pat Dennis puts it bluntly: Trump has more capacity to act as both party leader and head of government. The opposition doesn’t.

That means:

• 2026 midterms: Protect state governments…secure redistricting…safeguard election systems.

• 2028: A new charismatic leader must emerge. Not a donor-driven committee. A figure who can embody the pro-democracy cause and electrify voters across the spectrum.

Why You Can’t Sit This Out

Every day of confusion…every unanswered lie, every delay strengthens Trump.

He thrives on wreckage. He wants the opposition paralyzed…fragmented…exhausted.

And right now…that’s exactly what Democrats are giving him.

But history isn’t finished. The people still have power. The question is whether they’ll use it.

Pinker’s Warning Is America’s Last Wake-Up Call

Steven Pinker…Jacob Hacker…Kim Lane Scheppele…Bob Bauer…Jonathan Haidt…Mike Lux…Jennifer Mittelstadt…all from different angles…say the same thing: the Democratic Party is failing at the most important mission of our time.

But the fight isn’t over.

America doesn’t need another panel discussion. It needs a movement. A coalition. A message that connects democracy to people’s lives. A resistance willing to fight with the urgency this moment demands.

Because when Democrats fail…dictators win.

And this time…failure isn’t just political. It’s existential.

I’ll be back soon.

By your side,
-Jack

P.S. If this piece shook you…good. It was meant to. Behind the paywall…with a paid subscriber issue of JHN later this evening…I’m taking this further:

• A state-by-state playbook for 2026.

• How to pressure universities…unions…and cultural institutions to resist instead of submit.

• The blueprint for a Democracy 2030 project that can outlast Trump.

Because this fight won’t be won in Washington alone. It will be won by those of us who refuse to let democracy die on our watch.