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December 7, 2025
Key Developments and What We're Discussing Today:
- Today's newsletter details my conversation last week with Joyce Vance about her new book, Giving Up Is Unforgivable: A Manual for Keeping a Democracy.
- Vance explains that we have cause for optimism and why the tide may be turning in our favor.
- She explains why Trump is not good for the Jews or for Israel and that we can't fight for Jewish values by abandoning them.
- Democracy is not and should not be an abstract concept. Vance helps us explain to Americans who might not prioritize democracy that democracy is the reason for our prosperity.
- Plus commentary by others on other issues in the In Case You Missed It Section.
If you can and if you want to, support my work by chipping in via credit card or PayPal, Venmo @Steven-Sheffey, or check. Thank you.
Greetings!
On Tuesday, I spoke with Joyce Vance about her new book, Giving Up Is Unforgivable: A Manual for Keeping a Democracy. Vance is a Distinguished Professor of the Practice of Law at the University of Alabama School of Law. She is a former U.S.Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama and the author of the Civil Discourse Substack.
If you are depressed about the political climate, if you know something needs to be done but don’t know what to do, if you want to understand the historical and legal context of the moment we are in, Vance’s new book is the book you have been looking for.
The antidote to depression and anxiety about Trump, Vance told me, is action, “finding something that you can do to support democracy and then being in community when you do it.”
The key to maintaining morale and winning this struggle is “being surrounded by people who can lift you up on the bad days. You don’t have to save democracy all on your own. You can do it as part of a like-minded group of people.” (David Rothkopf lists what each of us can do.)
When you feel down, remember that scholars who have studied democracy movements in Eastern Europe “will tell you that most countries have a much longer sort of deer in the headlights moment when they’re threatened by an autocratic takeover than we did in this country when we were stunned that Trump was organized and actually going to work implementing Project 2025, and we recovered quickly.”
We are a resilient people. We proved it before in times of crisis. We will prove it again.
This moment transcends, or should transcend, partisan divides. Our democracy itself, our country's raison d'être, is at stake. Yet it has become partisan because the Republican Party has abandoned its commitment to democracy above all else.
I asked Vance what has changed since Watergate, when principled Republican leaders such as Barry Goldwater, Hugh Scott, and John Rhodes told Richard Nixon that if he did not resign, he would be impeached and convicted.
Vance said that today’s Republicans want to stay in power and want to stay relevant. “They were willing to abandon their principles, in many cases deep-seated principles, including budget hawks and Russia being part of the axis of evil. They were willing to walk away from all that because they knew that if they broke with Trump, Trump would primary them and their time in Washington would come to an end. In many cases, they sacrificed principle for personal gain.”
Republicans have been ignoring Trump’s lawlessness and corruption until now. But Vance noted that Democratic successes in the 2025 off-year elections and Trump’s status as a lame duck president are causing Republicans to begin “to understand that there will be a moment beyond Trump, where they will want both to remain relevant and may indeed face accountability, and that is finally waking this Congress up. We should not make any mistakes about who they are and why they’re doing it, and think through who should remain in elected office accordingly, but it is a welcome development.”
In September, the Trump administration killed two survivors of a Venezuelan boat strike, likely violating U.S.law. Vance said that the killings were “in clear violation of the rules of war if we were in fact at war and would amount to murder if we’re not.” (On Friday, following new developments, Vance explained the Hegseth situation in her Civil Discourse Substack.)
Republicans looking for an off-ramp might seize this opportunity to break with Trump. As George Will wrote, "Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seems to be a war criminal. Without a war. An interesting achievement."
But is Trump good for the Jews? Most Jews vote Democratic, yet a small yet vocal segment of our community insists that we have to look out for ourselves first, and since Trump, they say, is good for Israel and for Jewish Americans, we should support Trump.
In my view, it’s classic galut mentality: grovel before the powerful and hope they will be kind to you, or at least leave you alone. Jews who support Trump epitomize the image of the weak Jews that some thought the creation of the State of Israel would erase.
I asked Vance how to respond to those in our community who think that supporting Trump is in our interests. Vance was raised in a family that cherished Jewish values. She said, “Donald Trump is not good for the Jews. Donald Trump is not loyal to anyone. He’s transactional in nature, and I would caution anyone who thinks that he’s on the side of Jewish issues and Jewish people to think very carefully and to think about all of the times that he has thrown people under the bus when they no longer suited his personal needs.
“I don’t think we can fight for Jewish values by abandoning them. Trump stands for policies that favor people who are very wealthy and abandon people in need, and that’s not how I was raised.
“To the extent that we’re concerned about Israel and support for Israel and to the extent that we’re concerned by rising antisemitism in this country, the way we push back against that is with a legitimate democratic structure.”
An authoritarian “can throw you under the bus at any time, and that’s a cautionary tale that’s followed the Jewish people around for centuries. If you want to be safe and protected, then the right way to do that is to be part of a legitimate democratic structure and to fight for a community where you’re valued, where you’re safe, where you’re secure because you work in partnership with other people.”
But do most Americans understand the importance of democracy? Most Jewish Americans recognize that our safety and security depend on the preservation of our democracy. That’s why Jewish Americans rank democracy as their top voting priority.
For some Americans, “democracy” might be an intangible they cannot get worked up about. One sometimes gets the feeling that if all were right in their personal lives, if they had a good job and a safe neighborhood, they’d be fine under authoritarian rule as long as they were taken care of.
Vance said that we have to help them understand that “one of the reasons that we are a prosperous country is because we have a thriving democracy that’s grounded in the rule of law. What folks need to understand about the rule of law is that it’s not just a term that has some theoretical application for hoity-toity lawmakers. It actually explains how our economic system works with certainty, so you know, for instance, that if you pay your rent, the landlord can’t just steal your money. They actually have to let you stay in the housing you’ve paid for, and you have certain legal remedies.
"Instead of the rich and powerful having their way and other people being at their mercy, we have a system where legal rights are pre-established and enforced in courts."
Vance explained that this is true on a larger scale and plays out in transactions between businesses, and makes foreign investment attractive because a strong democracy ensures stability and certainty.
A system that depends on your being on Donald Trump’s good side, Vance told me, cannot produce the same level of stability and certainty. Those who think they have it good today should consider how quickly their fortunes could change if the ruling powers turn against them, or decide they are expendable. Most Jews understand this from our history.
The tide is turning in our favor. We can do this--as long as we don't give up.
In Case You Missed It:
- You might not want to accept the reality that Ben Rhodes wrote about last week, but you need to read it, face that reality, and understand his argument that instead of blindly supporting the Netanyahu government, "Democrats should be a source of solidarity for Israelis who want a genuine alternative to Mr. Netanyahu and his coalition."
- If you wonder why the world ignores violence by Arabs against Arabs and other intragroup violence, ask yourself why we ignore violence by Jews against Jews in Israel, as detailed by Esther Sperber.
Republican Antisemitism of the Week. Republican antisemitism is so common that we don't consider it news anymore. That has to stop.
This week's loser is Donald Trump, for promoting an official in his administration despite reports that this official texted about having a "Nazi streak."
To make this manageable, this feature focuses on Republicans who hold, or are the GOP nominee for, federal or statewide office and who have said or done something antisemitic in the past week. I'd do the same for Democrats, but I'd have too many long stretches of nothing.
Social Media Posts of the Week. Amy Spitalnick, Halie Soifer, and Daniel Biss.
Thread of the Week. Hadar Susskind.
Flow Chart of the Week. Should You Move to the Center?
Video Clip of the Week. The Odd Couple.
Vintage Music Clip of the Week. Cheap Trick.
The Fine Print. I read every reply to this newsletter. I reply as often as I can. All I ask is that you read the Fine Print before you reply or send me anything.
For those new to this newsletter. This is the newsletter even Republicans have to read and the original home of the viral and beloved Top Ten Signs You're At a Republican Seder (yes, I wrote it). If someone forwarded this newsletter to you, why not subscribe and get it in your inbox every Sunday? Just click here--it's free.
I periodically update my posts on the IHRA definition of antisemitism and on why Democrats are better than Republicans on Israel and antisemitism. My definition of "pro-Israel" is here (it's a work in progress, as am I).
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Unless stated otherwise, my views do not necessarily reflect the views of any candidates or organizations I support or am associated with.
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