The response to the last issue of Our Land was so overwhelming that I had to give the crew that works in the mailroom a day off to recover. I had suggested that the political-media world—including the man in the White House and his partymates—was not sufficiently ringing the bell and proclaiming a crisis was at hand: “A political party led by a man who incites and excuses political violence, who threatens democracy, and who advances the loony conspiracy theory that his political opponents are baby-eating, Satanic sex-traffickers is close to seizing control of a portion of the US government.” That is, the GOP is poised to win the House of Representatives and maybe also the Senate.

As of Thursday night, according to FiveThirtyEight, the Democrats led the Republicans, 45.8 to 44.8 percent on what’s known as the congressional generic ballot. That’s when you ask someone in a poll whether he or she would prefer Democrats or Republicans in Congress. It’s an imperfect measurement, but it gives a sense of the political mood. Though the Ds are slightly ahead, most political junkies I know still believe the coming midterms will adhere to the usual historic pattern and land the Republicans in the driver’s seat—at least, in the House. As I noted a few days ago, that will lead to chaos and revenge, as election deniers and January 6 dismissers use their political power to subvert democracy, advance paranoia and extremism, and serve the vengeful interests of Donald Trump.

Many readers similarly concerned wrote in. Usually, I feature the Mailbag below the fold—after the main items—and it is only available to premium subscribers. But I thought I’d share the replies and anxieties that poured in with everyone this week. Worry loves company. Let’s see what the people out there have to say.

Robert Musil, an old friend, wrote:

Thank God you are there and sounding the alarm siren...Yes people get inured to Trump, but I think too many Dems, progressives, moderates have too much belief in reasoned debate, polite discourse, country of laws not men (sic) and are not as deeply affected as the folks who are most harmed by this. I have many, many, many friends, colleagues who just can't get angry and don't want to be just like those Trump people. Shall we remind readers what happened to cultural elites, Social Democrats, and intellectuals, as thugs headed to power in, er, Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany? In any case, keep up your bully pulpit. It does reach people and might even alarm a few.

Thanks, Bob. As I’ve explained previously, I’m always a bit shy about pitching the 1930s parallels, but it does seem unavoidable. At the very least, we can take from those years the lesson that if people don’t pay attention and engage, awful stuff can happen. For readers who want to deploy this historical comparison, I recommend reading Benjamin Carter Hett’s The Death of Democracy: Hitler’s Rise to Power and the Downfall of the Weimar Republic, which chronicles how democracy collapsed so quickly in Germany. Warning: it will scare the bejesus out of you.

Harvey Berman emailed:

Your column is spot on. Democrats are letting Republicans control the messaging in this election cycle. This effectively allows the GOP extremists to get away with a campaign designed to subvert democracy for their own partisan purposes. Unfortunately, this is nothing new. I have been complaining for decades to anyone who'll listen that if politics is like a game of dodgeball, then Democrats lob beach balls, while Republicans hurl hand grenades. Will they ever learn that you have to fight fire with fire. By the way, I love your book American Psychosis.

Glad you got to the book, Harvey. I think it contains many lessons for the present moment. It certainly shows that in the political battles of the past seven decades, the GOP has generally been far more vicious than the Democrats. I know conservatives don’t believe this. But the Republican Party has repeatedly sought to demonize and dehumanize Democrats, progressives, and their allies. That’s what happened with McCarthyism, the religious right, George H.W. Bush’s campaign against Michael Dukakis, the tea party, and Trumpism. Every day, I get several emails from Trump and Republicans claiming Joe Biden is in league with antifa, commies, and other radicals to destroy America. Purposefully. This vituperation is not matched by the rhetoric of Democratic officials. The challenge for the Democrats is to fight back ferociously—reaching voters emotionally—without emulating the reckless fearmongering of the other side.

Lizzy Chapman shared this thought:

I am grateful to have Biden as president, but the man is not inspiring. Would it be wrong to bring out Obama to rouse the voters? I agree with you. We need to start fighting fire with fire.

I have been wondering about the whereabouts of the 44th president these past few weeks. Why isn’t Barack Obama campaigning fiercely against the QMaga party and doing all he can to thwart its takeover of Congress? A few days ago, I got the answer from CNN:

Requests for Barack Obama are pouring in from Democrats around the country – candidates are desperate for his help in what they feel is an existential midterms battle, one in which each race could help determine control of Congress and governments in the states.

To these candidates, American democracy itself is on the line. And while Obama agrees with them on the stakes, many of those invitations are about to get turned down.

More than a dozen advisers and others who have spoken with Obama say the former president’s approach in the fall campaign will remain limited and careful. That cautious approach comes as Obama tells people his presence fires up GOP opposition just as much as it lights up supporters, that he has more of an impact if he does less and that he can’t cloud out the up-and-coming generation of Democrats.

I’m not sure Obama’s calculation is correct—he fires up Republicans as much as he motivates supporters—and I question whether his cautiousness sends the wrong message and makes it seem he does not share the view that these midterm elections could determine the future of American democracy. If he’s not demonstrably worried, why should others be?

Rick Schrenker had a rash of thoughts about the Democrats:

They are treating [this election] as a strategy game. And while to some extent it is, they do not seem to recognize the gravity of the situation. If and when they wake up to the fact that democracy really is on the line as opposed to just another campaign slogan, many voters will respond with “Your actions speak so loudly that I can’t hear a word you say.” Which is to say, you’re no different from the alternative. That’s a big problem. Another is Democrats banking on Roe saving their skins. That’s right up there with banking on Trumpian sexual assault.

Right now, Herschel Walker remains in a statistical tie with Raphael Warnock [in the Georgia Senate race]. I really don’t believe many if not most Democrats are willing to ponder that... When will the left get it that it all that matters about Walker’s candidacy is that Trump backs him? Seriously, when? Authoritarians don’t give a damn about reason. Only getting and keeping power. And they know the way to get it in a democracy is by taking over a minority party that knows it can’t win legitimately.

The only battle that’s left that matters is for the independent vote. I don’t know what moves that cohort, but I suspect if they truly believed democracy is at stake, Democrats would at least keep the Senate. And maybe more importantly, they’d win some of the secretary of state battles that may determine 2024. I’m still volunteering (post cards, letters, texts) but not hopeful. I just don’t see the Democratic Party’s officials, strategists, and tacticians waking up to the fact that it’s not just another election.

Referring to my observation that Trump Outrage Exhaustion has blocked some people from fully confronting the possible consequence of these midterms, Doug Greenberg chimed in:

Every night when we watch the news, at some point, my wife or I end up saying in a tone dripping with sarcasm, "THIS time, we really are gonna GET TRUMP. This time!" Ha ha. People not only have outrage exhaustion, we have developed, sadly, an undeniable cynicism regarding the prospect that anything the Democrats or the legal system attempt to try to punish him for his zillions of transgressions will ever come to anything. This feeds into an overall fatalism that anything we do politically will make no real difference. The die is cast; we are in a downward spiral towards authoritarianism, climate disaster, war (even nuclear war), and on and on.

It becomes paralyzing. What to do, what to do? I have donated during this election cycle what for me is a considerable amount of money towards the campaigns of various Democrats around the country. When I push the donate button, however, there is a part of me that says, "Money down a rat hole (or black hole)."

But, Doug, you still press that button. My hunch is you do possess some hope. I know that caring and paying attention can be exhausting. But that’s what authoritarians and would-be tyrants desire—a population that tunes out to their autocratic schemes.

Sha Coleman had this complaint:

What is the point of an article that offers no solutions? Just saying Democrats have failed to stop the Republicans doesn’t help. What should we do? I live in a safely Blue state and watch what is going on in the Red states with dread. What can I do? Donate more? Make calls? We are dealing with politicians that don’t play by the same rules and have brainwashed their voters.

The short answer is yes, donate and make calls. The implied solution in my article was that Democrats and others who care about democracy ought to vigorously highlight the threat it faces. The more difficult task for Democrats and progressives is how to stop Trump voters from electing Trumpian candidates. In some areas of the country that will be an impossible mission. But in other parts, a more forceful Democratic Party that robustly conveys a message indicating it will help folks and preserve democracy could triumph.

Michele Coxon

I couldn't argue with a single thing you have posted today. I am scared out of my wits and questioning the Kool-Aid us liberals are drinking that makes us seemingly immune to the threat you so brilliantly describe. I sometimes call it Democratic Arrogance, in "all we stand for is so obviously sane and correct, why can't everyone see that?" Because we are as yet an unenlightened species and until that happens, we will continue to operate from the limbic brain. Where is the outrage?

Michele, I had to look up the limbic system. It certainly seems that Trump and his comrades often appeal to lower-order emotional processing—that is, fear, resentment, grievance, tribalism, and the like. The Democrats do need to understand that politics is often not a debating society but a battleground of conflicting values and emotions. There’s certainly room in political strategy meetings for neuroscientists who can help the message crafters concoct themes and pitches designed for optimal reception within our brains.

Mark Franks reports:

Thank you, Mr. Corn, for your excellent newsletter asking if it's time to push the panic button on the midterms. And thank you that you pointed out President Biden and others are calling out the GOP and QMaga for the semi-fascists that they are. However, I must tell you that my dear wife is absolutely livid with Biden (and I'm with her) for not using his authority, as president and commander-in-chief, to shut down all of those who have now succeeded in undermining any trust we had in our government, our courts, our law enforcement agencies, our democratic process itself. If, as Biden said, they "represent an extremism that threatens the very foundation our our Republic," why isn't something concrete being done to stop them? As you pointed out, they have demonized everyone who does not line up with their idea of what America should be, and they are blatantly inciting violence against their fellow American citizens, which will inevitably erupt at some point. Why isn't this considered a national security issue, and concrete steps being taken to put a halt to this blatant sedition?

I would love to see you write an in-depth article for the newsletter in which you explain:

Why members of Congress who have embraced the "big lie" continue to go unchecked;
Why Tucker Carlson was even allowed back in the country after validating Vikctor Orban's anti-democratic screeds during his visit to Hungary (and then CPAC holds its conference in Hungary with Orban as featured speaker!);
Why Orban was granted a visa to come here and speak at the CPAC conference in Dallas;
Why MAGA candidates running for office all over the country are allowed to threaten violent retaliation against anyone who opposes them in their efforts to control election outcomes;
Why preachers are, quite publicly from their pulpits and in meetings across the country, allowed to spew their vile Christian-right political opinions to their loyal followers and still maintain their tax-exempt status.

The list goes on and on...you get where I'm coming from.

I do, Mark, and I feel your pain and frustration. I suppose the overarching answer to most of your questions is that we live in a democracy (still) where right-wing demagogues and authoritarians are allowed to take stances that threaten democracy. (The tax-exemption for churches is an entirely different matter.) What can Biden do beside mobilize most of the citizenry that don’t buy this crap? Of course, his Justice Department could be prosecuting more cases regarding Trump’s attempted coup, and that might come to pass. But Carlson, thanks to Rupert Murdoch, is free to be a cheerleader for racism, fascism, or any other extremism before an audience of millions. And MAGA candidates are permitted to make baseless claims about elections and rile people up. The rest of the country must come together to combat and limit their attacks on democracy. These assaults cannot be banned.

Sarah Wall wrote in:

What scares me more than anything is the fact that there are now too many election deniers already in dangerous positions so that if the election is even close, they can affect the outcome for the Trumpublicans on the ballot. Then what?

That is the danger at hand. If Trump’s minions gain control of the voting and vote-counting systems in states across the country, democracy will be at great risk. That’s why I wish the Democrats, funders, and others would pay closer attention to critical secretary of state races.

Sara Frankel emailed:

Thanks for sounding the alarm. Why aren’t more people (politicians, journalists, regular observers) seeing this?

I wish I knew. My guess is that, as is true for many things, a lot of people would rather ignore frightening and dangerous prospects. See climate change.

Pen Harns had this to say:

First thing. My book just got here today. Tomorrow, after the 1/6 hearing, I'll take my coffee and squirrel myself away with it and read. Second thing. Have you heard Rachel Maddow's first two episodes of Ultra podcast? She's done a lot of digging into this one (as she always does), and it dovetails into your book, but in the late 1930s/1940s. The idiocy we're living through now is definitely not new. Third thing. I wish there were a way I could post your today's column on my Facebook page. The more people that are exposed to the current nonsense in a logical, rational way, the more minds that could possibly be switched on... Oh, the photo of Moxie reading your book as a social media post was genius. Loved it! Take good care of her (I think her) or him.

Moxie is indeed a she. Thanks for buying American Psychosis. I hope you find it an illuminating read. I am eager to listen to Maddow’s latest podcast. She describes it this way:

Sitting members of Congress aiding and abetting a plot to overthrow the government. Insurrectionists criminally charged with plotting to end American democracy for good. Justice Department prosecutors under crushing political pressure. Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra is the all-but-forgotten true story of good, old-fashioned American extremism getting supercharged by proximity to power. When extremist elected officials get caught plotting against America with the violent ultra right, this is the story of the lengths they will go to… to cover their tracks.

Regarding Facebook posts, I’m flattered, but, as I’ve pointed out previously, Our Land exists as a newsletter that offers exclusive and premium content, with the aim of enticing people to subscribe. You are free (and encouraged) to forward the email to friends and foes (with, of course, the recommendation they subscribe), and you can cut-and paste sections into social media posts. Any way you can spread the word about Our Land is appreciated.

Got anything to say about this item—or anything else? Email me at ourland@motherjones.com