What the Frogs Know

Boil the pot too fast and the frogs feel the heat. That’s what voters in California, where Prop 50 passed; in New Jersey, where they elected Mikie Sherill Governor; in Georgia where a swath of mayoral races flipped to blue; in New York where a young democratic socialist mayor will now run the city; in Virginia, which is now a blue state, led by Governor Abigail Spanberger; in Maine, where voters refused to give up their right to early voting; and in Colorado, where voters funded free lunch programs with taxes on the wealthy, understood Tuesday night.

This president, as difficult as it is to process that this could actually be the case for any president, does not have the country’s best interests at heart. Those of us who’ve been paying careful attention all along have understood that for some time. Now, just enough of the country seems to be catching up.

The frogs hopped out of the pot in Portland, and they’ve refused to go back. This not-even-midterms election was an unlikely catalyst for Americans who believe in democracy to come together and feel like it’s possible, despite this administration’s posturing, toe keep the Republic. It was a referendum on Donald Trump. And he knew it.

Could the tremendous turnout, the tenacity it took to wait in lines, the youth engagement-all of it-possibly mean that the fever dream is about to break?

In my book, I wrote about an instructive moment in American history:

In the 1950s, under McCarthyism and the “Red Scare,” people were afraid to push back against the bully, Senator Joseph McCarthy, whose aggressive and frequently baseless accusations against people he didn’t like ruined lives in government, entertainment, and academia. McCarthy called people communist traitors despite the absence of any evidence that they were either. He used public hearings and fear to consolidate power.

For a time, people didn’t stand up. They were afraid of being labeled communists themselves if they did. The media, for the most part, repeated McCarthy’s claims, and very few politicians of the day were willing to challenge his tactics, thinking only of self-preservation. Even President Dwight D. Eisenhower avoided confrontation with him until the end. McCarthy destroyed careers. Had he been given free rein for much longer, he would have destroyed the First Amendment too. He damaged it deeply while he remained in power. An atmosphere of fear prevailed in America. McCarthy’s power grew because of silence and self-preservation. It only came to an end when others finally said “enough.” It didn’t take an army or a rebellion. It took American common sense and persistence.

Early in 1954, McCarthy asked for preferential treatment for an aide on his subcommittee who was drafted. Apparently unhappy with how the situation was handled, McCarthy decided to go after the army with an allegation that security at a top secret facility was inadequate. There were three months of nationally televised hearings.

Senate records tell the story of how it ended: “The army hired Boston lawyer Joseph Welch to make its case. At a session on June 9, 1954, McCarthy charged that one of Welch’s attorneys had ties to a Communist organization. As an amazed television audience looked on, Welch responded with the immortal lines that ultimately ended McCarthy’s career: ‘Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness.’ When McCarthy tried to continue his attack, Welch angrily interrupted, ‘Let us not assassinate this lad further, senator. You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency?’”

Suddenly, it was over. Seemingly overnight, McCarthy’s hold on the country began to dissipate. His Senate colleagues and his party abandoned him; the media stopped parroting his accusations. Three years later, he was dead. Americans don’t have to give in to the bully. As with McCarthy, sometimes it just takes one courageous moment to show the public a tyrant’s absurdity, his malice, and to consign him to history as a second lost cause in the American story.

With bullies, people have often had enough long before they are ready to admit it. With an arbitrary tyrant, they are often afraid to. Maybe we are headed for a public moment like the one that felled Senator McCarthy. Whether or not we are, the ultimate way to challenge the bully is at the ballot box. In 2026, every seat in the House of Representatives will be on the ballot, as will thirty-three seats in the Senate. If you want to ask Trump “Have you no sense of decency?” make him face Democratic majorities in both bodies of Congress

When I wrote those words back in February of this year, I had no way of knowing where the country would be in October when it was published. It is undeniably a moment for optimism after Tuesday night. Could we finally be about to have a McCarthy moment? This election was a good start, and it gives us the momentum we need to begin to prepare for the next one, the one where we reshape the Congress into a functioning body, willing to fulfill its constitutional duties.

The truth is, Trump is just a man. He is not specially anointed. He is not a political or a policy genius. He alone cannot do it. His success is not inevitable. Tuesday showed us we have a path forward if we’re willing to walk it.

We’re in this together,

Joyce

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