Once again, Sen. Bernie Sanders is showing that he’s a leader who actually leads.

While top Democratic Party lawmakers are hunkered down in their Washington bunker, immobilized by the Trump-Musk oligarchic coup on America’s democracy, the feisty “little-d” democrat from Vermont is out in grassroots America, rallying workaday people with his National Tour to Fight Oligarchy. His effort has even caused the lethargic Democratic establishment to speak out. Against Bernie!

The party’s clueless cadre of insider consultants mocked Sen. Sanders’ for focusing on Trump’s clique of profiteering oligarchs: “Americans don’t understand the word oligarchy,” they clucked.

Excuse me, smart ones, but once again, you’re wrong. The oligarchy has become quite well-known to us commoners, who’ve suffered from their healthcare outrages, voter suppression, anti-union greed, rampant price gouging, etc. To the shock of elites in both parties, Sanders has even taken his “Fight Oligarchy” campaign into red congressional districts, drawing thousands of mad-as-hellers in such Republican states as Iowa and Nebraska.

In a symbolic rejection of Bernie’s on-your-side populist rebellion, Hakeem Jeffries – the Democratic leader in the US House – rushed out to Silicon Valley to hug the billionaire oligarchs of high-tech! Far from confronting the rise of monopoly power, Jeffries assured the Tech Bros that the “Party of the People” is there to serve them.

Meanwhile, Democratic congressional leaders held an internal “gripe-fest” last week. Not griping about Trump’s authoritarian assault – but about their own grassroots constituents inundating them with calls and emails demanding that they grow spines and start fighting the rising oligarchy.

Jim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jimhightower.substack.com/subscribe