New Year, New Banter

Defending democracy, and The Banter’s mission in tumultuous times

by Ben Cohen

I didn’t publish a ‘final piece’ for 2024 because Justin had informed me weeks ago that he would have something for me on the 31st. I wanted him to have the last word of the year given his enormous contribution to The Banter for almost a decade. If you haven’t read his piece, please do. We’ve had some great times over the years and I will miss his brilliant, angry, and passionate voice.

When Chez Pazienza died in February 2017 I felt completely unmoored. Chez had been an integral part of The Daily Banter for several years and I didn’t know what the site would be without him. I feel the same way about Justin. Justin helped build The Banter in its newsletter form, and we wouldn’t be where we are without him. I will miss my podcast partner and wish him nothing but success in his new endeavors.

But The Banter continues, as it always does. I started this site back in 2007 while working as a boxing journalist in Los Angeles. I despised the mainstream media so much after their colossal failure to report ethically on the Iraq war that I could not stand by and do nothing. So my close friend Ari Rutenberg and I used what little money we had and paid a web designer to build the first iteration of The Daily Banter:

Back then it was almost impossible to monetize websites, and it was only three years after starting that I made enough to buy a round of beers. By 2015 I had turned The Daily Banter into a full time career with a small staff. By 2018, Facebook had destroyed the site by throttling almost 90% of our traffic. The Banter newsletter was built out of the ashes of The Daily Banter, and four years later we are now a Substack bestseller with a rapidly growing audience. We have withstood enormous change and turmoil over the years, so I’ve had to learn how to adapt to new circumstances whether I like them or not.

So in 2025, The Banter will change. The core mission will remain the same — you’ll get blistering commentary, thoughtful analysis, and the occasional impassioned rant (ok, maybe more than occasional) from myself, Bob Cesca, and Rich Herschlag. But there will be new voices, and a new format for the podcast.

Joining The Banter next week will be Julie Roginsky and Jeremy Novak, two fantastic writers who I believe will contribute enormously to the site. Julie is a regular CNN contributor, a Democratic strategist, and author of the newsletter ‘Salty Politics’. Jeremy is author of the newsletter ‘Thinker at the Gates’ and has written for Salon.com. As Justin mentioned in his farewell piece, I have an eye for talent, so I don’t think Banter readers will be disappointed.

Goodbye 2024

Last year was not a good one for the United States — or much of the world. Right wing populism is on the rise everywhere and anti-immigration sentiment has become frighteningly normal. The fact that a convicted felon who tried to violently overturn an election is now set for the White House is a shocking indictment of American politics. Donald Trump’s resurgence is a sign of deep dysfunction that may now be incurable. Fascism has come to America and it won’t be going away any time soon.

2024 was also a year defined by the implosion of the Democratic party. They lost the White House, the Senate and the House and will now sit on the sidelines as the MAGA party takes full control of the country. President Biden’s legacy has been left in tatters and the party has no effective leadership.

Should Biden have stepped aside earlier? Was Kamala Harris the best candidate to replace him? Did Democrats fail to read the mood of the country, and how did they lose to such terrible candidate? These are all questions that must be asked in the coming months, and if the party is to get back into power, they must not shy away from the answers.

2025 is going to be a very difficult year for America. The incoming Trump administration is going to dismantle the state and hand control to unelected oligarchs. Elon Musk is now a full time resident at Mar-a-Lago and has 24/7 access to the president-elect. He will no doubt be moving to Washington DC in the coming months, because Musk and failed presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will be heading a new agency, the ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ (DOGE) aiming to cut government spending by 80%.

This means poor people are going to suffer immensely while the rich gobble up more of the wealth. It’s right out of the shock doctrine playbook dressed up in tech-bro speak, and it will have enormous consequences for the country.

We will also be subjected to the chaos and destruction of Trump’s governing style. There will be endless scandals, firings, crimes and crises — all out in public and with no way of holding anyone to account. Trump’s DoJ will work to crush his political enemies while he lays waste to the Constitution and the rule of law.

I worry that the public has normalized Trump to such an extent that they will ignore his crimes. I worry that the media will fail again to do its job and prioritize viewership and access over objectivity. I worry that many on the left have given up hope, and that this really is the end of American democracy as we know it. I worry that people don’t fully comprehend just how bad this is going to get.

Our job here at The Banter is to cover all of this as best we can, to fight back hard, and to keep our readers sane during insane times. We’ve been here before and we will keep going no matter how bad it gets. For what it’s worth, I believe it is a fight that can be won and I have not given up hope.

Fascism cannot be normalized, ever. So we go again.

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