Chuck Schumer has a new book out. I would rather eat paint.

Democracy is crumbling ... and the Senate minority leader is hawking shit.

As a guy who has written 10 books, I understand the grind of the release.

Your opus is about to come out, so you line up as many interviews as possible, as many appearances as possible, as many events as possible—and you simultaneously hawk, hawk, hawk and talk, talk, talk. It can be fun (I loved my Today Show moment, for example), but simultaneously exhausting. You want to be upbeat and engaging, but you also want product to move. You wind up checking your Amazon sales rank by the hour. How am I doing? How’s the book doing? You refresh the page and refresh the page and refresh the page, desperate for upward movement. Ultimately, for a good number of weeks your book’s performance emerges as your No. 1 priority. It’s embarrassing to admit, but it’s true. All other life factors fade to the back.

Which leads me to Chuck Schumer.

In case you didn’t know, the Senate minority leader has a new book, “Antisemitism in America: A Warning,” that drops tomorrow. It’s being released by Grand Central Publishing, and as of this writing it’s Amazon’s 1,289th-ranked release. Which, if we’re being honest, isn’t so hot for a national figure.

What also isn’t so hot is, well, um, eh—Schumer. As a fellow New York-born Jew, he is a man I once admired, but now a man who I would gladly send off on a very long rafting trip to Tahiti. In the past bunch of months, he’s looked weak, feckless and pathetic. This moment was an all-time boner …

… but pales in comparison to his indefensible surrender to Donald Trump and the GOP on the recent budget. As Tim Miller noted here, Schumer had plenty of options to at least try and stand up for righteousness. Instead, however, he caved, and gave the Republicans yet another cakewalk.

Now, in the aftermath, Schumer is all over the news, all over podcasts, all over media outlets near and far—discussing his book. Seriously. His fucking book. Not the death of American democracy. Not the sinisterness of Donald Trump. Not the illegality of Elon Musk. His fucking book. And, yeah, he’ll get asked some questions about national and international events. A handful. But, I assure you, networks and podcasts have been told (by Schumer’s publicists) that he will only appear if the segment’s priority is the book.

And for people like me, and surely people like you, it’s just another kick in the nuts. We’re out here, fighting for America, and embedded power heads (with six-figure book deals) are fighting to peddle merchandise.

I will not buy Chuck Schumer’s book.

You shouldn’t, either.

PS: This morning Schumer announced he was suspending his book tour. And if we’re gonna call out congressional Republicans for being too cowardly to host town halls, let’s be blunt: This happened because Chuck has infuriated Democrats, and they would be firing at him en masse. We have to be honest when we’re no better than they are. And, today, Schumer is no better than they are. He needs to walk away from leadership. Seriously. Now.