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Hey everyone,
Happy Friday! This week, you all were fired up, and the old mailbag proved it. So I’m going to pipe down a bit, and let you do most of the talking in today’s community issue. Check out the Social Soundboard (below) for some of your thought-provoking feedback.
This weekend, keep an eye out for our monthly deep dive, where we explore what a hypothetical Donald Trump impeachment would bring—a JD Vance presidency—and what that might look like. This shareworthy piece is exclusive to paid subscribers, so please upgrade if you’d like to receive it.
Finally, THANK YOU, Social Contract community, for another inspiring week. As some of you said at our paid-only live chat last night, we truly are a support group for one another. And let’s face it—we need it. What we are seeing in our country is nothing short of fascism, and it’s frightening. So we’re fighting back together, but we’re also keeping each other sane and hopeful in these trying times. I am grateful to each and every one of you.
All the best,
Joe
P.S. By the way, have you seen Mike Nellis’ terrific piece Why I'm Standing With Zohran Mamdani, Joe Walsh, and the Whole Damn Coalition? If not, please give it a read. Mike really understands the assignment. We Democrats have to expand our coalition in every direction in order to win. LFG!
In Today’s Issue
The Social Briefing: Heroes of the Week
Good Reads for This Week
What Can You Do?
The Social Calendar
The Social Soundboard
This Week
SUBSTACK LIVE:
Tuesday, 8pm ET (with Adam Kinzinger, click if you missed it)
Wednesday, 8pm ET (with Mike Madrid, click if you missed it)
CONVERSATIONS OF THE WEEK: If you missed my conversations with Rotimi Adeoye, they’re all archived in Conversations with Joe. Check them out!
FOUNDING MEMBERS: Our monthly Zoom will be held next MONDAY, JUNE 30, at 8pm ET! We’ll be in touch by email with the details. (Do you want to join us, but you’re not a Founding Member? Upgrade now!)
SUPPORT OUR MISSION: If you enjoy this Substack and want to help me and my small, but fiercely pro-democracy team reach more Americans with our message,please consider upgrading to a paid subscription. Thank you!
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Amid all the bad, awful, dumb, stupid, absurd, insane, sickening, despicable, embarrassing, irresponsible, demoralizing, infuriating, outrageous, terrible, horrible, Constitution-defying news of the past week, we have to acknowledge the heroes among us. The list is growing, as more and more of us are standing up to the tyrant. Courage is infectious. Be brave!
JENNIFER GRIFFIN. The Fox News reporter stood up to her former colleague, Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth, at his tyrannical press conference yesterday.
GAVIN NEWSOM. The Governor of California is suing Fox News for its allegedly false reporting that he lied about a phone call with Donald Trump.
JANUARY 6TH JURY. Thank you to the jurors who ordered a Jan. 6 insurrectionist to pay $500K for assaulting a police officer who killed himself after the Capitol riot.
HOUSE DEMOCRATS. Specifically, the ones who grilled Attorney General Pam Bondi this week, like Rep. Madeleine Dean, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, and Rep. Joe Morelle.
ZOHRAN MAMDANI. Not because I agree with him on many issues (I don’t), but because he’s a fighter who injected some sorely needed life into the Democratic Party this week by winning the NYC Democratic mayoral primary.
Did we miss anyone? Send your heroes our way!
Good Reads for This Week
What We Tolerate —Jason Egenberg
Leadership —Democracy Moneyball
Kakistocracy at War —The Dispatch
Well, the Good News Is... —Pitching and Snitching
Could You Prove Your U.S. Citizenship If Stopped by ICE? —The Great Transformation with Mike Madrid
How Trump Killed the GOP’s Love of States’ Rights —The xxxxxx
Trump Cognitively Collapses in Front of the World at NATO Press Conference —The Daily
Democracy Has Enemies —Notes from the Circus
Front-Line States Prepare to Fight Alone —Foreign Policy
The Mediocrity Epidemic —Elsa Hefes
What Can You Do?
JOIN THE #NOKINGS COMMUNITY! Let’s build a community of Americans who rally around and identify with this basic truth: we don’t have kings in America. I’ve changed all my profile pictures to #NOKINGS, and you can too. Grab a #NOKINGS graphic at www.oneflaginitiative.org for instructions on how to change your profile pics.
SHOW YOUR SOLIDARITY PROUDLY! Let the world know you stand with the No Kings movement with a #NOKINGS shirt!
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Did you catch Walsh Wednesday, my weekly meetup with Michael Cohen? If you missed it, here it is:
THIS WEEK’S INTERVIEWS & QUOTES
From MAGA to Democrat, Here's Joe Walsh! —Alisyn Camerota
Letters From an American: June 26, 2025 —Heather Cox Richardson
Ex-MAGA Joe Walsh Claims ‘Cover-Up’ Around Trump’s Cognition —Hip-Hop Wired
'People Around Him Know': Ex-Tea Party Republican Accuses Trump Admin of Coverup —Raw Story
Even Joe Rogan Thinks Trump’s ICE Raids are ‘F***ing Nuts’ —The Independent
'It Irks Me': Ex-GOP Congressman Who Joined Dems Targets the Left's 'Blind Spot’ —Raw Story
‘Special Kind of Stupid’: Trump Slammed for ‘Terrible’ News About the Economy —NJ.com
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Here’s what some of you are thinking about this week…
Joe,
I so appreciate your verbalizing what I feel every.single.day. Especially today's podcast, “This Is Not Who We Are.” Sadly this IS how some of us are, and it is how we ended up in the situation we are in now.
It is appalling, the number of non-criminals being taken away by these thugs. It is appalling how every single word that comes out of Trump's mouth is a lie. Except when he told people during his campaign the horrible things he would do, that was the truth. I've been telling my family (some of whom support him) that if he is breathing, he's lying, and it was great to hear you say that as well.
Please keep doing what you are doing. I share your words with as many people as possible. I keep hoping that the message will break through the walls of some people's brains. —Susan Moreno
You did say, “How true that is. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it. Write me and let me know.” Welp, since you asked... here's what I object to in that [Will Stancil] tweet.
Pull quote: “or to rationalize obedience to your leader of choice”
And there's the difference. MAGA expects everyone to obey their chosen leader. Probably the GOP, too. But Democrats don’t roll that way. That isn’t what a democratically elected leader is for: to be obeyed. They are to be respected, and I believe most Democrats expect their staff to stand up to them and tell them when they (the staff) believe the leader is wrong.
I’ve heard of studies comparing right-wing thinking with left-wing thinking, and some researchers concluded that their brains are different, and the attitude toward authority was different. It’s what allows MAGA leaders to command lock-step reactions, keeping everyone on the same page by fiat. There are advantages to this, I'll admit—the evidence is in the White House.
Democrats seem incapable of this lockstep “remember-today’s-talking-point” action. —M. Davis
I agree that we seem to be living in a country driven by mass hysteria, definitely psychosocial stress. What to do about it? The world isn’t speeding up, but becoming much smaller, with information too numerous for consumption and the time to process it.
People don’t like to feel bad, and many do. Agencies that at least made them feel secure or safe, a humanist first tenet, don’t exist, but droves are flocking to arcane beliefs or interpretations of their religious faiths. Politics are understood from the sandbox, and the clever make up or skirt the rules of the game.
This immaturity has no interest in others as same but objects to manipulate. Equality as a value, once held and promoted as a belief, is dying from the requisite compassion necessary. Our leaders are unable to demonstrate this concept, particularly the psychopath currently in the White House. We are being driven by forces most have no interest in understanding, and are therefore part of the natural world. Peace to you. —Mark Arnold
I just wanted to give you a bit of feedback on Wednesday’s podcast. I agree with you about the Democratic base being against the old-guard Democrats, but I have a few comments.
I’m a Jewish woman born and raised in NYC, though I moved to New Jersey to work and raise my family. Still, I listened to some interviews with Zohran Mamdani, and I didn’t hear him being “anti-Israel.” I will tell you that I fully understand the need for the Jewish state of Israel, but at the same time, I say Netanyahu is a horrible, corrupt leader who should never have been back in charge of Israel. He is Israel’s Trump. He is doing everything possible to keep wars going so the people of Israel won’t hold an election to get rid of him.
Also, recognize that NYC has ranked-choice voting. There were others on the ballot besides Andrew Cuomo and Mamdani. The city didn’t choose Mamdani because they hated Cuomo. They chose Mamdani.
One last point about the idea of city-owned supermarkets. He’s talking about one per borough, and if it doesn’t work, he’ll try something else.
Meanwhile, I’m now living in Virginia, and I can’t buy alcohol (above the strength of wine) in a capitalist store. I have to go to the government-owned ABC store for alcohol. This exists in Virginia and North Carolina. Is North Carolina a socialist state?
I love listening to you. I just want to point out that you can’t be so binary in these views. —Stacy Fishkin
You're part of the coalition that the Dems need to win. From Zohran Mamdani to Joe Walsh! —Adam Lipson
Hey, I want to hear from you! Want to host a conversation with Joe in your town? Want to send us a 600-word op-ed or video clip on how we can mend our frayed social contract and rebuild an America that works? Want to appear with Joe on Substack Live? Just need to vent? Send it our way!
Tell us your story and share your feedback about our Substack community by emailing our editor at [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you!
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