VIDEO OF THE DAY: Trump pulls insane stunt to bury the Epstein files
Brian Tyler Cohen sits down with Rep. Melanie Stansbury to discuss Trump's behind-the-scenes-efforts to bully Republicans into keeping the Epstein files under wraps.
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Why It’s pointless for Democrats to negotiate a shutdown deal
Jason Linkins, The New Republic: "The popular way of describing what’s going on in Washington right now is to say that on October 1, the federal government shut down as a result of Congress’s inability to pass an appropriations bill to keep it funded. Chief among the sticking points was the fact that Democrats and Republicans could not come to terms on the future of Affordable Care Act subsidies. The Republican bill did not include them; Democrats balked at signing their name to a budget that would cause skyrocketing premium costs for millions of mostly low- and middle-income Americans. You wouldn’t be faulted if that was your capsule summary of the shutdown. It’s essentially the story to which most of the political press is sticking, and there’s nothing fundamentally untrue about it. It would appear for now, in fact, that the broad public acceptance of this state of play is boosting Democrats’ fortunes in the game of who 'owns' the shutdown. Still, these facts only tell part of the story. This government shutdown isn’t merely about an appropriations bill, and it’s not entirely about health care subsidies. This shutdown is actually the culmination of a much deeper dysfunction, to which blame can indeed be wholly attached to President Donald Trump and his GOP apparatchiks. But the underlying cause of the shutdown is tricky terrain for Democrats to negotiate, and it calls into question whether they can—or even should—speedily resolve it. And the key to understanding the problem begins with acknowledging that this didn’t start in October. The government shutdown began a few weeks after Trump was sworn in. Trump’s second term is broadly defined by his monomaniacal desire to either end or fatally impair the federal government. With the help of Elon Musk and Russell Vought, the Trump administration managed to do this in the most alienating possible way. But the reason things have dragged to a legislative standstill in October is essentially because Republicans in Congress willed it to be so when they returned to Washington to rejoin Trump as devoted supplicants. What we have here is a fully busted appropriations process; it is impossible to have faith in anything that Trump and his Republican cronies do with taxpayer dollars, even in instances in which bills have been negotiated, agreed to, and passed. And Republicans just keep on tipping their hands that they don’t really care about restoring that faith. So when and how does this get resolved? Knowing of the Trump administration’s faithlessness and the physiological impossibility of him honoring any deal made on Obamacare subsidies—or anything else—it’s not clear that Democrats should even play a role in resolving the matter. It’s worth pointing out that Republicans have majorities in both houses of Congress, so they can end the impasse any time they want, all on their own. I’ll admit that I do not know what Devil Magic has heretofore kept the GOP from simply nuking the filibuster and getting on with this. Perhaps they desire even the slightest whiff of bipartisan assent for Trump’s designs because of the cover it earns them from the mainstream political media, who are as desperate as ever to find the smallest scintilla of evidence that the American experiment is still working. But from here, the shutdown calculus becomes simple: If Democratic votes are what Trump and his GOP enablers need the most, they must never be provided."
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Freshman Democrat under ATTACK for standing up to the GOP
Nellie Pou for Congress: Nellie Pou has only been in Congress a few months, but she’s already facing a barrage of GOP attacks for voting against their destructive budget bill that would hand out huge tax breaks to the wealthy while RAISING taxes on working families. Just a few days ago, the NRCC issued an error-filled press release written by Big Business lobbyists that falsely smeared her with lies. She’s one of the few Democrats to win her seat in a county that voted for Trump; she’s going to need all the help she can get if we want to protect the MUST-HOLD seat and retake Congress. Will you chip in to thank her for doing the right thing and helping her weather the storm against GOP attacks?
Portland’s dancing protesters are showing us how to stand up to Trump
Jeet Heer, The Nation: "Donald Trump wants the world to think that Portland is a veritable hell-on-earth—so scary and out of control that the National Guard needs to step in and bring peace. On Wednesday, Trump told reporters, 'The amazing thing is, you look at Portland and you see fires all over the place. You see fights, and I mean just violence. It’s just so crazy.' The president went on to compare Portland to a postapocalyptic movie that features 'bombed out cities.' He added, 'I don’t know what could be worse than Portland. You don’t even have sewers anymore. They don’t even put glass up. They put plywood on their windows. But most of the retailers have left.' Needless to say, these are all ridiculous lies. The thankless task of correcting Trump has been left to journalists, local officials in Oregon, and even a Trump-appointed federal judge. But many residents in Portland have taken a more creative approach to combating Trump’s dishonesty. Trump is a sinister buffoon, a menacing clown. His prevarications about Portland are motivated by political malice but also show his characteristic detachment from reality. Perhaps deciding that it’s best to fight fire with fire, Portlanders have deployed a more joyful form of protest: wearing animal costumes while dancing in the streets in front of Trump’s heavily armed ICE troops. The protests have the dual effect of refuting Trump’s fearmongering while also showing that no one is intimidated by him. They are a way of countering Trump’s nasty clowning with giddy clowning. Both responses —fact-checking and satire—are necessary. The fact-checking won’t convince any MAGA cultist, but it’s still important, in the face of authoritarian deception, to keep as close a record of history as possible. But the political battle against Trump’s authoritarianism won’t be won with fact-checking. Trump’s lies are a political problem and require a political response. Only a popular mobilization will give Trump and his allies pause and facilitate the formation of a political majority that can defeat his politics. With Trump threatening to unleash the “Full Force” of the military on Portland, the very act of putting on a silly costume and dancing in the street sends a powerful message of defiance. Trump’s project is to use fear to squash his political foes. Portland is showing the way to organize against Trump is to live openly and daringly without fear."
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Democrats are captive to outdated norms. It’s endangering democracy
Ryan W Powers, The Guardian: "In early August, dozens of Democratic lawmakers fled Texas for Illinois, denying Republicans the quorum needed to pass new congressional maps projected to give the party as many as five additional seats. Their absence paralyzed the state legislature, turning a walkout into political resistance and drawing national attention. As the standoff dragged on, Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, offered an unorthodox countermove: a proposal to suspend his state’s independent redistricting commission and draw maps designed to hand Democrats a comparable advantage. He unveiled the plan with spectacle, mimicking Donald Trump’s signature style through all-caps declarations, a mocking nickname for White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt (“KaroLYIN”) and AI-generated celebrity endorsements. While Texas Democrats ultimately returned and the Republican redistricting plan has advanced, Newsom has been cast as the emerging leader of Democratic opposition to Trump. Why did it take the party nine months to find one? The real answer is that the most powerful liberal institutions – the Democratic establishment, major donors and the professional class around them – are captive to outdated etiquette. They prize agreeability as an end in itself: disruption is discouraged, compromise exalted, restraint worn as a badge of honor. And because these institutions shape liberal culture from the top down, their attachment to niceties dulls urgency and narrows the space for bold, breakout leadership. What makes Newsom unique is his willingness to defy convention when circumstances demand it. The lesson is not in his theatrics, but in the reminder that strategically breaking norms can sometimes accomplish more than following them. The cult of congeniality has left Democrats out of touch. Their resistance, defined by hollow gestures like waving 'No King!' and 'Save Medicaid' signs on the House floor, only underscores how mismatched the party is to the moment. The reason is clear: politics has evolved, but the Democratic establishment still clings to the Obama-era script of unwavering politeness and reserve that now defines a bygone age. The task now is to channel deliberate, nonviolent unruliness into strategy. Trump’s return to the White House made clear that authoritarianism does not yield to decorum. Voters recognize this: a recent survey found that nearly three-quarters of Democrats believe their leaders aren’t fighting hard enough. Newsom has now stepped forward, with Kathy Hochul, the New York governor, and Obama himself – the onetime apostle of gentility – lending their support. Breaking ranks will not always succeed, but caution all but ensures defeat. The choice is plain: abandon outdated norms, or watch democracy slip away."
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Food for thought
The Sunday wrap-up
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