View this post on the web at [link removed]

This is The Social Contract Community Issue, our free weekly edition built by and for the readers of The Social Contract. If you have something to share with the community, we’d love to hear from you. Please send it our way at [email protected] [ mailto:[email protected] ]. Thank you!
Did you hear what independent Sen. Angus King [ [link removed] ] said about the government shutdown and why he and seven Democratic senators decided to give up the fight?
“Standing up to Donald Trump didn’t work.”
Wow. I can’t think of a more pitiful, defeatist, tone-deaf, and cowardly thing to say at this moment. When the courts are on our side, the polls are on our side, and last week’s election results are on our side, Angus King and seven Democratic senators chose to stand down.
Sen. King, it’s time to retire. Let someone who is willing to fight for Americans take your place. Your congenial bipartisanship, unfortunately, doesn’t cut it in this era. That kind of approach to governing is over, at least for now. It only works if both sides share a commitment to it.
Instead, Republicans laugh at you and your so-called “norms.” Expecting a good-faith debate or, better yet, a compromise with this Republican Party is like expecting a lion not to eat you because you didn’t eat him. Good fucking luck with that.
The Democrats caved yet again. Their voters asked for one simple thing from them: fight. Stand up to the fascist in the White House and his cabal of shameless enablers. But when the moment came, they couldn’t do it. They blinked. And in that blink, they surrendered their moral authority.
Joe
This Week on The Social Contract
My Substack Lives are open to all subscribers, unless noted. Please join us this week!
Tuesday with Brian Rosenwald [ [link removed] ] at 7pm ET
Wednesday with Michael Cohen [ [link removed] ] at 4pm ET
Wednesday with former UN Ambassador Susan Rice [ [link removed] ] at 7pm ET
Thursday with Edwin Eisendrath [ [link removed] ] at 4pm ET
Thursday AMA for Paid Subscribers Only at 7pm ET
“Welcome to the Party, Pal!” with Mike Nellis [ [link removed] ] on Friday at 12pm ET
I believe the cruelty of the Trump Administration will ultimately help defeat MAGA. Most Americans are not cruel. We are spreading the word about ICE’s cruel and unlawful behavior here every week. Please do the same with your own networks, and please share [ mailto:[email protected] ] any stories and videos you find with us.
Border patrol agents deployed tear gas on the 3700 block of North Kildare where residents say a landscape worker, a resident, and a woman on a bike were detained. Video from a resident —@mandophotos [ [link removed] ]
U.S. citizen shot from behind as he warned ICE agents about children gathering at bus stop —Los Angeles Times [ [link removed] ]
ICE violently detain U.S. citizen who is standing up for his employees—tackle his elderly mother in the process —@longtimehistory [ [link removed] ]
A man fleeing ICE agents ran out onto a busy highway and was struck and killed in Virginia —@NBCNews [ [link removed] ]
Immigration activist says unmarked ICE car rammed into his car —CNN [ [link removed] ]
ICE agent pointed gun at U.S. citizen and said, ‘You’re dead, liberal’ —Newsweek [ [link removed] ]
‘5 shots, 7 holes’: Border patrol supervisor appeared to brag about shooting woman —ABC News [ [link removed] ]
This is what America’s become under Trump and Stephen Miller. Shameful —Republicans Against Trump [ [link removed] ]
ICE detains British Muslim journalist, political commentator at San Francisco airport —CBS News [ [link removed] ]
ICE is building a social media panopticon —The Verge [ [link removed] ]
ICE just bought a social media surveillance bot —The Lever News [ [link removed] ]
Here’s what some of you are thinking about this week…
Once again, Dick Durbin betrays us. Glad he is resigning.
The Democrats never should have entered this shutdown battle. They caved anyway, and for what? Just to put SNAP recipients in peril (which I unfortunately am one of)?
All they showed me is that they don’t know how to fight. Fuck them. —Jason N.
Hi Joe,
Today was admittedly my first time tuning in to your solo podcast. I’ve seen you cohosting or in guest roles on other podcasts. But, after listening to you, today, I felt compelled to express my absolute wonder at the sincerity and humanity of your message. Every observation, invocation, and condemnation you called out, resonated with me with every fiber of my frustrated and anxiety-ridden being.
And let me say how impressed I am with your honesty in tracking your journey from rabid Tea Partier to humanitarian, patriotic Everyman American, who’s done the introspective work to see the egregious flaws in the despicable Republican Party. You chose love over hate, truth over dishonesty, progress over regression. I’ll be subscribing to your Substack, despite being laid off for the last several months and unable to land a job as a Black, female immigrant citizen.
Please keep up the good work. I’ll be following you and relying on your voice crying in the wilderness! Kind regards. —Sandra McK.
Hello Joe,
Do you want reluctant establishment Democrats to start paying attention to you and being more comfortable with you running for office? Maybe being the first one to bring back the term ‘Misery Index’ might help.
Job losses, food becoming unavailable or out of financial reach, other costs spiraling out of control, not being able to take an effing flight this close to the holidays, ICE thugs harming American citizens, etc. I think the term Misery Index applies here. —Jose T.
Joe, I’ve been listening to your podcasts for about six months now. I appreciate your point of view and straightforward style. I agree with most but, of course, not all.
Listening today as you mentioned Hakeem Jeffries’ comment about the Democratic Party being back. I don’t think I could agree more with you. He is wrong, and to think this is a comeback is foolish.
My question for you: how do we get through to him/them to temper their smug confidence? We need them to put on their big boy/girl pants and fight like crazy. How do we get them to understand the weight of the moment does not allow for business as usual or old-style methods? They need to deploy political guerilla tactics.
How do we get through? I fear same old stuff, which will rebound to ineffectiveness. —Joe C.
Appreciate your candor, honesty, open mind, hopefulness, and most importantly, your relentless defense of our great nation.
The 2025 election results were a profound rejection of Trumpism. How do we continue this momentum going forward?
In addition to tearing down the ballroom, Dem candidates ought to be promising corruption reform, Constitutional amendments, taxing the rich, and creating a commission to investigate all of the crimes being committed in plain sight. Thank you. —Adam H.
Joe,
Thanks for doing everything you do everyday. I’m a lifelong Democrat and very much a moderate.
I want a Democratic Party with a tent broad enough to welcome everyone from a Joe Walsh, Adam Kinzinger (if he were to change), and even a Liz Cheney to a Zohran Mamdani. All viewpoints are valid, and all voices should be heard.
Keep up the good work! I say this in full consideration of what I said about you in the Tea Party days. Lol. —Michael P.
I am 63, raised conservatively, but am a Democrat aligned with the idea that government should be for the people’s good. Full stop. What that looks like I could expound upon endlessly, but the post-WWII government that arose, while not perfect, arose not out of accident, but to address issues like environmental destruction.
You are a libertarian in my book. Here is something I wrote on my own Substack with a name for the current Republican Party and Trump. —Doug H.
Hey, I want to hear from you! Got some feedback to share? Want to send us a 600+-word op-ed? How about a video clip on how we can mend our frayed social contract? Want to appear with Joe on Substack Live? Just need to vent? Send it our way!
Email our editor at [email protected] [ mailto:[email protected] ]. We look forward to hearing from you!
The Social Contract with Joe Walsh is a citizen-supported movement resisting authoritarianism and restoring classic American values like civic engagement, tolerance, and mutual respect. To join our community, sign up to be a free subscriber. To support our mission, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Thank you!

Unsubscribe [link removed]?