-Paris Hilton Goes To Washington

Members of Kyrsten Sinema’s own team have finally had enough of her shenanigans, as she threatens to blow up not only core pieces of the Biden agenda, but current Democratic majorities, and also the chances of ever securing Democratic majorities in the future.
 

• Five military veterans resigned from their roles on Sinema’s advisory board on Thursday with a scathing letter accusing her of abandoning her constituents. “You have become one of the principal obstacles to progress, answering to big donors rather than your own people,” they wrote. “We shouldn’t have to buy representation from you, and your failure to stand by your people and see their urgent needs is alarming.” The progressive veterans group Common Defense will feature the letter in a new ad.
   
• The veterans slammed Sinema’s refusal to abolish the filibuster to pass voting rights legislation, as well as her opposition to key parts of the Build Back Better Act and failure to vote on the January 6 commission. Sinema has continued to resist Democrats’ plan to let Medicare negotiate lower drug prices, but in a major reversal, she appears to have dropped her opposition to an increase on taxes for corporations and the wealthiest Americans to pay for the package. Don’t look now, but it’s possible that refusing to let one obnoxious wine enthusiast dictate the agenda...works?
   
• Sinema should hope so, because her incomprehensible positions threaten her own political future. Her approval rating among Democrats has tanked. Activists who helped get her elected in 2018 have launched a PAC to replace her in 2024. And while it’s much too early for this to be anything other than Very Interesting, a recent Data For Progress poll found that all four potential primary challengers demolish her in head-to-head matchups. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) hasn’t ruled out a campaign to unseat her.

More importantly, Sinema’s imperiling the party’s chances of staying in power.
 

• The longer centrist Democrats hold up the reconciliation bill to carve cool programs out of it, the harder it becomes for the Biden administration to a) show voters that Democrats are competently getting big things done, and b) turn its full attention to the brewing democratic crisis. The Senate Majority PAC warned in a recent presentation that Senate Democrats will find themselves in some uphill electoral battles next year. Some of that has to do with the Delta surge interrupting the economic recovery, but some of it has to do with Kyrsten Sinema kicking the party in the nuts: The presentation noted that one of the party’s most popular initiatives is still its drug-pricing proposal, which Sinema wants to force out of Build Back Better.
   
• Her (and Joe Manchin’s) refusal to budge on the filibuster remains the most serious mistake of all. As Senate Republicans were filibustering a vote to even open debate on voting-rights legislation for the third time this year on Wednesday, Wisconsin Republicans introduced the kind of partisan gerrymander that the bill would block. The proposed maps would give Republicans control of six of the state’s eight House seats, and cement GOP control of the state legislature. Once GOP-drawn maps become law, Democrats’ chances of keeping the Houses go way down, and the chances that Republicans can steal the White House in 2024 go way up.
   

Sinema needed a wakeup call that blocking the party’s agenda and straying from her campaign promises wouldn’t win her any plaudits for her independence—just outraged resignation letters from her own inner circle. Who knows whether she’ll receive it that way, but her reported shift on Biden’s tax plan could be a sign that her terrible choices aren’t set in stone.

The stakes couldn’t be higher as we head into 2022. That’s why Vote Save America is working to raise $1.5 million through our No Off Years fund. Donations will go to help voter registration efforts in places where reaching new voters will help make the difference in our ability to win next year and beyond like Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin.

We’ve raised over $270,000 so far, and we're almost halfway to our goal of reaching $600,000 by the end of October, which will help organizers get a critical head start on building relationships and expanding their work to reach every last voter. Help us get there by heading to votesaveamerica.com/donate.

The House voted on Thursday to hold Steve Bannon in criminal contempt of Congress for stonewalling the January 6 committee, with all but nine Republicans voting to let Bannon defy a congressional subpoena in peace. The vote sends the matter to the Justice Department, but in House testimony Thursday Attorney General Merrick Garland gave few hints as to whether Bannon will face consequences: “The Department of Justice will do what it always does in such circumstances, we'll apply the facts and the law and make a decision, consistent with the principles of prosecution.” Meanwhile, in Republicans Who Definitely Aren’t Shitting Themselves, a prominent lobbyist close to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has informed political consultants that they can’t work for both McCarthy and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), and Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) has been sending letters to government agencies claiming to be the ranking member of the January 6 committee, of which he is not a member at all.

• Virginia GOP gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin, who’s nothing like Donald Trump unless you’re into that kind of thing, poured $1 million into a PAC that supports 2020 election deniers.
   
• Donald Trump’s new social media platform/grift “TRUTH” might violate the terms of service of the source code it’s built on, casting a hilarious dark shadow on an otherwise flawless launch. 
   
• Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) has appointed John Scott as the new Texas secretary of state, after Scott briefly represented Trump in a 2020 election sham-lawsuit.
   
• Facebook’s Oversight Board reprimanded the company for not sharing relevant information about its XCheck program, which exempts millions of VIP users from the platform’s rules.
   
• Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) acknowledged Thursday that he offered to become an independent if his Democratic colleagues viewed him as an embarrassment, but noted that he would caucus with the Democrats either way. 
   
• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has endorsed India Walton to be mayor of Buffalo, presumably after watching this very important video. 
   
• If you happened to see a fireball over the midwest before dawn on Wednesday, nothing to worry about, probably a Russian military satellite meeting an early end.
   
• Vienna art museums have begun using OnlyFans to promote artwork with nudity, after other social-media platforms flagged them as inappropriate. #FreeThe16thCenturyNipple.

A Brazilian senate investigation into President Jair Bolsonaro’s handling of the pandemic recommended that he be charged with crimes against humanity. The panel accused Bolsonaro of intentionally allowing coronavirus to rip through the country in a failed attempt to reach herd immunity, resulting in the world’s second-highest death toll after the U.S. The report initially recommended that Bolsonaro be charged with mass homicide and genocide against indigenous groups in the Amazon, before the committee decided those accusations went too far. It’s unlikely that Bolsonaro will face a criminal trial—if the whole senate approves the report, it’ll be up to Brazil’s attorney general—but the investigation itself has done real damage to him politically. Just a lil something for the House coronavirus committee, here in the country with the highest death toll, to keep in mind.

In 2021 mental health is finally a thing, especially as people are not feeling like their normal selves. Let’s support one another and talk openly. Whether or not therapy is your thing, knowing it’s available and affordable is important, for you or perhaps a loved one.  

Millions of people are trying and loving online therapy. It doesn’t have to be sitting around just talking about your feelings.

So, what is therapy, exactly? It’s whatever you want it to be.

You can privately talk to someone if your stress is too much to manage, you’re battling a temper, having relationship issues, anxiety, depression, etc… Whatever you need, there’s no more shame in these normal human struggles. We take care of our bodies, why not our minds, too? Without a healthy mind, being truly happy and at peace is HARD.

BetterHelp is customized online therapy that offers video, phone and even live chat sessions with your therapist, so you don’t have to see anyone on camera if you don’t want to. It’s much more affordable than in-person therapy and you can start communicating with your therapist in under 48 hours.

It’s always a good time to invest in yourself, because you are your greatest asset. See if online therapy is for you by heading to BetterHelp.com/crooked for 10% off your first month.

Pfizer’s booster shot restores full protection against symptomatic infections, according to a new study.

Barbados has elected its first-ever president as it prepares to cut ties with Queen Elizabeth and its colonial past.

Worker co-ops have gained steam as a more equitable alternative to companies like Uber and DoorDash.

COVID memes are good for you.