Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

August 18, 2026 at 12:47 PM

Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen

View this post on the web at [link removed] I remember getting to autumn of 2019 and thinking we might be home free. That was a long way to have come from the sense of dread that pervaded liberal politics three years earlier. If you work in government, or cover it closely for a living, you ga…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

August 17, 2026 at 12:15 PM

Reclaiming "Normalization"

View this post on the web at [link removed] Normalization is a dirty word in the pro-democracy movement, because we associate it with the many ways elites and institutions under-reacted to authoritarianism and corrupt conduct when Donald Trump brought them to the center of national politics. “No…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

August 14, 2026 at 2:15 PM

Propaganda With Better Manners Is Still Propaganda

View this post on the web at [link removed] I doubt many readers of this newsletter hold high hopes for the coming season of 60 Minutes, with its new roster of contributors [ [link removed] ]. Few of you, presumably, have been taken in by special pleading from Bari Weiss and David Ellison, who’d …

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

August 13, 2026 at 12:39 PM

Did Senate Democrats REALLY Just Give Trump Broad New Tariff Power?

View this post on the web at [link removed] Michael [ [link removed] ]: A recent poll by Marquette Law School found that SCOTUS approval rating it 47%. I think court packing is an absolute non-starter until that number falls much lower. If it were done, with SCOTUS at 47% approval or anything cl…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

August 12, 2026 at 1:18 PM

Republicans Should Suffer For Their Smears

View this post on the web at [link removed] The huge sums of money sloshing around on the right makes political investment a rounding error on right-wing fortunes. We tend to think of the problems this gives rise to in terms of political-economy. It’s what “Fight Oligarchy” is all about. We nee…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

August 11, 2026 at 1:12 PM

Woke One Happened Because American Government Is Broken

View this post on the web at [link removed] Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants voters to be open-minded about progressive candidates. Even those (like Francesca Hong) who played radical leapfrog with other online activists in the latter part of the last decade (cancel Thanksgiving? [ [link removed] ]…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

August 10, 2026 at 12:48 PM

Have Democrats Fully Capitalized On Trump's Iran War Failure?

View this post on the web at [link removed] There’s definitely something uncanny about this: We’re five months and 10 days into Donald Trump’s war of choice with Iran, and it’s been about five months and five days since he lost it. Trump won’t end the war because he can’t accept terms that make c…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

August 7, 2026 at 1:07 PM

A Truce Is Still Possible

View this post on the web at [link removed] The conservative movement infiltrated the Republican Party, then took it over completely, to establish a beachhead from which to attack (and ideally dismantle) liberal government in the United States. But for most of its existence the constituent elem…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

August 6, 2026 at 12:54 PM

Court Expansion Is The Linchpin Of American Renewal

View this post on the web at [link removed] Casey [ [link removed] ]: Why does the progressive wing of the party seem so much more comfortable fighting the centrists than MAGA? Especially now that they have clearly won many, many arguments within the party. Once you win inside, you gotta start fi…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

August 5, 2026 at 1:01 PM

27 Thoughts On A Tough Primary Season

View this post on the web at [link removed] NBC News [ [link removed] ] and Decision Desk HQ [ [link removed] ] have called the Michigan Senate Democratic primary for Abdul el-Sayed. Primary season isn’t over. But with the Michigan Senate primary now behind us, I think we’re over the hump, effec…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

August 4, 2026 at 12:53 PM

Senate Democrats Dodge Last Pre-Election Opportunity To Fight Trump

View this post on the web at [link removed] This was expected, but it’s madness. Over the weekend, Patty Murray, the top Democratic appropriator in Congress—and, crucially, as we’ll see, one of Washington state’s two senators—cut a deal with Susan Collins (yes, that Susan Collins) that would ex…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

August 3, 2026 at 1:57 PM

MAGA Squandered Young Men's Trust; Making Them Stay Democrats Is The Hard Part

View this post on the web at [link removed] We’ve come a long way since the post-2024 freakout. When Donald Trump won a second term, Democrats quickly gave in to fear of permanent realignment, and durable Republican political and cultural dominance, driven by young men—as if the election had been…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

July 31, 2026 at 12:53 PM

The Tate Brothers' Should Be The Trumps' Second Epstein Scandal

View this post on the web at [link removed] I’ve had Heidi Blake’s lengthy [ [link removed] ]New Yorker [ [link removed] ]exposé [ [link removed] ] about Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan open in a browser tab for over a month. I finally read it yesterday, straight through. If you’ve alre…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

July 30, 2026 at 12:50 PM

Trump Is Making 'Soak The Rich' Inevitable

View this post on the web at [link removed] Cat Warren [ [link removed] ]: I was disgusted reading about the correspondents’ dinner -- and the coverage was typically predictable, with the NY Times pulling its punches and providing a kind of sanitized version of what Trump actually said. I feel as…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

July 29, 2026 at 2:28 PM

Obamacare Was Not Universal Health Insurance

View this post on the web at [link removed] When I wrote last week’s newsletter about Medicare for All [ [link removed] ], and seeking detente in the Democratic Party’s factional wars, I didn’t know the Searchlight Institute—a new, moderate-branded think tank—was about to release what authors Dav…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

July 28, 2026 at 1:03 PM

Insecure Right Wingers Want Conan The Barbarian To Be Real

View this post on the web at [link removed] First, the right tried to “cancel” The Odyssey (film) for the sins of allowing a black woman (Lupita Nyong'o) to portray Helen of Troy, and casting a trans man (Elliot Page) in any role whatsoever. These reactionaries, led by Elon Musk, did not come o…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

July 27, 2026 at 12:40 PM

Democrats Poised To Fund Trump's Dirty Tricks

View this post on the web at [link removed] Did you know that the House of Representatives has already passed temporary legislation to fund the government past September [ [link removed] ], so that there is not another shutdown before midterm elections? Did you know that six Democrats voted for …

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

July 24, 2026 at 2:08 PM

Barack Obama And The Lost Art Of Broad Empathy

View this post on the web at [link removed] How did Barack Obama manage to win over “traditional values” voters? Or, at least, enough of them to carry states like Indiana? A few theories, not mutually exclusive: Obama was incredibly charismatic, which made people predisposed to liking him, sigh…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

July 23, 2026 at 4:43 PM

Is Progressive Dominance Of The Democratic Party Inevitable?

View this post on the web at [link removed] Thanks to everyone who watched in real time, and to those who left questions for me on Notes or in the live chat. I explain/confess at the top of the video why I opted for the live format this week. In this case it was more out of necessity than anythi…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

July 22, 2026 at 5:49 PM

🗓️ Brian Beutler is going live on Jul 23 at 10:00 AM EDT: “Live mailbag with Brian Beutler”

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

July 22, 2026 at 12:19 PM

Donald Trump Doesn't Want Nursing Home Residents To Vote

View this post on the web at [link removed] Keep your eye on nursing homes. Maybe particularly in Wisconsin and Texas, but really everywhere. On Monday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services quietly rescinded standing guidance—first issued in October 2020, then renewed ahead of the 202…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

July 21, 2026 at 12:36 PM

How To Divide And Conquer The Billionaire Class

View this post on the web at [link removed] Bernie Sanders has been railing against the oligarchy for much, much longer than Donald Trump has been a politician, but I think it’s safe to say that the thing he had in mind when he began warning the country about the formation of an American oligarch…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

July 20, 2026 at 12:40 PM

Surrender To The Left On Medicare For All

View this post on the web at [link removed] From today until morale improves [ [link removed] ], my main political commitment will be eliminating the scourge of wimpy politics that has come to define the Democratic Party. That’s how Democrats will regain the trust of their own voters. It’s also…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

July 18, 2026 at 3:25 PM

Last Chance For 65 Percent Off. 65 Percent!!!

Hey there! Just wanted to circle back one last time, before the weekend is over, to so you don’t miss out on the biggest discount I’ve ever offered [ [link removed] ]. You’ve been reading Off Message for a while now, so you get the idea. I won’t bore you all over again with my usual pitch. I just…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

July 17, 2026 at 12:48 PM

The Progressive Succession Gap

View this post on the web at [link removed] Donald Trump makes it hard to imagine the future of Republican politics, because he’s such an inimitable figure. Before he was a politician, he was a celebrity real-estate developer—an inheritance he plied into hosting a hit reality television show prem…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

July 16, 2026 at 3:17 PM

Private Offer For Long-Time Off Message Readers

Hello again! I’m re-upping this in case you missed it on Tuesday. I know you support the mission of Off Message. Upgrading to a premium membership is the best way to show it. Members ensure our independence and are the only ones who get access to everything: comments, weekly mailbag questions, int…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

July 16, 2026 at 12:36 PM

The Doom Loop Of Wimpy Politics

View this post on the web at [link removed] Michael [ [link removed] ]: Brian, I want to challenge you on the implications of your argument that Alito might seek and gain electoral advantage for the GOP by retiring in September [ [link removed] ]. I think your story of how this would happen is ve…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

July 15, 2026 at 1:37 PM

Diarrhea Donald And The Cyclospora Outbreak

View this post on the web at [link removed] Before we get to all of the diarrhea, let’s talk about how Republicans did politics even before Donald Trump transformed bad faith from a right-wing method into a badge of honor. The basic idea was to ridicule liberal priorities sight unseen, impede li…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

July 14, 2026 at 4:23 PM

A Huge, Exclusive Discount

Dear subscriber, If you received this email, it’s because you’ve been following Off Message for several months, or in some cases years. First and foremost: Thank you. As a gesture of gratitude, I want to extend the biggest discount I’ve ever offered [ [link removed] ]. This newsletter is what I …

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

July 14, 2026 at 12:53 PM

How Low Would Sam Alito Go?

View this post on the web at [link removed] Catching up with post-vacation news over the weekend, I happened upon this somewhat mortifying story [ [link removed] ] about NPR’s veteran Supreme Court reporter Nina Totenberg, who reported [ [link removed] ] (incorrectly, it turns out) that Samuel Al…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

July 13, 2026 at 12:17 PM

How To Eulogize Dead Fascists And Their Enablers

View this post on the web at [link removed] When the former FBI Director Robert Mueller passed away earlier this year, Donald Trump repulsed all decent people by celebrating the occasion. “Good, I’m glad he’s dead,” Trump wrote [ [link removed] ]. “He can no longer hurt innocent people!” This wa…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

July 12, 2026 at 4:10 PM

The Political Limits Of Procedural Hardball

View this post on the web at [link removed] The political science professor and commentator Nicholas Grossman —whom you may know from social media, Arc Digital , and various other publications—reached out to me last week with a few caveats about Thursday’s lengthy essay about the new left-wing in…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

July 9, 2026 at 2:16 PM

The Insurgency Will Continue Until Morale Improves

View this post on the web at [link removed] You can read what follows as an after-action report on the Graham Platner saga—but that episode is a microcosm of something larger and more profound. The Democratic Party has lost control of itself more completely than at any time I can remember. Do…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

June 29, 2026 at 3:08 PM

Off Message Reader Survey

Don’t worry! Everything’s fine! But, for a few reasons, I need some insight into what Off Message subscribers are thinking. The biggest is that Off Message, at least in this incarnation, has reached its churn rate. In fact, we’re losing paid subscribers slightly faster than we’re gaining new ones.…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

June 26, 2026 at 1:50 PM

In Search Of A Shared Theory Of Power

View this post on the web at [link removed]- Whether you were excited by, skeptical of, or angry about Zohran Mamdani’s involvement in New York’s primaries surely turns on what his ends are, whether you support them, and how well or poorly you think he advanced his own objectives. Everyone agree…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

June 25, 2026 at 12:59 PM

Brainstorming A "Fight Score" For Future Democratic Candidates

View this post on the web at [link removed] Quick reminder: I’m out and hopefully off the grid altogether from June 27 - July 8. Regular programming will resume then. Eric Max [ [link removed] ]: I want to help Democrats win, but I want to push them to fight harder. Donating to Democratic funds…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

June 24, 2026 at 1:46 PM

Opponents Of The JCPOA Unlocked A Hellish Future

View this post on the web at [link removed] When Barack Obama signed the JCPOA with Iran and other global powers in 2015, his critics wailed that the deal was bad, but also too short. It echoed the Annie Hall joke: What terrible food—and such small portions! But these malcontents did have an a…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

June 23, 2026 at 12:13 PM

Obama, Trump, And The Outmoded Politics Of Indirection

View this post on the web at [link removed] Right-wing consciousness of guilt is one of few amusing phenomena of the Trump era. It is so pitched, and conservatives so self-aware, that any nod to virtue strikes them as an accusation, and they lash out angrily. Observe in a campaign speech or on s…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

June 22, 2026 at 2:05 PM

Guess Who Was Actually Being Cavalier With Jewish Lives

View this post on the web at [link removed] There’s a certain kind of right-wing American Jew who fancies himself (almost always himself) an arbiter of Jewry. In his eyes Jewry has almost nothing to do with living a life of private and civic rectitude, and almost everything to do with supporting …

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

June 19, 2026 at 1:46 PM

Trump Switching Sides In The War He Lost Does Not Make Him A Palestinian Liberationist

View this post on the web at [link removed] Quick observation from me up top, and then we’ll get to your questions. I haven’t written at length about the developments in Iran this week, or offered bullet-point thoughts, for three simple reasons: the president and his advisers aren’t trustworthy; …

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

June 18, 2026 at 1:12 PM

We Can Start Deterring Election Lies Right Now

View this post on the web at [link removed] Minor schedule change: I’ll be publishing mailbag responses on Friday instead of today (which means there’s still time to get questions in [ [link removed] ]). I hope everyone has a restful and reflective Juneteenth. I had the opportunity on Wednesday…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

June 17, 2026 at 2:38 PM

The De-Trumpification Process Begins Now

View this post on the web at [link removed] My wife and I went to see Disclosure Day Friday evening. Earlier in the day I’d checked in on one of the feeds set up to livestream the facade of the Kennedy Center. The center’s board (but really the executive branch of the United States government) wa…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

June 15, 2026 at 1:21 PM

Their Lies Must Be Their Undoing

View this post on the web at [link removed] Liberals perked up last week when House Speaker Mike Johnson let slip that Republicans plan to slash Social Security and Medicare if they manage to hold Congress. These programs, "have to be adjusted and fixed,” Johnson said [ [link removed] ], adding…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

June 14, 2026 at 5:44 PM

🗓️ Brian Beutler is going live on Jun 17 at 9:00 AM EDT: “Andrew Weissmann and Brian Beutler on deterring lies in politics and post-Trump rebuilding”

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

June 12, 2026 at 2:11 PM

The Black Mold Of Republican Lies

View this post on the web at [link removed] Let’s assess how Republicans are running against Democrats, to the extent that they’re trying to influence voter decisions and win more votes. I phrase it that way, because Donald Trump is devoting most of his efforts to election-rigging and election-…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

June 11, 2026 at 12:51 PM

How To Resist A Coup

View this post on the web at [link removed] Adrienne [ [link removed] ]: Why can’t we get rid of the two party (dems and repubs) system and just vote for the best person for the job? Candidates would have to list their qualifications and what changes they recommend. If they don’t follow through, …

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

June 10, 2026 at 1:33 PM

Casting A Ballot Is Not Flashing A Gang Sign

View this post on the web at [link removed] More-or-less regular people will sometimes attach themselves morally to powerful bad actors. Some people become in thrall to politicians or cultural icons and then begin lying to others or deluding themselves about the ways those actors abuse power. Th…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

June 9, 2026 at 12:32 PM

Disqualify Spencer Pratt

View this post on the web at [link removed] I want to revise and extend an argument I made in Monday’s newsletter [ [link removed] ]. In the context of the lies Republicans have told (and continue to tell) about ballot counting in Los Angeles, I suggested California Democrats should defer seemi…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

June 8, 2026 at 12:57 PM

Confront Trump's California Election Lies

View this post on the web at [link removed] Donald Trump stormed off the set of Meet the Press Sunday because Kristen Welker had the temerity to note he has “no evidence” that Democrats steal elections. Trump was mostly fixated on the 2020 election, because that’s the one he lost. But this time…

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  Brian from Off Message · [email protected]

June 5, 2026 at 1:19 PM

John Roberts, Roger Taney, And The Unbearable Weight Of Desperation

View this post on the web at [link removed] Donald Trump’s corruption, the way he stuffs his pockets as the country rots, gives rise to a weighty political paradox. It is, on the one hand, a gift to his opposition, particularly as Democrats reawaken to the reality that voters hate corruption. N…

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