I forced myself to actually watch (most) of Trump's speech.
Its really striking how when he is stripped of the aesthetic background so important to charismatic power---the flags, the cheering/frothing/adulating crowds---he really is just a bumbling, rambling, fumbling, elderly man who is so spectacularly out of his depth. The emperor really has no cloths.
The mainstream media continues to do the public a disservice by finding the most offensive and frightening clips (using our cities as training grounds for the infantry) and not highlighting the remaining (by my count 50 odd) minutes of pure stream of thought Borscht belt nonsense.
The firefighters falling of the ladders! Battleships! "Victory at Sea!" Melting aluminum! Pete Hegseth---loathsome blow-dried preening jackass that he is---was at least coherent and had some sort of point.
It also makes me even more contemptfull of Trump's toadies, cronies, bootlickers and enablers. Who are clearly even more craven and corrupt given that they are exposed to his obvious mental unfitness on a daily basis.
And while I'M ranting---it also speaks to how sorry and pathetic the Democrats are that they haven't found any way (sorry, the shutdown will be a failure, they always are) to combat this pathetic tin pot d-list reality TV authoritarian.
Only someone out of the country the entire duration of Biden's term, is remotely curious how Trump "gets away" with things. Democrats are wizards at messaging in unison, and really horrendous at predicting the consequences of nearly always choosing the 20% side of every 80/20 issue on the face of the earth. The feminization of the US is undoubtedly a problem for Dems, but they have bigger fish to fry.
Yesterday an electrician was working in our home. In his mid 30s, he told us he had tumbled off a ladder the previous day, while working with his boss. The company required him to go to the ER, to ensure he hadn't broken a rib. Working a few miles from the house where he was raised, the young man walked into the ER and waited 4.5 hours to see a doctor in a neighborhood with an $800K median home price. In the waiting room, he did not hear a word of English, except from 1 other patient and nurses. When he stopped to see his parents on his way home, his Mother reminded him, he had last visited that same ER when he was age 10, and required a 1/2 dozen stitches. That visit took all of 15 minutes.
The refusal of Dems to realize their immigration policy is not only handing Trump near carte blanche, but may well doom their future, is truly mind boggling. On a recent podcast David Axelrod took the first sledge hammer to the headstone, when twice he used the word "insane" to describe the Dem policy of leaving the border open for 3 years.
The phrase "interior enforcement" is beginning to creep into a few Dem editorials. Some, seem to reluctantly realize, the plan for all 10 million of Biden's new arrivals to permanently remain in the US, regardless of the lack of a valid asylum claim, is not politically viable.
Now Dems will likely spend weeks, explaining they are not closing DC to provide free healthcare for illegal immigrants. It will matter little. By the time the shutdown ends, " free healthcare for illegals" will be all most Americans recall, regarding the closure.
100% !!! There are so many issues the dems are on the wrong side of, but they spend ALL their time focusing on Trump and his buffoonery, that they won’t ever concede there is at least a kernel of truth to some of the things he says- regardless of how badly he says them. Trans lunacy, protecting our borders, and crime. These are all things that the dems are particularly bad at, and if they keep placating the far left fanatics in the party, they will be saying hello to President Vance in 2028. It may already be too late.
They certainly are--and other issues, too. Anything to do with identity "rights." Most everything to do with education. I could go on, but then, if you read the Clause, you may have noticed that I have.
Education is a huge issue because the teachers union has become far too political. It always has been but in the past 20 years even more so. Rahm Emanuel talked a bit about this in his speech in Iowa last week. I have always liked Rahm. He has his baggage with the base but he is smart and tough. He could definitely give Vance a run for his money. If he can hone his message more to reflect more bread and butter issues that people care about, particularly around education, affordable housing, healthcare, common sense immigration and crime; I think he is the party’s best chance, if at all, in 2028. Everyone else Newsom, AOC, Pritzger, et al., are either too weak or too far left to win in a general election. Specifically in the case of Newsom and Pritzker, they have single-handedly run their states into the ground by every single important metric. The Republicans will have a field day with their records. And if they think they will get elected on being the opposite of Trump- good luck with that. We see how well that has worked.
I agree with the tenor and many of the points in this article. I have been thinking about the same matters this week, perhaps too much for my own good.
Concerning the news of the past few days, I will start with the good, then proceed to the bad, as I did in my recent Substack column, which occasioned the ire of true-blue members of Team Democrat.
The good is really unexpectedly and surpassingly good. President Trump's plan for Gaza is superb and a welcome breath of fresh air, as is his newfound, strong support for Ukraine in its efforts to repel the Russian invaders. I support both initiatives fully and without reservation.
The bad, alas, is unexpectedly and surpassingly bad. No President should summon the top brass of the armed forces of the United States to lecture them about an upcoming war in our major cities against ill-defined "enemies from within." That is dangerous, wild talk. No sitting President should EVER utter such words without cause or somber deliberation.
More generally, this President has repeatedly abused his constitutional authority in myriad ways. The courts have used their powers to check some of these initiatives, and each time his Administration has respected their orders and decisions, despite some foot-dragging and contemptuous gestures that would have gotten me roundly sanctioned, had I made any such gesture in one of my own cases.
At the same time, Congress has been inexcusably supine. It is long past time for it to pass Senator Mike Lee's pending bill on emergency declarations. That bill would limit the President's emergency powers, which he has invoked each time to justify his various enormities against our system of governance.
The Democrats' studied refusal to make common cause with limited-government Republicans on this issue is yet another indictment of their foul, hapless faction.
As for the Dems' effort to shut down the government, I would have fully supported it, had its sole purpose been to oblige the President to cease abusing his executive powers, which under our Constitution are limited and do NOT permit him to do any of the following: (1) impose tariffs willy-nilly; (2) withhold mission-critical funding appropriated by Congress; (3) bully the DOJ to prosecute his prominent critics and political adversaries even where the evidence does not support the prosecution; (4) dispatch the national guard to cities ruled by the opposition party over the objections of local officials and on the basis of risible pretexts; or (5) order the military to prepare for a campaign against vaguely defined domestic enemies.
If the Democrats were prepared to go to the mat only over the Administration's abuses of powers, and if they were to embrace Senator Lee's pending bill, I would support the present shutdown.
But instead the Dems, led by the mumbling, inaudible Chuck Schumer, have shut down the federal government over a disputed healthcare program, which the presiding majority in Congress has rejected. Such matters should be decided by elections, not government shutdowns.
I resented the Republicans' past efforts to shut down the government when they could not impose their legislative agenda by regular means. I resent the practice no less when the hapless Dems attempt it.
I also suspect that the Dems have refused to support Senator Lee's bill only because they do not wish to give any victory to an opposing Senator. How inconceivably, inexcusably petty during such a time.
More than ever, the country urgently requires a new political formation of principled centrists, who are willing to speak their minds, disagree with one another, and make practical compromises in order to get things done.
"It is hard for me to take the much ballyhooed “fascist” threat seriously, when promulgated by such a feckless jerk." But Stephen Miller, Russell Vought, JD Vance are not feckless and they have Trump's ear--and what there is of his mind. Trump DOES have power and they can manipulate it. Over the next three years 25% (a guess) of those generals and admirals will retire, and Hegseth can appoint believers. Trump could appoint Tom Homan a four-star general. Not crazy after some of his appointments. Don't underestimate what a clown with a flamethrower can do.
I truly don't understand how anyone can regard Trump as manly, per se. He's not physically strong, he never gets his hands dirty, he's not in the least protective of women and children, and he would never, ever put anyone else's safety ahead of his own. He's just a bully and a sleazeball who uses his money to push people around. I think that describing him simply, as I do here, would work much better for Democrats.
Trump is just a useful idiot. A humiliating buffoon. It’s the smart ones I worry about. Like Miller, like Vought, like the execrable Vance. They have long term plans and they’re on track to make them happen unless this country somehow comes to its senses. I’m not optimistic.
The proposed Gaza peace plan doesn't have a chance in hell - from either side of Gaza - and the Democrats did not 'shut down the government.' That would be the party with the supermajority still desperately trying to undermine the already mediocre health insurance held by a majority of Americans - which still beats no health coverage at all - is also part a definite part of this nonsensical confrontation.
But that the Democrats still seem wholly unable to mount any kind of noticeable offense is pathetic. And while I agree the Democrats could have managed the pronoun wars better, I hardly think that was a reason Trump was able to slither back into the White House. That Harris spent so much time turning her campaign stops into spectacles and concerts may have had more relevance than pronouns or not drawing in more incels
The Democrats did shut down the government. It was a remarkably stupid thing to do. But I disagree: the last election was decided on culture, as most are. The Democrats lost because their positions on cultural issues--from racial preferences to trans "rights" to immigration to crime was at variance with the majority of the American people. There is only one way forward. It is a straight line. And a simple one: the Democrats' inability to understand this gave us Trump.
This 'shut down' is part of the GOP and the pathetic Speaker of the House protection of pedophiles - Trump very obviously included. Johnson went so far to shut the House down to end voting/discussion exactly when a new Democratic Rep from New Mexico was elected but won't be sworn in.
Democrats did not 'shut down the government.' It is, instead, a deeply dishonest, cynical ploy and a major distraction driven by the GOP. And Johnson knows the instant the newly elected Representative is sworn in, her vote will push the Discharge Petition to release everything Epstein.
The line being prioritized by Stephen (little Goebbels) Miller is that the 'Democrats shut down the government to demand free health care to illegals.' I'm not certain how this breathlessly stupid lie doesn't make it clear that this is the Epstein Shut Down...and little more. You seem somewhat oblivious to certain realities.
One reason, I'd offer, is your continued perseveration on 'cultural issues' alone as if they are honestly held in the GOP rather than manipulative incitement and stochastic terrorism. Trump did not win anything even close to a 'mandate' and his popular vote was under 50% with a winning margin I believe about as close as one has been in an American presidential election.
These numbers demonstrate that the position of the Democrats were not at all 'at variance with the majority of American people.' A more immediately problem is that the communication sucked and Democrats refused to take a coherent stand while much of the corporate media enabled Trump propaganda and lies. They haven't even been able to stand up to the 20 something Karoline Leavitt as she pushes overt lies and lectures assembled journalists.
Respecting the trans community and showing support for legitimate diversity initiatives (as opposed to the wildly politicized 'DEI' model) is very much aligned with large numbers of Americans. At issue is that 'diversity' does not and should not be represented by skin color alone. Trump and his handlers screams about crime were more racist lies in direct conflict with data which show large drops especially in violent crime and homicide in many regions to include DC, Chicago and Baltimore.
The error by Democrats was not to adequately fight racist lies and stochastic terrorism with honesty and facts. Instead, they allowed themselves to be drawn into the 'trap' laid by Trump's lead propagandists supported by large numbers of the corporate media.
I agree that the Democrats and Harris could've handled these issues better. But 'positions on cultural issues' were hardly a primary reason Trump (might have) won. Screaming religious beliefs as if science that there are 'only two genders' is no more accurate than claiming 'life begins at conception' or when a fetal heart starts to beat. A problem was that campaign concerts by Bruce Springsteen and other stars did not help address this debate.
I think it's worth adding that shortly before the Epstein Shut Down started, Trump signed the NSPM-7 memo which is an element of his attack on the 'enemy within' who 'don't wear uniforms.'
It says, in part, that "common threads animating this violent conduct include anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity; support for the overthrow of the United States Government; extremism on migration, race, and gender; and hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality." 'Extremism' as identified in this memo largely references about anyone not fully aligned with the principles of the Christian Nationalist/White Supremacist Project 2025.
Democrats need to move to a coherent, fact driven offense rather than writing 'strongly worded' letters. But members of the media, from journalists to opinion writers, need to present what is happening honestly and directly rather than continuing to play with personal agendas, false equivalencies and 'bothsideism' journalism.
I forced myself to actually watch (most) of Trump's speech.
Its really striking how when he is stripped of the aesthetic background so important to charismatic power---the flags, the cheering/frothing/adulating crowds---he really is just a bumbling, rambling, fumbling, elderly man who is so spectacularly out of his depth. The emperor really has no cloths.
The mainstream media continues to do the public a disservice by finding the most offensive and frightening clips (using our cities as training grounds for the infantry) and not highlighting the remaining (by my count 50 odd) minutes of pure stream of thought Borscht belt nonsense.
The firefighters falling of the ladders! Battleships! "Victory at Sea!" Melting aluminum! Pete Hegseth---loathsome blow-dried preening jackass that he is---was at least coherent and had some sort of point.
It also makes me even more contemptfull of Trump's toadies, cronies, bootlickers and enablers. Who are clearly even more craven and corrupt given that they are exposed to his obvious mental unfitness on a daily basis.
And while I'M ranting---it also speaks to how sorry and pathetic the Democrats are that they haven't found any way (sorry, the shutdown will be a failure, they always are) to combat this pathetic tin pot d-list reality TV authoritarian.
Only someone out of the country the entire duration of Biden's term, is remotely curious how Trump "gets away" with things. Democrats are wizards at messaging in unison, and really horrendous at predicting the consequences of nearly always choosing the 20% side of every 80/20 issue on the face of the earth. The feminization of the US is undoubtedly a problem for Dems, but they have bigger fish to fry.
Yesterday an electrician was working in our home. In his mid 30s, he told us he had tumbled off a ladder the previous day, while working with his boss. The company required him to go to the ER, to ensure he hadn't broken a rib. Working a few miles from the house where he was raised, the young man walked into the ER and waited 4.5 hours to see a doctor in a neighborhood with an $800K median home price. In the waiting room, he did not hear a word of English, except from 1 other patient and nurses. When he stopped to see his parents on his way home, his Mother reminded him, he had last visited that same ER when he was age 10, and required a 1/2 dozen stitches. That visit took all of 15 minutes.
The refusal of Dems to realize their immigration policy is not only handing Trump near carte blanche, but may well doom their future, is truly mind boggling. On a recent podcast David Axelrod took the first sledge hammer to the headstone, when twice he used the word "insane" to describe the Dem policy of leaving the border open for 3 years.
The phrase "interior enforcement" is beginning to creep into a few Dem editorials. Some, seem to reluctantly realize, the plan for all 10 million of Biden's new arrivals to permanently remain in the US, regardless of the lack of a valid asylum claim, is not politically viable.
Now Dems will likely spend weeks, explaining they are not closing DC to provide free healthcare for illegal immigrants. It will matter little. By the time the shutdown ends, " free healthcare for illegals" will be all most Americans recall, regarding the closure.
100% !!! There are so many issues the dems are on the wrong side of, but they spend ALL their time focusing on Trump and his buffoonery, that they won’t ever concede there is at least a kernel of truth to some of the things he says- regardless of how badly he says them. Trans lunacy, protecting our borders, and crime. These are all things that the dems are particularly bad at, and if they keep placating the far left fanatics in the party, they will be saying hello to President Vance in 2028. It may already be too late.
They certainly are--and other issues, too. Anything to do with identity "rights." Most everything to do with education. I could go on, but then, if you read the Clause, you may have noticed that I have.
Education is a huge issue because the teachers union has become far too political. It always has been but in the past 20 years even more so. Rahm Emanuel talked a bit about this in his speech in Iowa last week. I have always liked Rahm. He has his baggage with the base but he is smart and tough. He could definitely give Vance a run for his money. If he can hone his message more to reflect more bread and butter issues that people care about, particularly around education, affordable housing, healthcare, common sense immigration and crime; I think he is the party’s best chance, if at all, in 2028. Everyone else Newsom, AOC, Pritzger, et al., are either too weak or too far left to win in a general election. Specifically in the case of Newsom and Pritzker, they have single-handedly run their states into the ground by every single important metric. The Republicans will have a field day with their records. And if they think they will get elected on being the opposite of Trump- good luck with that. We see how well that has worked.
I agree with the tenor and many of the points in this article. I have been thinking about the same matters this week, perhaps too much for my own good.
Concerning the news of the past few days, I will start with the good, then proceed to the bad, as I did in my recent Substack column, which occasioned the ire of true-blue members of Team Democrat.
The good is really unexpectedly and surpassingly good. President Trump's plan for Gaza is superb and a welcome breath of fresh air, as is his newfound, strong support for Ukraine in its efforts to repel the Russian invaders. I support both initiatives fully and without reservation.
The bad, alas, is unexpectedly and surpassingly bad. No President should summon the top brass of the armed forces of the United States to lecture them about an upcoming war in our major cities against ill-defined "enemies from within." That is dangerous, wild talk. No sitting President should EVER utter such words without cause or somber deliberation.
More generally, this President has repeatedly abused his constitutional authority in myriad ways. The courts have used their powers to check some of these initiatives, and each time his Administration has respected their orders and decisions, despite some foot-dragging and contemptuous gestures that would have gotten me roundly sanctioned, had I made any such gesture in one of my own cases.
At the same time, Congress has been inexcusably supine. It is long past time for it to pass Senator Mike Lee's pending bill on emergency declarations. That bill would limit the President's emergency powers, which he has invoked each time to justify his various enormities against our system of governance.
The Democrats' studied refusal to make common cause with limited-government Republicans on this issue is yet another indictment of their foul, hapless faction.
As for the Dems' effort to shut down the government, I would have fully supported it, had its sole purpose been to oblige the President to cease abusing his executive powers, which under our Constitution are limited and do NOT permit him to do any of the following: (1) impose tariffs willy-nilly; (2) withhold mission-critical funding appropriated by Congress; (3) bully the DOJ to prosecute his prominent critics and political adversaries even where the evidence does not support the prosecution; (4) dispatch the national guard to cities ruled by the opposition party over the objections of local officials and on the basis of risible pretexts; or (5) order the military to prepare for a campaign against vaguely defined domestic enemies.
If the Democrats were prepared to go to the mat only over the Administration's abuses of powers, and if they were to embrace Senator Lee's pending bill, I would support the present shutdown.
But instead the Dems, led by the mumbling, inaudible Chuck Schumer, have shut down the federal government over a disputed healthcare program, which the presiding majority in Congress has rejected. Such matters should be decided by elections, not government shutdowns.
I resented the Republicans' past efforts to shut down the government when they could not impose their legislative agenda by regular means. I resent the practice no less when the hapless Dems attempt it.
I also suspect that the Dems have refused to support Senator Lee's bill only because they do not wish to give any victory to an opposing Senator. How inconceivably, inexcusably petty during such a time.
More than ever, the country urgently requires a new political formation of principled centrists, who are willing to speak their minds, disagree with one another, and make practical compromises in order to get things done.
Agreed, and well said.
Receiving such a comment from you has just made my evening! Thank you. Much appreciated.
"It is hard for me to take the much ballyhooed “fascist” threat seriously, when promulgated by such a feckless jerk." But Stephen Miller, Russell Vought, JD Vance are not feckless and they have Trump's ear--and what there is of his mind. Trump DOES have power and they can manipulate it. Over the next three years 25% (a guess) of those generals and admirals will retire, and Hegseth can appoint believers. Trump could appoint Tom Homan a four-star general. Not crazy after some of his appointments. Don't underestimate what a clown with a flamethrower can do.
I truly don't understand how anyone can regard Trump as manly, per se. He's not physically strong, he never gets his hands dirty, he's not in the least protective of women and children, and he would never, ever put anyone else's safety ahead of his own. He's just a bully and a sleazeball who uses his money to push people around. I think that describing him simply, as I do here, would work much better for Democrats.
Society’s craving for some unadulterated masculinity, Trump’s vocal-man-spreading apparently is a salve for some.
Trump is just a useful idiot. A humiliating buffoon. It’s the smart ones I worry about. Like Miller, like Vought, like the execrable Vance. They have long term plans and they’re on track to make them happen unless this country somehow comes to its senses. I’m not optimistic.
The proposed Gaza peace plan doesn't have a chance in hell - from either side of Gaza - and the Democrats did not 'shut down the government.' That would be the party with the supermajority still desperately trying to undermine the already mediocre health insurance held by a majority of Americans - which still beats no health coverage at all - is also part a definite part of this nonsensical confrontation.
But that the Democrats still seem wholly unable to mount any kind of noticeable offense is pathetic. And while I agree the Democrats could have managed the pronoun wars better, I hardly think that was a reason Trump was able to slither back into the White House. That Harris spent so much time turning her campaign stops into spectacles and concerts may have had more relevance than pronouns or not drawing in more incels
The Democrats did shut down the government. It was a remarkably stupid thing to do. But I disagree: the last election was decided on culture, as most are. The Democrats lost because their positions on cultural issues--from racial preferences to trans "rights" to immigration to crime was at variance with the majority of the American people. There is only one way forward. It is a straight line. And a simple one: the Democrats' inability to understand this gave us Trump.
This 'shut down' is part of the GOP and the pathetic Speaker of the House protection of pedophiles - Trump very obviously included. Johnson went so far to shut the House down to end voting/discussion exactly when a new Democratic Rep from New Mexico was elected but won't be sworn in.
Democrats did not 'shut down the government.' It is, instead, a deeply dishonest, cynical ploy and a major distraction driven by the GOP. And Johnson knows the instant the newly elected Representative is sworn in, her vote will push the Discharge Petition to release everything Epstein.
The line being prioritized by Stephen (little Goebbels) Miller is that the 'Democrats shut down the government to demand free health care to illegals.' I'm not certain how this breathlessly stupid lie doesn't make it clear that this is the Epstein Shut Down...and little more. You seem somewhat oblivious to certain realities.
One reason, I'd offer, is your continued perseveration on 'cultural issues' alone as if they are honestly held in the GOP rather than manipulative incitement and stochastic terrorism. Trump did not win anything even close to a 'mandate' and his popular vote was under 50% with a winning margin I believe about as close as one has been in an American presidential election.
These numbers demonstrate that the position of the Democrats were not at all 'at variance with the majority of American people.' A more immediately problem is that the communication sucked and Democrats refused to take a coherent stand while much of the corporate media enabled Trump propaganda and lies. They haven't even been able to stand up to the 20 something Karoline Leavitt as she pushes overt lies and lectures assembled journalists.
Respecting the trans community and showing support for legitimate diversity initiatives (as opposed to the wildly politicized 'DEI' model) is very much aligned with large numbers of Americans. At issue is that 'diversity' does not and should not be represented by skin color alone. Trump and his handlers screams about crime were more racist lies in direct conflict with data which show large drops especially in violent crime and homicide in many regions to include DC, Chicago and Baltimore.
The error by Democrats was not to adequately fight racist lies and stochastic terrorism with honesty and facts. Instead, they allowed themselves to be drawn into the 'trap' laid by Trump's lead propagandists supported by large numbers of the corporate media.
I agree that the Democrats and Harris could've handled these issues better. But 'positions on cultural issues' were hardly a primary reason Trump (might have) won. Screaming religious beliefs as if science that there are 'only two genders' is no more accurate than claiming 'life begins at conception' or when a fetal heart starts to beat. A problem was that campaign concerts by Bruce Springsteen and other stars did not help address this debate.
I think it's worth adding that shortly before the Epstein Shut Down started, Trump signed the NSPM-7 memo which is an element of his attack on the 'enemy within' who 'don't wear uniforms.'
It says, in part, that "common threads animating this violent conduct include anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity; support for the overthrow of the United States Government; extremism on migration, race, and gender; and hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality." 'Extremism' as identified in this memo largely references about anyone not fully aligned with the principles of the Christian Nationalist/White Supremacist Project 2025.
Democrats need to move to a coherent, fact driven offense rather than writing 'strongly worded' letters. But members of the media, from journalists to opinion writers, need to present what is happening honestly and directly rather than continuing to play with personal agendas, false equivalencies and 'bothsideism' journalism.
'Epstein Shut Down, an enabling media, 'enemies of the state,' Culture Wars; Democrats and Harris'
https://drlou.substack.com/p/the-epstein-shut-down-an-enabling