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Fascism is too far above Trump's Capabilities: GNR [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-05-03
This title is a quote by John Bolton. John Bolton is an asshole but he is also our ally against Trump. Here is where it came from: Fascism, Bolton told Vox, is “too far above Trump’s capabilities.” Another former Trump staffer named John, former chief of staff John Kelly, has said Trump fits the definition of a fascist. But Bolton wouldn’t go that far, even after 100 days of payback ”I don’t disagree with John Kelly on his assessment about Trump, what Trump does, and what’s wrong with [his behavior]. To be a fascist [however], you have to think at some conceptual level, which Trump never does. “I think he wants to be the center of attention. I think that’s probably his principal motivating factor. . “ If you took all of his decisions in his first term, they’d be a big archipelago of dots; a lot of the dots I agreed with. But if you try to connect the dots…Trump himself couldn’t connect the dots. . ”What you’re seeing in public now [is] what many of us who were in the first term saw in private. . ”I don’t think Trump is an existential threat. I think our institutions are a lot stronger than him. … I think we will survive.” . “ I think Trump will get bogged down in a lot of subsidiary issues that happen to catch his attention. For example, he’s now chairman of the board of the Kennedy Center. And I can think of nothing more important than for a man who knows so much about buildings [than] to spend a little time on the question of the rugs at the Kennedy Center, the carpeting, the curtains, and the stages. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Let’s laugh at him some more, shall we? . But FIRST, I have a favor to ask. . and it should take less than 10 minutes! She is interested in people’s experiences with the Hands Off protest on April 5th 2025. Whether you attended a protest in-person or not, she would like to hear about your thoughts!
The survey is completely anonymous.
Here is the link: A grad student I know is doing a studyHere is the link: buffalocas.co1.qualtrics.com/… . I’d be very grateful to anyone who could give her 10 minutes. Thanks!! . Now back to our regularly scheduled programing:
Trump is the losingest Loser Ever
Trump Is Looking More And More Ridiculous Every Day
We are experiencing a daily, wild, extraordinary spectacle of this lawless, extremist regime losing again and again in Courts of all kinds. Incredibly, they came in believing the Constitutional order no longer existed, that they literally could do whatever they wanted. The Courts, the states, plaintiffs don’t agree. Here’s the NYT report on a Trump appointed judge rejecting the regime’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, and essentially saying “you have to be shitting me that you think that the presence of a few hundred Venezuelan gang members is an ‘invasion’ of the United States” the circle of defiance is growing. For there is a growing recognition of how absurd on its face Trumpism is. It’s not just wrong, and dangerous, it’s also ridiculous, comical, deeply unserious, tin pot dictator, Monty Python, Charlie Chaplin, Peter Sellers, Mike Myers, Banana Republic, “you have to be shitting me” stuff. Putin wants peace? Prices are GOING DOWN? Your economic strategy is for Americans to both PAY MORE and GET LESS? You are doing a military parade on your BIRTHDAY? Are you really saying that you cannot pick up the phone and get Abrego Garcia back? You claim that a Venezuelan gang here in the US is AN INVASION? Your insane budget bill is going to increase the deficit and debt by tens and tens of trillions of dollars and essentially bankrupt the country and yet you and Musk are claiming that mantle of fiscal responsibility? You are dismantling the public health care system in the US while claiming you are MAKING AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN? You revoke Harvard’s tax status because you DON’T LIKE THEM?
Shock Poll: Core Part of Trump’s Base is Abandoning Him
Donald Trump, who saw an increase in support from rural voters in the 2024 election, is now seeing huge defections, according to a new PBS/NPR/Marist poll. The poll taken last week found that only 40 percent of rural voters approve of Trump’s job performance, down from 59 percent in February, according to Newsweek. Forty-five percent of respondents said they disapproved of Trump’s performance in April, which is up from 37 percent who said they disapproved in February.
Young Men Are Already Souring on Trump
What exactly drove young men’s hard-right shift is one of the most pressing questions that came out of the 2024 election after male voters under 30 proved key in helping deliver Donald Trump’s victory. Since then, there’s been a flurry of media coverage trying to explore the underpinnings of young men’s support for a 78-year-old convicted felon who was found liable for sexual abuse. While many of these stories hand-wring that young men may be forever lost to MAGA-world, less than 100 days into Trump’s second term, it appears some of them are already experiencing buyer’s remorse. A new national youth poll released on April 23 by the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School found that 59 percent of men between the ages of 18 and 29 disapprove of Trump. Additionally, 47 percent of them say that he’ll hurt the economy, and 40 percent say they are worse off under the current administration compared to the Biden era. Young men had a different take on the president as recently as January. At the time, 62 percent of men under 30 approved of how Trump handled the economy, according to polling by the youth research firm SocialSphere. But by early March, even before tariff chaos and the economic tailspin that followed, that number had already dropped 14 points, to 48 percent, Puck reported. “If life doesn’t become more affordable as Trump promised, and quickly, even his strongest backers may conclude he can’t deliver,” John Della Volpe, who runs SocialSphere, told the outlet.
The world has a verdict on 100 days of Trump 2.0: Wow, what a loser
At risk of immediately being proven wrong, I will suggest that this past week was when the penny at least temporarily or conditionally dropped for Donald Trump: While the rest of the world views him as dangerous, it does not take him seriously. Trump has projected his fatuous fantasies about global domination onto the wall of world opinion — whether it’s more like Plato’s cave or the light show announcing the opening of a mall in suburban Indianapolis is a matter of individual judgment — while at the same time backing away from all forms of international engagement and obligation. The contradictions are embarrassing, abundant and obvious to everyone. As we supposedly measure these things, Trump is the most powerful individual in the world. He is also a massive global embarrassment, the glaring flaw that proves the entire Rube Goldberg machine is no longer working.
Tyrants like Trump always fall – and we can already predict how he will be dethroned All this points to one conclusion: as a tyrant, let alone as president, Trump is actually pretty useless – and as his failures, frustrations and fantasies multiply, he will grow ever more dangerously unstable. Trump’s biggest enemy is Trump. Those who would save the US and themselves – at home and abroad – must employ all democratic means to contain, deter, defang and depose him. But right now, the best, brightest hope is that, drowning in hubris, Trump will destroy himself.
“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end.
But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
Trump Is Showing Us How to Defeat Trumpism
Look, I get it. President Trump’s first 100 days have been a disaster, the worst first 100 days for any U.S. president in history. And I say that knowing that William Henry Harrison only made it 32 days into his term before dying. Nonetheless, these first three horrible, lunatic months of malevolence and failure have also coughed up a few hairballs of hope. We are still, for now, a democracy. The inherent goodness of the majority of Americans is translating into growing resistance to the damage this government is doing. Issues that might seem remote from the lives of many—such as the illegal detention and expulsion to a foreign prison camp of apparently innocent individuals—have stirred anger and activism in every corner of the country. Protests are increasing. New entrants to politics are signing up, standing up and speaking out. And if we examine the past few months closely, something else emerges that should also be a source of guarded hope. We are beginning to see how Trump can be stopped and ultimately defeated. We are learning what works in the face of the administration’s bullying and threats. There is a roadmap being laid before us—and it is largely coming from the president himself. In the past few months, as clear as it has been that Trump’s promises were empty and most of his words were lies, it has also been made manifest that capitulating to his bullying only leads to further bullying. In every case, perceived weakness is seen as blood in the water. The examples of universities like my alma mater, Columbia, or big law firms or countries that have sought to win him over by bending the knee has not been a pretty one. In every case, he demands more. More importantly, we have started to see where counterbalances to his power lie. We have seen how he can be contained, deterred and even forced to walk back his actions.
A Presidency in Retreat
As we hit the first 100 days, Trump has once again made history, but not the kind he was hoping for: a new Post/ABC poll finds Trump’s approval at 39%, the lowest of any president in the past 80 years for their first 100 days, including Trump’s disastrous first regime. Two-thirds of Americans find him “chaotic,” and 6-in-10 find him “scary.” He has also gone underwater on every single issue, including his signature issues, the economy and immigration. As I have written here, Trump cares about two things: his approval and the stock market. Despite his protestations otherwise, he is obsessed with both as measures of his performance and success. Similar to American voters, Wall Street has soured on Trump, christening what is now known as the Trump ‘ Sell America’ trade - as global investors flee the U.S. stock market, bond markets and U.S. currency, and we usher in a period of the loss of U.S. exceptionalism. This is not exactly on brand for making America great again; but rather Trump has transformed the U.S. economy from being the envy of the world, into an international embarrassment!
The beginnings of a roadmap back to power
Substantively and politically, his presidency has been a disaster. He hasn’t passed a single consequential bill. Most of his executive orders are currently entangled in litigation; his approval rating is the lowest for a modern president at the 100-day mark. When Trump began his illegal deportations to a foreign gulag, Democrats were reluctant to engage. Immigration is Trump’s best issue. If it were up to him (and he had a modicum of self-discipline), Trump would talk about immigration and border security all day, every day. Whenever he senses political trouble, he should pivot back to immigration. To Democrats, the fight over the illegal deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia seemed like a political trap. The Trump White House certainly thought a conversation about Abrego Garcia was to their advantage. White House aide Stephen Miller even called it a 90-10 issue during the White House meeting with the President of El Salvador. But some Democrats took on this fight and won it. In the New York Times/Siena poll released last week, only 31% approve of his handling of the case, 52% disapprove, and 53% say that Trump has gone too far on immigration enforcement, another core element of Trump’s initial campaign. Trump’s approval rating on immigration is underwater. If we can win this fight, we can win any fight.
Rachel Maddow Makes Bold Prediction for Trump’s Next 100 Days: ‘He Is Losing’
“I think, 100 days in, that Donald Trump is losing. And I think Americans defending democracy are winning,” Maddow said Monday. This is because Americans have realized that “culturally, it is now firmly established that capitulation and sucking up to Trump is shameful and weak and marks you as a loser.”
The Simple Signs That Show Trump’s ‘Dam Is Breaking’
There are a few simple signs indicating that President Donald Trump’s “dam is breaking”: Protests, Polling, and Pushback. That’s according to The New Abnormal guest host Jesse Cannon, who, reflecting on Trump’s recent record-low polling during a discussion with co-host Danielle Moodie in the latest episode, argued that small wins like the lowest 100-day approval rating in 70 years are “super important” because they chip away at the “Achilles’ heel.”
Trump is losing Amid this constant barrage, it can feel like Trump has been stunningly successful in achieving his aims. But when it comes to perhaps his administration’s most ambitious task — removing checks on Trump’s power, transforming democracy into something more like an authoritarian regime — the evidence suggests a surprisingly hopeful conclusion. Trump is failing — at least, so far. There is an established playbook for turning a democracy into an authoritarian state, used in countries ranging from India to Hungary. It requires a leader to: Remove formal limits on their own powers.
Compromise independent power centers such as the press and courts.
Win compliance with the new regime from social elites and the mass public. Trump has attempted all of these things.
Bill O’Reilly Turns on Trump and Reveals the Huge ‘Mistake’ He Is Making
Bill O’Reilly has split with President Donald Trump on one issue in particular: the case of a wrongfully deported Maryland dad whose return the Supreme Court has ordered the administration to “facilitate.” The legendary conservative pundit said the president, whom O’Reilly has steadfastly supported over the years, is making a “mistake” in defying the judiciary.
Murdoch Paper Gives Trump Dire Warning to Mark His 100 Days
The Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal has warned Donald Trump that a “major reset” is needed if his second term is to be successful. The paper’s editorial board claimed the execution of some of the president’s priorities “hasn’t matched” his promises and warned that he will “fail unless he heeds the warnings” in an opinion piece published Monday.
Trump’s Canadian PM Pick Hammered So Hard He Loses His Seat in Parliament
Pierre “Maple MAGA” Poilievre’s support for President Donald Trump didn’t just cost him his bid for the Canadian premiership—he is also on track to lose his longtime seat in the Canadian Parliament. The leader of the Conservative Party has represented the riding of Carleton in Ottawa since 2004. He was narrowly unseated in Monday’s election by Liberal Bruce Fanjoy, the CBC projected early Tuesday.
Republicans in Disarray
You know what happens when trump’s numbers crater and he starts showing how weak he is? His party falls apart. They don’t stick with him because they like him. They do it because he is powerful. When that power wanes? All bets are off
Trump is not ‘commander’ of Congress, top GOP appropriator says
House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole vented Thursday about the White House’s seemingly inattentive approach to its relations with congressional funders, saying that President Donald Trump is not the “commander” of Congress and that top Republicans need the White House to quickly share their funding plans. The unusually tart comments from Cole (R-Okla.) came after White House budget director Russ Vought canceled a planned Thursday morning meeting with the House’s GOP funding leaders because of a “presidential request,” Cole said.
Republicans are trying to retain a semblance of their autonomy in the Trump era.
Hill Republicans are delivering a flurry of rare rebukes of the Trump administration, in the latest sign that the president doesn’t have complete control over the GOP governing trifecta. First, Speaker Mike Johnson split with the White House over making steep Medicaid cuts to fund the GOP’s megabill. The speaker told POLITICO Thursday he’s “not a big fan” of the White House’s alternative proposal: slash drug costs by pursuing a “one favored nation” policy, which would link certain government payments for pharmaceuticals to the lower prices paid abroad. And across the Capitol, Republican senators displayed unusual public discomfort with one of Trump’s nominees: Ed Martin for U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, who has in the past defended Jan. 6 rioters. Some Republicans refused to say whether they would vote for him. That includes a reliable leadership ally, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who said this week: “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” Other Republicans are waiting to see if the White House pulls the plug on Martin’s nomination before they’re forced to vote or otherwise take a position on it.
GOP Rep. Salazar calls for pathway to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants
As new stories of migrants deported without due process garner fresh headlines, the Trump administration continues to defend its actions in court. But there’s little to no apparent momentum for immigration reform on Capitol Hill. GOP Rep. Maria Salazar of Miami is one of the loudest voices for reshaping immigration law on either side of the aisle
GOP balks at approving even a fraction of Musk’s DOGE cuts
White House officials have in recent weeks brainstormed strategies for enshrining into law the government cuts implemented by billionaire Elon Musk’s team, aiming to turn the U.S. DOGE Service’s moves into lasting policy shifts. So far, however, administration officials are running into resistance not just from Democrats, but also from congressional Republicans, who have in private conversations made clear that it would be difficult to codify even a small fraction of the measures that Musk’s team unilaterally implemented, according to lawmakers and several other people familiar with the discussions. GOP members of Congress have also raised concerns about tackling cuts as Republicans are trying to corral their rowdy and tiny majorities into extending tax cuts in one “big, beautiful bill” that President Donald Trump has demanded.
Trump budget exposes GOP divisions
PRESIDENT TRUMP SENT the first budget request of his second term to Republican appropriators in Congress on Friday, exposing new GOP divisions on spending. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the chair of the Armed Services Committee, blasted the proposal as insufficient. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called the proposal’s reliance on “a one-time influx” from reconciliation spending an “accounting gimmick.” Collins said she has “serious objections” to the proposed defense spending and other parts of the budget, including proposed cuts to a low-income home energy program, student services programs and biomedical research. The divisions underscore the difficult task that lays ahead for GOP leaders in Congress, who must wrap Trump’s agenda into “one big, beautiful bill” that can overcome intraparty divisions and get past narrow majorities in both chambers. Senate GOP chair knocks Trump budget over military spending Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) knocked President Trump’s 2026 budget proposal on Friday for not doing enough to keep pace with military threats from China, Russia and other adversaries. Wicker warned the spending level called by the White House budget would “decrease President Trump’s military options and his negotiating leverage.”
Great Legal News
Federal Judge Strikes Down Trump’s Use of Alien Enemies Act to Deport Venezuelans
A federal judge on Thursday permanently barred the Trump administration from invoking the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th-century wartime law, to deport Venezuelans it has deemed to be criminals from the Southern District of Texas, saying that the White House’s use of the statute was illegal. The decision by the judge, Fernando Rodriguez Jr., was the most expansive ruling yet by any of the numerous jurists who are currently hearing challenges to the White House’s efforts to employ the powerful but rarely invoked law as part of its wide-ranging deportation plans.
It’s the first step of a legal struggle that could derail a major part of the president’s agenda. A federal judge today barred President Donald Trump from using a wartime powers law to rapidly remove people from the country, kicking off a legal struggle that could derail a major part of his deportation agenda and set up another showdown between the administration and the courts. Trump’s own judge owns him·
Another Trump-appointed judge—remember, in his first term, Trump appointed nearly 250 judges to the federal bench—has just ruled against him. It's the most far-reaching ruling on one aspect of Trump's deportation powers, claiming not only that Trump cannot detain and deport alleged members of a Venezuelan gang under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, but that the president cannot simply invoke that act—and its alleged conditions of a foreign threat—as a license to proceed, without review by a court. This is bigger pushback on the combination of foreign policy/executive branch power than we've typically seen. Again, from a Trump-appointed judge. Speaking of which, I wish an enterprising journalist would take a closer look at all these Trump judges who've ruled against him, just to find what might be the pattern to their decisions, their opinions, and so forth. Instead, we get the constant braying on social media that these individuals are "brave" and "courageous" (till they're not) or that their opinions don't matter at all, which is absurd. There's another interpretive option, which is that their opinions do matter, not necessarily because the courts will check Trump, but because behind those judges lies a powerful faction of the right. I mean, there's a reason all those rich people and rich businessmen invested in the Federalist Society judges; they want a return on their investment. So if these judges are ruling against Trump, their opinions portend real divisions in TrumpWorld, but what those divisions are, we don't really yet have a full sense of. This is the most important passage in the ruling: "The Court concludes that a Presidential declaration invoking the AEA must include sufficient factual statements or refer to other pronouncements that enable a court to determine whether the alleged conduct satisfies the conditions that support the invocation of the statute. The President cannot summarily declare that a foreign nation or government has threatened or perpetrated an invasion or predatory incursion of the United States, followed by the identification of the alien enemies subject to detention or removal....Allowing the President to unilaterally define the conditions when he may invoke the AEA, and then summarily declare that those conditions exist, would remove all limitations to the Executive Branch’s authority under the AEA, and would strip the courts of their traditional role of interpreting Congressional statutes to determine whether a government official has exceeded the statute’s scope."
Judge restricts Border Patrol in California: ‘You just can’t walk up to people with brown skin’
A federal court on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction forbidding the Border Patrol from conducting warrantless immigration stops throughout a wide swath of California. The ruling came in response to an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit filed after the El Centro Border Patrol traveled to Kern County to conduct a three-day sweep in January, detaining day laborers, farm workers and others in a Home Depot parking lot, outside a convenience store and along a highway between orchards. The ruling prohibits Border Patrol agents from taking similar actions, restricting them from stopping people unless they have a reasonable suspicion that the person is in violation of U.S. immigration law. It also bars agents from carrying out warrantless arrests unless they have probable cause that the person is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained. “You just can’t walk up to people with brown skin and say, ‘Give me your papers,’” U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer L. Thurston said during a Monday hearing in Fresno that featured moments of heated exchange between government attorneys and the judge.
A Double Win For Voters in Pennsylvania
Courts delivered wins for Pennsylvania voters Friday in two different right-wing disenfranchisement efforts. One ruling ensured that undated or wrongly dated mail-in ballots will be counted, while the other rejected a far-right bid to purge more than 277,000 from the state’s voter rolls.
First, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request by Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday (R), on behalf of the state, to halt a recent federal court ruling that Pennsylvania must count undated or wrongly dated mail-in ballots.
US judge limits Trump's ability to swiftly deport migrants held at Guantanamo Bay
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Wednesday to ensure migrants held at Guantanamo Bay are given a chance to raise any concerns about their safety before being deported to El Salvador or countries other than their places of origin. argued the administration had violated a court order he issued by flying four Venezuelans held at the U.S. naval base in Cuba to El Salvador on a flight conducted by the U.S. Department of Defense. U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston issued the order after immigrant rights advocatesthe administration had violated a court order he issued by flying four Venezuelans held at the U.S. naval base in Cuba to El Salvador on a flight conducted by the U.S. Department of Defense.
We are amazing!
Some Good News: Americans Are Rejecting Trumpism
Despair isn’t useful, but polls are: Donald Trump’s dismal recent numbers are a bright light in dark times, and point to a shifting tide. Autocrats want you to sink into despair and immobility, to see no light at the end of the tunnel. But we can already see some slivers of light and, yes, there is reason for optimism. That’s not to say pushing back against Trump’s extreme agenda is going to be easy—and there’s still quite a long way to midterms, never mind the 2028 election. But it’s heartening to see that a majority of the American people reject what this administration is doing on a host of issues. Trump has squandered any of the postelection honeymoon that presidents typically enjoy. His approval rating, which peaked at 52% a week after inauguration, has dropped to an average of 44%, according to polling compiled by The New York Times. One poll conducted this month found that Trump has the lowest 100-day approval rating of any president in the last 80 years.
Democrats Win Landslide in Safe Iowa Seat, Claim 'Rebuke of Trump'
Angel Ramirez defeated Republican Bernie Hayes in a special election for an Iowa State House seat, in what the Democratic Party hailed as a "clear rebuke of Trump." Ramirez secured 79 percent of the vote versus Hayes' 21 percent, according to preliminary results for the state's 78th district in Cedar Rapids. The election win could galvanize the Democrats and dampen the Republicans' spirits as a referendum on President Donald Trump, though the district had a recent history of voting for Democratic candidates. Special elections often serve as a way for parties to measure the temperature of voters heading into larger election cycles. In the 2024 presidential election, Kamala Harris won 65.2 percent of the vote in the precincts represented by Scheetz, according to state data. Meanwhile, Joe Biden received 67.6 percent of the presidential vote in these areas in 2020.
A case study on resistance by the minority party in Congress
On Thursday, we witnessed how opposition to Trump's nominees can lead to unexpected successes. Trump has nominated the truly awful Ed Martin to serve as the US Attorney for the District of Columbia. Martin is ethically challenged and is an extremist, white supremacist, pro-January 6, conspiracy theorist whose views are inimical to the Constitution. His sole qualification for the job (in Trumpworld) is that he is willing to convert the US Attorney’s Office in D.C. into an instrument of Trump's revenge agenda. One month ago, Senator Adam Schiff announced that he was placing a “hold” on Ed Martin’s nomination. Although the “hold” could be overcome by Senate Republicans, doing so would consume precious time and resources for the GOP caucus in the Senate. After Senator Schiff announced the hold, Democrats on the Judiciary Committee began to discover that Ed Martin had made material omissions on his questionnaire. For example, Martin failed to disclose hundreds of appearances on the Russia Today (RT) network, a media source that is effectively Putin’s propaganda firm and PR outlet. See uPolitics, Trump's Pick To Be U.S. Attorney For D.C. Made Over 150 Appearances On Russian State Media – And Failed To Disclose Them So, good for Senator Schiff for placing a hold on Ed Martin—and here’s hoping that other Democratic Senators follow suit.
Democrats, universities, law firms and other institutions are starting to push back harder against the administration.
When President Trump swept back into office, his dejected opponents watched as his return was greeted not with mass resistance but with a sense of resignation. Protesters stayed home. Corporations and executives rushed to curry favor. Even some Democrats made overtures to Mr. Trump, as he and his allies boasted that they had popular opinion on their side. But just over 100 days into his second term, seeds of dissent to Mr. Trump’s agenda, governing style and expansion of executive power have grown in fits and starts across the country. The opposition is sturdier than it once appeared. Demonstrations have increased in size and frequency. Town halls have become unruly and combative, pushing many Republican lawmakers to avoid facing voters altogether. And collective efforts by universities, nonprofit groups, unions and even some law firms have slowly started to push back against the administration.
This State University Has a Plan to Take on Trump
The compact, now approved by faculty at more than a dozen universities, does not come with a commitment by school administrators to provide financial backing for a joint defense fund, and detractors have criticized the initiative as largely toothless. Still, the Rutgers resolution, and the professors’ effort to galvanize a collective response, reflected a shift in strategy. “Higher education, as an entity, is definitely worth fighting for,” Professor Boxer said. “The idea of a country where generative research gets cut down to the point where it’s under the thumb of the federal government,” he added, “is contrary to everything I believe in.”
Democrats Channel the Power of Faith, Welcoming All to Join
Today’s Democrats’ most effective display of moral integrity, political leadership, and savvy communication came on the steps of the Capitol last Sunday (although corporate media failed to give it a fraction of the attention it deserved). House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) began before sunrise, opening with a prayer. They spoke about their experience in the Black church, their deep-seated faith in America, and the connection between the two. By ones and twos over the course of the day, dozens joined them on the steps, and many more stopped to watch and listen. Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware delivered stirring remarks that spoke to the “power of prayer, the power of persuasion and the power of the people.” She asked, “What path will we choose to pick? People say, ‘we are better than this.’ No, we are this. Do we want to be better than this?” This sort of tough love and raw and earnest emotion is rare in D.C. Today, we salute Hakeem Jeffries, Cory Booker, and all who joined them for their collective act of undaunted, empathetic leadership. May they keep it up and inspire other Democrats to demonstrate their own acts of courageous devotion.
DNC targets moderate House Republicans over Medicaid
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) said Thursday it will target four House Republicans in the quest to preserve funds for Medicaid. The party will seek to pressure GOP Reps. Tom Barrett (Mich.), Don Bacon (Neb.), Mike Lawler (N.Y.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) to vote in favor of protecting the joint federal-state health insurance program that provides coverage for low-income and disabled adults, children and families.
The Great Pushback
May Day demonstrations across America showed that the opposition to Trump continues to grow. Hundreds of thousands of people swelled in resistance to his dictatorial agenda. Not just in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., but also in small communities that voted overwhelmingly for Trump. The size and breadth of these demonstrations will almost certainly lead to larger national mobilizations. On Sunday, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said, “It’s time to fight everywhere and all at once. Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now.” Republican town halls are becoming so combative that many Republican lawmakers have stopped holding them altogether (in many cases, Democratic lawmakers have appeared in their places). Trump is not only pulling Americans together but also pulling American institutions together in ways no one could have predicted just months ago. The federal courts are more united in opposition to Trump’s edicts than they have been on almost any other set of issues in recent memory.
Chop Wood, Carry Water 5/2 Hi, all, and happy Friday! We made it through another week. Congratulations! Thanks to the many of you who responded to my request for stories about your May Day events in the comments of yesterday’s newsletter. Wow! It sounds like the day was a huge success everywhere! I’ve seen news coverage of it, now, too, and tons of great footage on social media. Good! We are creating a narrative of resistance, defiance, and determination, and that’s incredibly important. It also moves the needle in concrete ways. We got news yesterday, for example, that House Republicans are delaying two key reconciliation markups they wanted to hold next week. These are the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee. Energy and Commerce, of course, is the committee that oversees Medicaid funding. Republicans are trying to play these delays off as no big deal, but it seems clear that they’re struggling to find cuts everyone in their caucus can get behind. That’s because of YOU! They are feeling the heat, my friends! In fact, remember how I told you that they were going to come after the ACA’s 90% FMAP, thereby devastating Medicaid expansion? Now they seem to be leaning towards a slightly moderated version of that. Don’t get me wrong—it’s still bad, and they may still be considering the larger cuts, too. But the takeaway is that they’re aware that their attack on Medicaid is very, very unpopular and they’re backtracking all over the place. Our job? To keep pushing until they agree to leave Medicaid—and SNAP, and clean energy tax credits, and the ACA, and Pell grants—entirely intact.
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