The Contrarian

	Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more A Winning 4-part Plan to Turn Up the Heat on Trump enablers Republicans must pay a price for spinelessness JENNIFER RUBIN AUG 6   READ IN APP   Donald Trump’s Republican allies rarely are forced to respond to their cult leader’s meandering, incoherent screeds and nonstop blunders (e.g., repeatedly escalating the conflict with Iran and then retreating behind imaginary new negotiations; abandoning abusive, failed prosecution while continuing to threaten innocent Americans). Republican politicians’ infamous professions of ignorance — ‘I didn’t hear him say X’ — and jaw-dropping excuses, coupled with generally weak legacy media interviewers, allow them to escape commenting on, let alone taking responsibility, for the nonstop outrages emanating from the Oval Office. As candidates gear up for the sprint to the midterm elections, Democrats must pierce the protective cocoon that spares Republicans embarrassment and scrutiny. They would be wise to employ four avenues of attack to bring the fight to Republicans. First and foremost, holding every Republican responsible for the specific horrors that have unfolded under a president to whom they have completely deferred is essential when running against politicians who refuse to accept blame for the foreseeable result of their votes. The same arguments apply to non-incumbent MAGA candidates who have endlessly cheered Trump from the sidelines and would rubber-stamp his policies if elected. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), for example, eagerly voted to dump tens of billions into a rogue, unhinged and lawless DHS. More than 50 people have died while being detained by ICE, in addition to the ICE killings on our streets, including in her home state. These did not happen by accident. She also could have stopped the big, ugly bill from reaching the floor, but instead she allowed massive cuts to healthcare and to SNAP to go through, helping to pay for billionaires’ tax cuts. Likewise, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) rubber-stamped the egregiously unfit Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (and refused to support his removal after Signalgate). He has done nothing as Trump wasted tens of billions, sacrificed the lives of 18 brave American military personnel, depleted our munitions, and lost free navigation of the Strait of Hormuz. In failing to exercise his constitutional obligations, Sullivan is as responsible as Hegseth for widespread Pentagon mismanagement, exclusion of qualified women and non-white officers from promotions, and potential war crimes. Indeed, every House and Senate incumbent (e.g. Ohio’s Sen. John Husted, Nebraska’s Pete Ricketts, Kansas’s Roger Marshall, South Dakota’s Mike Rounds ) on the ballot bears blame for a host of other horrors — mass closings of rural hospitals, measles outbreaks, decimation of the rural economy, fires overwhelming DOGE-reduced emergency responders, devastation of veterans’ services, wholesale cuts to SNAP that leave millions without food assistance, deprivation of emergency relief services, ever-escalating prices aggravated by tariffs (which Congress could have short-circuited), the plethora of health and disease disasters spawned by DOGE cuts and RFK, Jr. nuttery, a generational loss of scientific research, etc. — because they slashed popular, critical programs, confirmed (in the case of senators) unqualified nominees, allowed DOGE to run wild, and refused to conduct rudimentary oversight. Americans died and suffered because Congressman X or Senator Y didn’t have the nerve to stand up to the president. Second, Democrats must learn to ignore and redirect Republican-spewed nonsense, just as Texas Senate nominee James Talarico has ably demonstrated. “James Talarico is determined not to let his GOP challenger Ken Paxton’s and Republicans’ attacks on his masculinity define him in what has emerged as one of the party’s loudest tactics in the crucial Senate race,” Politico reported. “The Texas Democrat is working to position himself as a candidate focused on issues he says men actually care about instead of speculation about his diet, sexuality and religious beliefs.” Talarico has turned the narrative against juvenile, morally deficient MAGA Republicans — specifically their scandal-plagued nominee, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who, among other sins, gave a slap-on-the-wrist plea deal to a child sex abuser. In the absence of any data showing the childish attack on his masculinity is moving any voters, Talarico “has focused on issues he says affect many men — like lowering housing costs, stopping corporate landlord rent manipulation and curbing the influence of billionaire mega-donors in politics.” He could go a step further and simply denounce the insanely stupid, irrelevant attacks as evidence of a candidate and party lacking the maturity to serve. (He comes close when he declares “I don’t think guys my age are really concerned about that kind of thing… You’ve got these old guys lathered up in their fake tans throwing cheesy nicknames at each other.”) Frankly, a party that stands by a president found liable for sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll and cannot dump Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio), credibly accused of spousal and child abuse, has some nerve trying to impugn its opponents’ masculine virtues. Subscribed Third, Democrats should respond in a similar vein to another ludicrous Trump smear, namely that they’ve become “communists,” a term decades removed from the Cold War. (Sometimes ridicule is the only appropriate response to a gang who apparently thinks Dr. Strangelove is a contemporary documentary.) Democrats would be smart to remind voters that “communism” insults are the last-ditch defense of desperate MAGA candidates shilling for a corrupt regime in which oligarchs rig the system to get out of jail, exempt themselves from taxes, avoid accountability for misconduct, and shift business costs onto the backs of ordinary Americans (e.g., higher electricity prices to subsidize data centers, higher gas prices to pay for Big Oil, lost access to healthcare coverage to pay for tax cuts for billionaires). Labeling what MAGA zombie politicians are up to (i.e., taking marching orders from a failing, decrepit president who acts like the Berlin Wall still stands) has its virtues. Finally, but perhaps most importantly, Democrats must call for an end to Republicans’ protection racket for a mind-boggling array of highly suspect conduct: tolerance for accused sexual predators; Trump family conflicts of interest; felony pardon scams; crypto grift; Cabinet self-enrichment; FCC shady dealings; strong-arm money grubbing from corporations; Trump foreign real estate schemes; a Qatari Air Force One scandal; harassment of journalists to shield further Trump embarrassment; Justice Departmentmisconduct; Trump’s spasm of self-reverential DC monument construction; and Venezuela oil money profit taking. Forcing every Republican on the ballot to own up to their part in the stomach-turning reign of authoritarian greed will be an essential component of Democrats’ midterm campaign. (And, of course, millions of documents required by law to be disclosed remain locked up, with no finding of contempt or criminal referral against acting AG Todd Blanche and his Epstein cover-up operation, thanks to Republican lackeys.) This monstrous corruption can only end when Democrats get the gavels, subpoena power, and, yes, the majority required to threaten impeachment. Share Poll numbers showing public disgust with Trump’s MAGA rule and giving Democrats a strong advantage should encourage Democrats but not lull them into complacency. If they tie individual Republicans to disastrous results, avoid stupid distractions, deflect MAGA name-calling, and vow to end MAGA’s corruption free-for-all, they can win decisively. At stake is nothing less than halting our slide into authoritarian chaos. The Contrarian is community-supported. Help fund bold journalism and critical lawsuits to stop Trump’s corruption by becoming a paid subscriber. Join the fight now.

 

Some Laughs

Thanks to friend, Marilyn, in Maryland for sharing these with me.

Reading the news is getting tougher and tougher.  A book I was reading on my phone while on vacation took place in Nazi Germany and I had to give up reading it because of too many similarities to conditions here at present.

We need some laughs.

We passed a sign while on vacation that said Caution Cemetery.  We speculated that maybe the highway department was sending out notice to be prepared for ghosts crossing.

But this sign is good for a laugh.

Very true!

Don't they mean AI?

What country would this be?

Read that people staying in jobs because of the health insurance.

Very true for my shopping bags too.  Also my car seems to hold more gas now.  Oh, yes price increased! Not tank increased!

Do people really believe this?

I wish I knew the rest of that story below.

Below isn't really funny - more a sign of the times.

I know a few of these people.

Any of these speak to you?

Vacation Time Over

 Lakeside at Union Falls Pond in the Adirondacks near Saranac Lake.

Didn't keep to my goal of getting in the water every day.  We had rain and colder temperatures mid week.

It is a favorite lake for everyone but a heck of a drive for family members now living outside DC.  Next year we will be in PA for a week on a much smaller lake.  Booked already.

A Good Read

 

How To Choose a Nominee

Democrats cannot blow it in 2028

JENNIFER RUBIN JUL 23

READ IN APP

As the only pro-democracy national political party, the Democrats have the awesome responsibility of selecting a 2028 presidential ticket that can win the election convincingly, rescue the White House and executive branch from the most noxious and destructive regime in history, and forge a path to restore and bolster our democracy.

While a winning presidential ticket can certainly emerge from a chaotic, poorly designed nominating process and, conversely, a losing ticket can certainly emerge from a pristine nominating system, Democratic Party members and those concerned about the fate of our nation must maximize chances of winning by a non-contestable majority. Putting in place a coherent system of governance that does not create its own headaches officially begins this week.

“Members of the Democratic National Committee’s rules and bylaws committee are meeting at the Salamander Hotel on Thursday and Friday to recommend which states should ‘receive waivers to hold early nominating contests,’” The Hill reported. States that do not follow the calendar will lose all delegates and face a stiff $270,000 fine.

Twelve states divided among four regions (East, West, South, Midwest) are vying for 4-5 spots that would get the early position in the weeks before Super Tuesday. Whatever the Rules and Bylaws Committee decides, its decision will require approval by the full DNC in August.

Governors and U.S. senators whose names are already part of the 2028 buzz (Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock), 2020 winners in the early state contenders, and favorite sons (e.g., Pete Buttigieg, who won Iowa in 2020 and now resides in Michigan) would certainly like their states in the mix. However, for that very reason, the likelihood that the DNC picks a state that favors one or more obvious contenders reduces the likelihood that the state will get an early position. States with diverse electorates — such as South and North Carolina, Nevada, or New Mexico — that do not obviously favor one or more specific contenders will certainly be favored to snag a spot in the pre-Super Tuesday lineup.

“As the DNC considers its presidential primary calendar, it’s important that they build a calendar that allows the party and the candidates to hear from a broad cross-section of Americans, because listening to voters and understanding and responding to the issues that matter to them is essential to victory,” Lavora Barnes, the former Democratic chair of Michigan, told me. “This is why states with populations that look like all of America should be prioritized.”

Democrats should also look beyond the specific early primary states chosen. Zero energy should be expended trying to dissuade various candidates not to run. Having the largest, most robust debate at the start makes it less likely any segment of the electorate will feel disenfranchised or ignored. Who cares if you think Kamala Harris will never win (Turn the page! She had her shot!) or that no one outside the legacy media pays attention to Rahm Emanuel. Let them run; the voters will sort it out. What is clear is that even if they were to weigh in, party elders (or those purported to know what the electorate will want in 2 and a half years, or crotchety moderates who incorrectly foresaw disaster if Zohran Mamdani ran for office, or a sliver of the electorate that lives on Bluesky) carry no weight with voters.

The staid format of debates, especially the trite podium line-up of a dozen or more candidates ready to chime in with canned responses, also does not serve voters well. Rather than promoting nasty soundbites or reducing candidates to playing pundit (What makes you think you can win?), Democrats would be smart to innovate with different formats, special topics, subgroups of candidates, and nontraditional moderators. (I would love to hear Heather Cox Richardson ask candidates about their vision of American democracy or Paul Krugman discuss economic inequality with candidates in a small roundtable setting.)

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Allowing billionaire or corporate-owned legacy media — which has enabled Trump and evidenced scant understanding of the existential threat to democracy we face — moderate debates is foolish in the extreme. “They forced Democrats [in 2020] to distinguish themselves from each other on questions that there’s no hope of actually being able to accomplish in the short term, like Medicare for all,” Michael Podhorzer, former AFL-CIO political director and progressive political analyst, told me. That just forced Democrats to “exaggerate their differences.” Left to their own devices in 2027--2028, those same media figures will almost certainly “want to create internecine battles over issues of less relevance to most voters,” Podhorzer explained, leaving some candidates racing to take sides with Republicans (to prove their “moderate” bona fides) and leaving everyone aggrieved over issues of little import. Democrats should pledge not to repeat that experience.

There are enough journalistic refugees from legacy media, highly skilled independent media interviewers, and engaging think-tank gurus to sideline the corporate media crowd, thereby giving candidates room to shine while helping to rejigger the media landscape to benefit pro-democracy forces.

Finally, voters, activists, and engaged pundits really should drop the entire subject of “electability.” No one knows. Donald Trump has won twice, Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of New York, and countless incumbents lost in primaries. Trying to game out in advance which candidates will match up well against a yet-to-be-determined Republican nominee on issues not remotely clear years in advance is entirely pointless. It makes for lazy punditry, but worse, it promotes an ‘if the other guy wins, we are doomed’ or ‘we cannot win unless my gal wins’ mentality, which is intellectually dishonest and the last thing a big tent party charged with building a giant coalition needs.

In sum, as the first stages of officially constructing the 2028 presidential primary process get underway this week, the stakes will be astronomically high for the DNC, party activists, candidates, and voters. However, by abiding by the political equivalent of the Hippocratic Oath (don’t make the primary system the province of a tiny number of overwhelmingly white states, don’t chase people out of the race, don’t let legacy media run the show, don’t fall into the “electability” trap), Democrats can avoid some of the pitfalls of past election cycles. Above all, the greater pro-democracy coalition must remember that — whenever the nominee is chosen — past grievances must be put aside. Our democracy’s future depends upon it.

The Contrarian is community-supported. Help fund bold journalism and critical lawsuits to stop Trump’s corruption by becoming a paid subscriber. Join the fight now.