https://www.spreaker.com/show/politicus-radio_1enPoliticsCopyright Politicus Radiohttps://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/24106101c4c3fd88b1c77a01b5e2a8c5.jpghttps://www.spreaker.com/show/politicus-radio_1Tue, 07 Apr 2026 23:25:18 +0000Politicus RadioPoliticus Radiopoliticususa@gmail.comThe Politicus Pod is the official PoliticusUSA podcast where we dive deep into the news that matters to you.falseepisodichttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/it-s-25th-amendment-time-for-trump--71168508There is growing support for invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Donald Trump from office, but what is the 25th Amendment, and how would the removal process work? The Daily is fighting for democracy. Please join us by becoming a subscriber.When the 25th Amendment is referred to, what people mean is Article 4, which states:Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President. Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.This is a free story for all readers. Please support us by becoming a subscriber.In plain English, Congress can’t trigger the 25th Amendment. Only the vice president and a majority of the cabinet can start the 25th Amendment process. Even if the VP and a cabinet majority send the notification to Congress that the 25th Amendment has been invoked, it requires a 2/3 majority in the House and the Senate to remove Trump.There is not a 2/3 majority in either body of Congress, much less both, that would support removing Trump.The 25th Amendment was written and implemented for situations like the current one in the United States, where a declining president is unable to fulfill his oath of office and has become a danger to the nation.It is 25th Amendment time for Trump, but it is certain that his cabinet will never have the courage to invoke it.Do you agree that it is 25th Amendment time for Trump? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:193492380Tue, 07 Apr 2026 22:54:16 +0000Politicus Radiohttps://www.politicususa.com/p/marjorie-taylor-greene-calls-forbut what is the 25th Amendment, and how would the removal process work? The Daily is fighting for democracy. Please join us by becoming a subscriber.When the 25th Amendment is referred to,...There is growing support for invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Donald Trump from office, but what is the 25th Amendment, and how would the removal process work? The Daily is fighting for democracy. Please join us by becoming a subscriber.When the 25th Amendment is referred to, what people mean is Article 4, which states:Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President. Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.This is a free story for all readers. Please support us by becoming a subscriber.In plain English, Congress can’t trigger the 25th Amendment. Only the vice president and a majority of the cabinet can start the 25th Amendment process. Even if the VP and a cabinet majority send the notification to Congress that the 25th Amendment has been invoked, it requires a 2/3 majority in the House and the Senate to remove Trump.There is not a 2/3 majority in either body of Congress, much less both, that would support removing Trump.The 25th Amendment was written and implemented for situations like the current one in the United States, where a declining president is unable to fulfill his oath of office and has become a danger to the nation.It is 25th Amendment time for Trump, but it is certain that his cabinet will never have the courage to invoke it.Do you agree that it is 25th Amendment time for Trump? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>1898falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/why-democrats-are-winning-on-healthcare--69139805www.thedailypoliticususa.com

Our live video today covered how Democrats are winning on healthcare. I’d appreciate it if you would check it out. If you want to watch the entire video, please consider becoming a subscriber.It is not an exaggeration to suggest that when Democrats decided to make healthcare the central focus of the Republican government, they changed the trajectory of American politics.Democrats were always going to be in a good position for the 2026 midterm election, but their position upgraded from good to great because of the way that Republicans have refused to extend the popular Obamacare subsidies and gone out of their way to dig the political hole even deeper.Consider that no one was talking about healthcare as a top issue before the government shutdown in the fall.The latest AP/NORC poll found that healthcare is now the top issue for voters in 2026.The AP reported:About 4 in 10 U.S. adults named health care or health issues in an open-ended question that asked respondents to share up to five issues they want the government to work on in the coming year. That’s up from about one-third last year.…The poll shows a similar landscape to the one Trump faced at the end of his first year in office during his first term, when health care reform was at the top of many Americans’ minds. But Trump has an added complication now. At the end of 2017, very few mentioned cost of living concerns — now, about one-third do.Healthcare is now a bigger issue in the eyes of voters than affordability. The question is, how did Democrats, who began the year as a hopeless political party, turn the entire political landscape on its head?Read more below.]]>substack:post:182121991Fri, 19 Dec 2025 23:39:24 +0000Politicus RadioThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit https://www.thedailypoliticususa.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7 Our live video today covered how Democrats are winning on healthcare. I’d appreciate it if you would check it...www.thedailypoliticususa.com

Our live video today covered how Democrats are winning on healthcare. I’d appreciate it if you would check it out. If you want to watch the entire video, please consider becoming a subscriber.It is not an exaggeration to suggest that when Democrats decided to make healthcare the central focus of the Republican government, they changed the trajectory of American politics.Democrats were always going to be in a good position for the 2026 midterm election, but their position upgraded from good to great because of the way that Republicans have refused to extend the popular Obamacare subsidies and gone out of their way to dig the political hole even deeper.Consider that no one was talking about healthcare as a top issue before the government shutdown in the fall.The latest AP/NORC poll found that healthcare is now the top issue for voters in 2026.The AP reported:About 4 in 10 U.S. adults named health care or health issues in an open-ended question that asked respondents to share up to five issues they want the government to work on in the coming year. That’s up from about one-third last year.…The poll shows a similar landscape to the one Trump faced at the end of his first year in office during his first term, when health care reform was at the top of many Americans’ minds. But Trump has an added complication now. At the end of 2017, very few mentioned cost of living concerns — now, about one-third do.Healthcare is now a bigger issue in the eyes of voters than affordability. The question is, how did Democrats, who began the year as a hopeless political party, turn the entire political landscape on its head?Read more below.]]>960falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/trump-s-epstein-cover-up-is-the-worst-presidential-scandal-in-us-history--68557604www.thedailypoliticususa.com

The United States has a long history of presidential scandals. No president can match Donald Trump in sheer number of scandals, but Trump doesn’t just have quantity, he also has what seems like it is the worst presidential scandal in US history.Most presidents get themselves in trouble by trying to cover up an activity. The Daily is outside the Beltway journalism for the people. Please support us byt becoming a subscriber.Going back through the presidents since Nixon, nobody else matches Trump’s Epstein cover-up. Jimmy Carter, no, no scandals you can speak of. Ronald Reagan had Iran-Contra. That was a big one, but it was not at this level of depravity and sickness of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein.George H.W. Bush, nothing much there. Bill Clinton had the Lewinsky scandal. We know about that. But the Lewinsky scandal is nowhere near on the same level as protecting one of the world’s most infamous pedophiles and potentially being involved in some of those crimes.Story continues below.]]>substack:post:178754765Thu, 13 Nov 2025 19:45:00 +0000Politicus RadioThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit https://www.thedailypoliticususa.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7 The United States has a long history of presidential scandals. No president can match Donald Trump in sheer...www.thedailypoliticususa.com

The United States has a long history of presidential scandals. No president can match Donald Trump in sheer number of scandals, but Trump doesn’t just have quantity, he also has what seems like it is the worst presidential scandal in US history.Most presidents get themselves in trouble by trying to cover up an activity. The Daily is outside the Beltway journalism for the people. Please support us byt becoming a subscriber.Going back through the presidents since Nixon, nobody else matches Trump’s Epstein cover-up. Jimmy Carter, no, no scandals you can speak of. Ronald Reagan had Iran-Contra. That was a big one, but it was not at this level of depravity and sickness of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein.George H.W. Bush, nothing much there. Bill Clinton had the Lewinsky scandal. We know about that. But the Lewinsky scandal is nowhere near on the same level as protecting one of the world’s most infamous pedophiles and potentially being involved in some of those crimes.Story continues below.]]>1152falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/republicans-and-their-media-accomplices-plan-to-blame-democrats-for-shutdown--67943867
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:174868449Mon, 29 Sep 2025 20:11:57 +0000Politicus RadioSharp-eyed readers and viewers have spotted the bias. One of the first questions that Democrats get when asked about a potential government shutdown is why won’t Democrats compromise with Republicans. The answer is that Republicans are in control of...
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>1366falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-media-whitewashing-of-charlie-kirk-and-extremist-right-wing-rhetoric-must-stop--67767321
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:173658530Mon, 15 Sep 2025 14:23:34 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is outside the beltway journalism for the people. Please consider supporting our work by becoming a subscriber.Two things can be true at the same time. The shooting of Charlie Kirk was a horrible act of political violence that has no place...
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/is-trump-trying-to-weaken-the-resistance-of-the-american-people-by-destroying-the-economy--67681827
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:173131786Mon, 08 Sep 2025 21:55:58 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is outside the Beltway journalism that is fighting for democracy. Please support us by becoming a subscriber.Donald Trump seems to be doing everything that he can to distract people from the failing economy and rising prices, but what if...
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>1375falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/a-good-week-for-america-as-trump-fails-everywhere--67648836The president tried to pretend that he could change the name of the Department of Defense with an executive order, and watched India cozy up to Russia and China.Trump’s HHS Secretary had one of the worst Senate hearings in recent memory, and Epstein survivors stormed the Capitol and revived a Trump scandal that refuses to go away. It is unprecedented for an administration that is still in its first year to have so much failure so consistently. Nothing that Trump is doing as president is popular or working. This is a historic level of complete and comprehensive failure. These are challenging times that the nation is enduring, and it is essential to take a broader perspective and recognize that this president is not achieving success. Trump blusters and tries to look strong, but if you tear away the propaganda and sideshow, this is a president who is failing.What do you think about Trump’s week of fails? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:172886158Fri, 05 Sep 2025 21:59:02 +0000Politicus RadioPlease consider supporting The Daily by becoming a subscriber.The video above is this week’s live chat with the readers. Chats happen each Wednesday at 2 PM ET. Give the video above a watch and consider joining us each Wednesday.The terrible jobs...The president tried to pretend that he could change the name of the Department of Defense with an executive order, and watched India cozy up to Russia and China.Trump’s HHS Secretary had one of the worst Senate hearings in recent memory, and Epstein survivors stormed the Capitol and revived a Trump scandal that refuses to go away. It is unprecedented for an administration that is still in its first year to have so much failure so consistently. Nothing that Trump is doing as president is popular or working. This is a historic level of complete and comprehensive failure. These are challenging times that the nation is enduring, and it is essential to take a broader perspective and recognize that this president is not achieving success. Trump blusters and tries to look strong, but if you tear away the propaganda and sideshow, this is a president who is failing.What do you think about Trump’s week of fails? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>3709falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/trump-is-using-the-troops-to-distract-from-the-epstein-files--67617186
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:172677430Wed, 03 Sep 2025 14:03:13 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is outside the Beltway journalism that is for the people and supported by the people. You can support us by becoming a subscriber.Donald Trump wants to cast himself as a crime fighter, but it is clear that the president with 34 felony...
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>1371falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/trump-shows-he-s-a-fake-on-crime-after-mn-school-shooting--67536184
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:172114163Wed, 27 Aug 2025 23:40:39 +0000Politicus RadioPlease support the independent journalism of The Daily by becoming a subscriber.A criminal who rebrands himself as a crimefighter might not be serious about fighting crime. The point that Trump is a person who commits crimes and also claims to be...
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>1379falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/trump-is-running-out-of-tricks-as-democrats-fight-back--67484516It is Gavin Newsom’s fault. The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Newsom and the California Democrats have been taking up a lot of the media oxygen by doing something different. The California Democrats are fighting back and playing by the Trump GOP’s rules. The Texas gerrymander has blown up in Trump’s face, and with the shadow of the Epstein files hanging over him every second of every day, Donald Trump thought it was time to throw raiding John Bolton at the wall to see if it would stick.It hasn’t.It is very clear now that Donald Trump is out of tricks. Blaming Barack Obama doesn’t work. Neither does blaming Joe Biden. Trump tried to hold a ‘summit’ with Putin, but that blew up in his face and failed to dominate the headlines.Trump has even sent the military into Washington, D.C., but he still remains an unpopular, failing president who is on track to lose the midterm election and see his presidency evaporate.Nothing is working. The distractions that used to come so easily to Trump are now an old man playing his greatest hits to a country that refuses to be distracted.The vast majority of the country has turned on Trump, as he has delivered on none of the promises that mattered most to voters.In his first term, he could break promises and distract because Trump was coasting on Obama’s economy, but even though Donald Trump is the same, the country has changed.This time, Americans overwhelmingly aren’t falling for it.What do you think? Did Trump raid Bolton to distract from the Epstein files? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:171675203Fri, 22 Aug 2025 23:18:08 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is proud independent journalism that needs your help. Please support our work by becoming a subscriber.The video above is this week’s live chat with our readers, where we talk about Democrats fighting back, Texas Democrats, and California...It is Gavin Newsom’s fault. The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Newsom and the California Democrats have been taking up a lot of the media oxygen by doing something different. The California Democrats are fighting back and playing by the Trump GOP’s rules. The Texas gerrymander has blown up in Trump’s face, and with the shadow of the Epstein files hanging over him every second of every day, Donald Trump thought it was time to throw raiding John Bolton at the wall to see if it would stick.It hasn’t.It is very clear now that Donald Trump is out of tricks. Blaming Barack Obama doesn’t work. Neither does blaming Joe Biden. Trump tried to hold a ‘summit’ with Putin, but that blew up in his face and failed to dominate the headlines.Trump has even sent the military into Washington, D.C., but he still remains an unpopular, failing president who is on track to lose the midterm election and see his presidency evaporate.Nothing is working. The distractions that used to come so easily to Trump are now an old man playing his greatest hits to a country that refuses to be distracted.The vast majority of the country has turned on Trump, as he has delivered on none of the promises that mattered most to voters.In his first term, he could break promises and distract because Trump was coasting on Obama’s economy, but even though Donald Trump is the same, the country has changed.This time, Americans overwhelmingly aren’t falling for it.What do you think? Did Trump raid Bolton to distract from the Epstein files? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>3638falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/what-does-putin-have-on-donald-trump--67415710
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:171276684Mon, 18 Aug 2025 14:12:18 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is fighting the oligarchs with outside the Beltway journalism. Please help us by becoming a subscriber.The Trump/Putin meeting turned out no differently than any of the other Trump/Putin meetings. It was shrouded in secrecy and ended with...
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>1301falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/jd-vance-tried-to-clean-up-his-jeffrey-epstein-mess-and-it-was-a-disaster--67324940 Vance has to go into hiding when he goes on vacation because he gets protested. Vance was sent to Greenland and had to cut the trip short because he was completely unwanted, and he even broke the college football national championship trophy.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. JD Vance is the kind of vice president who would try to hold a secret meeting at his house with other Trump administration officials, have it get leaked to the media, cancel the meeting, then go on the friendliest show on planet earth to Trump administration officials and screw up the response. Maria Bartiromo was throwing JD Vance softballs, and he kept swinging and missing.The Trump administration has apparently decided to blame Joe Biden for Trump being in the Epstein files, and, if that doesn’t work, Vance tried to shift the blame to Bill Clinton.Vance’s response was astoundingly bad, and the mainstream media hasn’t said a peep about it.In fact, the coverage was centered on Vance as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, which should make Democrats say, “yes, please.”JD Vance has a unique mixture of unlikability, incompetence, and the strong scent of white male entitlement. Vance is the ideal lackey for Donald Trump. JD would never let the Constitution get in the way like Mike Pence, but Vance is also the embodiment of why the second Trump administration is failing. Presidential elections are like snowflakes. Every single one is unique, so it is too early to predict how 2028 will end up, but if Vance’s attempt at Epstein damage control represents how he will run MAGA, Trump’s movement may be facing a fake hillbilly extinction event.What do you think about how Vance handled the Epstein meeting question? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:170642102Sun, 10 Aug 2025 23:12:28 +0000Politicus RadioPlease support The Daily by becoming a subscriber.In the video above, I talk about JD Vance’s attempt to make the Epstein scandal go away.It has been clear for a while now that without the propping up by Donald Trump, JD Vance wouldn’t have won the... Vance has to go into hiding when he goes on vacation because he gets protested. Vance was sent to Greenland and had to cut the trip short because he was completely unwanted, and he even broke the college football national championship trophy.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. JD Vance is the kind of vice president who would try to hold a secret meeting at his house with other Trump administration officials, have it get leaked to the media, cancel the meeting, then go on the friendliest show on planet earth to Trump administration officials and screw up the response. Maria Bartiromo was throwing JD Vance softballs, and he kept swinging and missing.The Trump administration has apparently decided to blame Joe Biden for Trump being in the Epstein files, and, if that doesn’t work, Vance tried to shift the blame to Bill Clinton.Vance’s response was astoundingly bad, and the mainstream media hasn’t said a peep about it.In fact, the coverage was centered on Vance as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, which should make Democrats say, “yes, please.”JD Vance has a unique mixture of unlikability, incompetence, and the strong scent of white male entitlement. Vance is the ideal lackey for Donald Trump. JD would never let the Constitution get in the way like Mike Pence, but Vance is also the embodiment of why the second Trump administration is failing. Presidential elections are like snowflakes. Every single one is unique, so it is too early to predict how 2028 will end up, but if Vance’s attempt at Epstein damage control represents how he will run MAGA, Trump’s movement may be facing a fake hillbilly extinction event.What do you think about how Vance handled the Epstein meeting question? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>599falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/republicans-are-embarrassing-themselves-in-texas-gerrymander-fight--67307899embarrassing. In the video above, I break down the Speaker of the Texas House’s reply to Democrats who left the state to deny Republicans a quorum to pass a new gerrymandered congressional district map of the state. The Democratic Party is supporting the Texas Democrats, but they need to be doing more. Republicans have nothing. The big move from Texas state Republicans is to take away the Democratic House members’ ability to have their checks direct deposited. Supposedly, this is going to make the Democrats show up in Austin to get their checks and then boom!! The Democrats will be detained and forced onto the House floor until Republicans have a quorum and can pass the Trump-mandated gerrymandered map.That’s the “big plan.”Thanks for reading The Daily! This post is public so feel free to share it.The Texas House Democrats are not running away; they're not criminals. They voluntarily left. They took a principle to stand and left. The Republicans don't have much in the toolbox to bring them back. Greg Abbott is saying he's gonna call special session after special session until the Democrats come back and he can pass his map.But Greg Abbott also has a deadline. Greg Abbott's deadline is the end of the year. If this map is not gerrymandered by the end of the year, then it doesn't go into effect at all for the midterm. My proposal, being from a union household is very simply this. If Democrats had their act together, which I know is sometimes really stretching it, what they should do is they should go to their donors set up basically, what is a democracy fund, A strike fund we would call it, in terms of union workers.Go to every person who voted for the Harris/Walz ticket and ask for a dollar. And don't go through a super PAC. Don’t take a cut out for “administrative costs.” Raise $60 or $70 million to cover these expenses for these Texas Democrats to pay their fines so that it doesn't matter how much Greg Abbott and the Texas Republicans fine them.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.It's covered so that it doesn't matter, so that they can bring their families wherever they've gone and keep those Democrats out of Texas for the rest of the year. Wouldn't that send a message? Wouldn't that send a message? Wouldn't that make everybody go, Wow, the Democrats are serious about this. And it wasn't just the 50 Texas Democrats, it was every Democrat in the party that stepped up and said, we got you. We got your back. We're not gonna let this happen. We're gonna fight. We're not just gonna talk about democracy as a threat. And then once Donald Trump wins the election, say democracy didn't play well with voters, so we're not gonna talk about that anymore.It's ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous that these people were so big into talking about democracy for years, and then when they found out it wasn't a winning campaign issue, they stopped. What does that tell you? Is this a group of people that are serious about protecting democracy, or are they listening to some high-paid consultants who are just telling them this polls well with voters?And then when they lost the election, a lot of them stopped talking about democracy. A lot of them stopped. Why did they stop? This is our situation. What are we gonna do? You have a choice. You can sit on your hands. You can watch cable news, and you can just follow the coverage and maybe tell some people, tell some friends, and whatnot about what's happening, or you can step up. You can demand that the Democratic Party take care of these Texas Democrats.You can demand they take the fight to the next level.Republicans have nothing, and they are humiliating themselves right now. It’s time for Democrats to step up and strike a blow for democracy.What do you think? Have Texas Republicans been exposed? Join the conversation and share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:170490151Fri, 08 Aug 2025 22:34:59 +0000Politicus RadioPlease support The Daily and the fight for democracy by becoming a subscriber.This is getting https://www.politicususa.com/p/the-trump-texas-gerrymander-is-backfiring. In the video above, I break down the Speaker of the Texas House’s reply to...embarrassing. In the video above, I break down the Speaker of the Texas House’s reply to Democrats who left the state to deny Republicans a quorum to pass a new gerrymandered congressional district map of the state. The Democratic Party is supporting the Texas Democrats, but they need to be doing more. Republicans have nothing. The big move from Texas state Republicans is to take away the Democratic House members’ ability to have their checks direct deposited. Supposedly, this is going to make the Democrats show up in Austin to get their checks and then boom!! The Democrats will be detained and forced onto the House floor until Republicans have a quorum and can pass the Trump-mandated gerrymandered map.That’s the “big plan.”Thanks for reading The Daily! This post is public so feel free to share it.The Texas House Democrats are not running away; they're not criminals. They voluntarily left. They took a principle to stand and left. The Republicans don't have much in the toolbox to bring them back. Greg Abbott is saying he's gonna call special session after special session until the Democrats come back and he can pass his map.But Greg Abbott also has a deadline. Greg Abbott's deadline is the end of the year. If this map is not gerrymandered by the end of the year, then it doesn't go into effect at all for the midterm. My proposal, being from a union household is very simply this. If Democrats had their act together, which I know is sometimes really stretching it, what they should do is they should go to their donors set up basically, what is a democracy fund, A strike fund we would call it, in terms of union workers.Go to every person who voted for the Harris/Walz ticket and ask for a dollar. And don't go through a super PAC. Don’t take a cut out for “administrative costs.” Raise $60 or $70 million to cover these expenses for these Texas Democrats to pay their fines so that it doesn't matter how much Greg Abbott and the Texas Republicans fine them.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.It's covered so that it doesn't matter, so that they can bring their families wherever they've gone and keep those Democrats out of Texas for the rest of the year. Wouldn't that send a message? Wouldn't that send a message? Wouldn't that make everybody go, Wow, the Democrats are serious about this. And it wasn't just the 50 Texas Democrats, it was every Democrat in the party that stepped up and said, we got you. We got your back. We're not gonna let this happen. We're gonna fight. We're not just gonna talk about democracy as a threat. And then once Donald Trump wins the election, say democracy didn't play well with voters, so we're not gonna talk about that anymore.It's ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous that these people were so big into talking about democracy for years, and then when they found out it wasn't a winning campaign issue, they stopped. What does that tell you? Is this a group of people that are serious about protecting democracy, or are they listening to some high-paid consultants who are just telling them this polls well with voters?And then when they lost the election, a lot of them stopped talking about democracy. A lot of them stopped. Why did they stop? This is our situation. What are we gonna do? You have a choice. You can sit on your hands. You can watch cable news, and you can just follow the coverage and maybe tell some people, tell some friends, and whatnot about what's happening, or you can step up. You can demand that the Democratic Party take care of these Texas Democrats.You can demand they take the fight to the next level.Republicans have nothing, and they are humiliating themselves right now. It’s time for...]]>1737falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/democrats-must-do-whatever-is-necessary-to-protect-democracy--67284994
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:170355142Thu, 07 Aug 2025 13:30:57 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is independent media that needs your help. Please support our work by becoming a subscriber.Republicans have used many tools to legally reshape the electorate to benefit themselves. Everything from restrictive voting laws to voter...
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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:169630104Wed, 30 Jul 2025 21:42:34 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily needs your help to continue to survive as independent media. You can help us by becoming a subscriber.When Donald Trump returned to the United States from Scotland, it became obvious. Instead of getting front and center in front of the...
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>4026falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-sinister-agenda-behind-trump-s-scotland-insanity--67147261
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:169410694Sun, 27 Jul 2025 23:41:13 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily needs your help. Support us by subscribing.In the video above, we dig deeper into Trump’s meltdown in Scotland.It would be easy to dismiss it, as more Trump crazy, but there is more happening than the usual. The first sinister part of this...
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>595falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/trump-is-close-to-the-end-of-the-line--67119607 the Trump rules, as MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell has called them?The answer is money. During Trump’s first term in office, he made corporate media relevant again while making them lots and lots of money. That money led the media to push for Trump to win the 2024 election, only to see TV ratings fall, website traffic plummet, and Trump-related books flop. Everything that worked in the first term is failing in the second.Trump’s fall makes sense because he is a two-term president, and presidents not named Bill Clinton always lose popularity in their second term. The media thought that they could relive their Trump good old days, but the American people have not played along.The polling is an absolute disaster. Trump is three points away from the worst job approval rating of his first term. He has a negative approval rating on every issue in the Gallup poll, and the Big Beautiful Bill appears to be an anchor around the necks of Republicans.If Trump continues on his current trajectory, Democrats will at minimum take back the House majority, and this will be the end of the line for relevancy and his presidency. Trump could spend his final two years in the White House as his de facto retirement home, as the nation’s attention turns to the 2028 election.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:169170932Fri, 25 Jul 2025 22:20:43 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily needs your help. Please support us by becoming a subscriber.Could there really have been any other ending for Trump? A man whose constant companions have been failure and scandal for his entire adult life has now seen both of his defining... the Trump rules, as MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell has called them?The answer is money. During Trump’s first term in office, he made corporate media relevant again while making them lots and lots of money. That money led the media to push for Trump to win the 2024 election, only to see TV ratings fall, website traffic plummet, and Trump-related books flop. Everything that worked in the first term is failing in the second.Trump’s fall makes sense because he is a two-term president, and presidents not named Bill Clinton always lose popularity in their second term. The media thought that they could relive their Trump good old days, but the American people have not played along.The polling is an absolute disaster. Trump is three points away from the worst job approval rating of his first term. He has a negative approval rating on every issue in the Gallup poll, and the Big Beautiful Bill appears to be an anchor around the necks of Republicans.If Trump continues on his current trajectory, Democrats will at minimum take back the House majority, and this will be the end of the line for relevancy and his presidency. Trump could spend his final two years in the White House as his de facto retirement home, as the nation’s attention turns to the 2028 election.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>6159falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/mike-johnson-won-t-allow-a-house-vote-on-the-epstein-files--67062335
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:168897549Mon, 21 Jul 2025 21:59:32 +0000Politicus RadioPlease consider supporting The Daily by becoming a subscriber.Another dot was connected on Monday, as Speaker of the House Mike Johnson told reporters that he would not be allowing a vote on a resolution urging the release of the Epstein files before...
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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:168857800Mon, 21 Jul 2025 14:31:02 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is outside the Beltway news for the people. Please consider supporting our work by becoming a subscriber.In the case of Jeffrey Epstein and the fallout that continues to follow Donald Trump, the crime really is worse than the cover-up.The...
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>1383falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-trump-regime-is-crumbling--66980050
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:168250682Mon, 14 Jul 2025 23:29:27 +0000Politicus RadioPlease consider supporting The Daily by becoming a subscriber.Trump responded to Putin playing him and showing no sign of wanting peace by threatening him with tariffs. Trump’s DHS Secretary is being called incompetent, and it is being suggested that...
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>5368falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/republicans-are-already-running-from-medicaid-cuts--66891669Politico reported:For instance, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) — who ultimately voted for the sweeping domestic policy package — pledged to ensure that cuts to state taxes that fund Medicaid would never take effect.Sixteen House moderates similarly urged Speaker Mike Johnson in a letter in June to revert the Senate’s language. They all ended up voting for the bill, but at least some were also thinking that there was an opportunity to revisit the deep cuts in the future.“Any of the changes in the provider tax don’t go into effect until ’28, so he’s right, there’s time,” Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) said about Hawley’s comments, though he added that the system does “have to be reformed” and that “we’re on the right track.”Then, Speaker Mike Johnson announced during an appearance on Fox News Sunday that he wants to do two more reconciliation bills, one in the fall and one in the spring.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. After this announcement, it all started to make sense. House and Senate Republicans are going to try to claim credit for cutting Medicaid among their base, but they will also attempt to roll back those cuts before they take effect in 2028. Republicans are trying to have it both ways, but they are already on record as voting to take healthcare away from 17 million Americans, and the American people aren’t going to forget.The battle to prevent health insurance from being taken away from millions isn’t over. It has at least two more rounds to go.What do you think about Republicans trying to get out of the Medicaid cuts that they voted for? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:167688532Mon, 07 Jul 2025 23:58:28 +0000Politicus RadioIf you find our work to be essential and of value, please consider supporting The Daily by becoming a subscriber.The other shoes are beginning to drop, and it looks like House Republicans are looking for an off-ramp from the unpopular Medicaid cuts in...Politico reported:For instance, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) — who ultimately voted for the sweeping domestic policy package — pledged to ensure that cuts to state taxes that fund Medicaid would never take effect.Sixteen House moderates similarly urged Speaker Mike Johnson in a letter in June to revert the Senate’s language. They all ended up voting for the bill, but at least some were also thinking that there was an opportunity to revisit the deep cuts in the future.“Any of the changes in the provider tax don’t go into effect until ’28, so he’s right, there’s time,” Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) said about Hawley’s comments, though he added that the system does “have to be reformed” and that “we’re on the right track.”Then, Speaker Mike Johnson announced during an appearance on Fox News Sunday that he wants to do two more reconciliation bills, one in the fall and one in the spring.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. After this announcement, it all started to make sense. House and Senate Republicans are going to try to claim credit for cutting Medicaid among their base, but they will also attempt to roll back those cuts before they take effect in 2028. Republicans are trying to have it both ways, but they are already on record as voting to take healthcare away from 17 million Americans, and the American people aren’t going to forget.The battle to prevent health insurance from being taken away from millions isn’t over. It has at least two more rounds to go.What do you think about Republicans trying to get out of the Medicaid cuts that they voted for? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>5889falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/you-are-why-trump-s-politics-of-intimidation-are-failing--66884089And so when I saw this initiative, I thought that's what people need. They need to know that they're not alone. When you see somebody else speaking up, and I'm sure everybody has this example in their personal life, when somebody, or you've read someone or you listen to someone speaking up, it emboldens you and it gives you the sense when you know you're not alone in a fight, it helps you rise to the moment.And so we all have to remember constantly that we are not alone. And I think, when we look at presidents who've really roused the American people and help remind them of who they are and what they can do, the two that come to mind for me at the moment, there's many of them, but I would say at the moment, JFK and Barack Obama.And both of them got into the whole thing about standing up and about. Barack Obama? Yes, we can. You just, he would always say, it's not about me, it's about you. And that was to empower each of us. We are the power of this country, and that is very true. It's baked into our system.He's (Trump) trying to take that away. He and the Republican Party and their, and this, I would say corrupt Supreme Court are trying to take that away from people. And it's interesting. That doesn't mean that, oh, go ahead. No, you were gonna say that doesn't mean it doesn't mean that it's gonna work. And I think that's how I ended this piece.It 's a battle. They want win this battle, but we are fighting back. This conclusion to this fight is not, it's not a foregone conclusion. The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Trump isn’t taking power as much as he is hoping that people and institutions voluntarily surrender their power to him. We have seen law firms, media companies, and some universities cave to intimidation tactics and surrender power.The vast majority of Americans have refused to surrender the power. Trump sent troops to Los Angeles to intimidate, but Californians battled back and didn’t give up their power.The beauty of the American system is that the power of the people is built into it, and no president can remove it.It will be a long battle, but as long as the American people continue to fight, Trump’s intimidation tactics will fail.What do you think about the fight the American people are demonstrating? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:167722002Mon, 07 Jul 2025 13:42:32 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is outside the Beltway journalism for the people. Please consider supporting our work by becoming a subscriber.Donald Trump’s allies before he returned to the White House promised a campaign of shock and awe, but we are almost six months...And so when I saw this initiative, I thought that's what people need. They need to know that they're not alone. When you see somebody else speaking up, and I'm sure everybody has this example in their personal life, when somebody, or you've read someone or you listen to someone speaking up, it emboldens you and it gives you the sense when you know you're not alone in a fight, it helps you rise to the moment.And so we all have to remember constantly that we are not alone. And I think, when we look at presidents who've really roused the American people and help remind them of who they are and what they can do, the two that come to mind for me at the moment, there's many of them, but I would say at the moment, JFK and Barack Obama.And both of them got into the whole thing about standing up and about. Barack Obama? Yes, we can. You just, he would always say, it's not about me, it's about you. And that was to empower each of us. We are the power of this country, and that is very true. It's baked into our system.He's (Trump) trying to take that away. He and the Republican Party and their, and this, I would say corrupt Supreme Court are trying to take that away from people. And it's interesting. That doesn't mean that, oh, go ahead. No, you were gonna say that doesn't mean it doesn't mean that it's gonna work. And I think that's how I ended this piece.It 's a battle. They want win this battle, but we are fighting back. This conclusion to this fight is not, it's not a foregone conclusion. The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Trump isn’t taking power as much as he is hoping that people and institutions voluntarily surrender their power to him. We have seen law firms, media companies, and some universities cave to intimidation tactics and surrender power.The vast majority of Americans have refused to surrender the power. Trump sent troops to Los Angeles to intimidate, but Californians battled back and didn’t give up their power.The beauty of the American system is that the power of the people is built into it, and no president can remove it.It will be a long battle, but as long as the American people continue to fight, Trump’s intimidation tactics will fail.What do you think about the fight the American people are demonstrating? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If...]]>1502falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-big-beautiful-bill-could-still-go-down-here-s-how--66827787
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:167301034Wed, 02 Jul 2025 00:42:15 +0000Politicus RadioPlease consider supporting The Daily by becoming a subscriber.Congressional majorities that sense their time in power might be fleeting all share a similar habit. They think that they can defeat the looming wrath of the voters by delaying the...
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>5496falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/trump-has-laughably-failed-in-iran--66714589
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:166671727Mon, 23 Jun 2025 22:33:18 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is journalism for the people, so please consider supporting us by becoming a subscriber.The pretense of destroying Iran’s nuclear capability has been exposed as a farce, as Donald Trump announced on his social media platform that a ceasefire...
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>4315falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/iran-bombing-exposes-trump-as-a-peacemaking-fraud--66709097Trump wants a Nobel Peace Prize for adding the United States to the Israel/Iran war, but the president has never been about peace. Isolationism is not the same thing as peace. There is no such thing as using military force to achieve diplomacy. Republicans should have learned after Richard Nixon tried to bomb his way to diplomacy in Vietnam. In the wars that the United States won, military force was used to defeat an enemy, not as a tool to get to a diplomatic solution.Trump is a peacemaking fraud. He has never been about peace, and the one outcome from this bombing is that the American people now see the true face of Donald Trump.What do you think about Trump as a peacemaking fraud? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:166601430Mon, 23 Jun 2025 15:32:23 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is outside the Beltway journalism about the issues that you care about the most, so please consider becoming a subscriber.For a decade, Trump has been claiming to be an anti-war candidate. For example, in 2019, Trump posted on Twitter,...Trump wants a Nobel Peace Prize for adding the United States to the Israel/Iran war, but the president has never been about peace. Isolationism is not the same thing as peace. There is no such thing as using military force to achieve diplomacy. Republicans should have learned after Richard Nixon tried to bomb his way to diplomacy in Vietnam. In the wars that the United States won, military force was used to defeat an enemy, not as a tool to get to a diplomatic solution.Trump is a peacemaking fraud. He has never been about peace, and the one outcome from this bombing is that the American people now see the true face of Donald Trump.What do you think about Trump as a peacemaking fraud? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>1312falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/your-pictures-and-videos-of-the-no-kings-protest--66564669
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:165966649Sun, 15 Jun 2025 12:00:00 +0000Politicus RadioPlease support The Daily by becoming a subscriber.There were millions of people across the country at the No Kings protests on Saturday. Here are some pictures and videos submitted by readers of the demonstrations they attended.Wilmington, NC:The...
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>3843falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/trump-has-already-lost-the-battle-of-los-angeles--66500852
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:165581269Tue, 10 Jun 2025 23:26:56 +0000Politicus RadioPlease consider supporting The Daily by becoming a subscriber.Donald Trump’s history is repeating itself. One of the big downward drivers of his approval rating during his first term in office, even before he bungled the pandemic, was his immigration...
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>3760falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/trump-is-going-full-snowflake-and-claiming-mental-anguish--66340304In a recent filing, Trump’s lawyers argued that he has suffered mental anguish:Plaintiffs were foreseeably and actually misled by Defendants’ advertising of the Election Special as containing certain statements by Harris, when in fact the Election Special did not contain the statements represented to be included by Defendants, as well as because the Interview was deceptively edited in material ways to misrepresent significant portions of what Harris said throughout her conversations with Whitaker. ECF No. 36 ¶ 155. This led to widespread confusion and mental anguish of consumers, including Plaintiffs, regarding a household name of the legacy media apparently deceptively distorting its broadcasts, and then resisting attempts to clear the public record. Id. ¶ 187. Moreover, because they were misled by Defendants’ false advertising and tampering with the entirety of the Interview, viewers withheld attention from President Trump and Truth Social by directing their attention to Defendants’ media platforms.Do you know who else is feeling mental anguish right now? The fourteen million people who stand to lose their healthcare, and millions more who could lose their jobs due to Trump’s tax cuts for the rich. All the people trying to get help from the Social Security Administration who can’t reach anyone are feeling a great deal of anguish right now.Trump is a source of anguish for much of the country right now.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.TACO Has Trump CrackingTrump is clearly and deeply bothered by the TACO trade, because it exposes him.Donald Trump puts on the show that he did in his reality show. He's playing strong man. But now he's been called out and this is an international humiliation. So he's humiliated here by the courts. He's humiliated. Trump always chickens out if anybody missed the TACO trade this is you can't come back from that to, to have world leaders know that.Economists say, Hey, don't even pay attention to his tariffs, because Trump always chickens out. Yeah. And that's right. He does, and that's why this bill is so important to him. Because he's competing with Joe Biden, he doesn't actually even care, except about the ways that he's shoveling money to his oligarchical entourage and to his own family and to himself. He doesn't care about legislation. This is all so he can puff up his ego and say he got something done that was bigger than Joe Biden. Never mind that. What Joe Biden did was actually to strengthen this country, to strengthen our alliances internationally with nations to push democracy, and to create jobs here, and to shore up our supply chains. It doesn't even matter to Trump. Trump is being revealed as a snowflake on all fronts. People shouldn’t buy or be afraid of the strongman image, because behind the bluster is a weak person who chickens out and claims mental anguish.What do you think about Trump’s chickening out and mental anguish? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:164804113Fri, 30 May 2025 13:55:05 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is outside the Beltway, journalistic truth from the heartland of America. Please consider supporting us by becoming a subscriber.Donald Trump is a person obsessed with strength who is consumed by weakness. It has been one of the...In a recent filing, Trump’s lawyers argued that he has suffered mental anguish:Plaintiffs were foreseeably and actually misled by Defendants’ advertising of the Election Special as containing certain statements by Harris, when in fact the Election Special did not contain the statements represented to be included by Defendants, as well as because the Interview was deceptively edited in material ways to misrepresent significant portions of what Harris said throughout her conversations with Whitaker. ECF No. 36 ¶ 155. This led to widespread confusion and mental anguish of consumers, including Plaintiffs, regarding a household name of the legacy media apparently deceptively distorting its broadcasts, and then resisting attempts to clear the public record. Id. ¶ 187. Moreover, because they were misled by Defendants’ false advertising and tampering with the entirety of the Interview, viewers withheld attention from President Trump and Truth Social by directing their attention to Defendants’ media platforms.Do you know who else is feeling mental anguish right now? The fourteen million people who stand to lose their healthcare, and millions more who could lose their jobs due to Trump’s tax cuts for the rich. All the people trying to get help from the Social Security Administration who can’t reach anyone are feeling a great deal of anguish right now.Trump is a source of anguish for much of the country right now.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.TACO Has Trump CrackingTrump is clearly and deeply bothered by the TACO trade, because it exposes him.Donald Trump puts on the show that he did in his reality show. He's playing strong man. But now he's been called out and this is an international humiliation. So he's humiliated here by the courts. He's humiliated. Trump always chickens out if anybody missed the TACO trade this is you can't come back from that to, to have world leaders know that.Economists say, Hey, don't even pay attention to his tariffs, because Trump always chickens out. Yeah. And that's right. He does, and that's why this bill is so important to him. Because he's competing with Joe Biden, he doesn't actually even care, except about the ways that he's shoveling money to his oligarchical entourage and to his own family and to himself. He doesn't care about legislation. This is all so he can puff up his ego and say he got something done that was bigger than Joe Biden. Never mind that. What Joe Biden did was actually to strengthen this country, to strengthen our alliances internationally with nations to push democracy, and to create jobs here, and to shore up our supply chains. It doesn't even matter to Trump. Trump is being revealed as a snowflake on all fronts. People shouldn’t buy or be afraid of the strongman image, because behind the bluster is a weak person who chickens out and claims mental anguish.What do you think about Trump’s chickening out and mental anguish? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is...]]>709falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/jake-tapper-s-biden-bombshell-bombs--66190257
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:164038726Wed, 21 May 2025 18:25:39 +0000Politicus RadioPlease support our outside-the-Beltway journalism by becoming a subscriber to The Daily.Jake Tapper, CNN, and the mainstream media had been pushing Jake Tapper’s book hard. They were ready to dominate the news and ignore what Trump is doing for an...
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>2018falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-trump-tax-cut-bill-markup-is-a-disaster-for-republicans--66077911Democrats are using the platform of the committee markups to show the American people exactly what this legislation will do.Republicans are far from the finish line on this bill. They are putting the pieces together right now, and even if it gets through the House, the legislation will be dramatically changed in the Senate.What Republicans are revealing about their priorities and who they really are for is a disaster for them, and a boon for Democratic election hopes in 2026.What do you think about House tax cut legislation? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:163481627Tue, 13 May 2025 21:50:38 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is journalism for the people. Please consider supporting our work by becoming a subscriber.Today’s video and live chat, which you can watch above, focused on the House Republican markup of the tax cut bill. The markups are revealing just how...Democrats are using the platform of the committee markups to show the American people exactly what this legislation will do.Republicans are far from the finish line on this bill. They are putting the pieces together right now, and even if it gets through the House, the legislation will be dramatically changed in the Senate.What Republicans are revealing about their priorities and who they really are for is a disaster for them, and a boon for Democratic election hopes in 2026.What do you think about House tax cut legislation? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>2475falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/this-is-not-trump-s-usual-corruption--66055049 Richie Torres requested, has formally requested an the Office of Inspector General to investigate the legality of this gift, and let's all remember that the Office of Inspector General is where they do actual independent audits, unlike DOGE, and they have experts who know what to look for and how to do a professional audit. That is very different than DOGE.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.The United States has never seen a president blatantly monetize the presidency for their own gain. As Sen. Chris Murphy noted, Trump’s actions as president are about lining his own pockets. There are no actions that are in the best interests of the American people.The only interests that matter in the current administration are limited to Donald Trump and how he can corruptly twist the presidency into a personal cash machine. Donald Trump has been convicted of fraud in the state of New York. The current president is nearly a three dozen times over convicted felon.There is a desensitization and normalization that occurs in a country when a leader is consistently corrupt, but the $400 million plane for personal use is corruption taken to a new level.The American people should never sit back and accept Trump’s corruption. Public outrage and voting for candidates who vow to investigate and end corruption are the only ways to make it stop.What Trump is doing is definitely not corruption as usual, even by his low standards.What do you think about Trump’s latest corrupt plan? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:163392738Mon, 12 May 2025 13:34:30 +0000Politicus Radio  The Daily is journalism for people who care about democracy and freedom from outside the Beltway. Please consider supporting us by becoming a subscriber.The Trump presidency is really nothing more than a scheme to exploit the office to make as much... Richie Torres requested, has formally requested an the Office of Inspector General to investigate the legality of this gift, and let's all remember that the Office of Inspector General is where they do actual independent audits, unlike DOGE, and they have experts who know what to look for and how to do a professional audit. That is very different than DOGE.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.The United States has never seen a president blatantly monetize the presidency for their own gain. As Sen. Chris Murphy noted, Trump’s actions as president are about lining his own pockets. There are no actions that are in the best interests of the American people.The only interests that matter in the current administration are limited to Donald Trump and how he can corruptly twist the presidency into a personal cash machine. Donald Trump has been convicted of fraud in the state of New York. The current president is nearly a three dozen times over convicted felon.There is a desensitization and normalization that occurs in a country when a leader is consistently corrupt, but the $400 million plane for personal use is corruption taken to a new level.The American people should never sit back and accept Trump’s corruption. Public outrage and voting for candidates who vow to investigate and end corruption are the only ways to make it stop.What Trump is doing is definitely not corruption as usual, even by his low standards.What do you think about Trump’s latest corrupt plan? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>1472falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/here-is-what-can-be-done-to-disempower-trump--65948460Margit's Musings, Ellen Harrison, Angela Teiken Heitzman, David Weitzman, Maureen Spurr, and many others for tuning into my live via Sarah Jones and Jason Easley. Join me for my next live video in the app.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:162987298Tue, 06 May 2025 19:10:28 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is journalism for the people, and you can support our work by becoming a subscriber.One of the most frequent questions that the American people are wrestling with is what can be realistically done about Donald Trump and his presidency. The...Margit's Musings, Ellen Harrison, Angela Teiken Heitzman, David Weitzman, Maureen Spurr, and many others for tuning into my live via Sarah Jones and Jason Easley. Join me for my next live video in the app.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>4569falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/a-may-day-protest-in-rural-america-suggests-trump-s-declining-support--65887492
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:162770828Sat, 03 May 2025 20:43:15 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is journalism for people, not the billionaires and corporations. Please support our work by becoming a subscriber.Sarah Jones described Indiana, PA and the protest:Indiana, PA  is a little blue dot inside of that red county, but it is a very...
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>436falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/is-it-worth-trying-to-impeach-trump-again--65838202 my story for PoliticusUSA suggest that there might be a misunderstanding about the limits of impeachment.Impeachment only has one function, and that is to charge the president with high crimes and misdemeanors. If the president is impeached by the full House, a trial is held in the Senate, where it takes a two/thirds vote (67 votes) to convict and remove a president from office. An impeachment will not stop Trump from doing what he is doing. It will not limit his power or take power away from him in any way. All impeachment does is set the stage for the president to be tried, and the penalty for conviction is removal from office. The problem is that Democrats will never have enough votes in the Senate to convict and remove Trump.The American people have already demonstrated that they don’t care about impeachment. Is it worth impeaching a president who has no shame and can’t be publicly shamed?A Special Note: Thank you Dawn Marie Galtieri, Sandra Norris, Mrs.Liv, Rachel Hendricks, BARBARA FULLERTON, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for our next live video in the app.Would impeachment only serve to distract from what Trump has done in office by creating a process that would derail potential investigations by House Democrats into other areas?The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.The cold reality is that if Democrats win back the House, Trump will be a lame duck. The same collection of evidence against Trump could be done with high-level committee hearings.Democrats say that Republicans won’t do their jobs, so impeachment is pointless. Even if a future Democratic House majority convicted Trump, since Republicans control the Senate, there is no guarantee that there would be an impeachment trial.The Constitution only requires that a trial be held. It doesn’t say how long the trial has to be or specify what the trial must include. Senate Republicans could hold Trump’s trial for an hour on a Saturday, then vote to dismiss the charges. The way to hold Trump accountable and strip him of power is for Democrats to win elections. There is no magic remedy outside of the ballot box to fix this, and impeaching Trump again won’t accomplish anything.Sarah and I will be hosting another Substack Live on Tuesday at 11 AM, so please join us.What do you think? Is it worth impeaching Trump again? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:162621353Thu, 01 May 2025 22:22:51 +0000Politicus RadioI hosted a Substack Live today where I spent a fair amount of time talking about impeachment. In the wake of reports that Democrats have very little interest in impeaching Trump, it is a fair question to ask: Is there any value left in impeaching... my story for PoliticusUSA suggest that there might be a misunderstanding about the limits of impeachment.Impeachment only has one function, and that is to charge the president with high crimes and misdemeanors. If the president is impeached by the full House, a trial is held in the Senate, where it takes a two/thirds vote (67 votes) to convict and remove a president from office. An impeachment will not stop Trump from doing what he is doing. It will not limit his power or take power away from him in any way. All impeachment does is set the stage for the president to be tried, and the penalty for conviction is removal from office. The problem is that Democrats will never have enough votes in the Senate to convict and remove Trump.The American people have already demonstrated that they don’t care about impeachment. Is it worth impeaching a president who has no shame and can’t be publicly shamed?A Special Note: Thank you Dawn Marie Galtieri, Sandra Norris, Mrs.Liv, Rachel Hendricks, BARBARA FULLERTON, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for our next live video in the app.Would impeachment only serve to distract from what Trump has done in office by creating a process that would derail potential investigations by House Democrats into other areas?The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.The cold reality is that if Democrats win back the House, Trump will be a lame duck. The same collection of evidence against Trump could be done with high-level committee hearings.Democrats say that Republicans won’t do their jobs, so impeachment is pointless. Even if a future Democratic House majority convicted Trump, since Republicans control the Senate, there is no guarantee that there would be an impeachment trial.The Constitution only requires that a trial be held. It doesn’t say how long the trial has to be or specify what the trial must include. Senate Republicans could hold Trump’s trial for an hour on a Saturday, then vote to dismiss the charges. The way to hold Trump accountable and strip him of power is for Democrats to win elections. There is no magic remedy outside of the ballot box to fix this, and impeaching Trump again won’t accomplish anything.Sarah and I will be hosting another Substack Live on Tuesday at 11 AM, so please join us.What do you think? Is it worth impeaching Trump again? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>1410falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-shame-of-trump-appeasement--65780844After 60 Minutes went public with how they are being supervised by their corporate bosses and the threat to journalistic independence that they face, Sarah Jones was guest on WCPT’s Chew’s Views where she discussed the strategy of Trump appeasement: We have to have shared reality. If we are going to have elections, if we're gonna have a political. If we're gonna have a democracy, we actually have to have shared reality. Just this week two Scotland Yard detectives who were investigating the Murdoch tabloids said that the new evidence that was brought forth means they would've considered the man who is now chief executive and publisher of The Washington Post, Will Lewis to be a criminal suspect in covering up wrongdoing.Now, they knew about that. Those accusations have been around before they gave him that job. And I just wonder, why would you put that person in charge of one of the nation's leading papers before an election when one of the people running is an autocrat. That's troubling.And then also just to buttress this point, Bill Owens resigned from 60 Minutes on Tuesday, because of Paramount. Having kind of oversight into their stories and supervising the content in new ways. And he felt that he lost independence that he needed for honest journalism.And I think if people see like all that erosion coming from places, these pillars of our democracy that we used to be able to count on, and that's all, they make those choices. They can say, Donald Trump threatened us, or whatever. You know what? No, you made a choice because of your merger to appease this man.And there should be shame with those choices. The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Appeasing An Autocrat Is StupidIn any part of society, appeasing an autocrat never works.   In journalism, holding people accountable is the job. And that whole kind of cowardice that we are seeing from so many people, where they, oh, I need to go down to Mar-a-Lago and kiss the ring, because we've gotta find a way to get along.. That does not work. And so that is a dumb thing to do. You cannot appease an autocrat. It is never going to work. So it is a stupid strategy. All it does is kick the can down the road a little bit.Those who put themselves ahead of their professional obligations and their country are betraying the American people. The corporate media seems to believe that their bending to Trump will all be washed away and forgotten, but they have damaged the ability of the free press to hold any president or person with power accountable today and in the future. There is shame in the damage that they are doing to the country, and it is up to the American people to make them feel it.What do you think about the stupid strategy of appeasement? Join the conversation in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:162329566Mon, 28 Apr 2025 13:38:04 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is journalism for the people that fights for democracy. Please support our work by becoming a subscriber.https://www.politicususa.com/p/60-minutes-calls-out-cbs-ownership with how they are being supervised by their corporate bosses and the...After 60 Minutes went public with how they are being supervised by their corporate bosses and the threat to journalistic independence that they face, Sarah Jones was guest on WCPT’s Chew’s Views where she discussed the strategy of Trump appeasement: We have to have shared reality. If we are going to have elections, if we're gonna have a political. If we're gonna have a democracy, we actually have to have shared reality. Just this week two Scotland Yard detectives who were investigating the Murdoch tabloids said that the new evidence that was brought forth means they would've considered the man who is now chief executive and publisher of The Washington Post, Will Lewis to be a criminal suspect in covering up wrongdoing.Now, they knew about that. Those accusations have been around before they gave him that job. And I just wonder, why would you put that person in charge of one of the nation's leading papers before an election when one of the people running is an autocrat. That's troubling.And then also just to buttress this point, Bill Owens resigned from 60 Minutes on Tuesday, because of Paramount. Having kind of oversight into their stories and supervising the content in new ways. And he felt that he lost independence that he needed for honest journalism.And I think if people see like all that erosion coming from places, these pillars of our democracy that we used to be able to count on, and that's all, they make those choices. They can say, Donald Trump threatened us, or whatever. You know what? No, you made a choice because of your merger to appease this man.And there should be shame with those choices. The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Appeasing An Autocrat Is StupidIn any part of society, appeasing an autocrat never works.   In journalism, holding people accountable is the job. And that whole kind of cowardice that we are seeing from so many people, where they, oh, I need to go down to Mar-a-Lago and kiss the ring, because we've gotta find a way to get along.. That does not work. And so that is a dumb thing to do. You cannot appease an autocrat. It is never going to work. So it is a stupid strategy. All it does is kick the can down the road a little bit.Those who put themselves ahead of their professional obligations and their country are betraying the American people. The corporate media seems to believe that their bending to Trump will all be washed away and forgotten, but they have damaged the ability of the free press to hold any president or person with power accountable today and in the future. There is shame in the damage that they are doing to the country, and it is up to the American people to make them feel it.What do you think about the stupid strategy of appeasement? Join the conversation in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>1432falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/a-red-pennsylvania-county-that-trump-won-by-39-points-turns-out-to-protest--65636637
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:161685392Sat, 19 Apr 2025 19:39:11 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is journalism for the people. Please support our work by becoming a subscriber.The American people are relentlessly turning out to oppose Donald Trump and his policies. In a growing sign that there is no mandate for Trump, Sarah Jones...
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>1632falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/trump-is-trying-to-destroy-the-us-as-a-superpower--65567129
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:161297426Mon, 14 Apr 2025 14:12:58 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is journalism for the people from outside the Beltway. Please support our work by becoming a subscriber.In the micro sense, Donald Trump’s administration looks like chaos with no reasoning or rationale behind it, but when all of the pieces,...
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>1733falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/if-tariffs-were-about-jobs-trump-would-be-doing-what-biden-did--65373112Biden was able to reimagine and bring back manufacturing jobs that Trump killed during his first term.Biden caused a manufacturing boom in the United States. Things were already booming when Trump took office. All Trump had to do was leave it alone, but instead, he defunded Biden’s manufacturing jobs programs and launched a trade war.The Trump policy isn’t really about creating jobs or bringing jobs back. It is about Trump trying to build his legacy and not caring who he harms in the process.Trump has no policy. If he were serious about jobs and the economy, he would do what Biden did.What do you think about the difference between Trump and Biden on jobs? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:160657621Sat, 05 Apr 2025 17:42:50 +0000Politicus RadioThe new big lie of Trump 2.0 is that tariffs are about jobs. The Trump administration is spreading the myth that tariffs will create jobs by bringing manufacturing back to the United States. All those people who said we are voting for him because of...Biden was able to reimagine and bring back manufacturing jobs that Trump killed during his first term.Biden caused a manufacturing boom in the United States. Things were already booming when Trump took office. All Trump had to do was leave it alone, but instead, he defunded Biden’s manufacturing jobs programs and launched a trade war.The Trump policy isn’t really about creating jobs or bringing jobs back. It is about Trump trying to build his legacy and not caring who he harms in the process.Trump has no policy. If he were serious about jobs and the economy, he would do what Biden did.What do you think about the difference between Trump and Biden on jobs? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>233falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/mapping-out-why-you-would-rather-be-kamala-harris-than-donald-trump--61632574
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:148892237Sat, 14 Sep 2024 18:04:18 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is a 100% reader-supported newsletter. We fight for democracy and freedom while discussing topics that big media often ignore. Please support our work by becoming a subscriber.Understanding Where The Presidential Election Stands Right...
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>186falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/taylor-swift-unity-joy-and-kamala-harris--61354316
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:148792582Thu, 12 Sep 2024 01:50:24 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is a 100% reader-supported newsletter. We are less than 100 subscribers away from our goal of 1,000 paid subscribers. If you find our work valuable, please join our community by subscribing today.Excerpts from the podcast episode:The...3027falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/what-can-we-expect-from-kamala-harris-at-the-debate--61323326substack:post:148712610Tue, 10 Sep 2024 12:00:00 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is a 100% reader-supported newsletter; if you enjoy our work, please consider becoming a subscriber.Let’s not forget that after the Biden Trump debate, voters told the media they were really turned off by Trump’s lies and behavior. But the...845falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-kamala-harris-momentum-is-real--60854912substack:post:147144392Mon, 29 Jul 2024 23:55:53 +0000Politicus RadioThis is a free edition of The Daily. If you enjoy our newsletter and would like to support our work, please consider becoming a subscriber.Kamalot is approaching the Barbie movie zeitgeist and there are just 100 days left to go to face down the...850falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/joe-biden-s-last-great-act-may-save-democracy--60796461
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:146980498Thu, 25 Jul 2024 02:12:00 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is committed to democracy, freedom, and the power of independent media. To never miss a newsletter or an episode of our podcast, please consider becoming a subscriber.In this special edition of the podcast, we talk about President Biden’s...1565falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/this-isn-t-1968-democrats-have-a-great-chance-of-winning--60761037
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:146862949Mon, 22 Jul 2024 00:45:19 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily stands by democracy and freedom through thick and thin. Join the fight to save American democracy by becoming a subscriber.We thought maybe you could use a friendly on this difficult day, so here are some quotes from the edition of the...3843falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-corporate-media-is-failing-democracy--60695224
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:146578173Mon, 15 Jul 2024 11:00:00 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is an independent newsletter prioritizing American values like democracy and freedom. Please subscribe to support our work.In this special podcast that was recorded before the Trump rally shooting, Sarah Jones and Jason Easley discuss how...3602falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/sarah-jones-explains-trump-trial-jury-selection--59493874www.thedailypoliticususa.com

With democracy and freedom under attack, The Daily is fighting for our rights, and we could use your help. To support us, please consider becoming a subscriber.Explaining Trump Jury SelectionSarah was recently on BBC Five Live, where she discussed the Trump trial jury selection. Here is the lightly edited transcript of her interview:Q: This process is pretty normal in high-profile trials, isn't it? But what's interesting, from what I can gather, Donald Trump's in the court while these jurors are talking about him. Sarah Jones: Yes. He yesterday was reported to have fallen asleep and was also reported to have fallen asleep today, but kind of perked up when they were asked questions about the books that he has written that they have read.So it's weird to watch him in court and to watch a former president. This is a historic trial. This is a criminal trial that has never happened against a former American president before.Q: One of the jurors who was excused yesterday said that you'd have to have lived in a cardboard box not to have a prior opinion of Donald Trump. Is that a fair point? Sarah Jones: That really is because he was famous. He's lived in New York as his main residence his entire life and he's lived in Manhattan since 1971. And he was already famous there long before he ran for president. And in fact, during the 2016 election, there was a lot of kind of arguments about why so many people in Manhattan don't like him that he has a reputation as maybe a shyster, a little, running a little bit of a shady business.]]>substack:post:143649141Tue, 16 Apr 2024 18:41:23 +0000Politicus RadioThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit https://www.thedailypoliticususa.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7 With democracy and freedom under attack, The Daily is fighting for our rights, and we could use your help. To...www.thedailypoliticususa.com

With democracy and freedom under attack, The Daily is fighting for our rights, and we could use your help. To support us, please consider becoming a subscriber.Explaining Trump Jury SelectionSarah was recently on BBC Five Live, where she discussed the Trump trial jury selection. Here is the lightly edited transcript of her interview:Q: This process is pretty normal in high-profile trials, isn't it? But what's interesting, from what I can gather, Donald Trump's in the court while these jurors are talking about him. Sarah Jones: Yes. He yesterday was reported to have fallen asleep and was also reported to have fallen asleep today, but kind of perked up when they were asked questions about the books that he has written that they have read.So it's weird to watch him in court and to watch a former president. This is a historic trial. This is a criminal trial that has never happened against a former American president before.Q: One of the jurors who was excused yesterday said that you'd have to have lived in a cardboard box not to have a prior opinion of Donald Trump. Is that a fair point? Sarah Jones: That really is because he was famous. He's lived in New York as his main residence his entire life and he's lived in Manhattan since 1971. And he was already famous there long before he ran for president. And in fact, during the 2016 election, there was a lot of kind of arguments about why so many people in Manhattan don't like him that he has a reputation as maybe a shyster, a little, running a little bit of a shady business.]]>31falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/our-broken-media-the-trifecta-of-bad-incentives--58888069
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:142192180Fri, 01 Mar 2024 12:00:00 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is a newsletter committed to democracy and journalism, and we could use your help. If you would like to support our work, please consider becoming a subscriber.Today, we're going to be talking about the threat the media poses to our...3445falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/3-takeaways-from-scotus-decision-to-hear-trump-s-immunity-case--58872002Andrew Weissman pointed out. * Yes, the Supreme Court is corrupt. "Look, this is a momentous decision, just to hear this case. There was no reason in this world for the Supreme Court to take this case. The three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia had written a masterful opinion, denying that the president’s claims of absolute immunity under the constitution and the laws of the United States, there’s never been an argument that a former president is immune from prosecution for crimes that he committed while in office. On a more practical level, of course, the court — the Supreme Court is capable of deciding this very quickly, in time that the former president could be tried, before the election. But today’s decision makes that that much more unlikely,” conservative Judge Luttig said.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.* But, it actually gives Democrats a very easy Get Out the Vote call to action. “My view of the SCOTUS action: if the trial is delayed until after November, we will see THE LARGEST BLUE WAVE IN HISTORY. If November becomes a referendum on whether Trump faces justice, then Democrats will absolutely flip the House, keep the White House and expand the Senate,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) pointed out.Everyone reading this newsletter is already aware that this Supreme Court is corrupt, so many of you probably already feared this outcome. But there is a silver lining to their corruption being made so blatant so early in an election year, and that is as Rep. Lieu pointed out an opportunity for Democrats to drive up turn out, to make an easy case about the importance of showing up to vote. One thing I’d add is to make sure to ask the candidates you support what they will do about this Court. Do they support expanding the court? Do they support term limits? You can actually request a constituent meeting with your member of Congress to tell them how important this issue is. For tips on that, you can visit Demand Justice. One thing is clear: Republicans are not going to make keeping our democracy easy. But they aren’t banking on you, and I am. I know you’re going to show up and turn out. Don’t let these attacks on justice and democracy bring you down, because they are counting on that to kill morale. Instead, use it to fuel your efforts and determination to do more. Talk to more people. Knock on more doors. There is a reckoning coming for those who have tried to destroy freedom in this country.Share your thoughts on the Supreme Court taking Trump’s immunity case in the comments below.PM Links:Illinois Kicks Insurrectionist Trump Off The BallotSupreme Court Shows How Corrupt It Is By Hearing Trump Immunity ClaimJudge Rules Trump Must Pay $454 Million Fraud BondTrump Admits That He Doesn’t Have The Money To Post Fraud BondHouse Republicans Are Humiliating Themselves Questioning Hunter BidenBiden Moves To Replace Gun Violence With Economic Opportunity

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:142156214Thu, 29 Feb 2024 01:35:51 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is 100% reader-supported. If you enjoy our work, please consider becoming a subscriber.Here are the top three takeaways from the Supreme Court’s decision to hear former President Donald Trump’s immunity case: The legal ramifications, the...Andrew Weissman pointed out. * Yes, the Supreme Court is corrupt. "Look, this is a momentous decision, just to hear this case. There was no reason in this world for the Supreme Court to take this case. The three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia had written a masterful opinion, denying that the president’s claims of absolute immunity under the constitution and the laws of the United States, there’s never been an argument that a former president is immune from prosecution for crimes that he committed while in office. On a more practical level, of course, the court — the Supreme Court is capable of deciding this very quickly, in time that the former president could be tried, before the election. But today’s decision makes that that much more unlikely,” conservative Judge Luttig said.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.* But, it actually gives Democrats a very easy Get Out the Vote call to action. “My view of the SCOTUS action: if the trial is delayed until after November, we will see THE LARGEST BLUE WAVE IN HISTORY. If November becomes a referendum on whether Trump faces justice, then Democrats will absolutely flip the House, keep the White House and expand the Senate,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) pointed out.Everyone reading this newsletter is already aware that this Supreme Court is corrupt, so many of you probably already feared this outcome. But there is a silver lining to their corruption being made so blatant so early in an election year, and that is as Rep. Lieu pointed out an opportunity for Democrats to drive up turn out, to make an easy case about the importance of showing up to vote. One thing I’d add is to make sure to ask the candidates you support what they will do about this Court. Do they support expanding the court? Do they support term limits? You can actually request a constituent meeting with your member of Congress to tell them how important this issue is. For tips on that, you can visit Demand Justice. One thing is clear: Republicans are not going to make keeping our democracy easy. But they aren’t banking on you, and I am. I know you’re going to show up and turn out. Don’t let these attacks on justice and democracy bring you down, because they are counting on that to kill morale. Instead, use it to fuel your efforts and determination to do more. Talk to more people. Knock on more doors. There is a reckoning coming for those who have tried to destroy freedom in this country.Share your thoughts on the Supreme Court taking Trump’s immunity case in the comments below.PM Links:Illinois Kicks Insurrectionist Trump Off The BallotSupreme Court Shows How Corrupt It Is By Hearing Trump Immunity ClaimJudge Rules Trump Must Pay $454 Million Fraud BondTrump Admits...]]>366falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/comey-2-0-the-press-the-doj-and-you--58627755: “Special Counsel Hur report on Biden classified documents issues contains way too many gratuitous remarks and is flatly inconsistent with long standing DOJ traditions. Had this report been been subject to a normal DOJ review these remarks would undoubtedly have been excised.”CNN Chief Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin: “It was outrageous that Hur put in some of that stuff in this report. That had no place in it. There is no reason this report had to be 300 pages. There is no reason why this fairly straightforward case had to be treated this way. I mean this is just like what James Comey did to Hillary Clinton…The job of prosecutors is to put up or shut up. If you have a case, bring your case. If you don't have a case, shut the hell up.”Discussion:Why exactly did Hur go beyond the point: “The evidence does not establish Mr. Biden’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt”? Instead, he began his op-ed into Biden’s mental state and memory in the future – something that has zero relevance to the issue and read more like the Tumblr post of a confused teenager --in what can only be described as a political gift to Donald Trump.And Garland did not review or did review and allowed this completely unsupported opinion to remain, even though he was well aware that Hur’s bio was an advertisement of his potential political agenda.A commentator wrote me on X: “I investigate and write reports like this SC report for a living. I have never once deviated from the essential facts and conclusions to answer the question I am to address: Is there sufficient evidence to…”This is the second Trump appointed Special Counsel he has appointed, perhaps in a mistaken and misguided effort to appear neutral to Republicans, who are never going to even care if someone is neutral.This frankly is the biggest weakness we have facing authoritarianism: A desire to be even-handed when the opposition is playing a death match and the belief that somehow only Republicans can be trusted to fairly judge a Democrat, but also only Republicans can be trusted to fairly judge a Republican president. Funny how that works. Garland was a non-partisan, highly ethical institutionalist who would have made the perfect Supreme Court justice. His ethics alone would have changed the course of SCOTUS from what it has become.But we are fighting encroaching authoritarianism, and this requires a certain temperament and spine. Garland is a brilliant person with high integrity, but we can see how easily exploited is his excessive tendency toward congeniality and institutionalism.Not every person with integrity can be a warrior, though, and Garland is showing himself to be incapable of rising to this moment in history. On this matter, I continue my criticism of his appointment to Attorney General, and no, it won’t matter how much people yell at me about it. Press:The press feasted on the carcass of Biden’s grief and it was grotesque.Last night, the White House press corps attacked Biden in what can only be called a feeding frenzy of ambulance-chasing cheap tabloid tactics. They attacked Biden harder than they’ve ever come at Trump, who is facing 91 indictments and tried to overthrow the U.S. government to steal an election. They were so rabid career journalists expressed their disgust.This environment is certainly not about justice or fairness and way too much of the DC press is operating more as tabloid media than as political press. The people are going to have to insist on better by refusing to reward this tabloid orientation to political coverage.John Harwood:Biden's press conference showed the same thing his performance in office has shown for 3 years: he can do the job Mexico for Egypt meant nothing but the GOP political apparatus is a bad-faith enterprise and mainstream press has been knocked silly by financial/political pressureMatt McDermott:Four separate articles in the NYT today about Biden’s age today, including a *35 paragraph* front page article on a verbal gaffe.Trump’s own verbal gaffes are mentioned once, 21 paragraphs in, wherein we’re told they don’t matter because “voters do not question his sharpness.”This isn’t journalism, this is electioneering. And it isn’t reporting, it’s punditry. This is the press openly speculating on politics rather reporting on substance, quite literally calling balls and strikes on what they deem voters should and shouldn’t care about.”And Aaron Fritschner (DCoS/CD Rep. Don Beyer): Biden address]]>substack:post:141536974Fri, 09 Feb 2024 21:57:44 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is 100% reader-supported. Please consider becoming a subscriber to ensure that you never miss a podcast or a newsletter.Here we are, facing another Comey political hit job like the one he did on Hillary Clinton.Robert Hur’s Special Counsel...3561falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-e-jean-carroll-verdict-legally-politically-and-personally--58468760stunning verdict in the E. Jean Carroll defamation suit in which a Manhattan federal jury awarded her $83.3 million, including the legal, the political, and the personal.Legal: To set the stage for this in context of the other cases Trump is facing, his lawyer argued today to nullify a jury’s finding, and the judge slapped them down. That argument is one to not to follow the law.  That failed today.If that argument of jury nullification had been successful, it would have set the stage to undermine the U.S. court system, which would be beneficial for someone facing 91 felony counts (91 charges across four criminal cases. They include 44 federal charges and 47 state charges, all of them felonies.) and a separate fraud case. There’s no knowing if a criminal court will come to the same conclusion or uphold the rule the law, but this was a good indication that our legal institution has held against the ongoing assault of Donald Trump behaving as if he is above the law. (The unchecked corruption of the U.S. Supreme Court notwithstanding.)Today’s jury came back with $18.3 million in compensatory damages and $65 million in punitive, for a total of $83.3 million for defamation Trump committed while president, in 2019.The $65 million in punitive damages is meant to punish and deter.  The amount can be lowered by the trial court, but given Trump’s stated net worth, he might find himself in a tough position making that argument. We don’t actually know how much money Trump has. This high amount signals that the jury thinks the defendant’s conduct was outrageous, and this is a way to deter future conduct.The jury penalized Trump in a way that shows he is perhaps finally facing accountability in the courts. Both today’s case and the upcoming fraud case are civil cases; the former President has yet to be tested in a criminal court.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Political:In the Republican primary, this means nothing – they’ve already decided this is fake. But in the general election, this is not great for Republicans. It will hurt more in the fall than right now, especially given that we are in a post-Roe environment in which women have shown tremendous political power in recent elections.Trump has already attacked the decision on social media, and he will continue to attack the media and blame President Joe Biden for the decision of a jury, which is unlikely to move many voters other than his core supporters. So when you hear the argument that this is going to be good for Trump politically, yes it will be in the Republican primary but it will not help him in the general election and is likely to hurt in a way that the Access Hollywood tape didn’t in 2016.Personal:This was an important victory for survivors of sexual assault. In the U.S., women have watched as Donald Trump was elected after being caught on tape bragging about grabbing women and getting away with it, so there’s been an ongoing sense that there justice escapes the powerful like Mr. Trump. It’s important for victims and survivors to hear that no one is above the law and that they matter, and their voices are important.We all owe a debt of gratitude to E. Jean Carroll for having the fortitude to persevere through what had to have been a nightmare of threats, intimidation and more as well as ongoing defamation and attacks on her character. The E. Jean Carroll jury gave U.S. democracy a strong argument to shut down the attempt by Trump and his lawyers to establish that the rule of law shouldn’t apply to him and further that jury decisions should be nullified when one doesn’t like them. They also gave a very important $83.3 million message of justice for victims and survivors of sexual assault. What do think about the E. Jean Carroll verdict? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:141085476Sat, 27 Jan 2024 01:59:19 +0000Politicus RadioThere are several takeaways after today’s https://www.politicususa.com/2024/01/26/big-win-for-e-jean-carroll-as-jury-awards-her-83-3-million-in-trump-defamation-suit.html in which a Manhattan federal jury awarded her $83.3 million, including the...stunning verdict in the E. Jean Carroll defamation suit in which a Manhattan federal jury awarded her $83.3 million, including the legal, the political, and the personal.Legal: To set the stage for this in context of the other cases Trump is facing, his lawyer argued today to nullify a jury’s finding, and the judge slapped them down. That argument is one to not to follow the law.  That failed today.If that argument of jury nullification had been successful, it would have set the stage to undermine the U.S. court system, which would be beneficial for someone facing 91 felony counts (91 charges across four criminal cases. They include 44 federal charges and 47 state charges, all of them felonies.) and a separate fraud case. There’s no knowing if a criminal court will come to the same conclusion or uphold the rule the law, but this was a good indication that our legal institution has held against the ongoing assault of Donald Trump behaving as if he is above the law. (The unchecked corruption of the U.S. Supreme Court notwithstanding.)Today’s jury came back with $18.3 million in compensatory damages and $65 million in punitive, for a total of $83.3 million for defamation Trump committed while president, in 2019.The $65 million in punitive damages is meant to punish and deter.  The amount can be lowered by the trial court, but given Trump’s stated net worth, he might find himself in a tough position making that argument. We don’t actually know how much money Trump has. This high amount signals that the jury thinks the defendant’s conduct was outrageous, and this is a way to deter future conduct.The jury penalized Trump in a way that shows he is perhaps finally facing accountability in the courts. Both today’s case and the upcoming fraud case are civil cases; the former President has yet to be tested in a criminal court.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Political:In the Republican primary, this means nothing – they’ve already decided this is fake. But in the general election, this is not great for Republicans. It will hurt more in the fall than right now, especially given that we are in a post-Roe environment in which women have shown tremendous political power in recent elections.Trump has already attacked the decision on social media, and he will continue to attack the media and blame President Joe Biden for the decision of a jury, which is unlikely to move many voters other than his core supporters. So when you hear the argument that this is going to be good for Trump politically, yes it will be in the Republican primary but it will not help him in the general election and is likely to hurt in a way that the Access Hollywood tape didn’t in 2016.Personal:This was an important victory for survivors of sexual assault. In the U.S., women have watched as Donald Trump was elected after being caught on tape bragging about grabbing women and getting away with it, so there’s been an ongoing sense that there justice escapes the powerful like Mr. Trump. It’s important for victims and survivors to hear that no one is above the law and that they matter, and their voices are important.We all owe a debt of gratitude to E. Jean Carroll for having the fortitude...]]>513falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/a-victory-for-democracy--57563722
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:138705517Wed, 08 Nov 2023 18:43:40 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is standing up for democracy. To join us, please consider becoming a subscriber.(Transcript is AI generated and may not be accurate.) This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus...
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe]]>3561falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/have-you-no-sense-of-decency--57000265



]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57000265Sat, 30 Sep 2023 00:21:34 +0000Politicus RadioThe nation watched as Republicans again cruelly used the full resources of the U.S. House to destroy the President's struggling son in order to excuse the career crimes of Donald Trump.



]]>1189biden,hunterbiden,impeachmentfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/have-you-no-sense-of-decency--57000697www.thedailypoliticususa.com

It used to be taken for granted that political warfare should be focused on the elected person, while the family would be left alone. This is the shield, for example, behind which Ginni Thomas has hidden, even as she is actively interfering in U.S. politics, trying to overturn an election and has interests in cases that come before her husband, Clarence Thomas.On December 6, 1950, President Truman wrote a scathing letter to a Washington Post music critic (Mr. Hume) who had, perhaps, too accurately reported on his daughter Margaret Truman's singing performance at Constitution Hall. His letter promised, “Some day I hope to meet you. When that happens you'll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and perhaps a supporter below!”While Truman’s threats against a member of the press are rather uncouth and off-putting, it’s also notable that those were the days, apparently, when a President could defend their child from mere criticism. Not so much anymore.“I hope and pray that my parents love me half as much as he loves his child”There was a moment during Thursday’s hearing when the cruelty of an entire political party using the resources of the U.S. House to go after the troubled son of the President was made crystal clear. It should be a moment of reckoning for the political pundits who have so far been way too enabling of the abuse of this family.]]>substack:post:137502390Fri, 29 Sep 2023 10:01:17 +0000Politicus RadioThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit https://www.thedailypoliticususa.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7 It used to be taken for granted that political warfare should be focused on the elected person, while the...www.thedailypoliticususa.com

It used to be taken for granted that political warfare should be focused on the elected person, while the family would be left alone. This is the shield, for example, behind which Ginni Thomas has hidden, even as she is actively interfering in U.S. politics, trying to overturn an election and has interests in cases that come before her husband, Clarence Thomas.On December 6, 1950, President Truman wrote a scathing letter to a Washington Post music critic (Mr. Hume) who had, perhaps, too accurately reported on his daughter Margaret Truman's singing performance at Constitution Hall. His letter promised, “Some day I hope to meet you. When that happens you'll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and perhaps a supporter below!”While Truman’s threats against a member of the press are rather uncouth and off-putting, it’s also notable that those were the days, apparently, when a President could defend their child from mere criticism. Not so much anymore.“I hope and pray that my parents love me half as much as he loves his child”There was a moment during Thursday’s hearing when the cruelty of an entire political party using the resources of the U.S. House to go after the troubled son of the President was made crystal clear. It should be a moment of reckoning for the political pundits who have so far been way too enabling of the abuse of this family.]]>1189falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/what-have-you-done-for-me-lately--56546116www.thedailypoliticususa.com

Unless you live off the grid, you’ve heard conservatives screaming that President Joe Biden isn’t doing enough for Maui, because while they don’t even believe in government and are currently refusing to fund FEMA as it runs out of money, there’s not a single opportunity they will miss to grift —while making up wild conspiracies, including convincing their supporters that evil elites from around the world made these tragic and horrific wildfires because Biden something, something. It’s all a psy-op, you see. But one that Joe Biden had better do something about or else.]]>substack:post:136257915Mon, 21 Aug 2023 11:01:20 +0000Politicus RadioThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit https://www.thedailypoliticususa.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7 Unless you live off the grid, you’ve heard conservatives screaming that President Joe Biden isn’t doing...www.thedailypoliticususa.com

Unless you live off the grid, you’ve heard conservatives screaming that President Joe Biden isn’t doing enough for Maui, because while they don’t even believe in government and are currently refusing to fund FEMA as it runs out of money, there’s not a single opportunity they will miss to grift —while making up wild conspiracies, including convincing their supporters that evil elites from around the world made these tragic and horrific wildfires because Biden something, something. It’s all a psy-op, you see. But one that Joe Biden had better do something about or else.]]>2548falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/enduring-humiliation-might-be-kevin-mccarthy-s-secret-power--54125664 that his next agenda was to “Root out wokeness in government, NO new $4 billion FBI building, Secure the border”. Wokeness, you’ve been put on notice, along with law enforcement!record scratch… But then in less than a Scaramucci, it all went away again…. over an attempt to bring to the floor the “Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act”. You’re probably thinking: But the freedom of gas stoves has been on everyone’s mind, even though we know their freedom wasn’t at risk — ever — because we operate in a fact based universe, how could this super unimportant, non-issue of prohibiting the use of federal funds to ban gas stoves have been opposed?!? The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts/podcasts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.What would cause McCarthy’s own caucus to slap him publicly as he was bragging about “turning the ship”?Because the House Majority is so small, if Rep. Matt Gaetz and three of his friends decided to do so, they could block every bill from coming to the House floor for a vote. McCarthy would need Democrats to help him launch Republicans’ frequently kind of bonkers bills. How did Kevin McCarthy go from being an alleged brilliant strategist to having his own caucus refuse to allow a vote on a bill to stop something that isn’t real? reactionary nihilists watch and learnIt was Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FLA) who brought his “concern” to the table along with 10 other House nihilistic reactionaries who identify as the “Freedom Caucus,” although no one has ever confirmed that they are indeed pro-freedom for anyone who isn’t a white, male, straight conservative. Gaetz crossed the aisle to join Democrats to block two gas stove bills, priorities for Republicans, because they are mad over that deal for which McCarthy is taking victory laps. Apparently, they can read, yet McCarthy didn’t anticipate that they would. Gaetz et al took their fury to the press, having learned the real lesson from the decade plus of Republican debt ceiling hostage taking: IF YOU WANT SOMETHING YOU CAN’T GET AND SHOULDN’T HAVE BECAUSE THE PEOPLE DENIED YOU THE NUMBERS, JUST TAKE A HOSTAGE.they found outThe Angry Right found out the truth about the deal and they’re not happy.After McCarthy managed to sell conservatives on pretending they got a good deal, McCarthy was hailed as brilliant and many, many bad takes were served about how he had proven himself someone to contend with over this “deal”. The same “deal” in which they prioritized rolling back IRS enforcement funding, which, if implemented according to their hopes, would actually increase the debt by billions. To add insult to injury, the great victory of Republicans was to force more people off of SNAP through work requirements (they call this “freedom”). But… that too will increase federal spending by $2.1 billion over 10 years because the added benefits pushed by Democrats will add “almost 80,000 people to the rolls in an average month.”they don’t even trust McCarthy - demand deal in writing“Unfortunately, two weeks a deal was made and it broke away what we had made,” Rep. Chip Roy told reporters.Gaetz said: “We took down the rule because we're frustrated at the way the place is operating. We're concerned that the fundamental commitments that allowed McCarthy to assume the speakership have been violated.”They demand that Speaker Kevin McCarthy put in writing that he will go back to their January agreement. OR ELSE.undeniable humiliationIt was a historic humiliation. It's been more than two decades since the House voted against a rule. But it happened on Tuesday to Kevin McCarthy. As we wrote on PoliticusUSA, McCarthy might have saved face with the debt ceiling “deal,” but he “already gave his critics everything to get the gavel, so the only thing left that his opponents could possibly want is for Kevin McCarthy not to be the Speaker of the House any longer.”Things were so humiliating that beltway types like Jake Sherman wrote, “An incredible embarrassment for the House Republican leadership. The morning McCarthy tries to turn the page, conservatives slap him and his leadership team in the face.”there might be hope for McCarthyThe “Freedom Caucus” gang were spotted going in to the Speaker’s office Tuesday afternoon close to 5 PM Eastern time, including Scott Perry, Dan Bishop, Byron Donalds, Chip Roy and Michael Cloud. humiliation is McCarthy’s secret powerIf Speaker Kevin McCarthy has a secret power, it’s enduring humiliation. McCarthy is Greg from Succession, riding Tom’s coattails, changing directions as the wind blows. He didn’t have an easy time getting voted to be Speaker — and he lacks the consensus making power of a Nancy Pelosi type Speaker. But after 15 rounds of voting — the most since the Civil War, he found himself holding the gavel, however tenuously. Then came the debt ceiling showdown initiated by representatives who identify as “conservatives” even though their actions are most often reactionary rather than conservative. Kevin McCarthy was bailed out again by Democrats and by President Biden, who allowed McCarthy to set the narrative that he had won hours before the President gave his version of events, which when finally given were praising bipartisanship. The deal, however, is a lot of moving around of funds: A shell game to hide the truth from the Freedom Caucus.Kevin McCarthy has shown one enduring strength as a politician: Humiliation rolls off of his back like water off of a duck’s back. Perhaps he expects humiliation. Most people have some core sense of self that wouldn’t allow this level of rather consistent humiliation, but not Kevin McCarthy. In the end, if he has the power, he seems happy.But how long will he be able to stave off the hungry beast of ever more histrionic Right wing demands?Thank you for reading The Daily. This post is public so feel free to share it.Top Stories From PoliticusUSA:CHRIS CHRISTIE TRASHES TRUMP IN PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCEMENTChris Christie came out of the gate and talked about Trump in the sort of blunt terms that other Republican presidential candidates have feared.CHRIS CHRISTIE’S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCEMENT TRIGGERS MARCO RUBIOChris Christie's announcement that he is running for the 2024 Republican nomination set Sen. Marco Rubio off on a tangent about his own 2016 campaign.TRUMP MAY HAVE A HUGE MARK MEADOWS PROBLEMTrump's lawyers were unaware that Mark Meadows was testifying, as the former chief of staff has been out of contact with Donald Trump.POWERFUL SENATE DEMOCRAT MAY SUBPOENA CLARENCE THOMAS SUGAR DADDY HARLAN CROWSenate Finance Committee Chair Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) said he is talking to his colleagues about]]>substack:post:126529245Wed, 07 Jun 2023 10:30:00 +0000Politicus RadioIf you are enjoying The Daily, please consider supporting us by becoming a subscriber.Speaker Kevin McCarthy took repeated victory laps over his alleged debt ceiling victory and the press obliged. He was hailed as underrated, brilliant, masterful and... that his next agenda was to “Root out wokeness in government, NO new $4 billion FBI building, Secure the border”. Wokeness, you’ve been put on notice, along with law enforcement!record scratch… But then in less than a Scaramucci, it all went away again…. over an attempt to bring to the floor the “Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act”. You’re probably thinking: But the freedom of gas stoves has been on everyone’s mind, even though we know their freedom wasn’t at risk — ever — because we operate in a fact based universe, how could this super unimportant, non-issue of prohibiting the use of federal funds to ban gas stoves have been opposed?!? The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts/podcasts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.What would cause McCarthy’s own caucus to slap him publicly as he was bragging about “turning the ship”?Because the House Majority is so small, if Rep. Matt Gaetz and three of his friends decided to do so, they could block every bill from coming to the House floor for a vote. McCarthy would need Democrats to help him launch Republicans’ frequently kind of bonkers bills. How did Kevin McCarthy go from being an alleged brilliant strategist to having his own caucus refuse to allow a vote on a bill to stop something that isn’t real? reactionary nihilists watch and learnIt was Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FLA) who brought his “concern” to the table along with 10 other House nihilistic reactionaries who identify as the “Freedom Caucus,” although no one has ever confirmed that they are indeed pro-freedom for anyone who isn’t a white, male, straight conservative. Gaetz crossed the aisle to join Democrats to block two gas stove bills, priorities for Republicans, because they are mad over that deal for which McCarthy is taking victory laps. Apparently, they can read, yet McCarthy didn’t anticipate that they would. Gaetz et al took their fury to the press, having learned the real lesson from the decade plus of Republican debt ceiling hostage taking: IF YOU WANT SOMETHING YOU CAN’T GET AND SHOULDN’T HAVE BECAUSE THE PEOPLE DENIED YOU THE NUMBERS, JUST TAKE A HOSTAGE.they found outThe Angry Right found out the truth about the deal and they’re not happy.After McCarthy managed to sell conservatives on pretending they got a good deal, McCarthy was hailed as brilliant and many, many bad takes...]]>763falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/biden-s-art-of-the-deal--54046193https://politicususa.substack.com/p/joe-biden-wins-as-kevin-mccarthy Biden separated the raising the debt ceiling part from a negotiation on the budget with Republican leadership. So he did have this negotiation on the budget, which the White House officials pointed out is like they do as part of the appropriations process every year, and it's also what happened in 2015, 2018, and the 2019 budget deals that also carried a debt limit increase.However, there’s still this conflation with the debt ceiling being raised in the public’s mind, which is not great for the country and only allows Republicans to keep doing this hostage taking.I was wrongFrankly, this deal looked like nonsense at first, and I was one of the people criticizing it. But it turned out, when the legislative text was unveiled and after White House officials broke down the process on background, that the White House was mostly correct.default taken off the table, so sorry RepublicansBiden managed to wrangle a two-year appropriations agreement via what appears to be a process of moving money around to protect "the historic economic gains we've made, really allowing one of the strongest recoveries on record to continue by taking the threat of default off the table into 2025,” that continues to support scientific research, Meals on Wheels, to education and more. So, key Democratic priorities are mostly protected.It includes a suspension through January 1st, 2025, at which time the Secretary of the Treasury can employ extraordinary measures if needed.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts/podcasts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.no more election year gamesWhite House officials said they think taking the threat of default off the table into 2025 is “significant upside for the economy” and a “significant accomplishment.” It is definitely a significant accomplishment both for the country and for Democrats heading in to an election year. SIGNIFICANT.hold on, Biden got what?And here’s something COMPLETELY bonkers that Biden got in terms of the administrative PAYGO part of the deal, which provides very broad waiver authority for the Office of Management and Budget director and protections against judicial review (hello, corrupt SCOTUS) that SUNSETS in two years. You know, when there might be a new president.no shutdown even if Republicans don’t do their jobsThey incentivized the passage of appropriation bills with a Continuing Resolution funding enforcement mechanism to prevent a government shutdown, so if at the end of the year, the 12 bills are not passed, then the non-defense and defense levels go to just slightly below the 2023 level. The incentive there is the bipartisan protection of defense spending (even when it’s wasteful) to get bills passed. The government can’t shut down even if they don’t manage to do their jobs of passing the appropriation bills.detailsOddly enough, officials say the agreed-upon levels reflect what the administration had already successfully negotiated at the end of last calendar year, with two years already of bipartisan appropriations increases that have taken non-defense spending up over this two-year period by about 16 percent.The 16% is an on paper increase, not to be confused with real new money of around 4-5% appropriated increase from Congress over the last two years. OK, so it’s flat from there. This is a part that Democrats have criticized, because it means only 1% increase in 2025. It keeps non-defense spending roughly flat with the 2023 levels in 2024, when you factor in agreed-upon appropriations adjustments.  In 2025, it increases the non-defense spending levels and the defense spending levels by 1 percent.  Some of the adjustments include repurposing obligated emergency COVID relief and some of the mandatory IRS funding, as well as other adjustments.IRS effective cuts, but no change to intention to chase down tax cheatsThat IRS money the Republicans so wanted taken out? A full $20 billion of the $80 billion over ten years Republicans wanted to cut is ultimately being spent in other non-defense areas; $20 billion over two years is being moved to other priorities.That money was meant to fund the IRS for ten years, and officials say they don’t think it will impact the direction they wanted of going after wealthier tax cheats.The IRS also has the ability shift spending over that ten year period. Maybe kicking the can down the road while still doing President Biden’s wishes now is a decent summation of this IRS battle. McCarthy’s promise to repeal non-existent 87,000 agents But remember, Kevin McCarthy promised to repeal “87,000 IRS agents” on their first day. Of course, there weren’t going to be 87,000 IRS agents,  so it was always a promise built on a lie, which is hard to deliver on.About that – the 87,000 new agents claim came from a Treasury Department compliance report, but tax experts have broken it down to say that only a portion of those would be new auditors and indeed many would be replacement workers to maintain its current agent staffing levels, a which are down by 10% compared to ten years ago. https://democrats-budget.house.gov/publications/report/funding-irsadded this point: “According to a recent report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, due to a lack of resources, the IRS failed to audit more than 897,000 wealthy individuals who skipped out on filing tax returns over a three‑year period – and these individuals owed nearly $46 billion in taxes.”Veterans and SNAP It fully funds veterans’ medical care, including the mandatory funding from the PACT Act’s Toxic Exposure Fund at the levels that were in President Biden’s 2024 budget and includes funding at Biden’s budget level for the Defense Department.While they did agree to some Republican changes to SNAP with a phase in of SNAP work requirements to people up to age 54, when it’s parsed out it seems like it’s actually not impactful. It’s also temporary and sunsets in 2030 at President Biden’s insistence.They expect that the number of people subject to SNAP work requirements will stay roughly the same under this agreement, even when the age change is fully phased in.say what?The White House official explained that Biden insisted on changes that they say will actually reduce the number of people subject to SNAP work requirements, with exemptions for people who are homeless and veterans, as well as foster youth. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge pointed out that the definition of homeless in the existing SNAP statute includes housing instability, not just people who are unhoused. If this is true, hats off to President Biden. That’s some good negotiating.protects Biden’s legislative victories It protects Biden's historic legislative victories, from the infrastructure law to the CHIPS and Science Act, the key climate and prescription drug components of the Inflation Reduction Act, and it fought off parts of what they called the extreme demands in the Republicans’ “Limit, Save, and Grow Act.” Try not to laugh at the party that did a lot to create this deficit trying to present itself as fiscally responsible by hostage taking.House Republicans, for example, wanted to roll back Biden’s climate law, by cutting tens of billions of dollars for clean energy in disadvantaged communities, cleanup efforts related to oil and gas pollutants – and none of that is in this agreement. President Biden saved what they called the “substantive environmental safeguards” of laws like the Clean Water Act and more. still shouldn’t have happenedSo yes, this deal never should have happened and it’s not perfect. Democrats are right to be angry about it in those senses. But it’s also full of surprisingly solid protections for the country in terms of protecting it from the politicizing impulses of the Mad Hatter House Republicans, who have shown once again on Tuesday that the entire point of this venture was to crash the economy to help Trump win his election. Republicans wonder how they can win elections if they can’t hold the economy hostageRep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) ]]>substack:post:124861352Tue, 30 May 2023 20:52:09 +0000Politicus RadioThe Daily is 100% reader supported. To get full access to all of our newsletter, podcasts, and archives, please consider becoming a subscriber.Biden’s Art of the DealIt burned Democrats to see the Biden White House standing back to let Republican...https://politicususa.substack.com/p/joe-biden-wins-as-kevin-mccarthy Biden separated the raising the debt ceiling part from a negotiation on the budget with Republican leadership. So he did have this negotiation on the budget, which the White House officials pointed out is like they do as part of the appropriations process every year, and it's also what happened in 2015, 2018, and the 2019 budget deals that also carried a debt limit increase.However, there’s still this conflation with the debt ceiling being raised in the public’s mind, which is not great for the country and only allows Republicans to keep doing this hostage taking.I was wrongFrankly, this deal looked like nonsense at first, and I was one of the people criticizing it. But it turned out, when the legislative text was unveiled and after White House officials broke down the process on background, that the White House was mostly correct.default taken off the table, so sorry RepublicansBiden managed to wrangle a two-year appropriations agreement via what appears to be a process of moving money around to protect "the historic economic gains we've made, really allowing one of the strongest recoveries on record to continue by taking the threat of default off the table into 2025,” that continues to support scientific research, Meals on Wheels, to education and more. So, key Democratic priorities are mostly protected.It includes a suspension through January 1st, 2025, at which time the Secretary of the Treasury can employ extraordinary measures if needed.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts/podcasts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.no more election year gamesWhite House officials said they think taking the threat of default off the table into 2025 is “significant upside for the economy” and a “significant accomplishment.” It is definitely a significant accomplishment both for the country and for Democrats heading in to an election year. SIGNIFICANT.hold on, Biden got what?And here’s something COMPLETELY bonkers that Biden got in terms of the administrative PAYGO part of the deal, which provides very broad waiver authority for the Office of Management and Budget director and protections against judicial review (hello, corrupt SCOTUS) that SUNSETS in two years....]]>1884falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-worst-people-you-know-are-fighting--53999952 entire Twitter space not turned into the Elon show and complaints about Twitter.It began with at least 20 plus minutes of screeching feedback and glitches so bad that the entire Twitter space had to be shut down and a new one opened, causing a drop from 600,000 accounts to 192,000 at one point (the second space never got near the first one). no, it wasn’t hugeThe tech problems were at one point blamed on server loads (Elon got rid of a bunch of servers thinking he didn’t need them). Co-host David Sacks claimed it had been “probably the biggest room that has ever been assembled online," to which the Verge editor (tech expert) Alex Heath retorted, “I have been in bigger Clubhouse rooms” and New York Times start up and venture capitalist writer Erin Griffith added, “the 12 million people attended a virtual travis scott concert in Fortnite.” After the claim to fame took on Elon proportions of exaggeration, she wrote, “more people watched 2 BuzzFeed employees explode a watermelon on Facebook in 2016.”elites whiningEventually, Ron DeSantis got to make his big announcement and his speech, which quickly devolved into the three white men running the show – the other co-host was venture capitalist David Sachs - complaining about “the elites” and the “media” on a huge social media platform owned by Elon, who is, again, the second richest man in the world and Governor Ron DeSantis, who has taken it upon himself to make law about what people can say and has allowed the banning of books that offend him, is no powerless punk, even if Donald Duck has bested him recently.book bansDeSantis denied that he has banned any books, but PEN is here with some facts:DeSantis claimed “Books are being removed from Florida classrooms and libraries because they are “pornographic, violent or inappropriate.”Fact:Books that have been banned in Florida include:* Biographies of Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente that Duval County admitted to removing from shelves for nearly a year, along with 177 other books from a collection of diverse books.* And Tango Makes Three, a picture book about two male penguins raising a chick.* Stella Brings the Family, a picture book about a girl with two dads.* When Wilma Rudolph Played Basketball, pulled from open shelves temporarily after one person complained about it.* Forever, by Judy Blume* Booker Prize winner The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy* Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye* All Boys Aren’t Blue, by George M. Johnson* The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood* Dozens of books that include LGBTQ+ themes, protagonists of color, or that touch on race or racism.Ultimately, in the 2021-22 school year PEN America documented 565 books banned in Florida schools. Some were banned permanently, others temporarily pending investigations. The result is the same: Students can’t access books.boring The biggest problem with Ron DeSantis’s Twitter Spaces campaign launch, though, was as Jason Easley wrote on our Substack, that “it was boring, really, really boring. It is impossible to see how this dull as watching paint dry culture warrior can possibly defeat Donald Trump… Ron DeSantis sounds small time, looks small time, and he lacks the presence and charisma to effectively engage voters.”DeSantis attacked the NAACP, while claiming he was great for Black people and Musk brought up Nazis while the three men laughed at media outlets allegedly suggesting the only people listening would be Nazis, which as someone who was listening made me want to leave immediately and I can’t imagine that was a good sell to any swing voters. But the boys found being called Nazis so funny. I guess you had to be there, but aren’t you glad you weren’t?But I promised you a fight and a fight you will have. don’s big red buttonWhile Elon and Ron were fiddling around in the dark on an audio-only space, Don was over on HIS social media company mocking “Rob” – his new name for DeSantis?- for having a small “red button” while making concerning references to Kim Jong Un soon being his new friend.Don wrote:“Rob,” My Red Button is bigger, better, stronger, and is working (TRUTH!), yours does not! (per my conversation with Kim Jung Un, of North Korea, soon to become my friend!).As I wrote Wednesday evening, “We can only hope this was a phallic reference and not a nuclear reference. One can’t be sure with Donald Trump, which is how he continues to get away with saying outrageous things that don’t belong in normal public political discourse.”don is funny for a brief momentThis was followed by a video of Space X exploding as it fell to the ground, with “Ron 2024” written over it, which was probably the best moment of humor Don has ever managed not to spoil with his bitterness and anger. Yet the red button haunts.don goes low (and wins)Don also did something really weird that started off as mayyybe good satire, but devolved due to the natural proclivities of the party involved. It started off as a satire of the twitter space with The Devil, Hitler, Elon, Ron, George Soros, Klaus Schwab, the FBI, and Dick Cheney with the loud coughing over empty space just like the actual announcement, along with the lags and glitches.But Don foiled his own humor with “jokes” about everyone on the call being “gay” followed up by Trump entering the twitter space to tell everyone off, which called attention to the anti-Semitism and the general grossness of being around someone like Don Trump. These are not people that most of us would invite over for dinner.Don has, however, wiped the floor with Ron, and there’s nothing Elon can do about it, which seems like a big loss for those two horrible people… with one left. Republican expert on fail Newt Gingrich insults working AmericansIn response to the DeSantis launch, Newt Gingrich (rather an expert on bringing his entire party crashing down) went on Fox News to explain that DeSantis is really smart, but his problem is that he doesn’t communicate like Trump, who uses 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade levels to speak to the base, which is why the Republican Party is the party of “working Americans” now. If anyone was going to bring more fail to this situation, it would be Newt Gingrich, but it’s still a surprise that he said this outloud on Fox.I’m not sure telling the base that they need to be talked down to on their top network is the best way to move forward, but it’s also a weird way to excuse the lack of policy meat in Trump’s rhetoric. And frankly the dearth of policy that is good for those same “working Americans” in the entire Republican Party platform.won’t anyone think about Tucker’s white supremacy platformElon’s failure to launch twitter into the stratosphere of relevance]]>substack:post:123757965Thu, 25 May 2023 17:57:23 +0000Politicus RadioIf you are enjoying our newsletter and podcast, please consider becoming a subscriber.Legacy media has a headline they repeat no matter what’s going on: Democrats in disarray. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see them lead with that the morning after Ron... entire Twitter space not turned into the Elon show and complaints about Twitter.It began with at least 20 plus minutes of screeching feedback and glitches so bad that the entire Twitter space had to be shut down and a new one opened, causing a drop from 600,000 accounts to 192,000 at one point (the second space never got near the first one). no, it wasn’t hugeThe tech problems were at one point blamed on server loads (Elon got rid of a bunch of servers thinking he didn’t need them). Co-host David Sacks claimed it had been “probably the biggest room that has ever been assembled online," to which the Verge editor (tech expert) Alex Heath retorted, “I have been in bigger Clubhouse rooms” and New York Times start up and venture capitalist writer Erin Griffith added, “the 12 million people attended a virtual travis scott concert in Fortnite.” After the claim to fame took on Elon proportions of exaggeration, she wrote, “more people watched 2 BuzzFeed employees explode a watermelon on Facebook in 2016.”elites whiningEventually, Ron DeSantis got to make his big announcement and his speech, which quickly devolved into the three white men running the show – the other co-host was venture capitalist David Sachs - complaining about “the elites” and the “media” on a huge social media platform owned by Elon, who is, again, the second richest man in the world and Governor Ron DeSantis, who has taken it upon himself to make law about what people can say and has allowed the banning of books that offend him, is no powerless punk, even if Donald Duck has bested him recently.book bansDeSantis denied that he has banned any books, but PEN is here with some facts:DeSantis claimed “Books are being removed from Florida classrooms and libraries because they are “pornographic, violent or inappropriate.”Fact:Books that have been banned in Florida include:* Biographies of Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente that Duval County admitted to removing from shelves for nearly a year, along with 177 other books from a collection of diverse books.* And Tango Makes Three, a picture book about two male penguins raising a chick.* Stella Brings the Family, a picture book about a girl with two dads.* When Wilma Rudolph Played Basketball, pulled from open shelves temporarily...]]>1968falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/about-last-night-trump-and-cnn-s-wanton-disregard-for-e-jean-carroll--53825895“(W)illful and wanton disregard means the ‘deliberate and conscious indifference to the safety of others.’”That resonates for women around this country, who have known since Trump was elected that they were not believed or deemed worthy of being respected by too many in this country.But then, on Wednesday evening during the CNN town hall, despite a photo of them together, Trump repeatedly denied knowing Carroll. “I don’t know her. I never met her. I had no idea who she is,” he said. The CNN town hall audience showed the country just who Trump supporters really are as they laughed as he made fun of Carroll’s claim.Laughing at a sexual battery victim as she is being defamed, yet again. This is who this Trump movement is and CNN knew that going into the town hall. They chose to do it anyway and allow him to broadcast his humiliation of rape and assault victims around this country because the mocking of one is an echo of the mocking done in communities around the country when a victim speaks up. The CNN town hall harmed women around the country. Again.Trump also bragged about taking the rights away from women to decide our own destiny and control of our bodies, just like a sexual predator would want to do.“Getting rid of Roe v. Wade was an incredible thing for pro-life because it gave pro-life something to negotiate with. For 50 years this has been going on… I was very honored to do it,” he said.Trump was happy to take credit for appointing these Supreme Court justices who then took our freedom from us as sexual predators desire to do, taking away our rights, our dignity, and our control of our destinies.His lies weren’t fact-checked effectively as he steamrolled CNN’s Kaitlin Collins, who appeared to have been sacrificed by her employer on the Trump altar, or perhaps she willingly let Trump amplify his lies about the 2020 election, January 6th, call a Black police officer a “thug” and more. The CNN town hall was gasoline on what had been a smoldering fire.It’s reignited now. The lies blasted to Trump’s supporters are cult Kool-Aid. People who were put off by him recently got a big dose of the Trump pipe and they won’t be putting it down any time soon. Dear Leader is back, taking up all of the oxygen, giving them the dopamine hits of being “winners” who ride roughshod over everyone else, without a moment of humanity to disrupt the sick pleasure taken in hurting others.Perhaps we are coming full circle and this is just the dirtiest part of the path, right before it gets cleaned up.But just one day before this excruciatingly mistaken venture by CNN, Donald Trump was found liable by a jury of nine people for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll in a Manhattan department store in the 1990s, a case she was able to bring in part through the new New York's Adult Survivors Act.It took a lot of bravery and fortitude for Carroll to bring her case forward, including the courage of the other witnesses who testified. The Access Hollywood tape was a key player in Carroll’s case, and that very tape is how we began this particular journey that led to women feeling so dehumanized, diminished, and demoralized.  Ever since the Access Hollywood tape didn’t matter following its October 2016 publication, a lot of women knew what Trump did routinely to women and even worse, that it didn’t matter to our fellow citizens.They had elected a man who bragged about sexual assault and treated the women who came forward to accuse him (26 at this count) of sexual misconduct of varying degrees as if they were trash not even worthy of basic dignity and decency. No other political candidate for president would have dared to show his inhumanity so brazenly, but as we heard again last night during the CNN town hall, Trump’s audience loves his cruelty. They find it funny. They see themselves and are relieved to not have to hide their worst traits.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new podcasts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Everything that followed after the Access Hollywood tape was barely a blip in Trump’s journey to the White House proved women’s diminishment. It was clear to women that he had said it in his own words on tape, and yet the populace shrugged.Once he was elected, his White House claimed his election proved that the American people didn’t consider sexual misconduct allegations to be an issue worthy of discussion.  In 2017, after several women came forward on television to share their sexual abuse/assault/harassment experiences with Trump, then WH Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee used his election as proof that the allegations didn’t even warrant consideration. As if some people voting for Trump erased the possibility of his abuse and assault against women mattering at all. Not that it didn’t happen, but that it didn’t matter that it happened."The people of this country, at a decisive election, supported President Trump, and we feel like these allegations have been answered through that process.”The allegations clearly weren’t answered through that process; they were ignored and overridden. Women who had come forward before his election spoke up again after it, as part of the Me Too wave, and pointed out that it hurt to have their fellow citizens just shrug in response to the their experiences.Miss USA pageant contestant Samantha Holvey said in 2017: "We're private citizens, and for us to put ourselves out there to try and show America who this man is and especially how he views women, and for them to say 'meh, we don't care' — it hurts. And so now it's just like, all right, let's try round two. The environment's different. Let's try again."Even now, after 6 men and 3 women found him culpable, Trump supporters - including Republicans in the U.S. House, are saying (paraphrasing here): ‘It didn’t happen. She’s a liar. She lost because she wasn’t able to meet the burden for the definition of rape.’ The latter is a ludicrous claim given his history and his own words.It’s also disturbing that the definition of rape clearly includes penetration by body parts and yet this jury thought rape hadn’t been established, “The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” But then, in a civil trial the jury is required to reach a unanimous verdict and so it could have been one person who believed that Trump’s fingers didn’t qualify.Yet, women apparently have to argue that this actually happened and that it actually matters, because it didn’t matter enough to CNN to even bring it up at the beginning of their town hall, let alone cancel their amplification of Trump’s lies and attacks on democracy.Whatever went in to making this decision by CNN to amplify a known Gish gallop gaslighter propagandist, it’s done irreparable damage the tenuous agreement of facts upon which democracy rests and it has once again told women: YOU DO NOT MATTER.Networks will platform and give free ad space to a man found liable of sexual battery and defamation. DEFAMATION, which he repeated during this town hall as everyone knew he would.Never once in Trump or his camp’s response to sexual misconduct accusations did they ever acknowledge the humanity of the victim. Instead, they chose each and every time to belittle the victim, to make sure she knew she was held in contempt and was useless and worthless, that whatever pain drove her to speak up was a joke and would be weaponize against her.Even in his own defense, Trump never said he would not rape someone. Wouldn’t an honorable man say in his defense he’s not the type of man to rape a woman rather than she’s not the type of woman he would rape? But one of Trump’s go-to defenses is to claim that the woman isn’t attractive enough to rape, which suggests that rape is acceptable to him, but that he wouldn’t deem this woman worthy of rape.Naturally, that too is a lie. In his video taped deposition, Trump confused a photo of E. Jean Carroll from the time period of the assault as being his ex-wife Marla Maples.He never said he would not rape someone.In fact, in the deposition, when asked about the Access Hollywood tape in which Trump is heard bragging to Billy Bush, “When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything, grab them by the p-ssy. You can do anything,” Trump answered: “Well, historically, that’s true with stars. If you look over the last million years, I guess that’s been largely true. Unfortunately or fortunately.”Unfortunately or fortunately. Yes, he did say that.Sexual misconduct, sexual battery, sexual assault is allowed unfortunately or fortunately: So says]]>substack:post:120786442Thu, 11 May 2023 18:47:51 +0000Politicus RadioSupport media that will never platform Donald Trump, and shares your values by becoming a subscriber to The Daily.Martin Luther King, Jr. said: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”(Warning: Sexual abuse)About last...“(W)illful and wanton disregard means the ‘deliberate and conscious indifference to the safety of others.’”That resonates for women around this country, who have known since Trump was elected that they were not believed or deemed worthy of being respected by too many in this country.But then, on Wednesday evening during the CNN town hall, despite a photo of them together, Trump repeatedly denied knowing Carroll. “I don’t know her. I never met her. I had no idea who she is,” he said. The CNN town hall audience showed the country just who Trump supporters really are as they laughed as he made fun of Carroll’s claim.Laughing at a sexual battery victim as she is being defamed, yet again. This is who this Trump movement is and CNN knew that going into the town hall. They chose to do it anyway and allow him to broadcast his humiliation of rape and assault victims around this country because the mocking of one is an echo of the mocking done in communities around the country when a victim speaks up. The CNN town hall harmed women around the country. Again.Trump also bragged about taking the rights away from women to decide our own destiny and control of our bodies, just like a sexual predator would want to do.“Getting rid of Roe v. Wade was an incredible thing for pro-life because it gave pro-life something to negotiate with. For 50 years this has been going on… I was very honored to do it,” he said.Trump was happy to take credit for appointing these Supreme Court justices who then took our freedom from us as sexual predators desire to do, taking away our rights, our dignity, and our control of our destinies.His lies weren’t fact-checked effectively as he steamrolled CNN’s Kaitlin Collins, who appeared to have been sacrificed by her employer on the Trump altar, or perhaps she willingly let Trump amplify his lies about the 2020 election, January 6th, call a Black police officer a “thug” and more. The CNN town hall was gasoline on what had been a smoldering fire.It’s reignited now. The lies blasted to Trump’s supporters are cult Kool-Aid. People who were put off by him recently got a big dose of the Trump pipe and they won’t be putting it down any time soon. Dear Leader is back, taking up all of the oxygen, giving them the dopamine hits of being “winners” who ride roughshod over everyone else, without a moment of humanity to disrupt the sick pleasure taken in hurting others.Perhaps we are coming full circle and this is just the dirtiest part of the path, right before it gets cleaned up.But just one day before this excruciatingly mistaken venture by CNN, Donald Trump was found liable by a jury of nine people for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll in a Manhattan department store in the 1990s, a case she was able to bring in part through the new New York's Adult Survivors Act.It...]]>1750falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-maga-hydra-what-everybody-gets-wrong-about-trump-and-his-supporters--53640385politicususa.substack.com

Our newsletter and podcast episodes are 100% reader-supported. There are no ads, no corporations, and no one telling us what we can write or say. To support us, please consider becoming a subscriber. Paid subscribers get access to the full podcast transcript.A Hydra is “a many-headed serpent or monster in Greek mythology that was slain by Hercules and each head of which when cut off was replaced by two others” or, when not capitalized, “a multifarious evil not to be overcome by a single effort,” according to Merriam-Webster dictionary. The Hydra to which I refer is the noxious, dangerous Palin/Trump populism that has taken root. No matter how many times Republicans and the rest of the country cut off its head, more pop up.Photo by Colin Lloyd on UnsplashAnd that is how we get to the GOP primary line up via Morning Consult:Trump Continues to Lead DeSantis: An increase in Trump’s support following his indictment on criminal fraud charges in New York appears to be leveling out, but he’s still well ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Just over half of potential Republican primary voters (53%) support his candidacy, down from a high of 57% last week. Meanwhile, DeSantis’ backing has increased marginally from a low of 22% last week to 24%. Things are so bad for DeSantis that Republican political strategist  Mike Madrid of the Lincoln Project said the latest Wall Street Journal poll was a “red alarm” for DeSantis as he has “high positives but a low base,” and ultimately, “There’s no path.”And a new NBC News poll found that “68% of Republican voters still support  Trump after he has been charged with 34 felony counts in Manhattan.”These results seemed to surprise powerful Republican donors and establishment types, who were hoping to insert DeSantis as a withdrawal pacifier for Trump supporters. But I’ve been warning for almost a year that the Trump base is not enthusiastic about Ron DeSantis. They tell me DeSantis seems snobby, he’s elitist, and he’s just not capturing their attention. He’s not TRUMP.Republicans thought that since their base has been so primed to respond to often times manipulated culture wars instead of issues (given that the only issue they agreed up was abortion and now that they have it they’re fighting among themselves about just how much control they should be allowed to have over women, more on that later) that they could easily be fed another culture war hero with a cleaner image and a less drama-filled personal life.Republicans thought they could feed DeSantis to the base, because they know the issues don’t matter.]]>substack:post:116967432Tue, 25 Apr 2023 11:30:18 +0000Politicus RadioThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit https://politicususa.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7 Our newsletter and podcast episodes are 100% reader-supported. There are no ads, no corporations, and no one...politicususa.substack.com

Our newsletter and podcast episodes are 100% reader-supported. There are no ads, no corporations, and no one telling us what we can write or say. To support us, please consider becoming a subscriber. Paid subscribers get access to the full podcast transcript.A Hydra is “a many-headed serpent or monster in Greek mythology that was slain by Hercules and each head of which when cut off was replaced by two others” or, when not capitalized, “a multifarious evil not to be overcome by a single effort,” according to Merriam-Webster dictionary. The Hydra to which I refer is the noxious, dangerous Palin/Trump populism that has taken root. No matter how many times Republicans and the rest of the country cut off its head, more pop up.Photo by Colin Lloyd on UnsplashAnd that is how we get to the GOP primary line up via Morning Consult:Trump Continues to Lead DeSantis: An increase in Trump’s support following his indictment on criminal fraud charges in New York appears to be leveling out, but he’s still well ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Just over half of potential Republican primary voters (53%) support his candidacy, down from a high of 57% last week. Meanwhile, DeSantis’ backing has increased marginally from a low of 22% last week to 24%. Things are so bad for DeSantis that Republican political strategist  Mike Madrid of the Lincoln Project said the latest Wall Street Journal poll was a “red alarm” for DeSantis as he has “high positives but a low base,” and ultimately, “There’s no path.”And a new NBC News poll found that “68% of Republican voters still support  Trump after he has been charged with 34 felony counts in Manhattan.”These results seemed to surprise powerful Republican donors and establishment types, who were hoping to insert DeSantis as a withdrawal pacifier for Trump supporters. But I’ve been warning for almost a year that the Trump base is not enthusiastic about Ron DeSantis. They tell me DeSantis seems snobby, he’s elitist, and he’s just not capturing their attention. He’s not TRUMP.Republicans thought that since their base has been so primed to respond to often times manipulated culture wars instead of issues (given that the only issue they agreed up was abortion and now that they have it they’re fighting among themselves about just how much control they should be allowed to have over women, more on that later) that they could easily be fed another culture war hero with a cleaner image and a less drama-filled personal life.Republicans thought they could feed DeSantis to the base, because they know the issues don’t matter.]]>2475falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-dangers-of-faux-centrism--53502272
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]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/53502272Tue, 11 Apr 2023 13:23:58 +0000Politicus RadioSo all of that sounds very partisan and hyper, but an even bigger threat comes in when it’s targeted to people who don’t pay attention. People who might fall for a “No Labels” faux “Centrism” election spoiler because they are tired of the...
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]]>1848falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/dangerous-faux-centrism--53501547politicususa.substack.com

Centrism is often mistaken in our modern political lexicon for those who want to work together through bipartisanship. Centrism is not the same as moderation, and when centrism is propped up by billionaires and sending the message of both sides do it, it is the sort of lie that is a danger to the nation.]]>substack:post:113997491Tue, 11 Apr 2023 11:01:49 +0000Politicus RadioThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit https://politicususa.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7 Centrism is often mistaken in our modern political lexicon for those who want to work together through...politicususa.substack.com

Centrism is often mistaken in our modern political lexicon for those who want to work together through bipartisanship. Centrism is not the same as moderation, and when centrism is propped up by billionaires and sending the message of both sides do it, it is the sort of lie that is a danger to the nation.]]>344falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/moral-depravity-and-the-contagion-of-cowardice--53381364Moral depravity: “A state of voluntary violation of morals, values, customs, or manners leading to an aberrant style of personality commonly known as antisocial psychopathy.” Also known as the dark rot corrupting the U.S. government from within.The Right to Life Outweighs the Right to Bear Arms“The right to life surely outweighs the right to bear arms,” a Sky News reporter pushed a fleeing Tennessee Republican Representative Andy Ogles. There was nothing but silence in response. The right to life surely outweighs the right to bear arms? No, it does not, in effect. Nashville Republican Representative Andy Ogles, whose district — thanks to Tennessee Republicans redrawing the district lines last year to gerrymander the red state even further — includes Covenant, the Christian school in which there was a horrific mass shooting just two days ago on Monday March the 27, ran away when confronted by a Sky News reporter (it took someone from the UK to push like this) with the notion: “The right to life surely outweighs the right to bear arms… Does the right to life outweigh the right to bear arms?”This confrontation on Tuesday occurred during questioning about Ogles’ obscene family Christmas photo (above), which included his children and wife posed around a tree holding guns with the caption, “"MERRY CHRISTMAS! The Ogles Family," the post reads, adding in quotes: "The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference - they deserve a place of honor with all that's good."This is the Republican position: Guns deserve a place of honor with all that’s good. Over children.SKY NEWS TO OGLES: “Do you regret your family gun photo? Why did you take it down from your Facebook feed now?” Rep. @AndyOgles(R) - who reps the district #CovenantSchool is in - didn’t seem to want to talk about it, but says he doesn’t regret it.Moral depravity, you ask? Why yes. This man, Congressman Andy Ogles, took nearly $25,000 he claimed in a GoFundME was meant for a child burial garden and he won’t say what he did with it. He used the photo of a stillborn child to grift, “promising a place for burial of babies with benches for families, life-size statue of Jesus. It never happened, and he won’t say where money went.” The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts/podcasts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Contagion of CowardiceA contagion of cowardice spread among Republican lawmakers like Speaker McCarthy and Andy Ogles on Tuesday as they ran away from the press, loath to answer questions about their anti-safety, gun-fetishizing stances after the mass shooting in Nashville took the lives of 6 people, including 3 children.The 28 year-old-school shooter legally bought the seven firearms that were hidden at home even though that shooter, Audrey Hale, was under care for an emotional disorder, according to Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake. Speaker Kevin McCarthy has refused to answer questions about the Nashville shooting and when reporters tried to ask him anything about guns, he ran away.McCarthy was asked at least two questions about Nashville including, “should there be any gun restrictions at all?” He responded by not even looking at the reporters and walking away. Speaker McCarthy gave the weakest imaginable response to the question.“Republicans like McCarthy appear to lack the courage to state their belief that sacrificing the lives of young children is acceptable in defense of an unlimited Second Amendment,” Jason Easley wrote in PoliticusUSA.Moral depravity is the themeWe have devolved into a state of moral depravity due to the dark money corruption that runs the U.S. government. This money attracts lawmakers who have no moral center, people like leader of the Republican Party Donald Trump, let’s say. Or George Santos. Or Andy Ogles. A party led by someone who bragged he could shoot someone and not lose voters does not attract the best people.These lawmakers are why children are being murdered in their classrooms. They vote against abortion putting women and young girls’ lives and health at risk, but enable mass slaughter of actual children. No lawmaker who votes against gun control should be allowed to argue against abortion without pushback from a free press.It’s absurd and obscene position, given that the leading cause of death for children in the United States is guns, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.This means that guns have more rights than children do, largely because of the party that calls themselves “pro-life.” The Bill of Rights to the Constitution states in the 14th amendment (why is it that we so rarely hear about any amendments but the second?), “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law…”It’s clear that guns pose a threat to the right to life. Yet an inanimate object has more rights than human beings, including children, in the United States.Hiding behind concern for fetusesWhat kind of movement shields itself under the cover of concern for fetuses, while actively ensuring that dangerous people who have threatened women and children are allowed access to as many weapons as they please? It’s the same movement that works in the dark, has corrupted our judicial system and is judge shopping to overturn rulings they don’t like, and has seemingly bought off so called “representatives” in Congress.The violence isn’t an accidentA knife-wielding Trump supporter threatened a woman and her children outside of the Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday.Trump took his authoritarian circus show to Waco, but claimed he wasn’t signaling what a trip to Waco symbolizes. Meanwhile, his followers got the messages he sent, either from his social media postings or his rally rantings, or both.A Trump supporter was arrested on Tuesday for threatening a mother and children with knife outside the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, which began preparing over a week ago for a possible indictment against the man known for inciting violence. Angela Rucker, 39, was holding a yellow sign with black lettering that said, “I’m With Trump Are You?” when she got embroiled in an argument with two women, one with two small kids and the other with a child in a stroller, according to Lucien Chalfen, spokesman for the New York State Office of Court Administration.As the verbal dispute flared up, Rucker whipped out a knife from her hip pocket and started waving it at the woman in a threatening way, the spokesman added. A letter sent from Florida to the Manhattan DA contained white powder and threatened to kill the DA. The rally Trump held also glorified violence and elevated people in prison for their involvement in the domestic terrorist attack of January 6th into martyrs. It’s partisan. But it shouldn’t be.Basic safety is now partisan. In the summer of 2022 after mass shootings at a Uvalde, Texas elementary school and a Buffalo, New York supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood, 34 Republican senators voted against the bipartisan gun safety bill, which was itself brought by Republican Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis and Democratic Senators Chris Murphy and Kyrsten Sinema (who is no longer a Democrat).If some of those names have you side-eying this bill, you wouldn’t be wrong. But in this country, we take the crumbs we can get when it comes to the Right to Life.Fourteen House Republicans finally got on board with Democrats to pass first major federal gun safety legislation in decades, which did not ban any weapons and was a country mile short of what Americans want in polls and indeed what President Biden and the Democrats pushed for. While Mitch McConnell and 14 Republican Senators joined Democrats for this watered down barely asking for a]]>substack:post:111451153Wed, 29 Mar 2023 16:37:35 +0000Politicus RadioMorals and decency are not partisan. Having facts and information is not enough. Please consider becoming a subscriber to support news with a heart, and a mission to hold power to account.At every turn, the conservative movement is putting women and...Moral depravity: “A state of voluntary violation of morals, values, customs, or manners leading to an aberrant style of personality commonly known as antisocial psychopathy.” Also known as the dark rot corrupting the U.S. government from within.The Right to Life Outweighs the Right to Bear Arms“The right to life surely outweighs the right to bear arms,” a Sky News reporter pushed a fleeing Tennessee Republican Representative Andy Ogles. There was nothing but silence in response. The right to life surely outweighs the right to bear arms? No, it does not, in effect. Nashville Republican Representative Andy Ogles, whose district — thanks to Tennessee Republicans redrawing the district lines last year to gerrymander the red state even further — includes Covenant, the Christian school in which there was a horrific mass shooting just two days ago on Monday March the 27, ran away when confronted by a Sky News reporter (it took someone from the UK to push like this) with the notion: “The right to life surely outweighs the right to bear arms… Does the right to life outweigh the right to bear arms?”This confrontation on Tuesday occurred during questioning about Ogles’ obscene family Christmas photo (above), which included his children and wife posed around a tree holding guns with the caption, “"MERRY CHRISTMAS! The Ogles Family," the post reads, adding in quotes: "The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference - they deserve a place of honor with all that's good."This is the Republican position: Guns deserve a place of honor with all that’s good. Over children.SKY NEWS TO OGLES: “Do you regret your family gun photo? Why did you take it down from your Facebook feed now?” Rep. @AndyOgles(R) - who reps the district #CovenantSchool is in - didn’t seem to want to talk about it, but says he doesn’t regret it.Moral depravity, you ask? Why yes. This man, Congressman Andy Ogles, took nearly $25,000 he claimed in a GoFundME was meant for a child burial garden and he won’t say what he did with it. He used the photo of a stillborn child to grift, “promising a place for burial of babies with benches for families, life-size statue of Jesus. It never happened, and he won’t say where money went.” The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts/podcasts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Contagion of CowardiceA contagion of cowardice spread among Republican lawmakers like Speaker McCarthy and Andy Ogles on Tuesday as they ran away from the press, loath to answer questions about their anti-safety, gun-fetishizing stances after the mass shooting in Nashville took the lives of 6 people, including 3 children.The 28 year-old-school shooter legally bought the seven firearms that were hidden at home even though that shooter, Audrey Hale, was under care for an emotional disorder, according to...]]>2164falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/republicans-are-a-threat-to-our-security--53233938Washington Post piece on the internal Fox News correspondence being released in recent in Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against the most watched conservative media outlet, we found out that Fox called what Trump did “treason”: Raffel (Josh Raffel, former Trump White House aid) flagged to Shah a tweet noting that Trump’s daily schedule now carried with it the vague assurance that the president would make “many calls and have many meetings” and “work from early in the morning until late in the evening.”“I think what they meant is The President will wake up early and commit many, many crimes including but not limited to obstruction of justice, attempted fraud, and treason in an effort to conduct a coup. Then he’ll fly to a rally in furtherance of the same,” Raffel wrote. “It’s really disheartening,” Shah responded. “The only clear cut evidence for voter fraud is the failed attempts from Trump.”“Sidney Powell is lying,” Carlson wrote in a Nov. 17 text.“Might wanna address this, but this stuff is so f------ insane. Vote rigging to the tune of millions? C’mon,” (senior vice president of Fox Corp. Raj Shah, who had also served as a senior aide in Trump’s White House) wrote.As for what they really think of their viewers to whom they lie regularly? “Cousin f***ing” “terrorists”:Carlson’s producer, Alex Pfeiffer, responded: “It is so insane but our viewers believe it so addressing again how her stupid Venezuela affidavit isn’t proof might insult them.”“Like negotiating with terrorists,” (Pfeiffer) added, “but especially dumb ones. Cousin f----- types not saudi royalty.”McCarthyRepublican barely Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy has opened multiple doors to threaten our security, from Marjorie Taylor Green to Tucker Carlson to his refusal to comply with the bipartisan House January 6 Select Committee’s subpoenas about his knowledge regarding the Republican Presidential-led attempted coup attack on the United States Capitol.Now Kevin McCarthy is in charge of a very small Republican majority in the House, and he is using that power to weaponize the government to hold misleading hearings about imaginary conservative grievances that are sometimes a clear case of “DARVO”: Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender, and give 1/6 security footage to a partisan liar to launder for Republicans.In one of those hearings, Marjorie Taylor Greene divulged classified information.A Problem Like Marjorie McCarthy has ensured that Marjorie Taylor Greene is in the position to continue to endanger the U.S.. Rep. Greene didn’t realize that Ukraine was in Europe. She was just so sure, you see.“I’ve never seen Putin actually show in any detail his plans to invade Europe. No one has shown me that. So I don’t believe the lies that I’m being told about this.”Well. Putin didn’t need to detail it, did he. Because he has already invaded. This fact is a lie, according to Greene, who clearly didn’t know Ukraine is the second-largest European country. For a self-asserted expert on borders, she also seems clueless that Ukraine borders Russia. Perhaps a map would be helpful for the homeland security expert?That’s right. The Georgia Republican is on the Homeland Security Committee, specifically the Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability and the Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement. Yet:During a border hearing, after being told that the information she was divulging was given to the Chief in a secure SCIF (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility) and not something he thought he should share, Greene dismissed him with: “I understand Chief Ortiz, but I’m not gonna be confidential because I think people deserve to know.”This is made all the worse because the “explosive device” MTG thinks justifies her sharing classified information when she feels like it was actually…DIRT. The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.“During a Jan. briefing, leadership was notified that Agents found a duct-taped ball filled with sand that wasn't deemed a threat to agents/public.”Sure, Chief Ortiz, but you know who is a threat to agents and the public? That’s right. Marjorie Taylor Greene.Laundering Russian PRBefore we get to this next part, it’s important to put the lie in context. On Thursday, the Polish interior minister said the nine people arrested in Poland as part of what it says is a Russian spy ring had received orders from Russia “to carry out propaganda activities in order to destabilize Polish-Ukrainian relations, incite and arouse hostile sentiments toward NATO countries in Poland, and to attack the Polish government’s policy toward Ukraine.”Sound familiar? Yep. Here we go to Fox News to get the latest Russian talking points from Tucker Carlson’s show.Guest Douglas MacGregor sold some hardcore Russian propaganda on Tucker Carlson’s anti-U.S. TV program on Wednesday night, falsely claiming that “this war was not started by Russia.”“The truth is coming out that this war was not started by Russia. That Russia begged us not to try and drag Ukraine into NATO. We ignored Russia. And Russia made it very clear that they were going to defend their national interest. All they wanted was neutrality for Ukraine.”Russia is committing war crimesRussia invaded Ukraine illegally. Russia is also committing war crimes.Yes, war crimes, which isn’t new. A top United Nations human rights inquiry in 2022 found Russia to be committing war crimes, and the latest report goes so far as to recommend Russia be investigated for crimes against humanity.And while in 2022 they found two instances of Ukrainian forces responsible for human rights violations, they found “significantly larger numbers of instances that amount to war crimes on the part of the Russian Federation.” Meanwhile, Russia is engaging in torture, unlawfully transferring children and deporting them, separating them from their families, raping children as young as 4 years old, the willful killings of civilians, rape and other sexual violence. And again, they invaded a sovereign nation.Isolationists?The Republican Party is suddenly led by “isolationists”… but only when it comes to Ukraine. That’s the generous way of discussing an appeasement strategy, but since it only applies to Russia, it would be misleading to leave it there. This is not an isolationist party, save for some members of the Libertarian wing. The Republican Party has always been the party of war hawks, pro-defense to the point of George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq on a false premise. We discussed the Republican Russian backstory and Ron DeSantis joining the growing collection of weak Republican Putin slaves on Tuesday. A dozen or so Republican Senators found the courage to speak out against DeSantis’ Ukraine stance, showing the growing division in the party between the Trump Russia wing and the patriot wing of pro-small d democracy Republicans.Pushing Jan 6th LiesMcCarthy still has not released the 1/6 security footage for the public to see it in an unedited format. Why?Instead, McCarthy chose to even further elevate Tucker Carlson, the aforementioned Russian propagandist, by giving Carlson exclusive access to 41,000 hours of January 6th security footage with which to amplify 1/6 lies. Some members of Congress have condemned McCarthy’s actions, but words don’t matter to politicians who cater to the No Shame constituency. Tucker has willfully and deceptively edited the footage in an attempt to create the false impression that the Trump terrorists were just “sightseers.” These “sightseers” were a part of the attack on the U.S. Capitol working to stop the certification of the 2020 election. That is not what a sightseer does. January 6th: What It Was Really Like(trigger warnings for violence) FBI Director Christopher Wray labeled the January 6th a domestic terrorist attack.In March of 2021, Wray “bluntly labeled the January riot at the U.S. Capitol as “domestic terrorism” Tuesday and warned of a rapidly growing threat of homegrown violent extremism that law enforcement is scrambling to confront through thousands of investigations.”Tucker Carlson, Speaker McCarthy, all of the Republicans on the Homeland Security committee, they all know this. Why are they pushing lies that not only whitewash the attack but make the next one more likely?Here’s a video, with the warning that it’s violent and disturbing:Here is the truth from people who were actually there, instead of someone vaccinated and protected in a Fox News studio getting his makeup done so he could lie more to his viewers."It was like something from a medieval b]]>substack:post:108830120Fri, 17 Mar 2023 10:30:26 +0000Politicus RadioThis is Sarah Jones on the Politicus Pod for PoliticusUSA’s The Daily.Make sure you subscribe to our Substack so you don’t miss any episodes.There’s a troubling theme coalescing on the Right that points to being anti-U.S. defense and anti-U.S....Washington Post piece on the internal Fox News correspondence being released in recent in Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against the most watched conservative media outlet, we found out that Fox called what Trump did “treason”: Raffel (Josh Raffel, former Trump White House aid) flagged to Shah a tweet noting that Trump’s daily schedule now carried with it the vague assurance that the president would make “many calls and have many meetings” and “work from early in the morning until late in the evening.”“I think what they meant is The President will wake up early and commit many, many crimes including but not limited to obstruction of justice, attempted fraud, and treason in an effort to conduct a coup. Then he’ll fly to a rally in furtherance of the same,” Raffel wrote. “It’s really disheartening,” Shah responded. “The only clear cut evidence for voter fraud is the failed attempts from Trump.”“Sidney Powell is lying,” Carlson wrote in a Nov. 17 text.“Might wanna address this, but this stuff is so f------ insane. Vote rigging to the tune of millions? C’mon,” (senior vice president of Fox Corp. Raj Shah, who had also served as a senior aide in Trump’s White House) wrote.As for what they really think of their viewers to whom they lie regularly? “Cousin f***ing” “terrorists”:Carlson’s producer, Alex Pfeiffer, responded: “It is so insane but our viewers believe it so addressing again how her stupid Venezuela affidavit isn’t proof might insult them.”“Like negotiating with terrorists,” (Pfeiffer) added, “but especially dumb ones. Cousin f----- types not saudi royalty.”McCarthyRepublican barely Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy has opened multiple doors to threaten our security, from Marjorie Taylor Green to Tucker Carlson to his refusal to comply with the bipartisan House January 6 Select Committee’s subpoenas about his knowledge regarding the Republican Presidential-led attempted coup attack on the United States Capitol.Now Kevin McCarthy is in charge of a very small Republican majority in the House, and he is using that power to weaponize the government to hold misleading hearings about imaginary conservative grievances that are sometimes a clear case of “DARVO”: Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender, and give 1/6 security footage to a partisan liar to launder for Republicans.In one of those hearings, Marjorie Taylor Greene divulged classified information.A Problem Like Marjorie McCarthy has ensured that Marjorie Taylor Greene is in the position to continue to endanger the U.S.. Rep. Greene didn’t realize that Ukraine was in Europe. She was just so sure, you see.“I’ve never seen Putin actually show in any detail his plans to invade Europe. No one has shown me that. So I don’t believe the lies that I’m being told about this.”Well. Putin didn’t need to detail it, did he. Because he has already invaded. This fact is a lie, according to Greene, who clearly didn’t know Ukraine is the second-largest European country. For a...]]>2142falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/republicans-against-freedom--52830487which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pointed out puts everyone in that building at risk because it shows, for example, where all of the security cameras are.“(T)he Senate strongly objects to the release of this sensitive security footage to Tucker Carlson & Fox News. The speaker— nor any elected official— does not have the right to jeopardize the safety of senators nor Senate & Capitol staff for their own political purposes.”State of PlayGlobally, every weak spot in the fabric of democracy is strained as encroaching authoritarianism keeps pushing at the vulnerable spots. This is why it’s so important that we somehow get Republicans on board to act as a unified coalition on this one issue.Russia pulled out of the START treaty on Wednesday, the last arms control treaty between the United States and Russia. Together, the two countries possess “roughly 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons with a stockpile of over 8,000 between them.”Foreign policy reporter Laura Rozen wrote on her Diplomatic Substack, “Putin holds arms treaty ‘hostage’ to war on Ukraine,” noting, “World powers that previously compartmentalized arms control from their other disagreements now no longer appear willing to do so, putting solutions to limit the threat of nuclear proliferation in jeopardy, on Iran and globally.”“It’s terrible,” one European official who works on arms control said, about the end of Western/Russian cooperation on curbing Iran’s nuclear program. “The work of twenty years somehow lost.”That’s pretty alarming. Alarming enough that anyone with an ounce of care for the basic concept of freedom should be grabbing the hands of whoever is nearest to help hold the line. But that’s not happening here, in the United States. Too many MAGA Republicans are undermining the United States’ unity, with Marjorie Taylor Greene even calling for secession in the form of a national divorce.World War III Threats… Can’t Ukraine Just Give In For “Peace”?One of Russia’s strongest talking points to get people to parrot their propaganda is that if Ukraine would just give in, there would be peace and if they don’t, there will be World War III.This idea has taken root on both the far Left and not so far Right, and is repeated constantly on conservative media, Elon Musk repeats it on Twitter, which he owns now. Most of you probably know this isn’t workable, but let’s examine what’s going on right now because the stakes have been raised by Russia with the START treaty suspension and threats to other countries.This conflict, which has given rise to the bloodiest war since World War II, started in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea. Ukraine was a divided state and Russia took advantage of this by arming separatists. (This might seem little too close to home for comfort for those of us paying attention to Putin’s successful efforts at dividing this country - see MTG’s “divorce” call.) Ukraine represents power to Russia, power and the image of being a superpower. Putin wants it back because Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is aligned with western-style democracy, which makes a stark contrast to Putin’s autocratic regime in Russia. There are additional interests for Russia in terms of trade, energy, and Putin’s feeling that NATO’s post–Cold War expansion is a humiliation.“During one year of the full-scale invasion Russia launched almost 5000 missiles and made almost 3500 airstrikes against Ukraine. Russia also made almost 1100 attacks using drones, the Ukrainian General Staff reported,” the Kyiv Post reported. Russia is threatening GermanyDuring a rally led by Putin on Wednesday,  Russians sang that they are “defending the fatherland by raising the red flag over Berlin.”The Advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine warned: “Attention, Germany! Russians sing about "Russian flag over Berlin" at Luzhniki stadium.”Russia, the country that invaded the sovereign state of Ukraine, calls Ukrainians “demons” and claims that missiles are flying as a “cure for sick Ukrainians.”“Meanwhile in Mordor: Putin led another rally, full of gruesome narratives. Listen to the words of their songs, about their arms covered in blood up to their elbows and sending missiles ‘to cure sick Ukrainians,’ whom they also described as "demons,’” Russian media monitor Julia Davis wrote above this clip.ChinaThere is also growing concern over China’s support for Russia’s military.MexicoJust as an example of how the world is at war with encroaching authoritarianism,  the President of Mexico’s majority in Congress passed “legal changes to gut Mexico's independent elections body in what most experts see as the country's most consequential democratic setback in recent decades.”If that sounds a lot like what Ron DeSantis is doing in Florida, based on the model set by Viktor Orbán  of Hungary, that’s because it is.Bowing Down to Global ThreatThe president of the United States is very busy upholding freedom. Naturally, MAGA Republicans are outraged.As Republicans war within their own party about support for Ukraine and the more vocal members attack President Biden for his show of strength and support for Ukraine via his iconic visit, Florida Republican Representative Matt Gaetz introduced a bill to cease support, citing Ukraine “fatigue” (if you Google this phrase, you’ll see that they’re running with it as hard as they can with former Rush Limbaugh replacement host using that phrase as the title to an opinion piece claiming that Ukraine fatigue is “building on the horizon”). Speaker McCarthy is doing that McCarthy dance, the one many have tried before him and failed, of not taking a public side but even then he still made sure to make it known that Republicans wouldn’t rubber stamp any aide for Ukraine.McCarthy, who barely won his gavel after a record setting 15 rounds of votes, hit Biden with an accusation that his actions are “a bit too late.” So, they don’t support Ukraine funds and they hate Biden’s trip to Ukraine, but also, Biden is late and not doing enough. Yikes. Over in the Senate, the grown up in the room happens to be the same Senator who single-handedly stole a Supreme Court seat from President Obama, and thus can be held responsible for a lot of the resulting current loss of freedoms in this country (from abortion to state’s rights to make gun laws).Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to change the narrative from the weak isolationist voices in his party to his own pronouncement, “Reports about the death of Republican support for strong American leadership in the world have been greatly exaggerated.”Well. Even Mitch McConnell can’t bring Marjorie Taylor Greene to heel to pretend to support a Democratic president purely because it looks bad on the global stage to have Republicans not supporting freedom and American leadership.Former Republican Representative Adam Kinszinger wrote of Greene’s secession push, “In the old days a politician would be kicked out for oppos]]>substack:post:104692042Thu, 23 Feb 2023 20:19:11 +0000Politicus RadioMAGA Republicans Pose Threat to U.S. National Security and FreedomMany MAGA Republicans have positioned themselves as weak and even impotent on the fundamental issue of basic freedom, even while the U.S. is effectively at war.The United States is,...which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pointed out puts everyone in that building at risk because it shows, for example, where all of the security cameras are.“(T)he Senate strongly objects to the release of this sensitive security footage to Tucker Carlson & Fox News. The speaker— nor any elected official— does not have the right to jeopardize the safety of senators nor Senate & Capitol staff for their own political purposes.”State of PlayGlobally, every weak spot in the fabric of democracy is strained as encroaching authoritarianism keeps pushing at the vulnerable spots. This is why it’s so important that we somehow get Republicans on board to act as a unified coalition on this one issue.Russia pulled out of the START treaty on Wednesday, the last arms control treaty between the United States and Russia. Together, the two countries possess “roughly 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons with a stockpile of over 8,000 between them.”Foreign policy reporter Laura Rozen wrote on her Diplomatic Substack, “Putin holds arms treaty ‘hostage’ to war on Ukraine,” noting, “World powers that previously compartmentalized arms control from their other disagreements now no longer appear willing to do so, putting solutions to limit the threat of nuclear proliferation in jeopardy, on Iran and globally.”“It’s terrible,” one European official who works on arms control said, about the end of Western/Russian cooperation on curbing Iran’s nuclear program. “The work of twenty years somehow lost.”That’s pretty alarming. Alarming enough that anyone with an ounce of care for the basic concept of freedom should be grabbing the hands of whoever is nearest to help hold the line. But that’s not happening here, in the United States. Too many MAGA Republicans are undermining the United States’ unity, with Marjorie Taylor Greene...]]>2051falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/they-ll-ignore-this--52649105latest job numbers came out on Friday and were more affirmation that President Biden is overseeing incredible job growth. Outgoing Chief of Staff Ron Klain proudly shared, “More jobs created in two years, than in ANY President's four year term.” This is the kind of thing all administrations push. But is it real? It turns out that this time, it is real. The unemployment rate is at its lowest level since 1969.“Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 517,000 in January, and the unemployment rate changed little at 3.4 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.”Even the New York Times is a little (relatively) breathless, “After several months of cooling, the economy added far more jobs than economists anticipated. The unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since 1969.” They even managed to squeeze out the begruding admission that “January’s job growth is a boost for Biden.”My goodness. What’s next? Will this good news cover the front pages and be preached from on high TV screens around the country? Of course not.While multiple intersecting factors are responsible for job numbers and some of the job growth can be attributed to pandemic recovery jobs, creating good paying jobs for people including those without a college degree has been a priority of Joe Biden’s throughout his career, and certainly as president.This priority was baked into all of his administration’s policy pushes. In his April 2021 address to a Joint Session of Congress, Biden stumped for his American Jobs Act, explaining that the jobs would pay well and "can't be outsourced," before adding that nearly 90% of them won't require a college degree. "The American Jobs Plan is a blue-collar blueprint to build America.”According to a Senate manufacturing report, as of October, 2022 we had added 696,000 manufacturing jobs in the 20 months since President Joe Biden came into office, whereas in the 20 months preceding the coronavirus pandemic, we had added just 92,000 manufacturing jobs. Why does this matter if you’re not in manufacturing? Another way to look at building back the blue-collar work force is as an important protection for democracy itself. It’s easy to draw people in to conspiracies and propaganda when they’re scared about the future. Unemployment can play a role in temporary depression and is therefore creates a vulnerability ripe for the sort of psyops we continue to see from bad actors like the Russians.“Any honest look at the data over the last 30 + years and it's pretty clear that it is only the Democratic Party that is good at this capitalism thing. Dems = growth, lower deficits progress Rs = recession, higher deficits, decline,” Simon Rosenberg wrote.It should be noted that Rosenberg is the founder of a liberal think tank and advocacy group in D.C. But he does bring receipts.Job growth is historically better under Democrats, he notes: “33.8m jobs = 16 yrs Clinton Obama 12.1m jobs = 2 yrs Biden 1.9m jobs = 16 yrs Bush Bush Trump 6 times more jobs created in 2 yrs under Biden then under last 3 GOP Presidents *COMBINED*.”The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.To be fair, if we expand out, we see that job growth was pretty amazing under Reagan as well. But that was a long time ago and ended in January of 1989. Since Reagan left office, no Republican has come close to Democrats for job growth. So while it’s always tricky to ascribe job growth to a president’s policies and there are reasons to give the first part of an administration to the previous inhabitant, the numbers show that job growth has done better under Democrats than Republicans since Reagan left office in 1989, that is, for 34 years Democrats have significantly outperformed Republicans on job growth and of course, unemployment is better right now than it’s been in 53 years.Here’s a chart from the Washington Post on a 2021 piece titled: “Trump will have the worst jobs record in modern U.S. history. It’s not just the pandemic” that shows Reagan’s history but also recent Republican presidents in the bottom portion of the chart:Critics have pointed out that the job growth is benefiting from jobs coming back after the pandemic. And this is accurate. But Rosenberg points out that the U.S. is doing better than others: Also, Factcheck for January 2023 writes “The economy added 10.7 million jobs under Biden, putting the total 1.2 million higher than before the pandemic.”And those manufacturing jobs numbers were a comparison of Trump to Biden from before the pandemic for Trump. The numbers back up the claims. So why don’t we hear about this huge success for the people on par with how we heard about inflation than this tepid “This will be a boost for Biden.” Framing important economic numbers like this as political for the President isn’t ideal, because the most important thing is how is the economy impacting The People.One aspect of the way financial news is framed in this country is that it is presented from the point of view of Biden’s political prospects, wealthy investors, big business, the stock market and earnings. This explanation from the Times is a bit of what I mean, “By raising interest rates — on Wednesday, Fed officials did so for the eighth time in a year — policymakers hope to force businesses to pull back on their spending, including hiring.”If businesses should pull back on their spending, why don’t we focus on pushing them not to do stock buybacks instead of suggesting that hiring workers is the issue? Of course, paying workers is spending, but the entire frame is warped by late-stage capitalism. Big Oil had another record year of profits. Exxon reported a $56 billion net profit in 2022. The industry as a whole set a record with $1 trillion in profits. “Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon and Shell all reported record profits in 2022… Global oil companies have rebounded since the pandemic to post their highest ever profits since people started using petroleum.”Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in floor remarks Thursday, “And what did oil companies do with this tsunami of cash? They could have prioritized paying their workers better. They did not.They could have made transformative investments in new clean tech and help push the frontier in clean energy, which we all know is coming, but they did not.Or maybe best of all, they could have lowered gas prices, but they did not!You know what the oil companies did? This is just as galling, galling! They rewarded shareholders by implementing stock buybacks, at near record levels.”This is the important takeaway: We have normalized corporate greed while we continue to suggest that workers getting a raise or even a job is hampering the economy. Somehow our culture has so bought into the corporate line, to being simps for Big Business, that media seems to present news from the point of view of Big Money instead of from the point of view of The People. That’s what we are trying to do here, at PoliticusUSA’s The Daily, with your help. We see our mission as being a voice for The People, not beholden to power in D.C. or Think Tanks or advertisers or a board. None of those entities need help being heard. It’s The People who are not being heard and the media is a big player in that formula that is working so well for the wea]]>substack:post:100697249Mon, 06 Feb 2023 11:31:07 +0000Politicus RadioEvery president faces tests, Joe Biden more than many as he came into office during a global pandemic and had to hit the ground running to make up for lost time saving lives. While he was at it, he also managed to bake into the response concern for...latest job numbers came out on Friday and were more affirmation that President Biden is overseeing incredible job growth. Outgoing Chief of Staff Ron Klain proudly shared, “More jobs created in two years, than in ANY President's four year term.” This is the kind of thing all administrations push. But is it real? It turns out that this time, it is real. The unemployment rate is at its lowest level since 1969.“Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 517,000 in January, and the unemployment rate changed little at 3.4 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.”Even the New York Times is a little (relatively) breathless, “After several months of cooling, the economy added far more jobs than economists anticipated. The unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since 1969.” They even managed to squeeze out the begruding admission that “January’s job growth is a boost for Biden.”My goodness. What’s next? Will this good news cover the front pages and be preached from on high TV screens around the country? Of course not.While multiple intersecting factors are responsible for job numbers and some of the job growth can be attributed to pandemic recovery jobs, creating good paying jobs for people including those without a college degree has been a priority of Joe Biden’s throughout his career, and certainly as president.This priority was baked into all of his administration’s policy pushes. In his April 2021 address to a Joint Session of Congress, Biden stumped for his American Jobs Act, explaining that the jobs would pay well and "can't be outsourced," before adding that nearly 90% of them won't require a college degree. "The American Jobs Plan is a blue-collar blueprint to build America.”According to a Senate manufacturing report, as of October, 2022 we had added 696,000 manufacturing jobs in the 20 months since President Joe Biden came into office, whereas in the 20 months preceding the coronavirus pandemic, we had added just 92,000 manufacturing jobs. Why does this matter if you’re not in manufacturing? Another way to look at building back the blue-collar work force is as an important protection for democracy itself. It’s...]]>2204falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-1-6-committee-left-this-out-and-it-s-a-bfd--52607731 Jan. 6 committee concluded that the FBI and other federal security agencies could have prevented a violent mob from overrunning the Capitol had they acted on the large volume of intelligence collected beforehand, the chief investigator told NBC News in an exclusive interview — a judgment the committee left out of its televised hearings and final report.”Heaphy said he agrees with what Washington, D.C.’s National Guard commander, William Walker, told the committee: The response would have been much different, before and during the attack, “if these protesters were Black and brown.”They determined that the inadequate defense of the U.S Capitol wasn’t due to a lack of knowledge, but rather a failure to ACT on intelligence they had that warned extremists were coming to Washington to use violence to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.The lead investigator told NBC: “There was a lot of advance intelligence about law enforcement, about carrying weapons, about the vulnerability of the Capitol. The intel in advance was pretty specific, and it was enough, in our view, for law enforcement to have done a better job.”Here’s an example of the kinds of tips that got ignored. An FBI tipster in December 2020, reported under types of tips: “Attempted coup/terrorist attack on Jan 6th.”“They think that they will have a large enough group to march into DC armed and will outnumber the police so they can’t be stopped. They believe that since the election was ‘stolen’ that it’s their constitutional right to overtake the government and during this coup no US laws apply ... Their plan is to literally kill people. Please please take this tip seriously and investigate further.”The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.This tipster also linked to the actual plans for the attack. The tipster said they planned to overtake the White House and that they would be armed.The tip form asks if there are known associates. The tipster has an answer for that, too.  “Donald Trump - Proud Boys believe that Trump called them to action by telling them to go to DC on Jan 6th and act "wild". The group that is organizing the attack is the Proud Boys terrorist group.”Even for an agency that must get a lot of reports, this seems like a huge miss. They must have a flag set up for “domestic terrorism” tips.But that there was that memo reported in the fall of 2021 demonstrating how Homeland Security suddenly decided to control and restrict the flow of “election-related threats” to law enforcement ahead of 1/6.CNN reported on September 14, 2021:“A few months before rioters stormed the US Capitol, the Department of Homeland Security restricted the flow of open-source intelligence reports about “election-related threats” to law enforcement, citing First Amendment concerns, according to documents reviewed by CNN.”That staffer — the guy who sent the order to restrict the flow of election-related threats — he also served on the House January 6th Committee.“Joseph Maher, who changed the protocols around disseminating open-source information as head of DHS’ intelligence arm, is now on the staff of the House Select Committee on January 6.”We discussed the suppression of information and downplaying of troubling connections between Trump and the Russians in the Russia investigation last week. One aspect that we are still going to dig into more is the failure of law enforcement, given the arrest for the former head of counterintelligence at the New York FBI office, where “tips went to die,” for allegedly working for the Russian he was supposed to have been investigating prior to his retirement.Let’s take that established suppression of information that was damaging to Trump and view it along with this lead investigator saying, “The intel in advance was pretty specific, and it was enough, in our view, for law enforcement to have done a better job.”We know that under Trump the Department of Homeland Security deliberately and with no legitimate reason cited — especially given that administration’s contempt for the First Amendment — restricted, as in stopped the flow, of intel relating to domestic terrorism threats and election-related violence.The 1/6 Committee put Maher in charge of investigating intelligence dissemination failures that occurred, as critics pointed out in the CNN piece, “under his leadership.” The 1/6 Committee says Maher recused himself from these matters, but it’s fair to ask why they chose not to share this vital part of their findings, given that the safety of Americans is quite literally hanging in the balance. So this is two times that we know of, and not even including the scourge of Trump protector Bill Barr weaponizing the DOJ for Trump and hiding potential criminal tips about Trump’s financial dealings, in which someone has been put in a position of oversight or investigation into matters in which they are possibly compromised or at the very least, incapable of impartiality. Government is always full of corruption, like all entities, and that is why oversight is so important. But it’s also true that Trump took this corruption to heretofore unseen heights. His ability to corrupt the DOJ, FBI offices, and the DHS should be investigated and prioritized with legislation to keep from happening again.The Republican-led House won’t do it, but don’t let their lack of patriotism stop you from demanding that they do their job.Thank you for reading The Daily. This post is public so feel free to share it.

Get full access to The Daily at politicususa.substack.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:100268513Wed, 01 Feb 2023 18:14:03 +0000Politicus Radio“Their plan is to literally kill people. Please please take this tip seriously and investigate further.”A lead investigator for the 1/6 House Select Committee determined that the inadequate defense of the U.S Capitol wasn’t due to a lack of knowledge,... Jan. 6 committee concluded that the FBI and other federal security agencies could have prevented a violent mob from overrunning the Capitol had they acted on the large volume of intelligence collected beforehand, the chief investigator told NBC News in an exclusive interview — a judgment the committee left out of its televised hearings and final report.”Heaphy said he agrees with what Washington, D.C.’s National Guard commander, William Walker, told the committee: The response would have been much different, before and during the attack, “if these protesters were Black and brown.”They determined that the inadequate defense of the U.S Capitol wasn’t due to a lack of knowledge, but rather a failure to ACT on intelligence they had that warned extremists were coming to Washington to use violence to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.The lead investigator told NBC: “There was a lot of advance intelligence about law enforcement, about carrying weapons, about the vulnerability of the Capitol. The intel in advance was pretty specific, and it was enough, in our view, for law enforcement to have done a better job.”Here’s an example of the kinds of tips that got ignored. An FBI tipster in December 2020, reported under types of tips: “Attempted coup/terrorist attack on Jan 6th.”“They think that they will have a large enough group to march into DC armed and will outnumber the police so they can’t be stopped. They believe that since the election was ‘stolen’ that it’s their constitutional right to overtake the government and during this coup no US laws apply ... Their plan is to literally kill people. Please please take this tip seriously and investigate further.”The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.This tipster also linked to the actual plans for the attack. The tipster said they planned to overtake the White House and that they would be armed.The tip form asks if there are known associates. The tipster has an answer for that, too.  “Donald Trump - Proud Boys believe that Trump called them to action by telling them to go to DC on Jan 6th and act "wild". The group that is organizing the attack is the Proud Boys terrorist group.”Even for an agency that must get a lot of reports, this seems like a huge miss. They must have a flag set up for “domestic terrorism” tips.But that there was that memo reported in the fall of 2021 demonstrating how Homeland Security suddenly decided to...]]>794falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/russiagate-the-opposite-of-a-hoax--52552724said on Wednesday: I could just say that Mr. McCarthy’s rationalizations, justifications keep shifting. The cardinal sin appears to be that I led the impeachment of his master in Mar-a-Lago, for withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid in Ukraine, a nation at war with Russia in order to extort that country into helping Donald Trump’s re-election campaign. We proved those facts and got the first bipartisan vote in the Senate in history to remove a president. Kevin McCarthy calls that a hoax. Well, it was not a hoax.Indeed. In the last week, ex-FBI counterintelligence chief in New York Charles McGonigal was arrested for allegedly working for the Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, whom he was supposed to be investigating. He is now under indictment for his ties to this oligarch, with charges including money laundering and conspiring to help these oligarchs evade Russian sanctions.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts/podcasts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.McGonigal was appointed in 2010 by Robert Mueller (yes that one), and then James Comey (yes, that one) elevated him weeks before 2016 election.Deripaska is the same person who had employed Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign chief. Manafort secretly worked for the Russian billionaire earning millions helping him promote Russian interests.Photo by Jørgen Håland on UnsplashWhy did it take this long for our government to arrest ex-FBI counterintelligence chief in New York Charles McGonigal? He retired from the FBI in 2018. It’s 2023.That rather astonishing discovery of the former FBI chief who seemingly betrayed his country to Russia didn’t happen in a vacuum, though. Globally, this story is quite frankly disconcerting.In the past week, there was a shocking accusation by a whistleblower that MI5 refused to investigate a Russian spy's “infiltration” of the conservative Tory party in Britain, news that "a vast cache of hacked emails shows that, under the leadership of Rishi Sunak, the UK Treasury issued special licenses in 2021 to let the oligarch override sanctions and launch an aggressive legal campaign against a journalist in the London courts."“The UK government helped the boss of Russia’s murderous mercenary army to circumvent its own sanctions and launch a targeted legal attack on a British journalist, openDemocracy can reveal.”Rishi Sunak has been the conservative Prime Minister since October, 2022 when the head of lettuce lasted longer than Liz Truss. He previously held two cabinet positions under conservative Boris Johnson.  Also, the European Court of Human Rights is demanding a response from the British government over a legal claim by opponents accusing it of failing to investigate alleged Russian interference in elections and referendums like Brexit.The thread between all of these stories is Russians-to-conservatives. Now Timothy Snyder*, a Yale professor whose course on Ukraine I am watching on YouTube and highly recommend, put the Russia story in badly needed context (full thread below sources):Reconsider how the FBI treated the Trump-Putin connection in 2016. Trump and other Republicans screamed that the FBI had overreached. In retrospect, it seems the exact opposite took place. The issue of Russian influence was framed in a way convenient for Russia and Trump.The FBI investigation, Crossfire Hurricane, focused on the narrow issue of personal connections between the Trump campaign and Russians. It missed Russia's cyber attacks and the social media campaign, which, according to Kathleen Hall Jamieson, won the election for Trump.(Trump’s former campaign manager Paul) Manafort worked for Deripaska, the same Russian oligarch to whom McGonigal is linked, between 2006 and 2009. Manafort's assignment was to soften up the U.S for Russian influence. He promised "a model that can greatly benefit the Putin government."Informed people said at the time: this sort of thing was supposed to go through the FBI counter-intelligence section in New York, where tips went to die. That is where McGonigal was in charge.We need to understand why the FBI failed in 2016 to address the essence of an ongoing Russian influence operation. The character of that operation suggests that it would have been the responsibility of an FBI section whose head is now accused of taking Russian money.Right after the McGonigal story broke, Kevin McCarthy ejected Adam Schiff from the House intelligence committee. Schiff is expert on Russian influence operations. It exhibits carelessness about national security to exclude him. It is downright suspicious to exclude him now.Back in June 2016, Kevin McCarthy expressed his suspicion that Donald Trump was under Putin's influence. He and other Republican members concluded that the risk of an embarrassment to their party was more important than American security.Schiff told the Council on Foreign Relations in April of last year,  “I think Russia is a declining power, but like a lot of wounded animals it’s still very dangerous.”The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Don’t be gaslit anymore.Russia is a danger to western democracy. They’ve been working hard to undermine the United States of America, and Republicans, from leadership on down, have been willing to help them. Those who might be doing so unwittingly certainly have had every opportunity to know better. Those who have simply remained silent are also now complicit. In 2019, a Senate investigation determined: “The congressional probe into the National Rifle Association’s relationship with Russia shows a U.S. tax-exempt organization working as a conduit to provide Russian officials access to Republicans with the quid pro quo of ‘lucrative personal business opportunities.’”I pointed out then, “Looking for that quid pro quo Republicans claim doesn’t exist? Here it is, but with the Russians and elected officials of the NRA variety.”Since then, Russia has spent millions spreading anti-vax conspiracies just to harm small d democracy, including paying influencers to lie and fear-monger about the vaccines.Republicans and conservative activists mock journalists who bring up Russia because they want to shut down the discussion. But this discussion needs to be had. We all need a government that actually puts “America first” –- but the Republican Party is not currently on board with that most basic and primitive premise of patriotism.This is Sarah Jones on the Politicus Pod for PoliticusUSA’s The Daily. If you’re tired of billionaires controlling the news you see and you want to support independent news that puts The People first, please subscribe to our Substack.Sources:* https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/may/25/influencers-say-russia-linked-pr-agency-asked-them-to-disparage-pfizer-vaccine* https://archive.is/hhMHk* https://www.politicususa.com/2019/09/27/senate-nra-russia.html* https://www.cfr.org/event/conversation-chairman-adam-schiff-2* https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/prigozhin-government-russia-ukraine-hack-libel-slapp/* https://www.politicususa.com/2023/01/25/adam-schiff-torches-kevin-mccarthy-after-being-blocked-from-intel-committee.html* https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1618309363084718080.html*Full thread by Snyder:In April 2016, I broke the story of Trump and Putin, using Russian open sources. Afterwards, I heard vague intimations that something was awry in the FBI in New York, specifically counter-intelligence and cyber. We now have a suggestion as to why. 0/20The person who led the relevant section, Charles McGonigal, has just been charged with taking money from the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Follow this thread to see just how this connects to the victory of Trump, the Russian war in Ukraine, and U.S. national security. 1/20The reason I was thinking about Trump & Putin in 2016 was a pattern. Russia had sought to control Ukraine, using social media, money, & a pliable head of state. Russia backed Trump the way that it had backed Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, in the hopes of soft control 2/20Trump & Yanukovych were similar figures: interested in money, & in power to make or shield money. And therefore vulnerable partners for Putin. They also shared a political advisor: Paul Manafort. He worked for Yanukovych from 2005-2015, taking over Trump's campaign in 2016. 3/20You might remember Manafort's ties to Russia from 2016. He (and Jared Kushner, and Donald Trump, Jr.) met with Russians in June 2016 in Trump Tower as part of, as the broker of the mee]]>substack:post:98963089Thu, 26 Jan 2023 15:52:40 +0000Politicus RadioIt’s been a shocking and dismaying week for our national security and now Republicans are kicking Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) off of the intel committee in part because, in my opinion, because he is an expert on dealings with Russia.Schiff...said on Wednesday: I could just say that Mr. McCarthy’s rationalizations, justifications keep shifting. The cardinal sin appears to be that I led the impeachment of his master in Mar-a-Lago, for withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid in Ukraine, a nation at war with Russia in order to extort that country into helping Donald Trump’s re-election campaign. We proved those facts and got the first bipartisan vote in the Senate in history to remove a president. Kevin McCarthy calls that a hoax. Well, it was not a hoax.Indeed. In the last week, ex-FBI counterintelligence chief in New York Charles McGonigal was arrested for allegedly working for the Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, whom he was supposed to be investigating. He is now under indictment for his ties to this oligarch, with charges including money laundering and conspiring to help these oligarchs evade Russian sanctions.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts/podcasts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.McGonigal was appointed in 2010 by Robert Mueller (yes that one), and then James Comey (yes, that one) elevated him weeks before 2016 election.Deripaska is the same person who had employed Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign chief. Manafort secretly worked for the Russian billionaire earning millions helping him promote Russian interests.Photo by Jørgen Håland on UnsplashWhy did it take this long for our government to arrest ex-FBI counterintelligence chief in New York Charles McGonigal? He retired from the FBI in 2018. It’s 2023.That rather astonishing discovery of the former FBI chief who seemingly betrayed his country to Russia didn’t happen in a vacuum, though. Globally, this story is quite frankly disconcerting.In the past week, there was a shocking accusation by a whistleblower that MI5 refused to investigate a Russian spy's “infiltration” of the conservative Tory party in Britain, news that "a vast cache of hacked emails shows that, under the leadership of Rishi Sunak, the UK Treasury issued special licenses in 2021 to let the oligarch override sanctions and launch an aggressive legal campaign against a journalist in the London courts."“The UK government helped the boss of Russia’s murderous mercenary army to circumvent its own sanctions and launch a targeted legal attack on a British journalist, openDemocracy can reveal.”Rishi Sunak has been the conservative Prime Minister since October, 2022 when the head of lettuce lasted longer than Liz Truss. He previously held two cabinet positions under conservative Boris Johnson.  Also, the European Court of Human Rights is demanding a response from the British government over a legal claim by opponents accusing it of failing to investigate alleged Russian interference in elections and referendums like Brexit.The thread between all of these stories is Russians-to-conservatives. Now Timothy Snyder*, a Yale professor whose course on Ukraine I am watching on YouTube and highly recommend, put the Russia story in badly needed context (full thread below sources):Reconsider how the FBI treated the...]]>857falsefullhttps://politicususa.substack.com/p/french-unions-threaten-to-cut-electricityReuters.Indeed, workers did strike and march today across the country. They halted trains and cut electricity in protest to Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age to 64:The stoppages are a major test for President Emmanuel Macron, who said on Thursday that his pension reform plan, which opinion polls show is hugely unpopular, was "just and responsible" and had to be carried out."It's salaries and pensions that must be increased, not the retirement age," read one large banner carried by workers that opened the protest march in Tours, in western France.The strike “led to a substantial fall in electricity output and halted deliveries from refineries” on Thursday. In fact, the rate of striking workers that are a part of the Electric and Gas Industries union exceeded 50% by midday, a spokesperson for the union told Reuters.This is also a story about working people battling entrenched propaganda that is directly against their best interests and does more to mislead than to inform. Much as it is here, this hit to workers is being called “pension reform.” And the problem starts right there.Reform is defined as, “make changes in (something, typically a social, political, or economic institution or practice) in order to improve it.”It’s not reform. It’s not going to “improve” the pension plan for workers. It’s theft from working people. It’s an attack on security. It’s not reform.The BBC explained how the French system works:Under the French system, very few people have personal pension plans linked to capital investments.Instead, the pensions of those who are retired are paid from the same common fund into which those in work are contributing every month. Workers know they will benefit from the same treatment when they retire.All the country's unions - including so-called "reformist" unions that the government had hoped to win to its side - have condemned the measure, as have the left-wing and far-right oppositions in the National Assembly.Macron will likely get support from right-leaning factions. Let’s ask ourselves about all of the propaganda we’ve been told about our Social Security, is anyone else doing better? It turns out we aren’t even in the top ten. Of the top countries with the best pensions in 2022, the U.S. is not on the list and neither is France:1. Iceland2. Netherlands3. Denmark4. Israel5. Finland6. Australia7. Norway8. Sweden9. Singapore10. U.K: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern IrelandSo workers in France are already at a disadvantage compared to many other countries. The United States ranked 20th on the list. It had an overall grade of C+ and a score of 63.9.Want to guess how Iceland pays for that top rating? It’s doing what the unions suggested the French government do, which is to say the programs are income-related. “(T)he amount can decrease if you have other income and be canceled entirely if your income exceeds a certain amount.”The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts/podcasts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Unions are basically collective bargaining, which is a way of gathering enough power to take a stand against the powers setting the working conditions to secure higher wages and better benefits.The arguments against unions read like our entire culture, simping for billionaires. This is the editor’s guild’s take on the against arguments, which is obviously coming from a union but cuts through the dishonestly too well to dismiss: “The anti-union arguments management makes tend to cluster around three major themes: (1) employees should trust management to do what's best for everyone, without management having to formally negotiate with employees; (2) the union can't be trusted; and (3) sticking with the status quo is better than the uncertainty ...”In the U.S., while the Republican Party stands most defiantly against unions – including rejecting thousands of good paying jobs for their residents, like Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin just got busted for doing by reportedly halting a Ford plant in Virginia according to sources – our entire culture is anti-union, anti-worker, and pro-big corporation, pro-billionaire.By the way, that plant in Virginia “location is in Pittsylvania County, near Danville, and is one of the poorest areas of Virginia. The $3.5 billion plant would have created an estimated 2,500 jobs in Southside Virginia, the Richmond Times-Dispatch and Danville Register & Bee reported Monday.”And who can forget in 2014 when South Carolina’s then Governor Republican Nikki Haley announced that Detroit’s Big Three automakers should look elsewhere because “she discourages companies from building new facilities in South Carolina if they are planning to bring a union with them.”Even her Democratic opponent at the time couldn’t muster up full-throated support for unions, saying he thought the state should “remain a right-to-work state where workers are free to decide whether to join unions or not.”Right to work states do not in effect offer choices as their main function.Nurses are on strike right now in Britain as they struggle to pay their own bills and ambulance workers are planning to go on strike. “The NHS faces prospect of biggest walkout in its history” the headlines tell us. Exhausted and struggling to pay bills, British nurses go on strike.They’re being maligned with the same kind of anti-worker propaganda we get here:‘Striking workers are being greedy and their demands are unaffordable’“Where is [Rishi Sunak’s] big effort to mobilise the country against these greedy union extremists?” – Douglas Murray, the Sun, 8 December“Inflation-matching or inflation-busting pay rises are unaffordable … There simply isn’t the money.” Transport secretary, Mark Harper, Sky News, 27 NovemberNotice how none of these arguments take the issues and complaints and even crisis level emergency facing the healthcare system into account? They all place the burden right back on the workers. In this case, it’s nurses who after nearly three years of a global pandemic, are also struggling to make their own rent. That’s not acceptable.The headlines against the nurses in Britain tell us a lot about]]>substack:post:97746336Thu, 19 Jan 2023 20:07:13 +0000Politicus RadioVive la liberté! A French union threatened to cut off electricity to lawmakers and billionaires before a strike on Thursday.This story about a strike in France is relevant to American politics because a secure working class is the best antidote to...Reuters.Indeed, workers did strike and march today across the country. They halted trains and cut electricity in protest to Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age to 64:The stoppages are a major test for President Emmanuel Macron, who said on Thursday that his pension reform plan, which opinion polls show is hugely unpopular, was "just and responsible" and had to be carried out."It's salaries and pensions that must be increased, not the retirement age," read one large banner carried by workers that opened the protest march in Tours, in western France.The strike “led to a substantial fall in electricity output and halted deliveries from refineries” on Thursday. In fact, the rate of striking workers that are a part of the Electric and Gas Industries union exceeded 50% by midday, a spokesperson for the union told Reuters.This is also a story about working people battling entrenched propaganda that is directly against their best interests and does more to mislead than to inform. Much as it is here, this hit to workers is being called “pension reform.” And the problem starts right there.Reform is defined as, “make changes in (something, typically a social, political, or economic institution or practice) in order to improve it.”It’s not reform. It’s not going to “improve” the pension plan for workers. It’s theft from working people. It’s an attack on security. It’s not reform.The BBC explained how the French system works:Under the French system, very few people have personal pension plans linked to capital investments.Instead, the pensions of those who are retired are paid from the same common fund into which those in work are contributing every month....]]>1585falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/media-appeasement-of-conservatives-threatens-us-all--52465005 the opposite of what the evidence provided suggested worked in so far as it sucked up the oxygen in the room so it seemed few noticed the story being told by the evidence, and so conservatives are nursing their self-pity and victim status in what is a typical abuse manipulation tactic comprised of deny, attack, reverse victim and offender (DARVO).They do it because it works. It works on establishment corporate media and it works on establishment corporate social media.


Photo by little plant on UnsplashTech Dirt pointed out we “learned is that Trump and other Republican leaders were actually given special treatment over the years, because they tended to violate policies way more often than Democrats. But, knowing that Republicans would flop to the ground and fake injury any time they were faced with even having to take the slightest bit of responsibility for violating policies, all the big social media platforms went above and beyond to better protect the high profile accounts of Republican rule breakers.”The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts/podcasts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
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“Do you want to have more blood on your hands?” a Twitter safety employee asked top Twitter executive Del Harvey when Harvey questioned whether Trump could inspire more violence in the insurrection’s aftermath.The exchange, relayed by former Twitter employees to the Jan. 6 committee, was included in a summary of investigative findings prepared by committee staff and obtained by Rolling Stone, “most of which were not included in the committee’s final report.”Gee.“Twitter reportedly told the committee that it instituted the draft coded incitement to violence policy once rioters made it inside the Capitol, but former employees said the on-the-fly implementation was vague, confused, and ad hoc. The result of the delay, they argued, meant that “members of the Safety Policy Team were manually taking down violent tweets, including those including ‘#ExecuteMikePence,’ using only the Twitter search function.”“The sheer scale of Republican post-election rage paralyzed decision makers at Twitter and Facebook, who feared political reprisals if they took strong action.”In a jointly published Just Security/ Tech Policy Press piece adding context for what didn’t make it into that report that Rolling Stone obtained, investigators wrote that right-wing networks played a key role in driving the spread of content behind the attack:“While Trump played an instrumental role in driving the attack, right-wing networks – comprised of everyone from mainstream talking heads to extremist armed groups – drove the mass spread of conspiracy theories and far-right content on social media. “That spread could not have occurred without corporate policies of social media platforms and other enterprises that allowed dangerous rhetoric to proliferate online and ultimately contribute to violence in the real world. As investigators for the Committee, we were charged with examining the role these factors played in the events of January 6th. In this essay, we aim to call attention to the role that social media activity irrefutably played in the insurrection and to highlight the continuing threats to American democracy, as well as to share lessons learned that may help prevent future political violence.”We have long been told that Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were just catering to their bottom line in allowing the proliferation of hate. But this additional reporting shows that it was not their profit they had in mind. It was fear of Republicans.

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“While it is possible this is true more generally, our investigation found little direct evidence for this motivation in the context of the 2020 election. Advocates for bold action within these companies – such as Facebook’s “break glass” measures or Twitter’s policies for handling implicit incitement to violence – were more likely to meet resistance for political reasons than explicitly financial ones.”Why does it matter? Because even when Trump is gone, the rising threat of domestic terrorism will not go away. By focusing on Trump as the driver, the real power behind him, such as the elites driving the Republican Party platform, get off scot-free to rinse and repeat, just as Trump was a repeat on steroids of Sarah Palin’s hate.“While skeptics of social media’s role in the attack might say that the causal relationship between these tools and the violence itself is tenuous, this is a strawman argument. Regardless of whether online activity is a direct cause of extremist violence, social media platforms are responsible for conducting due diligence against abuse of their services.”“The events of January 6th resulted from many interrelated factors, including increasingly radical rhetoric from leading conservative voices both on- and offline, and an alarming uptick in people who believe political violence to be a viable solution.These threats to U.S. democracy are likely to outlive Trump’s political relevance, and they were not outside the purview of the Committee…Our findings suggest that the intersection between social media and violent extremism remains pervasive and, in fact, a central component of the Internet.”And lastly, because facts matter, “One clear conclusion from our investigation is that proponents of the recently released “Twitter Files,” who claim that platform suspensions of the former President are evidence of anti-conservative bias, have it completely backward. Platforms did not hold Trump to a higher standard by removing his account after January 6th. Rather, for years they wrote rules to avoid holding hi]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/52465005Tue, 17 Jan 2023 17:07:02 +0000Politicus RadioHave you noticed how establishment media doesn’t label January 6th a domestic terrorist attack, in spite of FBI Director Wray specifically labeling it as such in a hearing? Or the way social media goes out of its way to appease Republicans who violate... the opposite of what the evidence provided suggested worked in so far as it sucked up the oxygen in the room so it seemed few noticed the story being told by the evidence, and so conservatives are nursing their self-pity and victim status in what is a typical abuse manipulation tactic comprised of deny, attack, reverse victim and offender (DARVO).They do it because it works. It works on establishment corporate media and it works on establishment corporate social media.


Photo by little plant on UnsplashTech Dirt pointed out we “learned is that Trump and other Republican leaders were actually given special treatment over the years, because they tended to violate policies way more often than Democrats. But, knowing that Republicans would flop to the ground and fake injury any time they were faced with even having to take the slightest bit of responsibility for violating policies, all the big social media platforms went above and beyond to better protect the high profile accounts of Republican rule breakers.”The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts/podcasts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Subscribed


“Do you want to have more blood on your hands?” a Twitter safety employee asked top Twitter executive Del Harvey when Harvey questioned whether Trump could inspire more violence in the insurrection’s aftermath.The exchange, relayed by former Twitter employees to the Jan. 6 committee, was included in a summary of investigative findings prepared by committee staff and obtained by Rolling Stone, “most of which were not included in the committee’s final report.”Gee.“Twitter reportedly told the committee that it instituted the draft coded incitement to violence policy once rioters made it inside the Capitol, but former employees said the on-the-fly implementation was vague, confused, and ad hoc. The...]]>1136media,twitterfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/media-appeasement-of-conservatives-threatens-us-all--52465305 the opposite of what the evidence provided suggested worked in so far as it sucked up the oxygen in the room so it seemed few noticed the story being told by the evidence, and so conservatives are nursing their self-pity and victim status in what is a typical abuse manipulation tactic comprised of deny, attack, reverse victim and offender (DARVO). They do it because it works. It works on establishment corporate media and it works on establishment corporate social media. Photo by little plant on UnsplashTech Dirt pointed out we “learned is that Trump and other Republican leaders were actually given special treatment over the years, because they tended to violate policies way more often than Democrats. But, knowing that Republicans would flop to the ground and fake injury any time they were faced with even having to take the slightest bit of responsibility for violating policies, all the big social media platforms went above and beyond to better protect the high profile accounts of Republican rule breakers.”The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts/podcasts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.“Do you want to have more blood on your hands?” a Twitter safety employee asked top Twitter executive Del Harvey when Harvey questioned whether Trump could inspire more violence in the insurrection’s aftermath.The exchange, relayed by former Twitter employees to the Jan. 6 committee, was included in a summary of investigative findings prepared by committee staff and obtained by Rolling Stone, “most of which were not included in the committee’s final report.”Gee.“Twitter reportedly told the committee that it instituted the draft coded incitement to violence policy once rioters made it inside the Capitol, but former employees said the on-the-fly implementation was vague, confused, and ad hoc. The result of the delay, they argued, meant that “members of the Safety Policy Team were manually taking down violent tweets, including those including ‘#ExecuteMikePence,’ using only the Twitter search function.”“The sheer scale of Republican post-election rage paralyzed decision makers at Twitter and Facebook, who feared political reprisals if they took strong action.”In a jointly published Just Security/ Tech Policy Press piece adding context for what didn’t make it into that report that Rolling Stone obtained, investigators wrote that right-wing networks played a key role in driving the spread of content behind the attack:“While Trump played an instrumental role in driving the attack, right-wing networks – comprised of everyone from mainstream talking heads to extremist armed groups – drove the mass spread of conspiracy theories and far-right content on social media. “That spread could not have occurred without corporate policies of social media platforms and other enterprises that allowed dangerous rhetoric to proliferate online and ultimately contribute to violence in the real world. As investigators for the Committee, we were charged with examining the role these factors played in the events of January 6th. In this essay, we aim to call attention to the role that social media activity irrefutably played in the insurrection and to highlight the continuing threats to American democracy, as well as to share lessons learned that may help prevent future political violence.”We have long been told that Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were just catering to their bottom line in allowing the proliferation of hate. But this additional reporting shows that it was not their profit they had in mind. It was fear of Republicans.Thank you for reading The Daily. This post is public so feel free to share it.“While it is possible this is true more generally, our investigation found little direct evidence for this motivation in the context of the 2020 election. Advocates for bold action within these companies – such as Facebook’s “break glass” measures or Twitter’s policies for handling implicit incitement to violence – were more likely to meet resistance for political reasons than explicitly financial ones.”Why does it matter? Because even when Trump is gone, the rising threat of domestic terrorism will not go away. By focusing on Trump as the driver, the real power behind him, such as the elites driving the Republican Party platform, get off scot-free to rinse and repeat, just as Trump was a repeat on steroids of Sarah Palin’s hate.“While skeptics of social media’s role in the attack might say that the causal relationship between these tools and the violence itself is tenuous, this is a strawman argument. Regardless of whether online activity is a direct cause of extremist violence, social media platforms are responsible for conducting due diligence against abuse of their services.”“The events of January 6th resulted from many interrelated factors, including increasingly radical rhetoric from leading conservative voices both on- and offline, and an alarming uptick in people who believe political violence to be a viable solution.These threats to U.S. democracy are likely to outlive Trump’s political relevance, and they were not outside the purview of the Committee…Our findings suggest that the intersection between social media and violent extremism remains pervasive and, in fact, a central component of the Internet.”And lastly, because facts matter, “One clear conclusion from our investigation is that proponents of the recently released “Twitter Files,” who claim that platform suspensions of the former President are evidence of anti-conservative bias, have it completely backward. Platforms did not hold Trump to a higher standard by removing his account after January 6th. Rather, for years they wrote rules to avoid holding him and his supporters accountable; it took an attempted coup d’état for them to change course. Evidence and testimony provided by members of Twitter’s Trust & Safety team make clear that those arguing Trump was held to an unfair double standard are willfully neglecting or overlooking the significance of January 6th in the context of his ban from major platforms. In the words of one Twitter employee who came forward to the Committee, if Trump had been ‘any other user on Twitter, he would have been permanently suspended a very long time ago.’”So why is everyone pretending they don’t smell the stench? Why did the committee leave this important context out? Why is our media pretending January 6th was a “riot” instead of domestic terrorism, other than to appease right-wingers? If we are too afraid to use the proper labels for things like domestic terrorism because they might offend people, we are incentivizing them to further political extremism and violence, because it is working for them. Might I suggest that we instead incentivize them to stop committing acts of terrorism by not catering to their threats, by not giving them what they want and hoping they don’t get angry. They’re always angry. They’re going to be angry and make accusations no matter what. That’s the nature of the beast. What else comes to mind here is that for all of their accusations of liberals being snowflakes and their mocking of the use of pronouns, it is conservatives who are so sensitive about being labeled that our entire media structure is bending over backward to avoid the elephant in the room.Yes, using threats of violence to get a political outcome is domestic terrorism. End of story. For the safety of all citizens, these people need to be held to account. Social media companies need to stop bending the rules to accommodate violent and dangerous rhetoric.Next time we’re doing to dive into how law enforcement has obstructed attempts by lawmakers to get information about domestic terrorism.This]]>substack:post:97274170Tue, 17 Jan 2023 16:35:39 +0000Politicus RadioHave you noticed how establishment media doesn’t label January 6th a domestic terrorist attack, in spite of FBI Director Wray specifically labeling it as such in a hearing? Or the way social media goes out of its way to appease Republicans who violate... the opposite of what the evidence provided suggested worked in so far as it sucked up the oxygen in the room so it seemed few noticed the story being told by the evidence, and so conservatives are nursing their self-pity and victim status in what is a typical abuse manipulation tactic comprised of deny, attack, reverse victim and offender (DARVO). They do it because it works. It works on establishment corporate media and it works on establishment corporate social media. Photo by little plant on UnsplashTech Dirt pointed out we “learned is that Trump and other Republican leaders were actually given special treatment over the years, because they tended to violate policies way more often than Democrats. But, knowing that Republicans would flop to the ground and fake injury any time they were faced with even having to take the slightest bit of responsibility for violating policies, all the big social media platforms went above and beyond to better protect the high profile accounts of Republican rule breakers.”The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts/podcasts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.“Do you want to have more blood on your hands?” a Twitter safety employee asked top Twitter executive Del Harvey when Harvey questioned whether Trump could inspire more violence in the insurrection’s aftermath.The exchange, relayed by former Twitter employees to the Jan. 6 committee, was included in a summary of investigative findings prepared by committee staff and obtained by Rolling Stone, “most of which were not included in the committee’s final report.”Gee.“Twitter reportedly told the committee that it instituted the draft coded incitement to violence policy once rioters made it inside the Capitol, but former employees said the on-the-fly implementation was vague, confused, and ad hoc. The result of the delay, they argued, meant that “members of the Safety Policy Team were manually taking down violent tweets, including those including ‘#ExecuteMikePence,’ using only the Twitter search function.”“The sheer scale of Republican post-election rage paralyzed decision makers at Twitter and...]]>1136falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/kevin-mccarthy-loses-for-a-7th-time-as-republicans-disrespect-our-institutions--52363614Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) had the nerve to say that if Democrats had only voted for Rep. Byron Donalds yesterday, the fight over who will be speaker would be over. The entitlement expecting Democrats to fix this by voting for a Republican is astonishing.Republicans need help, so they need to do the compromising. This should be pretty basic. And I hate to break it to them, but no Democrat is going to vote for Steve Scalise, who has not only addressed white nationalists before but reportedly introduced himself with this charming shorthand, “He told me he was like David Duke, without the baggage.” Or Jim Jordan, who called a ten-year-old rape victim a liar in his effort to deny that abortion is healthcare, and then deleted his tweet when the rapist was charged.Before more demands come from Republicans for help from Democrats, let’s go back to this Kevin McCarthy: “I want you to watch Nancy Pelosi hand me that gavel. It will be hard not to hit her with it.” He said that after Pelosi had been a target of a 1/6 assassination attempt from McCarthy’s own shared base of Trump supporters.Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), chair of the Freedom Caucus that is leading this fit, sought a presidential pardon for his role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election, but yesterday he claimed that he’s learned to “take fire” for the American people as a way of explaining his role in this shameful attack on our democracy. This man literally tried to steal my vote and the vote of the majority of voters in Pennsylvania. Perry justified investigations into the 2020 Election with wild claims, including alleging that Italian satellites changed the votes here.Lest you think that was just more conservative crazy talk, “A call was actually placed by Secretary Miller to the Attaché in Italy to investigate the claim that Italian satellites were changing votes from Trump to Biden,” Adam Kinsinger said. “This is one of the best examples of the lengths former President Trump would go to to stay in power.”Perry is not “taking fire” for the American people.And of course, the four Republican members of Congress who were referred to the House Ethics Committee for failing to comply with subpoenas are: Kevin McCarthy, Jim Jordan, Scott Perry and Andy Biggs.If they did not honor a Congressional subpoena, how could anyone expect them to lead Congress. They do not respect the power of the institution to do its job.According to testimony from former aide to Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows Cassidy Hutchinson, among the Republican House members who asked for a pardon: Scott Perry, Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Mo Brooks, Andy Biggs, and Louie Gohmert. They asked for a pardon for their role in trying to steal votes and overturn an election, and now many of them are trying to suggest that what we are witnessing is totally normal and is actually for The People.Marjorie Taylor Green threw her fellow conservatives who are not supporting McCarthy (Matt Gaetz, Scott Perry, Lauren Boebert, etc.) under the bus in a video clip, saying that one of them didn’t even vote to overturn the election on January 6th, which is what the base wanted.Now, I suspect that this is where the idea that what they’re doing is for “The People” comes from, but of course that is disingenuous. Who lied to the base claiming election fraud? That’s right. Trump and these MAGA Republicans.As I got into in my pod about what Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary exposed about how the media works, the Right wing media deliberately elevates the lowest voices from the internet, wash them to give them legitimacy while also providing cover for the “journalists” who are just “reporting” on these neo-Nazis types… and then the far-Right, astrofurfed, populist puppets like Marjorie Taylor Greene et al repeat these talking points and want to investigate them, thereby inserting them forever into history as something legitimate.They are taking 4 Chan, 8 Chan, white nationalist message board talking points and inserting them into the mainstream. They’ve been doing this for a decade. Doing the work of enemies to democracy, presumably for the personal glory and power. All of the dark money flowing in our politics and going to these Republicans, who are then parrotting these talking points that serve the agenda of foreing power, makes it impossible to know.So when they claim they are doing the work of the people, the MAGA base, that is a base that these same people have propagandized to, radicalized, and used. Many of them are in jail now after January 6th, but not these Republicans who lied to them.And, of course, why is Marjorie Taylor Greene so mad? She’s mad because she’s been promised great power by Kevin McCarthy. Like the rest of the MAGA crowd, MTG is just here to stroke her own ego, to get on Fox News and other far Right cable hits, to be powerful.What’s happening here is this gang is not fit for governing. They can’t handle it. They can’t even pick a Speaker. And before that gets normalized, here’s what President Biden said about this mess:Remarks by President Biden Before Air Force One Departure (sent to PoliticusUSA by the White House press office, edited by me for brevity and clarity):Q    Mr. President, are you concerned about the implications of there not being a functioning House of Representatives at this point?  THE PRESIDENT:  Well, obviously, I am. For two reasons.  One, it's embarrassing for the country.  I mean, literally.  It’s just the reality is that to have a Congress that can't function is just embarrassing.  We're the greatest nation in the world.  How can that be?  And we've had a lot of trouble with a lot of trouble with the attacks on our institutions already.  And it just - that’s what worries me more than anything else.We’ve had a lot of trouble with attacks on our institutions. Indeed. What he didn’t say was that the attacks mostly came from these same people. There have been relentless, ongoing violence, dangerous propaganda, and lies coming from the Republican side of the aisle since 2015.Yesterday, these people – who tried steal votes from millions of Americans – were on the House floor claiming what we were watching was the American people are in charge.  Coincidentally, a lot of bot type and newer accounts were tweeting this is the government working and this is how democracy works.It’s not.This is how Trumpified government works. This is what you]]>substack:post:94874663Thu, 05 Jan 2023 18:09:44 +0000Politicus RadioThis podcast and newsletter are free so please share with family and friends.This is not normal. Don’t let them get away with claiming that the now three-day Speaker election dysfunction is how democracy works. It is not.This is not normal. Electing a...Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) had the nerve to say that if Democrats had only voted for Rep. Byron Donalds yesterday, the fight over who will be speaker would be over. The entitlement expecting Democrats to fix this by voting for a Republican is astonishing.Republicans need help, so they need to do the compromising. This should be pretty basic. And I hate to break it to them, but no Democrat is going to vote for Steve Scalise, who has not only addressed white nationalists before but reportedly introduced himself with this charming shorthand, “He told me he was like David Duke, without the baggage.” Or Jim Jordan, who called a ten-year-old rape victim a liar in his effort to deny that...]]>1744falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/republicans-earned-this-the-hard-way--52352743Sean Hannity, are looking around for someone to blame for the state of their party, as Kevin McCarthy’s ongoing humiliation is played out in front of the world.  Matt Gaetz is trying to get McCarthy evicted for being a squatter in the Speaker’s office.Who could be to blame? How could this party have scratched its way to a scant 4-seat majority even with the help of gerrymandering and disenfranchising voters and still not be unified enough to vote for this man who stands for nothing?Tim Miller at The Bulwark wrote, “Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Tx.) expressed dismay over his Republican colleagues’ opposition to McCarthy, calling their actions “petty” and “childish,” and venting about how they are more concerned about notoriety than governing…How might the new Republican conference have attracted these charlatans and con men and peacocking blowhards, I wonder?”Yes, prostrating themselves before Donald Trump for six plus years, including after he incited a domestic terrorist attack upon his own country in a desperate attempt to keep power, is a big reason why they can’t attract or keep anyone with integrity now. They attract the George Santos types now, and the Marjorie Taylor Greenes and the Lauren Boebert types. These are not serious people.Let’s go back to 2016 and Donald Trump. Back when the whole world found out that Trump was an admitted serial sexual assaulter, caught on tape bragging about it. He mocked a Gold Star family. He mocked a reporter with a disability. He did all of these things on video.Yet, all of these things were made acceptable — in an effort to use Donald Trump to keep power. People with a lot of power and money thought he was their ticket to getting things they wanted, like a tax cut for the rich. So, who was behind using Trump as a fake populist puppet to keep power? And what kind of base has been so primed for embracing an ideology that tells them it’s not only OK to hate and to do horrible things to others, but it is nothing to even feel bad about. A rejection of shame.The same base that fell in love with Sarah Palin in 2008, because she attacked then Senator Barack Obama with racist dog whistles, not in spite of, but because of. The same party that used Sarah Palin, another astroturfed, fake populist puppet, in an attempt to give presidential power to someone more mainstream Republican, like Senator John McCain.But the Palin monster ate McCain. She arguably cost him the election, and then left the Republican Party in tatters as she quit her job as Governor to travel the country with her grievance bus tour of botched history and raging resentment. Instead of turning their backs on her, they used her for every ounce of anger she could stir up in her Tea Party base, to weaponize them against affordable healthcare for the masses.Predictably, she melted down in a sea of antisemitic self-pity, claiming accusations against her were “Blood libel,” when her delusions about God picking her to be President didn’t pan out. Her Fox News hits dried up and reality TV show offers eventually withered into dust. See a trend there?This kind of degradation can happen with any political party. But all it takes to stop it is for the party to be willing to give up power until it regroups. That’s all it takes. They could have done this at any moment. They kept saying they would, but they didn’t. Real conservatives have long since fled this party. They are homeless now, some of them even resorting to voting for Democrats in an effort to defend the republic from the Republican Party’s ongoing attacks.There is no excuse for Trump Republicans.  Their own history with Palin showed them the path was fraught. They chose this and now they are paying the price.The larger problem is that we all pay along with them. So long as they are the only other political power in our democracy, we all suffer. A democracy like ours is meant to function through good faith vigorous debate about ideas. These people can’t even pick a Speaker.Every day Republicans spend undermining the U.S. House of Representatives is a day work for The People is not getting done and a day that we signal to the world how dysfunctional western democracy appears to be – both are great gets for Putin.Republicans have no one to blame but themselves. They had every chance to be better, but they failed. The fact that Donald Trump is still the leader of their party, two years after a deadly, failed self-coup that eventually resulted in the deaths of several police officers, says everything about their current state.They have no one to blame but themselves.

Get full access to The Daily at politicususa.substack.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:94656690Wed, 04 Jan 2023 15:44:03 +0000Politicus RadioIt took Republicans less than a day to show that they are a threat to democracy and the nation. Join us in speaking out against the threat by becoming a paid or free subscriber.Republicans, including...Sean Hannity, are looking around for someone to blame for the state of their party, as Kevin McCarthy’s ongoing humiliation is played out in front of the world.  Matt Gaetz is trying to get McCarthy evicted for being a squatter in the Speaker’s office.Who could be to blame? How could this party have scratched its way to a scant 4-seat majority even with the help of gerrymandering and disenfranchising voters and still not be unified enough to vote for this man who stands for nothing?Tim Miller at The Bulwark wrote, “Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Tx.) expressed dismay over his Republican colleagues’ opposition to McCarthy, calling their actions “petty” and “childish,” and venting about how they are more concerned about notoriety than governing…How might the new Republican conference have attracted these charlatans and con men and peacocking blowhards, I wonder?”Yes, prostrating themselves before Donald Trump for six plus years, including after he incited a domestic terrorist attack upon his own country in a desperate attempt to keep power, is a big reason why they can’t attract or keep anyone with integrity now. They attract the George Santos types now, and the Marjorie Taylor Greenes and the Lauren Boebert types. These are not serious people.Let’s go back to 2016 and Donald Trump. Back when the whole world found out that Trump was an admitted serial sexual assaulter, caught on tape bragging about it. He mocked a Gold Star family. He mocked a reporter with a disability. He did all of these things on video.Yet, all of these things were made acceptable — in an effort to use Donald Trump to keep power. People with a lot of power and money thought he was their ticket to getting things they wanted, like a tax cut for the rich. So, who was behind using Trump as a fake populist puppet to keep power? And what kind of base has been so primed for embracing an ideology that tells them it’s not only OK to hate and to do horrible things to others, but it is nothing to even feel bad about. A rejection of shame.The same base that fell in love with Sarah Palin in 2008, because she attacked then Senator Barack Obama with racist dog whistles, not in spite of, but because of. The same party that used Sarah Palin, another astroturfed, fake populist puppet, in an attempt to give presidential power to someone more mainstream Republican, like Senator John McCain.But the Palin monster ate McCain. She arguably cost him the election, and then left the Republican Party in tatters as she quit her job as Governor to travel the country with her grievance bus tour of botched history and raging resentment. Instead of turning their backs on her, they used her for every ounce of anger she could stir up in her Tea Party base, to weaponize them against affordable healthcare for the masses.Predictably, she melted down in a sea of antisemitic self-pity, claiming accusations against her were “Blood libel,” when her delusions about God picking her to be President didn’t pan out. Her Fox News hits dried up and reality TV show offers eventually withered into dust. See a trend there?This kind of degradation can happen with any political party. But all it takes to stop it is for the party to be willing to...]]>1048falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/we-all-deserve-better-than-this--52345858fear Republicans will leak names of national security personnel who work at the White House and who testified to help their country before the now disbanded U.S. House Select Committee’s 1/6 investigation.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and podcasts consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thompson and Cheney said in a letter to the White House that White House employees had “provided very important information for the Committee’s investigation” and have had their identities shielded, but warned that with the changeover, they can no longer “ensure enforcement of the commitment to maintain the confidentiality of the identity of the witnesses.” They have concern for “the safety, security, and reputations” of the witnesses.And who can blame them.We have all seen what happens to anyone who gets on the bad side of Donald Trump, but of course, this kind of political extremism and even terrorism isn’t relegated to just Trump supporters.There are extremists on both sides, but the extremists on the Right are responsible for most of the domestic terrorism we are currently experiencing, and they were also using these same tactics back during President Obama’s leadership. Let’s not allow this all to be laid at Trump’s feet. The Tea Party bringing machine guns to town halls to stop affordable healthcare wasn’t exactly a gesture of willingness to share power with the executive branch when they don’t hold it.But just based on the earlier testimony in the January 6th committee, we know that witnesses who cooperated will be targeted if their names are leaked.What would Republicans get out of leaking those names? Why would they jeopardize their own country? To further obstruct justice and send a message to anyone else even thinking of coming forward that they will be harassed, threatened, and even physically harmed. This party is operating more like an organized crime operation than a political party in a two-party democracy.In December, we learned that in her Sept. 14 deposition, former White House aide and assistant to former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows Cassidy Hutchinson was assigned a lawyer by the Trump team, who then took calls with New York Times’ “Trump whisperer” Maggie Haberman, even when Hutchinson asked him not to.Hutchinson said under oath that the same Trump lawyer who told her to lie, Stefan Passantino, said, "Don't worry. Like, Maggie's friendly to us. We'll be fine."Thank you for reading The Daily. This post is public so feel free to share it.Here’s that whole exchange from May 17th, when they were on their way to Hutchinson’s third interview. This is important because it shows how Trump lawyers appear to have used what they qualify as “friendly” media sources to let Trump know what had transpired in a witness’ interview and it is also the last time Passantino represented Hutchinson:So we’re going to the wharf and literally — I want to say maximum 2 minutes after we’re in the car, his phone starts to ring. I look over at his phone. We’re sitting, like, probably closer than Jody and I are sitting here, so maybe about a foot, foot and a half apart. His phone is ringing. I look down at his phone. It’s Maggie Haberman calling him. And I looked at Stefan, and I said, “Stefan, did you tell Maggie Haberman that we were meeting with the committee today?” And he’s like, “No, no. Maybe that’s not what she’s calling me about.” And I said, “Stefan, did you tell Maggie that we were meeting with the committee today?” And he said, “No, no, but I should probably answer to see if she knows, right? I should answer.” And I said, “Stefan, no. I don’t think you should answer that call. She probably wants to know if we met with the committee today.” He said, “Cass, I’m just going to answer. It will just be 2 seconds. I just want to find out what she’s going to talk to me about.” He answers. I can’t hear what she’s saying, but I hear Stefan say, “Yeah, yeah, we did just leave her third interview. You can put it out, but don’t — don’t — don’t — don’t make it too big of a deal. I don’t think she’ll want it to be too big of a deal. All right. Thanks.” And I said, “Stefan, was that Maggie Haberman asking about my interview?” And he said, “Yeah, but don’t worry. She’s not going to make it a big deal.” I said, “Stefan, I don’t want this out there.” He said, “Don’t worry. Like, Maggie’s friendly to us. We’ll be fine.” So I was just like, “Whatever.”Haberman followed this up with a tweet about Hutchinson’s appearance at her third deposition.Back in July, Cheney said several witnesses had been contacted ahead of questioning, including this message sent to Hutchinson in an apparent attempt to influence her testimony. They didn’t say at the time who had sent it, but it was later reported to have been sent by Mark Meadows to Hutchinson.“[A person] let me know you have your deposition tomorrow. He wants me to let you know that he’s thinking about you. He knows you’re loyal, and you’re going to do the right thing when you go in for your deposition.”If we put that in context with calling Haberman, we can see a very effective and well-oiled mob-esque pressure campaign. (Haberman might not be friendly to them and she most certainly didn’t report on these matters to help Trump pressure witnesses, but she was clearly used to do so.)The January 6th Committee pointed out that Trump and his lieutenants "engaged in at least 200 apparent acts of public or private outreach, pressure, or condemnation" regarding state officials to overturn the election results.Trump’s team contacted nearly 200 state legislators from battleground states to solicit support for overturning the election - at least some said they were on behalf of the president.On Jan 2, 2021 nearly 300 state legislators from battleground states participated in a private briefing with then President Trump, Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman and others.Before January 6th, there were other “opponents” who got targeted, including Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who made the courageous decision to share her experience of being sexually assaulted by Brett Kavanaugh years ago, only to have to move from her home and be unable to go to work.Okay, so we’ve established the pressure campaign, but you might be thinking that you don’t see national security risks yet. I would argue that a party enabling an attack on its own country is obviously a national security risk, in addition to the foreign interference and specifically Russian talking points the party had adopted against its own country and against Ukraine, starting in 2016 when they allowed Trump to alter their party platform in regard to Ukraine.But no, it gets worse.This is a moment that is simply stunning. We had heard of this in Bob Woodward’s book Peril, but it was confirmed in 1/6 Committee testimony. Speaker Pelosi asked the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs if the nuclear codes were safe because she feared the President was crazy and might use military power to hold power.From Milley's testimony regarding the January 8, 2021 call:Q: Yeah. What prompts her call is concern about the President's stability or mental health. She even says in the call, "You know he's crazy, don't you," and she is reported to have said, General Milley, that you agreed with her. You said: I agree a hundred percent with everything you've said. The one thing I can guarantee is that as the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, I want you to know, I want to you to know this in your heart of hearts. I can guarantee you 110 percent that the military, use of military power, whether it's nuclear or strike in a foreign country of any kind, we're not going to do anything illegal or crazy.You reassured her that, despite her concerns about the President's stability, the nuclear codes and the launch capacity has to go through this process, and you personally will ensure that nothing crazy, the word that you used, happens.A: That's right. And I was, you know, talking to the Speaker of the House.As you all are all aware, the current Speaker of the House is no longer the esteemed Nancy Pelosi. We don’t have one as of this recording, because Republicans are having a war among extremists to see who can seize the most power from the Speaker in order to misuse the power granted to the U.S. House of Representatives, to abuse that power to go after political opponents instead of doing the work they were ostensibly elected to do.Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund warns us in his new book “Courage Under Fire,” that the Capitol is still not safe from domestic terror attacks. This is coming from top law enforcement.Back to the House, the New York Times reported that Brazilian authorities intend to prosecute George “Jew-ish” Santos for fraud. These are the kinds of people that a healthy political party would reject. But Republican leadership can’t afford to give any members the boot, even if they attacked their own country and or tried to steal the votes from millions of Americans or defrauded people, because they only have a four-seat majority.None of this concern is hyperbole, I wish it were. I’ve been covering politics since 2010, and the Republican Party has only gotten worse in that time. Even Jake Sherman tweeted, “I']]>substack:post:94501247Tue, 03 Jan 2023 20:47:04 +0000Politicus RadioIncoming House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries described the Republican “circus” in Washington as “chaos, crisis, confusion, and craziness.”I’m afraid he is correct, but even worse, these folks represent a real national security threat. Not only are...fear Republicans will leak names of national security personnel who work at the White House and who testified to help their country before the now disbanded U.S. House Select Committee’s 1/6 investigation.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and podcasts consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thompson and Cheney said in a letter to the White House that White House employees had “provided very important information for the Committee’s investigation” and have had their identities shielded, but warned that with the changeover, they can no longer “ensure enforcement of the commitment to maintain the confidentiality of the identity of the witnesses.” They have concern for “the safety, security, and reputations” of the witnesses.And who can blame them.We have all seen what happens to anyone who gets on the bad side of Donald Trump, but of course, this kind of political extremism and even terrorism isn’t relegated to just Trump supporters.There are extremists on both sides, but the extremists on the Right are responsible for most of the domestic terrorism we are currently experiencing, and they were also using these same tactics back during President Obama’s leadership. Let’s not allow this all to be laid at Trump’s feet. The Tea Party bringing machine guns to town halls to stop affordable healthcare wasn’t exactly a gesture of willingness to share power with the executive branch when they don’t hold it.But just based on the earlier testimony in the January 6th committee, we know that witnesses who cooperated will be targeted if their names are leaked.What would Republicans get out of leaking those names? Why would they jeopardize their own country? To further obstruct justice and send a message to anyone else even thinking of coming forward that they will be harassed, threatened, and even physically harmed. This party is operating more like an organized crime operation than a political party in a two-party democracy.In December, we learned that in her Sept. 14 deposition, former White House aide and assistant to former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows Cassidy Hutchinson was assigned a lawyer by the Trump team, who then took calls with New York Times’ “Trump whisperer” Maggie Haberman, even when Hutchinson asked him not to.Hutchinson said under oath that the same Trump lawyer who told her to lie, Stefan Passantino, said, "Don't worry. Like, Maggie's friendly to us. We'll be fine."Thank you for reading The Daily. This post is public so feel free to share it.Here’s that whole exchange from May 17th, when they were on their way to Hutchinson’s third interview. This is important because it shows how Trump lawyers appear to have used what they qualify as “friendly” media sources to let Trump know what had transpired in a witness’ interview and it is also the last time Passantino represented Hutchinson:So we’re going to the wharf and literally — I want to say maximum 2 minutes after we’re in the car, his phone starts to ring. I look over at his phone. We’re sitting, like, probably closer than Jody and I are sitting here, so maybe about a foot, foot and a half apart. His phone is ringing. I look down at his phone. It’s Maggie Haberman calling him. And I...]]>1430falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/investigate-steve-mnuchin-s-potential-role-in-shielding-trump-s-tax-returns--52247444New York Times reported.After all of his claims of his taxes being audited, for some reason, the IRS that Trump weaponized against others did not even do its job to audit the president’s returns for two years.Trump repeatedly told John Kelly, his White House chief of staff, that he wanted the Internal Revenue Service to investigate his political foes, according to Kelly.Kelly said Trump wanted to “get the IRS on” former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and former FBI Director James Comey.McCabe and Comey were both picked by the Internal Revenue Service for a supposedly random yet invasive tax audit. In the interest of full disclosure, we at PoliticusUSA had two invasive yet random audits authorized on our company under Trump and were given no reason for the audits, which they claimed were just because they were interested in how digital media works. (The second audit was eventually canceled after they were told that they were auditing returns they had already audited.)So the government stopped doing the mandated IRS audits of Trump while auditing his enemies.This looks very directed. The question is by whom. Was it the IRS director? Trump’s Commissioner of Internal Revenue Charles Rettig was sworn in on October 1, 2018. His term expired on November 12, 2022. Charles Rettig did not take office until the end of 2018. So, it seems likely that it went even higher up (though Rettig might have also implemented direction to weaponize the government against Trump critics, which is also not okay).This leads us back to Trump’s Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who violated the law by taking the unprecedented action to lead the effort to block Trump’s tax returns following a Congressional request -- something he did for years.Mnuchin was in office from 2017 to 2021, one of the very few who made it an entire Trump presidential term. The Treasury Department oversees the IRS.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts/podcasts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Some background from CREW (my bold):When Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin blocked the release of then-President Trump’s tax returns, it was the first time the IRS failed to turn over tax returns following a congressional request, the IRS informed CREW. It is clear that then-Secretary Mnuchin’s actions to block Trump’s tax returns from scrutiny were unprecedented and against the law, and they have set the stage for the Janet Yellen-led Treasury Department to reverse course and release Trump’s taxes to Congress.The Internal Revenue Code says that, upon a written request of the Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, the Treasury Secretary shall [emphasis added] provide the committee with any return that it requests. House Ways and Means Chair Richard Neal did exactly that in 2019, requesting the IRS provide six years of Trump’s tax returns then issuing a subpoena when the IRS did not comply. Mnuchin famously defied the subpoena by refusing to provide the tax returns, stonewalling Congress for the rest of Trump’s time in office, leading the House to sue to get its subpoena enforced.So it’s established that Mnuchin’s actions to protect Trump’s tax returns were unprecedented and against the law. He also kept his job for Trump’s full term. Mnuchin’s role in the IRS failure to audit Trump’s taxes as mandated needs to be investigated.Republicans have been trying to make the argument that if Trump has to share his tax returns like every other president and presidential candidate since Nixon has done, then we will all be targets. But the truth is that under Trump, many of his critics were targets.Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) warned that if House Democrats release Trump’s tax returns, it could lead to the release of the tax returns of Supreme Court Justices (!!), which of course given Brett Kavanaugh’s massive debts disappearing and the sudden wealth of several of the justices, would be most welcome. So it’s odd that Republicans are trying \to use that to fearmonger about why we should not see Trump’s tax returns.We need to see a president’s tax returns for national security purposes and I would argue that for this same reason, we need to see Supreme Court Justices’ returns.Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) of the House Ways and Means Committee said that Trump’s tax returns suggest that he had tens of millions of dollars in unsubstantiated claims. Imagine what the fines would be on that amount of fraud if that happened.“I think you will see tens of millions of dollars in these returns that were claimed without adequate substantiation. The extent to which the IRS made an effort to get that substantiation, I invite you to look at the reports. But I think you’ll be surprised by how little there is, and I have my doubts that another taxpayer could go into audit and provide as little as was provided here and expect to have a completed audit. “The IRS is required to audit presidential tax returns. They didn’t audit Trump for two years. His critics got viciously audited with invasive audits. It’s time to investigate Steve Mnuchin for his potential role in this unlawful abuse of power by people in the Trump administration.This is Sarah Jones on the Politicus Pod for PoliticusUSA’s The Daily.

Get full access to The Daily at politicususa.substack.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:92106335Wed, 21 Dec 2022 16:22:32 +0000Politicus RadioTuesday night, Trump’s tax returns made headlines even before they were released. The first bombshell is the Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee said that the IRS didn't audit Trump’s personal tax returns during his first two years in...New York Times reported.After all of his claims of his taxes being audited, for some reason, the IRS that Trump weaponized against others did not even do its job to audit the president’s returns for two years.Trump repeatedly told John Kelly, his White House chief of staff, that he wanted the Internal Revenue Service to investigate his political foes, according to Kelly.Kelly said Trump wanted to “get the IRS on” former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and former FBI Director James Comey.McCabe and Comey were both picked by the Internal Revenue Service for a supposedly random yet invasive tax audit. In the interest of full disclosure, we at PoliticusUSA had two invasive yet random audits authorized on our company under Trump and were given no reason for the audits, which they claimed were just because they were interested in how digital media works. (The second audit was eventually canceled after they were told that they were auditing returns they had already audited.)So the government stopped doing the mandated IRS audits of Trump while auditing his enemies.This looks very directed. The question is by whom. Was it the IRS director? Trump’s Commissioner of Internal Revenue Charles Rettig was sworn in on October 1, 2018. His term expired on November 12, 2022. Charles Rettig did not take office until the end of 2018. So, it seems likely that it went even higher up (though Rettig might have also implemented direction to weaponize the government against Trump critics, which is also not okay).This leads us back to Trump’s Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who violated the law by taking the unprecedented action to lead the effort to block Trump’s tax returns following a Congressional request -- something he did for years.Mnuchin was in office from 2017 to 2021, one of the very few who made it an entire Trump presidential term. The Treasury Department oversees the IRS.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts/podcasts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Some background from CREW (my bold):When Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin blocked the release of then-President Trump’s tax returns, it was the first time the IRS failed to turn over tax returns following a congressional request, the IRS informed CREW. It is clear that then-Secretary Mnuchin’s actions to block Trump’s tax returns from scrutiny were unprecedented and against the law, and they have set the stage for the Janet Yellen-led Treasury Department to reverse course and release Trump’s taxes to Congress.The...]]>1013falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/no-former-president-has-ever-been-criminally-referred-by-congress-for-prosecution-until-now--52238245ratings “in the ballpark of big television events like a ‘Sunday Night Football’ games” and more than a million documents, a 154-page “executive summary” report was released on Monday and the conclusion was: All January 6th roads lead to Donald Trump. Without Trump, January 6th, 2021 would not have happened.Every president in American history has defended the orderly transfer of power, “except one,” Liz Cheney said. And thus, a bipartisan select committee referred Donald J. Trump on at least 4 criminal charges.This is a historic moment. A former president has never been referred for criminal charges by Congress before. The charges are at least obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, making false statements and or conspiracy to submit false statements to the government related to the fake elector scheme and assisting or aiding an insurrection.The attack on the United States Capitol was vintage Trump: It was based on repeated lies about an election he lost by over 7 million votes, yet another attempt to make image matter over reality. Trump did nothing to help lawmakers and then Vice President Pence who were under attack and whose lives were being threatened. He sat in the dining room watching the violence unfold and did nothing.New evidence offered Monday included the fact that Trump allies had invoked the fifth when asked to provide proof of their claims about a “stolen election.” Also, Trump aide Hope Hicks told the committee that Trump told her, “The only thing that matters is winning” and Ivanka Trump was identified as one of several senior White House officials whose testimony was not “entirely frank or forthcoming.”Trump’s signature mob “leadership” style was touched on again as the committee recommended that the Justice Department should look into whether Trump allies committed a criminal offense by interfering with an official proceeding due to their repeated contacts with witnesses. We first heard about witness tampering last summer, but on Monday Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) shared yet another attempt at witness tampering. Bribing or threatening or paying legal fees are all Trump-stamped ways of handling legal messes he gets into, including the Mueller investigation.“We’ve learned that a (witness) was offered potential employment that would make her, quote, ‘financially very comfortable’ as the date of her testimony approached, by entities that were apparently linked to Donald Trump and his associates. These offers were withdrawn or didn’t materialize as reports of the content of her testimony circulated. The witness believed this was an effort to affect her testimony, and we are concerned that these efforts may have been a strategy to prevent the committee from finding the truth.”Obstruction of justice might just be re-labeled “Trump Cope.”  Throughout his “career” as a lucky person, who inherited enough money to never learn how to actually conduct business, Trump has used lawyers as his personal thugs.  As soon as he took office, he continued on in the White House as he ran his property and brand rackets.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and podcasts consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.So his henchmen interfered in the Mueller investigation. And then they interfered in the first impeachment by finally supplying what they called a transcript, but wasn’t actually a transcript but rather a memo of one of his calls with Ukrainian President Zelensky (Trump claimed there was a second call that he implied had taped but this was never released).  That call, attempting to extort Zelensky to manufacture dirt on Trump’s Democratic rival Joe Biden, led to his first impeachment.We also see Trump’s penchant for obstruction in the lies he told in response to a subpoena about the top secret documents he stole and lied about having and then lied about returning. Obstruct obstruct obstruct. That is how Trump has escaped justice his entire life.Has that finally come to an end?Trump refused to appear to the committee to defend himself, although he regularly claims that they shut him out, he was actually invited to speak via a subpoena, which he sued the committee over - and again, obstructed. Trump did not show up. His lawyers claimed "absolute testimonial immunity,” which is not a thing for a violent coup that was not related to Trump’s duties as President.The committee was very careful to not allow Trumpworld to use the committee’s televised hearings to spread further propaganda, and this frustrated some witnesses who claimed that they weren’t allowed to tell their side.  But, it’s likely Trump has always known he can refuse to speak on the record when it could have consequences, while telling his cult a completely different story, and they will continue to pay him.Trump said in response on Truth Social, “These folks don’t get it that when they come after me, people who love freedom rally around me.  It strengthens me. What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.”Trump supporters have not only committed violence for him, but they have threatened a Civil War if he is prosecuted. In this light, we not only need some entity of our government to finally stand up to Trump and his vigilante militia of criminals, but we also need to examine his consistent enablers, including the quiet ones.Senator Mitch McConnell said at Trump’s second impeachment trial over this violent self-coup attack, “There’s no question—none—that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.” He repeated this sentiment yesterday saying, “The entire nation knows who is responsible for that day. Beyond that, I don’t have any immediate observations.”Lest we get the false notion that Republicans have found a spine just because they didn’t rally to the defense of the man who just hurt them politically in the midterms, revealing his own weakness as a party leader, McConnell has failed to be accountable for his no vote against conviction of Trump for the exact same insurrection. At the time, McConnell claimed some kind of made-up exception having to do with the fact that it was January and soon Trump wouldn’t be in office, so impeachment was irrelevant. That, of course, is almost as flimsy as his excuse for refusing to bring President Obama’s Supreme Court Justice up for a vote for almost a full year.Mitch McConnell punted Donald Trump’s alleged crimes upon his own country. McConnell didn’t feel compelled to do his basic duty to protect this country and her people by voting to convict on something he clearly knows happened and holds Trump responsible for. That failure has led to more violence and more threats. It has kept the door open for Trump to run again. It has put all of the burden on the Biden Department of Justice, when it could have been done at that second impeachment.After all of the evidence and 17 months of investigation, Liz Cheney pronounced Trump “unfit for any office.” But Mike Pence, whose life was threatened, told Fox News’ Bill Hemmer he hopes they don’t bring charges against Trump because it would be “terribly divisive."In reality, it would be divisive not to bring charges and it would embolden the use of terrorism to achieve political ends. A coup trying to steal the votes of millions of people is “divisive.” It is wrong to treat it as something people should just get over.Speaker Pelosi said in a statement sent to PoliticusUSA of the criminal referrals, “With painstaking detail, this executive s]]>substack:post:91872039Tue, 20 Dec 2022 15:35:06 +0000Politicus RadioIf you like what you’re hearing, give me a follow on Post.News at PoliticusSarah and subscribe to our newsletter so you don’t miss any episodes.No former president has ever been criminally referred by Congress for prosecution. Until now.“That evidence...ratings “in the ballpark of big television events like a ‘Sunday Night Football’ games” and more than a million documents, a 154-page “executive summary” report was released on Monday and the conclusion was: All January 6th roads lead to Donald Trump. Without Trump, January 6th, 2021 would not have happened.Every president in American history has defended the orderly transfer of power, “except one,” Liz Cheney said. And thus, a bipartisan select committee referred Donald J. Trump on at least 4 criminal charges.This is a historic moment. A former president has never been referred for criminal charges by Congress before. The charges are at least obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, making false statements and or conspiracy to submit false statements to the government related to the fake elector scheme and assisting or aiding an insurrection.The attack on the United States Capitol was vintage Trump: It was based on repeated lies about an election he lost by over 7 million votes, yet another attempt to make image matter over reality. Trump did nothing to help lawmakers and then Vice President Pence who were under attack and whose lives were being threatened. He sat in the dining room watching the violence unfold and did nothing.New evidence offered Monday included the fact that Trump allies had invoked the fifth when asked to provide proof of their claims about a “stolen election.” Also, Trump aide Hope Hicks told the committee that Trump told her, “The only thing that matters is winning” and Ivanka Trump was identified as one of several senior White House officials whose testimony was not “entirely frank or forthcoming.”Trump’s signature mob...]]>1255falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-1-6-committee-is-only-the-beginning-of-trump-s-brutal-week--52632758

On Monday, the January 6th Committee is meeting at 1 PM, and reportedly plans to issue at least three criminal referrals against Trump, according to an NBC exclusive, including inciting or assisting in an insurrection, obstructing an official proceeding, and conspiracy to defraud the government. But the nightmare doesn’t end there for Trump.On Tuesday, the Ways and Means Committee is meeting to discuss his tax returns and what they will release.On Wednesday, the January 6th Committee will release its report.

Get full access to The Daily at politicususa.substack.com/subscribe]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/52228120Mon, 19 Dec 2022 15:55:36 +0000Politicus RadioDonald Trump has a very bad week ahead. Very very very bad. On Monday, the January 6th Committee is meeting at 1 PM, and reportedly plans to issue at least three criminal referrals against Trump, according to an NBC exclusive, including inciting or...

On Monday, the January 6th Committee is meeting at 1 PM, and reportedly plans to issue at least three criminal referrals against Trump, according to an NBC exclusive, including inciting or assisting in an insurrection, obstructing an official proceeding, and conspiracy to defraud the government. But the nightmare doesn’t end there for Trump.On Tuesday, the Ways and Means Committee is meeting to discuss his tax returns and what they will release.On Wednesday, the January 6th Committee will release its report.

Get full access to The Daily at politicususa.substack.com/subscribe]]>575falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-1-6-committee-is-only-the-beginning-of-trump-s-brutal-week--52228120

On Monday, the January 6th Committee is meeting at 1 PM, and reportedly plans to issue at least three criminal referrals against Trump, according to an NBC exclusive, including inciting or assisting in an insurrection, obstructing an official proceeding, and conspiracy to defraud the government. But the nightmare doesn’t end there for Trump.On Tuesday, the Ways and Means Committee is meeting to discuss his tax returns and what they will release.On Wednesday, the January 6th Committee will release its report.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/52228120Mon, 19 Dec 2022 15:55:36 +0000Politicus RadioDonald Trump has a very bad week ahead. Very very very bad. On Monday, the January 6th Committee is meeting at 1 PM, and reportedly plans to issue at least three criminal referrals against Trump, according to an NBC exclusive, including inciting or...

On Monday, the January 6th Committee is meeting at 1 PM, and reportedly plans to issue at least three criminal referrals against Trump, according to an NBC exclusive, including inciting or assisting in an insurrection, obstructing an official proceeding, and conspiracy to defraud the government. But the nightmare doesn’t end there for Trump.On Tuesday, the Ways and Means Committee is meeting to discuss his tax returns and what they will release.On Wednesday, the January 6th Committee will release its report.]]>5151/6committee,donaldtrump,trump,trumptaxesfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-1-6-committee-is-only-the-beginning-of-trump-s-brutal-week--52228439substack:post:91644002Mon, 19 Dec 2022 15:40:58 +0000Politicus RadioIf you like what you’re hearing, give me a follow on Post.News and subscribe to our Substack newsletter so you don’t miss any episodes.Donald Trump has a very bad week ahead. Very very very bad. On Monday, the January 6th Committee is meeting at 1...515falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/rudy-giuliani-s-girlfriend-and-the-ghoulish-fascist-desperation-to-overturn-an-election--52195390https://www.factcheck.org/2020/11/thin-allegations-of-dead-people-voting/2.    https://www.politicususa.com/2022/04/12/stunning-new-report-reveals-trump-administration-used-dhs-to-conduct-cyber-audit-of-arizona-at-request-of-one-state-rep.html3.    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/18/us/politics/senate-intelligence-russian-interference-report.html4.    https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/report_volume5.pdf5.    https://vademocrats.org/news/czar-cooch-lets-look-at-how-ken-cuccinelli-embarrassed-virginia/ Get full access to The Daily at politicususa.substack.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:90745330Thu, 15 Dec 2022 14:51:36 +0000Politicus RadioThank you for reading The Daily. This post is public so feel free to share it.You can file this under: Projection, Desperation, Gaslighting, and Sweating Hair Dye.Before we get into these new text messages, let’s start off with a reminder that a...790falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/tis-the-season-to-save-democracy--52185079https://www.politicususa.com/2022/12/13/donald-trump-jr-overturn-election.html3.   https://www.collins.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/one_pager_on_electoral_count_reform_act_of_2022.pdf4.   https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/13/electoral-count-act-reform-trump-2024-coup-maga/5.   https://talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/inside-team-trumps-chaotic-attempts-to-overturn-the-2020-vote-in-georgia* https://www.lwv.org/blog/reforming-electoral-count-act Get full access to The Daily at politicususa.substack.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:90524776Wed, 14 Dec 2022 14:12:17 +0000Politicus RadioOh, optimism, how we’ve missed you! Let’s unpack.Last night we learned the unsurprising and yet thoroughly unacceptable fact that Donald Trump, Jr was behind plan to use state legislators to overturn the 2020 election results.Jason Easley wrote in...528falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-moral-depravity-infecting-the-republican-party--52177674https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/12/greene-jan6-white-house-armed-insurrection/* https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/22/us/parkland-shooting-marjorie-taylor-greene/index.html* https://www.politicususa.com/2022/12/12/marjorie-taylor-greene-white-house-1-6.html* December 12, 2022 White House press briefing sent to PoliticusUSA Get full access to The Daily at politicususa.substack.com/subscribe]]>substack:post:90412823Tue, 13 Dec 2022 18:56:27 +0000Politicus RadioThe Moral Depravity Infecting the Republican PartyRepublican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was caught bragging that if she and Steve Bannon had planned the attack on the January 6th United States, they would have won because they would have...1230falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/harry-and-meghan-s-netflix-series-exposes-the-media-behind-the-hate--52150016substack:post:89860335Sat, 10 Dec 2022 21:49:18 +0000Politicus RadioIf you enjoy this podcast, please consider subscribing to our newsletter.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.This is Sarah Jones on the Politicus Pod for...1261falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/twitter-is-putting-the-right-s-adoration-of-hitler-on-display-for-the-world--52088491substack:post:88242326Sat, 03 Dec 2022 20:50:20 +0000Politicus RadioThis podcast would not be possible without the support of our subscribers, so if you are enjoying my work, please think about subscribing.In history, on April 1, 1924: Adolf Hitler is sentenced for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch (apologies for...1167falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/we-the-people-first-lady-jill-biden-s-holiday-theme-and-the-defense-of-democracy--52037806substack:post:87383062Mon, 28 Nov 2022 20:57:47 +0000Politicus RadioIf you enjoy this podcast, consider becoming a subscriber:After the last seven years, it is noteworthy when our President and First Lady show compassion and care for the American people, and even the country herself. So today I want to share First...671falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-era-of-the-bloviating-narcissistic-billionaire-is-heavy-upon-us--52023503substack:post:87053850Sun, 27 Nov 2022 16:41:30 +0000Politicus RadioOlga Tokarczuk's Nobel Lecture: The Tender Narrator, Dec 2019, edited for brevity:…I’m often troubled by the feeling that there is something missing in the world―that by experiencing it through glass screens, and through apps, somehow it becomes...1519falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/a-mandate-for-democracy-and-freedom--51995696substack:post:86402422Wed, 23 Nov 2022 18:55:57 +0000Politicus RadioPresident Biden has been given a mandate by the voters. It’s time for Democrats to boldly seize that power for the sake of democracy and freedom.Democratic s after the blue wave midterms, while Trump took a hit, a USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll found. “The...1103falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/time-to-stand-up-to-an-out-of-control-supreme-court--52632759
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Get full access to The Daily at politicususa.substack.com/subscribe]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/16128106Sat, 03 Nov 2018 19:13:05 +0000Politicus RadioI went to the Tree of Life Synagogue on Friday to follow up on the horrific slaughter of eleven innocent Jewish people by a man with an AR-15-style assault rifle and at least three handguns who shouted anti-Semitic hate as he was shooting, and I was...
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Get full access to The Daily at politicususa.substack.com/subscribe]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/12176842Wed, 21 Jun 2017 18:34:48 +0000Politicus RadioDemocrats barely lost 4 special elections, but the real prize that they should be looking towards is killing Trumpcare in the Senate. Get full access to The Daily at https://politicususa.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4
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Get full access to The Daily at politicususa.substack.com/subscribe]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/10363439Sun, 22 Jan 2017 20:59:33 +0000Politicus RadioThe millions who marched at the Women's March On Washington represent the force that could bring down Trump's presidency. Get full access to The Daily at https://politicususa.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4
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