After learning that Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, were murdered by their son, Trump unleashed an attack on the Reiners that was so loathsome it repulsed leading members of the MAGA movement. Although we are still learning details, the tragic murder of the Reiners by a long-troubled son is an experience that speaks to all Americans, especially those who understand the struggle of raising children afflicted by addiction and mental health challenges.
As GOP Rep. Stephanie Bice posted in response to Trump’s attack on Reiner,
A father and mother were murdered at the hands of their troubled son. We should be lifting the family up in prayer, not making this about politics.
No one in America labors under misconceptions about Trump’s lack of empathy and compulsive need for attention. Everyone understands that he is cruel, heartless, and vainglorious. Indeed, many of his supporters are drawn to him because he exhibits those qualities without shame or reservation. Still, his vile outburst over the murder of a beloved entertainer and advocate for democracy provoked a moment of shocking moral clarity that exposed the essence of Trump’s malevolence as never before.
Peering into the bottomless evil of a man’s soul can be a harrowing experience. On Monday, Americans stared into the pitch darkness of Trump’s soul and recoiled in disgust and horror.
He is a twisted and malicious man. We knew that. We suspected his depravity was boundless. His Monday post confirmed that fact with an economy and precision that is rare in a political world that runs on evasion and double-speak.
Even after he was blasted by his staunchest (former) allies in Congress, Trump refused to confess error. Instead, he doubled down. See What Did Donald Trump Do Today (Substack), Another Nightmare Oval Office Freakshow.
Per the What Did Trump Do Today,
The most damning moment in the [Oval Office] Q&A was the one he invited by his own earlier behavior: Asked whether he stood by his Truth Social post about Rob Reiner’s death, Trump doubled down.
He didn’t pivot, regret, or soften; he leaned into contempt—Reiner was “deranged,” “very bad for our country,” “behind” the Russia investigation—re-litigating old grudges as if that justified posting something grotesque in response to someone’s death.
That exchange summarized the moral rot of the whole performance: the presidency as a megaphone for personal vendetta, and grief as just another arena for dominance. Instead of acknowledging that his post was cruel and inappropriate, he treated the question like a loyalty test: If you don’t share his hatred, you’re part of the “derangement.”
Some Republicans at the margins are “tapping out,” exiting the ring because they have seen enough and had enough. See Ben Jacobs in Slate, Republicans Are Mad About Trump’s Awful Rob Reiner Post. Something Is Changing Here.
Per Jacobs,
Donald Trump isn’t going away anytime soon. . . . But it’s clear he is slowly but surely diminished as his approval ratings approach all-time lows, and as Democrats have so far overperformed in almost every election held during his second term.
The result is that Republicans are less willing to excuse the inexcusable, like his post about Reiner. Even if he’s still an incumbent popular among the GOP faithful, Trump is no longer the political juggernaut he was only months ago.
The downward spiral in Trump’s approval ratings is finally peeling away MAGA faithful. See USA Today, Trump approval rating down among MAGA base in new opinion poll
Among Republicans who still identify more strongly with the MAGA movement than the Republican Party, Trump’s approval rating has declined from 78% to 70% since April. Among Republicans who view their first loyalty as belonging to the Republican Party, those who “strongly approve” of Trump have dropped from 38% to 35%.
As Trump demonstrated in the Oval Office on Monday, those who criticize or cringe in response to his behavior are identified by Trump as “part of the problem.” Such an approach is self-defeating, because it turns doubting Republicans into enemies. See, e.g., Marjorie Taylor Greene.
While Trump bears much of the responsibility for his quickly shrinking base, we cannot overlook the impact of grassroots opposition over the last eleven months. See Concluding Thoughts, where I reflect on the role of the grassroots movement in helping us reach this point—and the challenging road that lies ahead.
Vote on the GOP Healthcare package on Wednesday
Trump isn’t alone in trying to alienate the MAGA base. On Wednesday, Speaker Mike Johnson will introduce a GOP healthcare proposal that will effectively restrict the availability of healthcare for those Americans who need it most: those with preexisting conditions. And as a special year-end slap in the face, the GOP bill will not extend the premium subsidies that allowed tens of millions of Americans to obtain healthcare. See Politico, Capitol agenda: House GOP at the Obamacare cliff.
Per Politico,
The proposal — a narrowly-focused attempt at striking consensus in a divided GOP conference — doesn’t include an extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits that lapse on Dec. 31.
Instead, leadership is expected to throw a bone to anxious rank-and-file members by giving them the chance to vote on an amendment that would continue the subsidies — a vote that’s almost guaranteed to fail.
To clarify, vulnerable Republicans will be allowed to vote on an amendment extending the ACA subsidies, knowing that the vote will fail. They can then claim they tried to preserve the subsidies. But those same vulnerable Republicans voted for the Big Ugly Bill in July, which eliminated the ACA subsidies to pay for tax cuts for billionaires and corporations.
Unique incompetence of Kash Patel as FBI Director
It has never happened in the history of the FBI that the Director was so incompetent that he was a hindrance to the ability of the FBI to perform its job. (Hoover was corrupt, not incompetent.)
Kash Patel’s immature compulsion to run the FBI by posting to social media has interfered with the efforts to apprehend the killer in the Brown University shooting.
The FBI forwarded a tip to the Providence police, who detained a suspect based on the FBI’s tip. Kash Patel announced on Twitter that an arrest had been made, and someone in the Providence police department leaked the suspect’s name to the press. The name spread like wildfire across the internet. At which point the Providence police released the suspect—because (apparently) they arrested the wrong person. See Inquisitr, Kash Patel makes another major error on Brown University shooting.
Patel committed the same mistake in the investigation of the Charlie Kirk assassination. FBI Director Kash Patel Does Not Regret That Charlie Kirk Tweet
This is what happens when you appoint an unqualified political hack to a position that requires a trusted leader. Patel is bringing dishonor and shame to the FBI with every misstep. He should get out of the way and allow the career professionals to do their jobs without interference from an incompetent, cosplaying clown.
California is setting up “shadow CDC” after Robert Kennedy turns the real CDC into an anti-vaxxer propaganda outlet
Robert Kennedy has decimated the CDC by replacing the leadership of the agency with unqualified anti-vaxxer propagandists. Meanwhile, South Carolina is experiencing a major measles outbreak because of declining vaccination rates. See Common Dreams, As RFK Pushes Vaccine Misinformation, Measles Cases Surge in South Carolina.
Per Common Dreams,
More than 1,900 measles cases and 47 outbreaks have been reported across the country in 2025, compared with 285 cases across 16 outbreaks last year.
In South Carolina, more than 250 people have been exposed to the disease in schools, a healthcare facility, and a church, forcing dozens of unvaccinated children to quarantine for 21 days; some were exposed twice and had to be isolated for two separate three-week periods.
Public health experts consider a 95% vaccination rate to be the level at which the spread of measles can be eliminated in a community. . . . Across South Carolina, MMR vaccination rates among schoolchildren has fallen significantly since 2020, from 96% to 93.5%.
As Kennedy is pushing infectious disease science back to the 1800s, California is stepping up to fill the expertise gap. Governor Newsom created the Public Health Network Innovation Exchange (PHNIX), which will “modernize the state’s public health infrastructure and serve as a direct response to the Trump administration’s dismantling of public health safeguards.” See The Guardian, Newsom appoints ex-CDC officials to lead California’s new public health network.
Newsom has hired two senior leaders from the CDC after they were fired by Kennedy. It appears that Newsom is establishing something like a “shadow CDC” to provide a home for former CDC leaders. While it will take years to rebuild the CDC, California and other states are stepping in to fill the gap.
Opportunities for Reader Engagement.
I sat down with Jim Shelton, an advisor to 31st Street Swing Left, to discuss the role of grassroots organizations helping to fund key races at the state and federal levels. As noted previously, I am talking with leaders of different fundraising organizations in an effort to answer the most frequent question I receive from readers: “How can I best direct my donations to help defend democracy and ensure victory for Democrats in 2026 and 2028?”
Check out my chat with Jim, here:
Join Focus for Democracy on Wednesday at 5 Pacific / 8 Eastern
This Wednesday, December 17th, at 5 PM PT/8 PM ET, Focus for Democracy will share the most effective actions we can take right now to shape the outcome of the 2026 elections.
As we look ahead to the midterms, it’s becoming clearer that working-class voters will be the swing constituency. This session will take a look at how the working-class vote has shifted in recent elections, where it appears to be moving now, and why these voters are uniquely persuadable.
Wednesday, December 17th
5 PM PT/8 PM ET
Register at this link.
Concluding Thoughts
I subscribe to Indivisible’s informative and inspiring weekly update. (Subscribe here) In this week’s edition, Leah Greenberg (co-founder of Indivisible) reviews the efforts of the resistance since January 2025, the recent string of Democratic successes, and the emerging resistance to Trump from within the party. Greenberg writes:
Let’s be clear: This sweeping repudiation of Trump by his own party didn’t come out of nowhere.
It wouldn’t have happened back in February or June, when Trump’s approval ratings were still hovering in the 40s.
It wouldn’t have happened before the massive No Kings rallies, including in Indiana.
It wouldn’t have happened before the MAGA coalition cracked over Epstein, before the shutdown cratered Trump’s approval numbers, or before the 2025 off-year elections and TN-07 scared the crap out of Republican legislators everywhere.
Nationwide defiance laid the foundation for last Wednesday in Indiana.
This is what it looks like when a would-be dictator tries to bully his way into power – and fails. It’s a sign that rule-by-fear is breaking down. It’s a flashing warning light that the wheels are coming off the fascism bus.
The resistance is widening the cracks in a coalition held together by fear of a failing dictator. Defeating Trump and MAGA extremism is not pre-ordained, nor will it be easy. Leah Greenberg writes,
We should also be clear that a wounded authoritarian is incredibly dangerous. We know more harm and more horror are coming. No one can afford to ease up.
Three things are true: First, Trump is stuck in a feedback loop of callous disregard for everything that does not enrich him. Second, Trump’s reprehensible and out-of-touch conduct is weakening the MAGA coalition. Finally, we must work harder than ever to hasten its collapse and dissolution.
But it feels good to look forward to the hard work of reclaiming democracy with six weeks of Democratic success (and Trump repudiations) under our belts! Keep up the good work!
Talk to you tomorrow!
Pro-democracy protest photos
Maple Grove, MN:
After experiencing temperatures of 16 below zero, we decided to take advantage of a balmy 14° and set up our handmade sign again. We were thrilled to get 214 honks in just over an hour.
We went to warm up at a coffee shop, and there was a gentleman there who had seen us on the street corner and even bought us a mocha as a thank you.
We always feel really good after protesting and know that we are doing our part to save democracy and be on the right side of History when this is all over.
Eugene, Oregon
Hi, Robert. I’m out on the bridge again to support the one, and the all. It’s currently not raining, but I brought an umbrella just in case! Catherine in Eugene, Oregon
Mendocino coast, CA
Reaching for some antidote to strengthen me as I absorb the news of this weekend’s devastating violence, I open up the photos from this Saturday’s rally. I look back on our Saturday determination and good humor, our compassion. It’s a good reminder: there is good out there and in us. May peace and goodness prevail. Signs and spirit by Mendocino Coast people, Dec. 13, 2025. Photos by Bob Dominy.
Daily Dose of Perspective
Below is a globular cluster of stars, probably M3 (I neglected to include the object information when I transferred the photo from my telescope to my computer). Assuming the object is M3, it contains about 500,000 stars and is located about 34,000 light-years from Earth.
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