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The news environment is wild. Just wild. However, we have the momentum, and we must continue to capitalize on our advantage at every turn. My closing lines in yesterday’s newsletter were these:
The renewed sense of optimism you are feeling is real—even as the going is getting tougher. That’s a good sign! Once more into the breach, my friends!
In this wild environment, people are looking for leaders to follow. Be that leader! If you lead the charge into the breach, people will follow because they are fed up, angry, and prepared to reclaim democracy by every lawful means possible!
In a chaotic, noisy environment, be the signal in the noise, manifest calm and confidence, and provide steady, disciplined leadership to people who may be anxious or frightened. They will be grateful for your leadership, and your nation will be grateful that you rallied citizen patriots to its defense!
We should lead the charge with confidence, knowing that we have turned the tide. Trump is increasing the volume and frenzy of his political retribution tour because he is panic-stricken.
As Trump unleashes the “hounds of hell” from the DOJ on his political adversaries, he is virtually guaranteeing that every indictment will be dismissed for vindictive prosecution. Rather than “show trials,” he will end up with short-lived “show indictments” that will be quickly dismissed, assuming he can convince additional grand juries to indict on non-existent evidence in the first instance. See HuffPo, Donald Trump’s Mouth May Bring A Quick End To Charges Against Comey.
He is reflexively leaning into bad economic news caused by tariffs by imposing more tariffs! See NJ.com, Trump just announced a slew of new tariffs: Here’s what could cost you more.
He is trying to assuage angry farmers in Iowa by saying that he will use illegal tariff receipts—the cause of China’s boycott of their crops—to compensate them (partially) for their losses. See Bloomberg, Trump Says Tariff Revenue Will Fund Relief for US Farmers.
Here’s the problem with Trump’s idiotic idea: The tariffs are illegal and will be ordered refunded, and Trump doesn’t control how the tariffs will be spent (they go into the US Treasury, a great big pot of money controlled by Congress).
He is trying to dodge the release of the Epstein files by keeping the House in recess! See New York Magazine, Mike Johnson May Want a Government Shutdown to Avoid Epstein Files Vote.
And with each passing day, the panic over releasing the files is increasing. Epstein’s estate released a second batch of documents to the House Oversight Committee. The newest batch includes high-profile names: See HuffPo, Musk, Thiel And Bannon Mentioned In Latest Epstein Files From Oversight Committee.
The Epstein scandal isn’t going away, and the longer it drags out, the worse it is for those Republicans who are prolonging the cover-up.
Trump believes he will blackmail Democrats into voting for a continuing resolution by threatening to fire thousands of federal employees. But the stated grounds for firing will be that the employees are engaged in work “not consistent with the president’s priorities.” Hardly seems like anyone fired on that ground will blame the Democrats.
In fact, we should stop talking about who will be “blamed” for a shutdown. The funding deadline raises a constitutional crisis that goes to the heart of Congress’s power of the purse. Trump refuses to spend money as directed by Congress. That is a major violation of the Constitution that justifies impeachment, conviction, and removal.
Trump’s ongoing constitutional violation does NOT justify Democrats caving to Trump by saying, “Oh well! Trump might be acting unconstitutionally, but if we try to restrain him, people will blame us.”
Sometimes, people get mad at you for doing the right thing. Democrats must do the right thing, even if voters blame them for the shutdown.
Deciding who will get the “blame” is an inside-the-beltway, consultant-speak, coward’s way out of facing the fact that we have a constitutional crisis, and the only leverage Democrats have is filibustering the GOP continuing resolution in the Senate. If Democrats give up the leverage of the filibuster over the budget, they are potted plants—background decorations in Congress with no relevance.
Finally, on Friday, the Jimmy Kimmel free speech rout of Trump continued apace. Two of the largest owners of local affiliate stations relented and agreed to resume broadcasting Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night program. Market Watch, Sinclair, Nexstar end boycott of Jimmy Kimmel show.
Both Sinclair Broadcasting and Nexstar had refused to resume broadcasting Kimmel’s program because they wanted to remain in Trump’s good graces. Sinclair is a MAGA-supporting corporation, and Nexstar is seeking regulatory relief from the Trump administration to purchase more local affiliates.
However, viewers in the Sinclair and Nexstar markets, deprived of the Kimmel program, began boycott campaigns aimed at the largest advertisers on the Sinclair and Nexstar stations.
Per the NYTimes, Sinclair said that it had “received thoughtful feedback from viewers, advertisers, and community leaders representing a wide range of perspectives.” Anyone with a high-school diploma can decode that statement: “Our customers and advertisers screamed at us until we relented.”
There was one bad piece of news on Friday: The Supreme Court again granted Trump emergency relief on its shadow docket, allowing Trump to continue withholding $4 billion in foreign aid funds that Congress ordered to be spent in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025. See WSJ, Supreme Court Allows Trump to Withhold $4 Billion in Foreign Aid.
The Supreme Court has simply abandoned the Constitution. When Democrats take control of Congress and the presidency, they must radically expand the Supreme Court so that a new majority on the Court can begin methodically rolling back every illegal decision by the Roberts Court.
Opportunities for Reader Engagement
Force Multiplier event for Roy Cooper, candidate for US Senate in North Carolina
Join Force Multiplier on Zoom to meet NC Governor Roy Cooper, our best chance to flip a Senate Seat in 2026 and narrow the Republican majority. Governor Cooper, a two-term governor and four-term attorney general of North Carolina, is running for the open seat vacated by retiring Republican Senator Thom Tillis. Cooper has been beating Republicans in elections since 1985, when he first ran for the North Carolina House. He has held elected state positions since then, until his retirement from the Governor’s office in 2025.
Electing Roy Cooper to the US Senate can help narrow the Republican majority and build power for the Democrats in the Senate. North Carolina is a key state, and we are lucky that former Congressman and current NC Attorney General Jeff Jackson will join us for the last 15 minutes to talk about protecting the elections in NC. Join us on Monday September 29 from 7:30-8:30 pm ET. Register and Donate HERE
Join Senate Circle for Alaska 907 Initiative, with special guest US Representative Mary Peltola.
Please join *Senate Circle*and 31st St Swing Left on Thursday, October 9th at 7 pm ET/4pm PT for a fundraiser for Alaska’s 907 Initiative with special guest former Alaska, At-Large, US Representative Mary Peltola.
We will hear from Aubrey Wieber, the 907 Initiative’s Executive Director, on their work holding Republican US Senator Dan Sullivan accountable on key issues where he fails Alaskans, including voting against releasing the Epstein files; cutting Medicaid to give tax-breaks to himself and other members of the ultra-wealthy; and, being against reproductive rights in pro-choice Alaska.
Readers of this newsletter helped launch the 907 Initiative‘s accountability work on Sullivan in 2023. Please join for an update and help expand it. My friend, Jessica Craven, of Chop Wood, Carry Water, will moderate*.* Please RSVP for the event on Mobilize and donate to the 907 Initiative here. Donations are matched.
Concluding Thoughts
Throughout the day on Friday, I received emails from readers who were nervous over Pete Hegseth’s gathering of all generals from all branches of the US military for a meeting in Virginia this weekend. Although the existence and unprecedented scale of the meeting were leaked to the press, the purpose was not.
Internet speculation filled the vacuum left by the lack of actual news. Soon, readers were forwarding me social media posts claiming that Hegseth was going to inform the generals that Trump was declaring martial law.
New reporting suggests that Hegseth will use the 400+ generals as props for a video of a speech he will give on the “warrior ethos” in the military. See The Daily Beast, Hegseth’s Self-Centered Reason for Calling in Generals Leaks.
Per The Daily Beast,
In the speech, Hegseth will reportedly discuss the Trump administration’s reinvention of the Defense Department as the “Department of War” and address new readiness, fitness and grooming standards.
As it was put to CNN, the “guys with the stars on their shoulders make for a better audience from an optics standpoint.”
Wow! Now it makes sense that Hegseth wanted to spend $40,000 on a make-up room at the Pentagon! Think of all the money taxpayers could save by having the generals’ hair and makeup done in a central location!
Here’s a better way to save money: Don’t fly 400 generals and their staff from all over the world to serve as props in a vanity video for Hegseth. If Hegseth is embarrassed of how real soldiers look, perhaps he should resign and go back to Fox News.
The general officers are not at fault. Indeed, they are hapless pawns in Hegseth’s sick obsession with toxic masculinity masquerading as “warrior ethos.”
But I digress. My point was that many readers were taken in (or frightened, at least) by posts (mainly on Twitter and Facebook) that circulated unfounded and implausible rumors. Although we must take the threat from Trump very seriously, we must not attribute to him superpowers, skills, or intellect that he does not possess. The same applies to his remarkably unqualified cabinet appointments.
So, let’s all take a deep breath as we wait for the premiere of the video starring 400 US general officers and admirals as background extras–your taxpayer dollars hard at work!
Talk to you tomorrow! Join me at 9 am PDT / Noon EDT for a Weekly Dose of Perspective!
Protest Photos
Daily Dose of Perspective
The Iris Nebula, below. I took this image from my backyard in Los Angeles on 7/13/24.
The nebula is the remnant of a supernova explosion that occurred about 100,000 years ago. The nebula is 1,300 light-years from Earth.
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