Catch the latest @thepoliticsbar.bsky.social 🍸with @jodyhamilton.bsky.social & @silversmith1.bsky.social #MSWMedia Guests: @kiresists.bsky.social & @anitamurie.bsky.social of @trublupolitics.bsky.social Listen: redcircle.com/shows/9bce8c...

These are live issues, none are resolved permanently, and there are numerous other bad things continuing to happen, I'm not here to tell you everything is great. But we should appreciate when good things happen, and the above are good things that are happening because we fought for them

4: Redistricting. When Trump pressured Texas to gerrymander Dems out, with more states to follow, it looked like a catastrophic attack on American democracy. That was what Trump wanted that outcome, but House Dems and state leaders are fighting this to a draw (pending SCOTUS) to foil his aims.

3: Epstein. Yes this is a mess of Trump's own making, but the opposition kept it alive through the shutdown (with help from Mike Johnson) and the moment it ended House Oversight Dems detonated a news nuke with the release of these emails. Trump is losing the House vote and now in open retreat.

2: Tariffs. The White House is spinning tariff reductions as a "pivot to affordability." That's bullshit, Trump keeps calling affordability a "hoax." What's actually happening: we crushed them in elections litigated on costs; now they're retreating. Many tariffs still in place, but this is good.

1: Elections. Two weeks ago we pummeled them in every election that mattered in the country. You know this already, I know it, they know it, I just have to say it here because what follows flows partly from it. The opposition stepped up, and these victories got immediate results, including...

On the whole this hasn't been a great year but imo that's all the more reason to recognize when we have wins that show we are not powerless. Right now, the Trump Administration is basically getting routed and/or in retreat on several key fronts. We are not powerless! We can do things! Consider-

BREAKING: Magistrate orders DOJ to turn over grand jury materials to Comey, finding real prospect that "government misconduct" may have tainted the case.

Trump and Pete Hegseth just killed three more people in another bombing, this time in the Pacific. The dead were said to be part of a "designated terrorist organization," which is itself utterly absurd. No evidence provided.

The second paragraph of every article about Trump freeing House Republicans to vote to release the Epstein files should make it clear that he could order them released himself and chooses not to.

if dems win congress next year they need to introduce an impeachment resolution against emil bove

“I don’t know how much worse the situation is going to get, honestly. This kid could’ve been shot.”

open.substack.com/pub/juliefra... Can’t wait to see it…thx for sharing @juliefrancella.com 🙏🏼❤️

The Trump administration has dropped a plan that would force airlines to compensate travelers for delayed flights.

In its orders this morning, SCOTUS grants one new case, relating to asylum claims. Full orders list: www.supremecourt.gov/orders/court... Docket for Noem v. Al Otro Lado: www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docke...

Is it bad if a sitting federal judge was (allegedly) part of a conspiracy to commit murder? It seems bad ....

Let he who is without moral bankruptcy cast the first tweet. x.com/LHSummers/st...

@rudepundit.bsky.social If a student had asked me, as their professor, "What do you think about Dick Cheney dying?" My response would have been, "I'm in favor of it." 😉

MONDAY! with The Rude Pundit and Jodie Sweetin! Hear us 9a to Noon ET on outlets like: Radio: SiriusXM Progress 127 TV: Free Speech TV on Roku / #AppleTV / #AmazonFireTV / #SlingTV Streaming: WCPT 820 - Chicago's Progressive Talk on TuneIn Video Stream: www.politicalvoicesnetwork.com

Why I changed my mind about the shutdown. fallows.substack.com/p/why-i-chan... (Paywall near the end.)

I feel like I’m taking crazy pills. There’s no vote required if he wants to release them! The only reason the house was voting was because he refused. This is an obviously cynical ploy and major news outlets are running whole pieces without pointing this out. He could release them tonight.

So… Schumer’s too weak to control his caucus AND he’s too incompetent to end the shutdown in a way that didn’t blow up in the face of Democrats.

Schumer reached out to leading presidential contenders to try and mute criticism of the deal, calling Josh Shapiro, Andy Beshear, JB Pritzker, and Gavin Newsom While Schumer voted against it, the Dems behind the shutdown deal said the minority leader was aware of their plan. trib.al/MZu6eBQ

UPDATE: Today, DOJ filed an "emergency" motion in the Ninth Circuit seeking a stay of Judge Immergut's Nov. 7 ruling siding with Oregon (and others suing) in the case over Trump's effort to federalize and deploy National Guard troops in the state. Filing: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

To be clear: Trump is only calling for the GOP to release the Epstein files because he was told he’s about to lose 150+ republicans on this vote.

NEW: Epstein survivors release the most powerful PSA I have ever seen. Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.

The other bit I love here: Kevin Hassett insisting that tariffs didn't increase coffee and fruit prices, there was also weather and disease. Yes, true, but those are both a function of a warming planet, which Hassett's boss thinks is a hoax!

Pro-industrial policy Dems' argument was that you can use targeted tariffs to allow nascent domestic competition in critical industries to grow. Trump's argument was no, we have to tariff everything and hang tough. He gave up in 7 months.

We're not really talking enough about how the tariff reversals on fruits and nuts and spices is an admission by Trump that his entire economic program is a miserable failure. www.axios.com/2025/11/15/t...

The Epstein emails have damaged Trump beyond repair, because the public has now seen the gross moral rot behind Trump's presidency and the elites who prop it up (and fawned over a convicted sex creep) Take your money out of AI and into pitchforks. My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/epst...

@apnews.com Fixed your headline for you. Apparently, one of your dumber editors neutered it. Fixed now. - - - South Carolina Republicans now pushing the most restrictive abortion bill in the U.S. as anti-choice extremists keep pushing limits apnews.com/article/abor...

Check the WH

Weirdly, I wrote about this in tonight’s letter. So hang on for a few more hours.

The end of dollar hegemony will transform U.S. debt from a fiscal drag into a high-yield fusion bomb. For decades dollarization has generated structural demand for U.S. treasuries, depressing the interest rates the U.S. needs to offer to service its debt.

@gregsargent.bsky.social Can confirm - we had @glennkirschner.bsky.social at @thepoliticsbar.bsky.social a couple weeks ago & he confirmed: There is NO statute of limitations on violations of Posse Comitatus. So if a U.S service member violates that? For the rest of their lives…

Dems should say this right now, loudly and clearly: Anyone who is trusting Donald Trump, of all people, when he says what he’s directing you to do is lawful and that you’ll be protected later may be putting themselves in a very precarious position. 6/ newrepublic.com/article/2032...

“This could indicate awareness of potential criminal exposure" and may “reflect consciousness on their part that they’re in legally treacherous territory," legal expert @bcfinucane.bsky.social tells me. If Dems win House they can get to the bottom of all of this. 5/ newrepublic.com/article/2032...

This memo is almost an admission of legal *vulnerability* for those carrying out bombings. “It signals fear that what they’re doing is illegal and that they could possibly be subject to criminal action under US law and international law,” Rep Adam Smith tells me. 4/ newrepublic.com/article/2032...

For 7 yrs, this is what I’ve told Trump’s supporters every single day: Trump doesn’t give a damn about you. He never has. And that’s got nothing to do with you and everything to do with him. You see, Trump is humanly capable of caring ONLY about Trump. And hopefully one day you’ll realize that.

We're ten years into these embarassing lies and I think this is the first time we've seen a Sunday morning show ready?

A weekend plug to remind people our matched fundraising drive is still ongoing!

Seattle’s newly elected city attorney, Erika Evans, defeated Republican incumbent, Ann Davison, this month. Evans says she will prioritize housing and addiction treatment to those who end up perennially caught up in Seattle’s criminal legal system.

DHS agents investigating sexual crimes against children have been redeployed to the immigrant crackdown. A probe into the black market for Iranian oil sold to finance terrorism has been slowed down because of the shift. And efforts to combat human smuggling have languished.

I stand with unionized Starbucks workers, who are on strike across the country right now for better wages and working conditions. Until Starbucks strikes a fair bargain with its workers and ceases its union-busting behavior, I'll continue to boycott the company.

Charlotte's black sheriff, who was elected in 2018 and who has not cooperated with ICE, is one of the black sheriffs being targeted by the GOP in North Carolina. boltsmag.org/north-caroli...

And if they stay with it, don't let up. "No, I don't think the political framing is the most important here. These were young girls raped by prominent men and traded around like they were things. Are you not outraged by that? If not, what the fuck is wrong with you?"

When Viktor Orbán advocates for "peace" that means absolute and total capitulation of Ukraine and agreement to whatever terms Vladimir Putin asks for. When he changes his demands, so does Orbán. This is what sock puppet means. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

Politics 101: Any issue that unites your base and divides theirs is a good issue that you should keep pounding.

I think there's things you run on, like affordability, and then there are things you talk about or pursue to throw off the other side, like Epstein. You can do both things

made a similar point on the opinions podcast this week in response to the idea that epstein is a dead end. not only are actual voters interested in this but it divides the gop and puts pressure on the president. it would be political malpractice to treat it as a sideshow