Wondering on Wednesday 8/26/26

I've wondered, more than a few times, what it would be like if we treated American citizens the same as we treat undocumented immigrants (see note below). What if the luck of our birth, the fate that made us a citizen, did not protect us from the treatment we give others who aren't so lucky?

In the old days - back when we tended to see the best in others, rather than the worst - we didn't think or worry about it. I never wondered or cared whether the person cleaning the hotel I stayed at was a citizen; I just saw a hard-working person doing a job I wouldn't want. 

When out and about on a drive through the agriculturally rich areas of Central and Upstate New York, I'd see farm workers, and sometimes their living quarters, and maybe wondered if they could be working here illegally, but it didn't bother me; they're doing insanely hard work that I'm grateful for, and glad I don't have to do. 

The vast majority of people I know, and probably the vast majority of people they know, are equally grateful for the efforts of immigrant farm workers, hotel workers, and others, and wouldn't voluntarily take those jobs if they had the chance to.

But now?  After years of having it beaten into our heads that "those people" have invaded our country not just for those backbreaking, low-paying jobs we love having someone else do, but supposedly for snapping up all the houses we can't afford to buy and the benefits we're fortunate enough not to need (and, especially lately, hate providing to the least of our citizens), and even to eat the dogs and cats of Springfield, how do we feel? 

Well, like ICE agents and most members of the current administration, we're encouraged not only to wonder whether but to assume that folks doing the jobs we don't want, speaking a different language, having darker skin, wearing different clothing, and worshipping differently than we do are quite possibly, or even probably, not citizens. And we're encouraged to report them, even without any evidence.

In the government's efforts to rid our country of the "worst of the worst" of the so-called invaders, we've rounded up all kinds of people, including:

• people with tattoos, whether on their faces, arms, hands, or other body parts, including those we've granted asylum because they could be killed in their home countries;

• business owners, particularly those owners of ethnic restaurants;

• people who, years ago, were charged with misdemeanor traffic offenses, including DUI, served their sentences, and have been out of trouble ever since;

• people who, years ago, bounced a check to purchase groceries, were caught and charged with misdemeanors, paid their fine, repaid the shop owner, and have had a completely clean record for all the years since;

• military spouses, the wives and husbands of servicemembers who were promised  that their family members would be safe from immigration action as part of their recruitment; 

• former members of the military who served honorably even though they weren't citizens, who have a clean record since their discharge; and

• people who are reporting as required to immigration appointments.

Are we really better off with those folks in detention, or deported? 

And if we're better off without them here, it's hard not to wonder how much better off we'd be if we got rid of all the birth-lucky bad actors, right? 

Think of how much better America would be:

• Without folks trying to make their dreams come true by operating a little pizza-and-wings joint, or a corner bar, maybe a car detailing place? They're paying their taxes, they're giving jobs to kids who need them, they're providing services that we like and want, but they're gone.

• Without people who choose to decorate their bodies with art we don't like because it's scary, or unattractive, or weird. Gone.

• Without petty offenders - panhandlers, the loosie-sellers, the windshield cleaners, folks who don't license or clean up after their dogs, litterers, speeders, and especially folks driving rolling boomboxes or otherwise violating noise ordinances. Oh - and every single illegal fireworks user, too. Off they go.

• Without first offenders with a conviction for  DWI, a sex offense, a domestic violence charge, a gun law violation, or any kind of fraud? Gone, under cover of darkness, or maybe perp-walked out of their jobs.

• Without people who have served their time and are on parole. When they show up for their check-ins, schedule their trip to a detention center several states away. And those small business owners? Grabbing them as they walk or drive their children to school sends a strong message, for sure.

• Without the worst of the worst in our prisons - the drug dealers, the murderers, the gang members, the sex traffickers - they clearly belong in a bug- and disease-infected prison somewhere, not here in America with free meals, free education, free medical care, free gym memberships, and more. They're the easiest to round up; after all, we know where they are, as opposed to all the hardened criminals ICE *knows* are here but can't locate.

• Without me. That's right: 50 years ago, I accidentally bounced a check ($5, my weekly college allowance). Before that, in seventh grade, I succumbed to peer pressure ("go ahead, Goody-Two-Shoes, your daddy's not watching, just grab it, no one will know"!) on a school trip organized and chaperoned by my Dad, and stole a trinket from a gift shop. (Someone did know, of course, and yes, my punishment at the time seemed much worse than deportation).

Are you already prouder to be an American just reading this, I wonder? 

Are you wondering how hard it would be to make this happen, or how fast we could do it?  And if you're a person of faith, or one who otherwise believes in second chances and redemption, do you wonder where to draw the line? Or, maybe you're wondering what on earth kind of America we'd be if we did this? 

Maybe you're just wondering if I've lost my mind... but here's one more thing to think about. The  administration is now turning its attention to deporting perhaps as many as 200,000 people who came to the US on tourist visas but have since sought asylum here, which elevated my sense of wonder to new heights:

Can you even imagine how wonderful America could be if we could deport every politician who lied to us, the first time they did it?

Drop a comment, and let me know what's on your wondering mind, whether it's about this post or anything else. 

Note: By 'undocumented,' I mean folks who truly are without any immigrant documentation - no TPS, not visa, no asylum application, and no tax ID number -  as well as those who are visa overstayers, people gainfully employed by American companies who have taxes withheld from their paychecks, people who have scheduled immigration hearings, people who own businesses and are paying their taxes, and so on.

Quick Takes (v76): Old Guard v. Newcomers

Why are people like me so sick and tired of 'politics as usual,' you ask? There are so many reasons, including the one illustrated below.

Connecticut Democrats are being asked, by a millionaire septuagenarian, to vote him through the party primary and let him fight it out in the general election for a 15th term in Congress. 

Why? Because he's been around long enough to be a committee chairman if the Dems manage to not snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in November, and actually win the House in the midterms.

Calls for generational change in Connecticut
Connecticut Democrat John B. Larson has been in the House of Representatives for 14 terms. He would like at least two more years, but the race to replace him has become the latest test of the left’s desire for generational change.

Larson faces three challengers today — former Hartford mayor Luke Bronin, Hartford school board member Ruth Fortune and state Rep. Jillian Gilchrest — but Bronin is seen as the candidate with the best chance to upset Larson, who turned 78 last month.

Larson is staking his reelection campaign on his seniority, arguing that it would be foolish for voters to throw away the power that comes with age in the nation’s seniority-driven political system. “If you’re coming to Congress for the first time, you start at the bottom and work your way up,” Larson said this month. “But if you have the opportunity to send someone who’s going to be a chairman, that means your voice in your district is amplified.”

Just imagine how different things could be if people didn't just assume that because they've 'been there, done that' for a long time, they're the better choice to represent their constituents.

Just imagine how different things could be if bright newcomers with ideas that are supported by thousands in their district and millions in their party weren't forced to 'wait their turn' to get the opportunity to make a difference. 

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a perfect example of this; she lost a vote to become the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee to an eight-term gentleman from Virginia, Rep. Gerry Connolly, "who has got experience, who is seasoned, who can be trusted, who has a record of productivity," he said after the vote.

Would AOC have been the perfect choice for ranking member? Maybe not. Would giving her the chance have been a mistake? I doubt it. But how long will she or others have to wait to get the experience, become seasoned and trusted, before they get a chance to prove themselves? 

Just imagine how different things could be if everyone who was chosen to serve placed their constituents first, rather than party leadership (or worse, the head of another coequal branch of government), and fought for the things that their district needs, whether it's health insurance, clean water, a chip factory, replacement of aging infrastructure, or brand new infrastructure like rural hospitals and elder care facilities, a modernized airport, data center or yes, even an ICE detention facility, if that's what the people want.

Everyone young or new is not automatically better; everyone old is not automatically worse - this is not about age. Rather, it's about how things change outside the halls and walls of where our elected officials spend their time - on our dime - and how hard it is to get those changes recognized inside those halls and walls. 

There has to be a better way; term limits are a start, of course, but it runs deeper than that, doesn't it? Chime in!

Free-flowing White House Verse

Sure, there's lots of construction noise, and construction lawsuit noise, and some destruction of construction that was underway but didn't meet the Builder-in-Chief's vision, but even with all of that,  there was still plenty of arguing and yelling and ketchup-squishing noise that made it out into the public realm. 

I won't reveal my sources for this; let's just say they're very well-placed, like a good microphone or something. I might write a book, but first I'd probably need to officially be a reporter for the Fake News, to bump up my viewership.

The (alleged) words of the FOTUS are easily identifiable. Others (allegedly) involved? Secretaries Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth, and Scott Bessent; Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg; and yours truly. Let the free verse fly, like the American Flag over Greenland!

Talk Like Nobody's Listening (or yell, if you want)

We need more munitions! The Biden and Obama administrations depleted our reserves!

We need more munitions! The Biden administration gave all our weapons to Ukraine! I will end the war in Ukraine on Day One! I will win the Nobel Prize – maybe two, and Obama only has one!

We're fighting Iran because Israel said they were going in, and if we didn’t go with them, we’d look weak, and the world would be a more dangerous place!

We’re fighting Iran because it is TWO WEEKS AWAY from having ‘the nuclear’ and we can’t let that happen! We are winning the war! We have won the war! We will win the war!  We are winning the war! We are playing 5-D chess; they are playing ‘Fast and Furious’ with the ENTIRE MIDDLE EAST, and we won’t let that happen! The Bored of Peace will act swiftly, on my order to Jared, to end all the hostilities and develop plans for MULTIPLE Gold Coast Rivieras on the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, the Gulf of America, and the Gulf Station in Winthrop, MA – they are ALL ripe for development!

We need more money from Congress because we are almost out of munitions!

We’re out of munitions because I’ve been ending wars around the globe, including in Gaza, Venezuela, Ukraine, Russia, Lebanon, the FIFA Soccer War, the Mulch War - that was BRUTAL but my Skid Steer of Peace has fixed that – we BURIED the opponent and Four Seasons Total Landscaping was declared the victor, by a pile! – and PakIndiaStan, where my tariffs stopped that war cold! NOBEL! NOBEL! NOBEL!

Holy crap, we have fewer munitions in the stockpile than we have barrels of oil in the strategic reserve – the Biden and Obama administrations were completely irresponsible!

Munitions are flowing in from all over the place to the US, where we do NOT have a munitions shortage!

Hi, Congress? It’s me, Pete - the Secretary of War, Tattoos, and Testosterone... we need way more manly dollars to make way more manly munitions. I'm in trouble here; can you help a guy out?

WE ARE NOT ALMOST OUT OF MUNITIONS – WE HAVE MANY MORE MUNITIONS THAN ANYONE ELSE, MORE MUNITIONS THAN ANY COUNTRY IN HISTORY! ANYONE SAYING WE ARE OUT OF MUNITIONS IS A COMMUNIST TRAITOR WHO DESERVES THE ULTIMATE PENALTY! KASH PATEL IS OFFERING A $50,000 REWARD FOR INFORMATION ON THE WHEREABOUTS OF THESE EVIL AMERICA-HATING DUMOCRATS!

We have directed munitions companies to tell us, within 21 days, how the hell they’re going to start delivering way more munitions way more faster than they ever dreamed they could, and how the hell they’re going to expand manufacturing facilities here in the US and hire American workers to make them, and oh, by the way, you can undocumented workers who will work for way less and save us money so we can afford to pay you for the munitions; we’ll tax the crap out of them, not fine you for hiring them, and deport them after we have the munitions we need to solve the shortage we don't have.

WE DO NOT HAVE A MUNITIONS SHORTAGE! THE REFLECTION POND WAS VANDALIZED! JEANNINE PIRRO FOLDED LIKE A COCKTAIL UMBRELLA! I HAVE ORDERED KASH PATEL TO OFFER A $50,000 REWARD FOR INFORMATION PROVING JEANNINE PIRRO IS A LYING, TRAITOROUS DUMOCRAT!!

We expect the Strait of Hormuz to be fully open by Tuesday or Wednesday of last week, maybe by Friday. I’ll have a market-roiling update for you on the status by yesterday, in time for tomorrow’s market opening. And just like K-cars, the K-shaped economy is over – that should help manipulate things nicely, don’t you think?

FAKE NEWS!!! HER EMAILS!!! RUSSIA RUSSIA RUSSIA!!! IT’S ALL FAKE NEWS! COMEY AND MARK KELLY ARE TRAITORS!!! SLEEPY JOE IS A TRAITOR!!! I WANT MY BALLROOM AND I WANT IT NOW!!!

A Day Without Capitalism

 Wth the rise of 'progressive' candidates who are running against - and often defeating - 'traditional' democrats, I think we need to have a conversation about how candidates label themselves, how they're labeled by the media, and how to talk about their ideas for governing.

Here are a few of the up-and-comers who won seats, or won primaries and will battle it out in November's election. And here's your quiz question: which (if any) of the winning candidates named below are actually members of the Democratic Socialists of America?

• NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who won just over 50% of the vote in defeating so-called 'Independent' Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa. 

• Darializa Avila Chevalier (also known as DAC) defeated five-term incumbent Adriano Espaillat in the primary for the NY-13 Congressional district. 

• Brad Lander defeated two-term incumbent Dan Goldman in the primary for the NY-10 Congressional district. 

• Janeese Lewis George won the Democratic primary for mayor of Washington, DC. 

• Nithya Raman was one of the two Democrats advancing to the general election in the race for mayor of Los Angeles. Karen Bass, the incumbent mayor, is the other.

• Dr. Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic primary for US Senate in Michigan, defeating Rep. Haley Stevens 48.5% to 47.5%. 

• Melat Kiros defeated Rep. Diana DeGette in a primary for Colorado's 1st district. DeGette was first elected to the seat in 1997. 

Given the recent successes of DSA members, democratic socialists, and progressive Democrats, I thought it was important to share this narrative, part of the DSA Program. It's an interesting place to kick off a review of the DSA and its platform.

Imagine taking a day off from work in a future without capitalism.

It might not feel as badly needed as it does now. You enjoy your work; it’s interesting to you, and you’re well trained for it. You work as much as you are able and no more than needed, and you would control your own labor and see it going to good use. It's not just a job to pay the bills.

Speaking of bills; you don't really have them anymore.

You have no debt. You don’t need health insurance. You don’t pay a mortgage or have a landlord, because comfortable housing is a human right. Your retirement is publicly funded. Food, education, energy, medicine, and transportation aren’t for-profit businesses; they are common goods and utilities.

OK, enough about bills. What do you do on your day off? Maybe in the morning, you walk your kids to school, run errands, or go to a doctor’s appointment. In the afternoon, you might play a sport, practice a new skill, read, plan a trip. In the evening, you could meet up with friends or family and eat together, maybe go to the movies or down to the park.

These are all familiar, everyday activities. A socialist day off could be like any good day now. But what if you were free to spend your time how you like without worrying about cost or dreading going back to work? What if you didn’t have to think about paying rent or loans at the end of the month, or saving for college, or affording groceries?

It’s been said that it’s easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end of capitalism. But just because it isn’t easy to imagine now doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to make it happen.

Workers deserve more.

Do workers, or does anyone, "deserve" a day without bills, no landlord or mortgage, without needing health insurance, with a publicly funded retirement? 

Is it just me lacking an imagination, or is this 'day without capitalism' something that we should be striving to make happen? Chime in on any of these candidates/races; on the DSA generally; on the challenges facing the Democrats heading into the midterms and beyond, , or anything else that strikes your fancy.

=============

And, as best as I can tell from researching and asking AI,  here are the answers to the quiz at the top of the post:

• NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani is a member of the DSA

• Darializa Avila Chevalier is a member of the DSA and the Democratic Party.

• Brad Lander is not currently a member of the DSA, but he was once; he left following the October 7th attack on Israelis, according to published reports.

• Janeese Lewis George self-describes as a democratic socialist, and was endorsed by the DSA, but does not appear to be a member of the DSA.

• Nithya Raman is a member of the DSA and the Democratic Party. Karen Bass, the incumbent mayor, is not a socialist or a member of the DSA.

• Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is not a member of the DSA and says he believes in 'regulated' capitalism, not socialism. 

• Melat Kiros is a member of the DSA.

How'd you do?

OrangeVerse (LXVII): WHCA Part 2

Are you ready for more poetry? Let's pick up with another section of the FOTUS at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

It's about the One Big Beautiful Ballroom Activities, or OBBBA, which we know is one of the most very favorite FOTUS topics, right up there with the Arc de Trump, and painting the Reflection Pool/Pond/Lake 'American Flag Blue' and using 23.75 carat gold on the four bronze statues, and painting the granite of Executive Office Building one of several different white options, because everyone paints granite right?

The news isn't getting any better, but at least the poetry isn't getting any worse... I mean, the bar is on the ground already. 

The Great Room of China

I just visited China

They have this magnificent room,

The Great Room.

They call it The Great Room.

It's a great room

but what we have is gonna blow,

there won't be anything like it,

It's gonna be fantastic.

And with all of the things that are

going along with it

for safety and security

of future presidents.

You know, I'm only gonna be

using it for about six months,

assuming we finish it right on time.

Upstairs, Downstairs

I get to use it. Somebody said,

"He's building it for himself."

I'm building it for the future.

I'm not build, like, I'll use it.

Now, had it not gone down six or seven stories,

then, in that case, I would have been able

to get a couple of years out of it.

But that was far more complex,

what we did downstairs

than what we do upstairs so,

uh, we're very proud of it.

That is gonna be amazing.

Talk is Cheap

And I think I was just telling, uh,

the whole group sitting at the table,

we were talking about it.

I said, "I think, you know, it's

White House Correspondents, so I

don't see any reason why you

wouldn't be able to use that.

It's gonna be

very large and

very beautiful and 

very safe and

that's what you need."

Fetterman the Betterman

So I was thrilled

to see that after witnessing

the attack, even Democrat Senator 

John Fetterman

told his fellow Democrats to drop the

Trump Derangement Syndrome

and build the White House ballroom,

but it's much more than that.

Czech, Please

It's something that you're gonna use.

I predict that you're gonna end up using it

and, uh, a lot of people are gonna end up using it.

They're gonna be as safe as you can possibly be.

But despite everything that happened

at the previous dinner

and all of the dangers involved,

I'm told that this is still

the hottest ticket in town, this ticket

to get in tonight, because it's

a smaller room,

it's a beautiful room,

it's a luxury room.

See those beautiful chandeliers?

I can tell you everything

about them if you'd like to know.

[Laughter]

A Beautiful Capital

See that beautiful capital above?

See the beautiful capital?

See the, everything, the brass.

Uh, those chandeliers are great.

I, I'm looking at them saying,

"I wonder if I could --"

You know, I sold this building.

And, uh, they're doing a nice job, 

but they're nice people.

But I'll tell you, I'm looking at them saying,

"I wonder if I could walk out with those chandeliers"

because you can't buy them.

They're very special.

 I won't tell you the fact.

I won't mention that

they're Czech crystal,

because I'd like to say

everything's made here,

but they are Czech crystal.

[Laughter]

I'm Floored

And they are beautiful.

And the Waldorf people are

doing a really nice job.

We're proud of them,

actually, because, you know,

when I left town,

I was angry.

I was a little bit angry.

I was offered a nice price.

I said, "I'm getting out of that place."

And then I said, "Let's make a comeback."

And, uh, but I was very proud of this building.

This building was hot.

Remember the lobby floor?

82,000 feet.

For those in the

real estate business,

82,000 feet.

That's a major,

that's a major floor.

 That thing was packed

 every single night.

It was packed mostly Republicans,

I would say, but it was

 packed every single night.

It almost brings back memories.

What a Feeling!

But, uh, I left town and,

uh, I have just had nothing

but good experiences. And

this might be the best

experience of all, having all of these

incredible people in this room.

It's a great, it's a great feeling,

frankly. It's a great feeling.

But tonight's event, thank you.

Thank you. But tonight's event

is even crazier than the last time.

A Hot Lotta Money

It's so successful that I've

been informed by CBS News's

David Ellison, 

who's gonna do a fantastic job.

He's the owner.

 He's the owner.

 He bought it,

spent a lot of money,

and he's gonna make,

I think, fantastic changes

and keep some of the

great stuff going.

But the next year,

they're going to call it

the Trump White House

Correspondents' (Dinner).

He told me that.

 And I like that very much.

We're gonna change the name of it, okay?

Well, it's gonna be so hot,

just like our country is hot.

We are hot, by the way. But to be honest,

it's just about the only way

that they're gonna ever get me back here.

You're gonna have to change the name of the dinner.

Hey Bobby? What's For Dinner?

But how's that one going?

Not too good. I hope

that everyone finally got to enjoy

their entire very delicious

beef tenderloins, very special beef.

And I want you all to know

that Bobby Kennedy,

who's right here, personally

ran over the cow in his car.

[Laughter]

Boom. 

And he cut it up and

he brought it here for you to eat

tonight, so it's very fresh.

And Bobby also suggested

an appetizer featuring

his favorite cut of

male raccoon

roadkill.

[Laughter]

But we drew the line at that,

Cheryl. We said, "No, we're

not gonna do that." We're not doing that.

We love Bobby. I'll tell you.

He's a piece of work.

 You think it's, it is fun,

but he is a very different

kind of a person,

I will tell you.

[Laughter]

What a Feeling

But he has what it takes

 and he's smart.

And he loves 

the country.

And he 

wants people

to be made 

to feel good.

Do you agree

with that, Bobby?

 He wants people

to feel good.

And, uh, he's

doing a fantastic job.

Thank you, Bobby.

Thank you.

We can joke

all we want,

but thank you.

Sunday School 8/2/26

With all of the focus on the Democratic Socialists competing in Democratic primaries across the country, I thought I'd spend time with the OG DS, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who chatted with Kristen Welker in NBC's Meet the Press classroom yesterday. While some of Welker's questions were long, almost all of Sanders' answers were, so be prepared.  

Welker started by referencing a new poll showing that "one third of Democratic-leaning voters now identify as Democratic Socialists (DS)," and noted that, "quite frankly," DS candidates have been winning their primaries. And she asked Sanders if he was confident they could win in purple states. I'm going to try and break up his 470-odd word response into sections so you can catch your breath reading it.

Well, I am, but I’m mostly confident that the American people know that our country today is moving in a very, very bad direction at a time when we have more income and wealth inequality than we’ve ever had in the history of America. What’s going on now makes the Gilded Age of Rockefeller look like an egalitarian utopia. What’s going on now is that millions of our people, right now, in the richest country on Earth, they’re struggling to put food on the table, pay for health care, pay for their rent, pay for their mortgage.

You got half of all the workers who have nothing in savings as they face retirement. Or you’re facing seeing kids unable to afford to go to college in the richest country in the history of the world. So people all over America are looking around, they’re saying, “Hey, wait a minute. The very richest people are becoming richer. Elon Musk himself, one man, owns more wealth by far than the bottom half of American households. What in God’s name is going on?”

And people look at the Republican leadership and Donald Trump, and they say, “You know, this guy’s worried about a Reflecting Pool. I can’t afford my retirement. He’s starting a war in Iran, costing us huge amounts of money, killing innocent people. 18 American servicemen are dead. What are they doing?”

And then you look at the Democratic Party leadership, which also gets their money, like the Republicans, from very wealthy people, and people are saying, “Is the Democratic leadership representing ordinary Americans?” And I think people look at the Republicans, they say, “No, they’re out of touch,” look at the Democratic leadership, say, “No, they’re out of touch.

We need a government, a radical idea, that works for all people and not just for wealthy campaign contributors.” And that’s why, from New York City with (Zoran) Mamdani, and in Colorado, and in California, and in Montana, and I think you’re going to see it in Michigan, people are saying, “Enough is enough. You know, let’s get a government that represents all of us.”

And I’ve got to tell you something, Kristen, that part of the exasperation that the American people are feeling, it’s not just an economy which is rigged. They’re looking at a corrupt — underlying corrupt campaign finance system. And what you’re seeing in Michigan right now is AIPAC, other billionaire-funded super PACs, putting tens and tens of millions of dollars against Abdul El-Sayed. In Minnesota against Peggy Flanagan, same thing.

So we’ve got billionaires buying elections, government working for the billionaires, and ordinary people saying, “We want change.” And that is why progressives, democratic socialists, are doing so well all over this country. They’ve got an agenda that speaks to the needs of working families. They’re prepared to stand up to the oligarchs.

Since Sanders mentioned Michigan, she wondered how confident he was that his endorsed candidate, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, could "pull out a victory" in Tuesday's primary against the establishment candidate, Congresswoman Haley Stevens.

Look, he has taken on –I’ve never - you know, I’m not a political scientist. I cannot recall where a major candidate was outspent so much by super PACs. I mean, they’re spending tens and tens of millions of dollars against him. The polling recently looks good, but polls don’t win elections, people do. So I would hope that, in Michigan and later next week in Minnesota, people understand the importance of this election. What’s it about?

It’s not just whether Abdul can win or not, beat Haley Stevens. The question is whether or not we live in a democratic society where a candidate fighting for working people can take on tens and tens of millions of dollars of AIPAC money, special interest money. And I hope very much that Abdul is - and I’ll tell you why, and a kind of selfish reason. Everybody in America understands that our current health care system is totally broken. We’re spending unbelievable amounts of money, twice as much per capita as the people of any other country. 85 million uninsured, underinsured. Prices way high.

Dr. El-Sayed is somebody I need in the Senate as he fights for Medicare for All. He’s a doctor. He has seen the broken health care system. We need him to make sure that every man, woman, and child in this country has health care as a human right, as is the case in every other major country on Earth.

Welker noted that Sen. Gary Peters, whose seat is up for grabs, has backed Stevens to replace him, saying

You have to have a candidate who understands that winning a general election doesn’t mean just turning out Democrats. You also have to appeal to a broader cross-section of your state, and Michigan is a true purple state.

To Sanders, she posted this question: "What do you think Dr. El-Sayed will have to do in order to turn out moderates and independents to win a general election if he does win on Tuesday?" In a nutshell, Sanders explained El-Sayed can win because working-class Republicans are in the same boat as all working-class people, and they know the system is broken.

You are struggling to figure out how you’re going to retire with dignity. You understand that the current campaign finance system is broken. You understand that workers need decent wages, and El-Sayed is fighting for a livable minimum wage. And by the way, if you’re a Republican, you know maybe we should be investing our money into Michigan, into Vermont, into America rather than giving the extremist government of Netanyahu and Israel tens of billions of dollars to continue their atrocities against the Palestinian people - I think if you’re a working-class - ok - if you’re a working-class Republican in Michigan, I think you’re going to listen to what El-Sayed says. You’re gonna - and I think many of them will end up voting for him. Independents as well, of course.

Welker asked if El-Sayed should "speak with the same clarity" as Sanders has on the issue of Israel as a Jewish State. El-Sayed has said he "often struggles with the question of whether Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish state.”  Here's the non-answer:

Look, I think right now the immediate issue of the moment is whether or not we continue to put tens of billions of dollars into the extremist Netanyahu government, which has killed 75,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, wounded 150,000, destroyed their infrastructure. And what the American people are saying overwhelmingly, Democrats, many independents - the majority of independents, and many Republicans, especially younger Republicans, “We’ve got better things to do with our money than to continue to fund the military of Israel.”

They talked a bit about the Maine primary, where Troy Jackson was chosen to replace Graham Platner after widely-reported scandals. Sanders knows Jackson; he'd endorse him if he was asked, and said "I look forward to working with him in the US Senate." And, on comments from Sen. John Fetterman (Kinda D- PA) about Sanders supporting Platner, Sanders suggested that Fetterman "was reflecting the views of about 19% of the Democrats" in PA and is "way out of touch with the people of America."  And, when she asked if he had any regrets about endorsing Platner, he turned to his standard lines:

I’ll tell you, you know, I think right now we’re looking at a campaign in Michigan, we’re looking at a campaign in Minnesota. The people of this country right now are sick and tired of establishment politics and establishment policies. They want change and I and other progressives are going to do everything that we can to bring about those changes.

Finally, they talked about who could carry the progressive banner into the next presidential race, which will be the first without him since 2016.

Kristen there are — one of the untold secrets in Washington is in the U.S. House of Representatives, for example, you have many, many really strong progressives. Many of them are young. Many of them are women. Many of them are people of color. And we have elected many of them. And I think as a result of this election cycle, you’re going to see a lot more coming to Washington. I think as a nation, and by the way, with all due respect, the media spends too much time worrying about who’s going to be a president in two and a half years.

Right now, we have enormous problems facing this country. We’re looking at heat waves all over the world. You’ve got climate change. We’re looking at the big tech oligarchs pushing AI and robotics down our throat. Congress is doing very little to protect working people in that. We’re looking at massive levels of income and wealth inequality, a corrupt campaign finance system. My suggestion is, as a country, as a Congress, as media, let’s focus on the important issues facing working people. Two and a half years from now is a long time to a presidential election. I’m sure it will unfold itself.

I had hoped there'd be more questions about the Democratic Socialists of America platform, and to what extent the DS candidates support the platform. We'll have to wait to see if any of them win in November before anyone starts asking about that. 

For his part, Sanders was Sanders - his answers, in my opinion, were entirely predictable. What do you think?

Wondering on Wednesday 7/29/26

Ready... Set... Wonder!

There are many days I wonder why I bother watching or reading the news - and today is certainly one of them. Here are a few examples of what's got me scratching my head.

• On the 'eyeball' network's national news tonight, we were treated to footage from the trial of a Massachusetts woman accused of murdering her three children - in January 2023. There was the tortured father, a part of his 911 call, the sobbing mother listening to the tape for the first time, and my favorite, a prosecutor holding up the pajamas of one of the victims. And this was just day two of the trial. Am I the only person wondering why this story, in all its gory detail, is getting precious time on the national news each day? And why the trial is only just getting underway three-and-a-half years later?

• An item from the 'peacock' network crossed my desk, letting me know the person who attacked and slashed author Salman Rushdie in August 2022 was convicted today in federal court on terrorism charges. He had previously been tried, convicted, and sentenced to 25 years in state prison for attempting to murder Rushdie. Are you wondering, too, why we're spending time and money trying the same folks in both state and federal court, even if the charges are different? And if you're OK with both trials, why did it take so long?

• And how can we forget Sen. Bernie Morena (Rude-OH), who quite proudly shouted an f-bomb at Dr. Anthony Fauci today; we got to see that, too - without the sound (but it was deafeningly obvious what he yelled) - on the national news and on the 'family Canidae' network. I can't help wondering what Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, or Gwen Ifill would have had to say about that.

Remember those assaults on so-called drug boats, in which the US government killed dozens of people and destroyed or took control of the drugs on the boats? And how those assaults, part of Operation Southern Spear, were supposed to cut off the flow of coke into the country, make us safer, and cripple the cartels? And how proud a certain Cabinet member was about all of it? 

I'm wondering if anyone's really surprised to see this news?

Despite killing at least 221 people in dozens of U.S. airstrikes targeting alleged drug-trafficking boats in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean, Donald Trump’s administration has reportedly admitted that the attacks haven’t slowed the flow of cocaine into the U.S.

Instead, traffickers are relying on planes hopping across the interior of Central and South America, or using larger boats and sailing close to coastlines where U.S. forces are less likely to strike, according to The Washington Post, citing a previously unreported assessment from the Drug Enforcement Administration.

There's more to wonder about - there always is - but that's enough for one night. What's on your mind?

Sunday School 7/26/26: Extra Credit

For your Sunday School Extra Credit this week, I dropped by the Meet the Press (NBC) classroom to listen in on some talk about the upcoming midterms. 

For the first part of the conversation, host Kristen Welker was joined by NBC's Chief Data Analyst, Steve Kornacki. Here's how Welker set the stage:

Today marks 100 days until the midterm elections. At stake: control of Congress. Will the war in Iran -- and its impact on the economy -- hurt Republicans’ chances of holding onto power? Or can Democrats flip the House and Senate? Even as a fight rages within the party over its future. 

Kornacki dove right into the numbers, putting the landscape in perspective, he said. 

• Trump's approval is at 41% on average across all polls, a little lower than before the 2018 midterms in his first term. 
• In a recent Fox News poll on specific issues, "majority disapprove everywhere. His best mark is 42 on immigration." On Iran, the economy, and inflation, the numbers were apparently much worse.
• In 2022, under Biden, the Dems lost "only a few seats" in the House, and picked up one in the Senate. That's what the Rs are hoping will happen this year, and they "think that their one chance is the image of the Democratic Party."
• A majority of Democrats, in the same Fox poll, "have a favorable view of socialism" but that ends at the party door - socialism is "deeply unpopular" with Independents.
• The Dems need to gain four Senate seats to get control, and they can't lose any seats, either. Their best hopes are in Maine and North Carolina, but where are the other two? Can they come from states that Trump won by double digits - Alaska, Iowa, Ohio, or Texas?
• Iran hangs over the whole mess; in a Politico poll, "65% say the war shouldn't continue, or should continue only if it doesn't make costs worse. And 56% of MAGA share that opinion, compared to several weeks ago when it was 41%.

Later in the lesson, the panel gathered to continue discussing the midterms. Today's crew: New York Times White House correspondent Tyler Pager; Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod; and Lanhee Chen, a fellow at the Hoover Institution. 

Welker asked Pager what he was hearing from his sources about Iran and the mood at the White House. He said for a while folks were optimistic that "the war would be winding down or at least not on the front of voters' minds when they went to the polls, or even after Labor Day." And now? It seems there are some concerns that fluctuating prices and continuing attacks in the war could be "a huge issue for voters."  On the other hand,

...when you talk to Republicans, they point out a few things that make them somewhat optimistic that things could go a little bit better. One, the huge cash advantage that the Republicans have in the committees. Two, the redistricting efforts that have given Republicans a fighting chance in some areas that they didn’t think they would compete in. And lastly, they think they have a message of attack, particularly around the Democratic Socialist candidates that have won, trying to paint them as representatives of the entire Democratic Party. But most voters care about the economy. And that is going to be — continue to be a huge issue for the party as they try to stave off what appears to be a losing hand heading into November.

Welker turned to Chen, asking about Labor Day as a key date, especially when it comes to getting gas prices down. She said, "The economy is always the single biggest issue" for voters considering which party to support, but noted there's some complexity to the picture for the Rs. She pointed to the redistricting efforts in red states making perhaps 10 to 15 seats more competitive, and the progressive Dems who are far to the left of most Americans.

So those are advantages, no question about it. But the challenge Republicans face is what I consider to be an expectations gap. There’s an expectation about the end of the war. There’s an expectation about prices coming down. And the reality hasn’t always met those expectations. So not only are you seeing challenges with independent voters. The bigger issue for Republicans is energy. It’s the energy of the Republican electorate. Are those most loyal Republican voters going to turn out and vote when Donald Trump is not on the ballot? That’s the big question.

And, talking about "the progressive branch of the Democratic Party," Welker noted the energy level there, and how there's a divide playing out in primaries. She talked about Michigan, where there's a primary next month with a progressive battling a moderate for a Senate seat. She asked Elrod to talk about what's at stake. 

In a nutshell? If the Dems want to take back the Senate, they have to hold Michigan, and "we have a much better shot of holding onto Michigan" if the moderate candidate wins. She also thinks that, in terms of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) candidates more generally, it's a challenge for the Ds because some of the primary winners "may not be as appealing to the electorate in the general election.

But so far, we are seeing this relatively isolated to places like New York City, you know, urban areas, and of course that little blue dot in Colorado in Denver with Diana DeGette’s loss. If El-Sayed is successful in Michigan, that will sort of blow that argument. It’ll flop that argument significantly. Because this is a state that is in the Rust Belt. It is a state that is critical to anybody winning in 2028 for the presidential - for the presidency. So if this happens there, then I think Democrats are going to have a bigger challenge.

And on the other side of the aisle, how much of a challenge does the erosion of the MAGA base on Iran pose?  Pager turned back the clock a bit to answer this one, noting that JD Vance endorsed Trump in part because "Trump would not bring the nation to war." And Vance has been "concerned and frankly opposed" to the war (from the beginning, at least according to many reports - ed.)

So obviously that is a huge concern for the base. And that was what Vance was trying to channel in some of his opposition. The other thing as Lanhee said, we have seen the Republican Party struggle when Donald Trump is not on the ballot, particularly with turnout when it relates to the base... some of these voters that are huge Donald Trump supporters, but are not as reliably showing up for the midterm elections. And so without Donald Trump on the ballot, plus this ongoing protracted overseas conflict, that is a problem for Republicans.

Chen noted the concept of "the MAGA base is a little bit misunderstood" - it's not really a 'base' for the Rs.

... what it really is, is it’s Donald Trump’s coalition. It’s a unique coalition that no other politician has been able to replicate in recent American history. When Donald Trump is not on the ballot, as we talked about earlier, it changes the dynamic, the dynamic significantly. The question of course is: does the president want to get more involved? And what does that mean for individual candidates?

She pointed to Susan Collins, running for her *sixth* term (after pledging to only serve two), as an example of the quandary facing some GOP candidates. In Maine, she'll need the so-called MAGA base, but she can't turn off the moderates who wield a lot of power in the bluish-purple state.

... she’s got to be able to turn out that base of Republican voters while still not turning off moderates who might have a different opinion of the president. Her challenge is going to be very different than you might see in other races. So, the question of how far the president gets involved - this is his base. If he wants to turn on his base, if he wants to devote time and energy to getting those people out to vote, it’s going to change the outcome of the election.

Does that make everything clearer, as we enter the push to the midterms? Iran, affordability, DSA, Trump... right now, these are the likely suspects; we'll see if that changes over the coming weeks. 

Thoughts on the midterms? Want to see me tackle something specific? (And yes, I'll be sharing some info on the DSA in an upcoming post.) Drop a comment.

OrangeVerse (LXVI): WHCA Part 1

For about an hour on Saturday night, the FOTUS rambled on and on at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, rescheduled from April when a man tried to get into the ballroom and assassinate the president and other members of his administration. 

Other presidents who have attended usually speak for 15, 20, or maybe even 30 minutes, nothing like what GOP strategist Alyssa Farah Griffin described as "what felt like 90 minutes we'll never get back of our lives." 

There's so much to unpack, as the punditry likes to say, that I'm breaking it down into bite-sized pieces of poetry. Well, OK, Big Mac-sized bites... giant Diet Coke-sized slurps of verse, if you will. Are you ready?

Karoline

our favorite White House

Press Secretary...who just had her

second child, you and your husband.

She's great. She's done a fantastic job.

We all love her. She's done a fantastic job.

She is another one.

She can be nasty

But sometimes she has no choice, right?

Karoline

may have one of 

the hardest jobs...she

has to deal with all of you 

all of the time,

and you could be very difficult.

You can be very, very difficult people

but I'm probably being a little bit oversensitive.

Sometimes I really do think

That some of you don't like me

I read a report

I get 93% negative publicity,

93, I said, how the hell

did I win the election

by so much?

Think of it, I

don't think that's true.

I can't believe it's 93.

In the 80s maybe, but

not 93.

But this place

is the, really,

the largest group

of Trump Derangement Syndrome

people. Ever put together

at one time, I suspect. Some

of you are lucky

that our last dinner was cut short

because I brought with me

what would possibly

have been,

I'm telling you,

I had, uh...

 I had something

I was gonna go after you.

I was gonna. I feel

so badly doing this.

It's gotta be

such a letdown

Oh yay, yay.

But your lives were really in danger

the last time but for

an opposite reason.

But on the plus side, your

careers were saved and

we have a, uh, we really do.

We have a complete and total,

you know, I love the words

Complete and total

they say, but it means almost

the same thing,

I said, it doesn't matter

when you say it.

It's called emphasis.

It's called emphasis.

But everyone is now

really warming up

the new White House

military center,

drone port,

highly protected

ballroom.

It's, we have

our ballroom.

The windows are this thick.

I said to the people

well, if a bullet hits, what happens?

Nothing. Nothing.

It bounces right off, sir.

This is the greatest bulletproof glass.

I said AK-47,

that's supposed to be a big one.

I don't know so much

about the guns.

My sons know a lot.

But I said

Ah, I know it's big.

What would happen?

They go up, meaning

it could take more.

I said so, if I'm making

a speech and I hear that

pinging sound at a window

what would I do?

Sir, uh, leave the room

right away but

you're gonna be safe.

We're building something that's

gonna be amazing.

And in light of 

what we went through

I think, uh, people

understand it.

 It's 

gonna 

be 

amazing.

I wonder... what could be more amazing than Part 1? Stick around - you'll have a chance to pick your favorite part when it's done.