Evening Roundup, September 23
Featuring Dara Kass, Meredith Blake, Kim Wehle, Brian O'Neill, Max Stier, Nick Anderson, The Contrarian Podcast with Mary McCord, Sen. Andy Kim, & Jen Rubin, and The Democracy Movement
The chilling effect of politicizing Tylenol
I watched Monday’s White House press conference with alarm. There was President Donald Trump, flanked by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and others, suggesting that Tylenol use during pregnancy might be linked to autism. “There's no harm,” he insisted, “in discouraging its use.”
Tyrants Have Always Targeted Comedians for Making Political Jokes
Jimmy Kimmel will return to ABC tonight, less than a week after Disney yanked him off the air “indefinitely.” The swift corporate backpedaling proves that public pressure works, even in an era of creeping authoritarianism.
Censorship by compliance destroys free speech
On Friday, President Donald Trump told reporters from the Oval Office that he’s “a very strong person for free speech,” which to him apparently means that “when 97, 94, 95, 96% of the people are against me in the sense of the newscasts are against me. I think that’s really illegal, personally.”
U.S. blows up fishing boats, China builds control
At the direction of President Donald Trump, U.S. forces this month have carried out three lethal strikes against boats in international waters alleged to be ferrying narcotics from Venezuela. An estimated 17 people were killed. On the surface, the strikes offer the White House a means to project toughness; in practice…
A shutdown might make Trump more powerful
Our nation is again facing shutdown Groundhog Day. By a Sept. 30 deadline, Congress must either fund government operations or bring a halt to many critical federal programs while sidelining hundreds of thousands of federal employees and forcing others, uniformed and civilian, to work without pay.
Eyes on the prize
Nick Anderson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist whose cartoons have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post and elsewhere. Find him on Substack at nickanderson.substack.com.
The Trump Administration's systemic violation of public trust
It’s no secret that the Trump administration has shown unparalleled levels of corruption since returning to the White House.
The Contrarian covers the Democracy Movement
Every day (Monday-Friday), we’ll update this space with protests, signs and other public demonstrations against the actions of the administration. Keep checking to see how Americans all across the country are protecting and defending democracy.
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So last time Chuck Schumer was on the hot seat for not shutting down the government. He felt we were better off if judges were able to rein in trump. So now he is all about shutting down the government and everyone is pushing the panic button, “Oh no, we can’t shutdown the government, that will make trump more powerful!”
So which is it?
Is it just Democrats are damned if they do and damned if they don’t?
This could be the Mother of All Spending Strikes. The looming government shutdown is an opportunity to hold His Royal Heinous accountable and stop his atrocities, and the fascist takeover of the country. We, the People cannot easily withhold our tax dollars from HRH, but the Dems in the Senate have that opportunity.
A U.S. president cannot spend money without an appropriation from Congress, which holds the "power of the purse".
Direct spending is prohibited.
Constitutional power: The Constitution's Appropriations Clause states, "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law".
The Dems in the Senate must have a list of demands under which they would vote to keep the government running. Such as, the Congress sets tariffs, ICE only goes after violent convicted felons, no one is deported to a third party country, and so forth. And that willingness to fund the government would be on a week to week basis, to prevent HRH from going back on his commitment.
If congress refuses to authorize appropriations, HRH will not have money to operate his corrupt, inept, sadistic government. A chance for the Dems to prove they’re not the feckless cowards they’ve been up until now.