Every once in a while, an issue transcends the daily drumbeat of Donald Trump’s anti-democratic actions–and the equally vigorous pro-democratic pushback. Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Harvard. The law firms who capitulated or resisted. The Qatari plane and crypto loot. Trump-Epstein. And more.
Now we have another democracy push-pull, and the outcome will be as important to our future as any of them: Trump’s attempt to steal five congressional seats in Texas by making an already grotesque gerrymander even worse–and Texas Democratic legislators’ refusal to go along with it. They did so at great personal sacrifice by breaking quorum and leaving the state so that the illegitimate gerrymander could not pass.
These men and women–over 50 of them in total–are heroes, the kind we celebrate at The Contrarian. Their fight for democracy has galvanized the nation from coast to coast, the grassroots to the treetops, ordinary folks and political leaders alike.
They had to act because the state was already subject to an extreme gerrymander. What Trump has demanded and his Texas enablers are delivering makes it obscene. Our nation’s foremost election litigator, Marc Elias, explained this week on Coffee with the Contrarians:
Trump is coming at this from a place of terror, not strength. With his popularity steadily dwindling, plunging to about 37% of late, he’s terrified of an electoral landslide in 2026. The coalition that carried him to his narrow victory (it’s estimated that a flip of 115,000 votes in three states would have delivered the election to Vice President Kamala Harris) has been substantially eroded by his insane policies.
If you have any doubt about Trump’s nightmare of losing Congress in 2027 and being subject to investigation for hundreds of illegalities, just look at his other big attempted autocratic vote grab this week. He is bizarrely demanding a new census be completed (likely in an effort to tilt the scales for the 2026 midterms), despite the Constitution saying that the census shall take place every 10 years and the last was completed just four years ago.
The census is, of course, used in establishing congressional districts. Can there be any doubt that Trump is attempting to cook the books so that he can get another illegitimate boost in 2026?
But here's the good news: Just like the pushback on his Texas vote grab, Trump's census ploy has been met with immediate pro-democracy action–and you Contrarians are a part of it. I was honored that one of our nation’s most prominent civil rights groups, LULAC, immediately reached out to me and my litigation colleagues to help prepare all legal remedies as necessary. It might not be; perhaps as so often this is just bluster. But we will be ready either way. With over 100 legal matters against the Trump administration, we mean business.
That's thanks to you, Contrarians. Because we are owned by nobody, all profits go towards supporting that pro-democracy litigation. Your paid subscription makes that possible. If you haven't taken one out, please consider doing so.
Of course, that subscription also makes possible our stellar daily Contrarian coverage. It was another amazing week in our pages….
Messing with (elections in) Texas
Republicans Are Planning to Carve Up Texas Like a Christmas Ham. We Should All Be Pissed.
Billy Belaga from our friends at The Barbed Wire wrote on the gerrymandering travesty of the Texas GOP’s redistricting maps, which strip voting power away from black and brown Texans “and are an insult to us all — regardless of partisan stripes."
Texas shows why the Voting Rights Act is still necessary
Diamond Brown and Yadira Paz-Martinez of Democracy Defenders Action wrote that the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act was both a commemoration of that law–and an urgent call to act in its defense. “John Lewis called voting ‘the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a democracy.’ Sixty years later, it’s still worth protecting with everything we’ve got.”
The Quorum Break Heard Across the Nation
Olivia Julianna wrote on Texas Democrats’ extraordinary (and laudable) step to break quorum in the battle over the GOP’s would-be gerrymandering. “The battle over Texas maps is nothing new—but the stakes for American democracy are higher than ever.”
This week we also hosted conversations with experts, activists, and elected officials to understand exactly what’s at stake at Texas—and how Democrats must fight back. See Jen in conversation with Mother Jones voting rights correspondent Ari Berman on the contours of the GOP’s power grab, voting rights expert Mimi Marziani on the battle to keep voters enfranchised, and Richard Hasen on how the courts are chipping away at the Voting Rights Act.
Labor lies and economic injustice
‘Hottest’? Yup, like a Dumpster Fire
Jen Rubin took on the recent anemic jobs report and what it means for the real state of the economy, despite Trump’s compulsive dishonesty—and, with Trump’s firing of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the looming end of trust in government economic data.
300,000 Black women left the labor force. That's not good for America.
Shalise Manza Young focused on an alarming economic statistic visible from the beginning of Trump’s term: Black women are leaving the labor force in shocking numbers, with financial and social consequences that will only get worse. “There’s a truism that says when America gets a cold, Black people get the flu. In this case…America’s workforce should start stocking up on Kleenex.”
MAGA's takeover of the DOJ and BLS
The Contrarian Pod featured a must-hear conversation with Paul Krugman and Jared Bernstein on the Trump administration’s attempt to corrupt the BLS and former Sen.Doug Jones with Jen discussing the MAGA cronies taking the "justice" out of The Justice Department.
Trump's firing of BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer should alarm every American
Former White House and Dept. of Labor appointee Dan Koh expanded on why democracy will suffer from Trump's recent firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, as we allow “the erosion of one of our nation’s most vital democratic safeguards: truthful, unbiased data.”
And cartoonists Nick Anderson and Michael de Adder summed up Trump’s economic approach in images worth a thousand Truth Social posts: Outlook not good; Chump change.
The corrupt conspiracy that won’t quit (and the inquiries that shouldn’t)
The 'Epstein Files': What We Should (and should not) Focus On
Mimi Rocah broke down how the court system continues to deny justice to Epstein's victims, and how any further inquiry should focus on who knew what, when. “If you had told me even six months ago that the criminal legacy of Jeffrey Epstein would become a unifying factor in America… I would not have believed it. But here we are.”
This week’s Talking Feds took on another new cycle dominated by the ever-murkier Epstein scandal, with a roundtable of Alisyn Camerota, Josh Marshall, and Asha Rangappa joining Harry Litman to work through Trump’s efforts to disentangle himself.
Ghislaine Maxwell Joins The Real Housewives of Camp Bryan
What do you get when you’re found guilty of “perpetrating heinous crimes against children?”
The celebrity treatment, apparently. Culture columnist Meredith Blake noted Ghislaine Maxwell’s move to the white collar-preferred environs of Federal Prison Camp Bryan, home to former Bravo star Jen Shah and Theranos scammer Elizabeth Holmes.
War in Ukraine
Is Donald Trump finally turning on Vladimir Putin?
Contrarian regular Tom Malinowski analyzed potential ways out of the Russia-Ukraine war with his usual trenchant skepticism. Among his nagging questions: Why is Trump threatening India? Why are tariffs his only stick? And what happened to helping Ukraine fight?
However much Trump likes to call Ukraine “Biden’s War,” wrote Marvin Kalb, the fact is that his “strategic narcissism” has insured his administration’s deep involvement. “In [a] sense, the war has become ‘Trump’s war,’ and he must find a way out of it.”
Where in the World is Tim Mak? The possibility of a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire
Tim Mak joined Jen Rubin to discuss Trump’s threatening of Russia with new sanctions over a proposed ceasefire deal with Ukraine, what it will take for Russia to end its aggression, and Trump’s attitude towards Putin. “People are dying for random patches of non-descript scraps of land in the middle of nowhere that have no strategic value except to assuage a dictator's ego.”
The long(ish) view
Shining a Light on the Destruction of our Government
Two hundred days into Trump’s term, Max Stier evaluated the gutting of our federal institutions thus far, including 149,000 civil servants fired, and looked ahead to what’s next from an administration bent on destruction and armed with lies. “The Trump administration promised transparency, but on one of its most consequential priorities it has gone to great lengths to obfuscate.”
Jennifer Weiss-Wolf curated another round-up of the latest in attacks on gender and democracy, while also taking a beat to reflect on how to keep hope alive in the dog days and not let the relentless news-and-doom cycle kill the spirit of resistance (or summertime).
Meghan Houser wrote on the study in doomed ambition behind the new proposal to rename the Kennedy Center—and much more—after our sitting president. “Now he’s moving beyond products in the marketplace to subsume our infrastructure, art, and American history itself under Trump™.”
The Contrarian covers the Democracy Movement
The best way to take the long view of this presidency is to keep fighting back for the preservation of democracy. This week we saw Rep. Mike Flood getting an earful at a Nebraska town hall, Rage Against the Regime rallies in Kansas, Michigan, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and other states, protests against ICE and the war in Gaza, interstate support for the Texas Democrats breaking quorum, and more. Get help organizing from Indivisible, find protests in your area at mobilize.us, and send us your protest photos at submit@contrariannews.org.
Fun stuff
What 'Building the Band' teaches us about talent, culture, and the dream of America
Michael Franklin reviewed the new Netflix reality competition series Building the Band while explaining how it uses music and storytelling to build a vision of the world we could have if we centered connection over competition. His article reminded us that, “when the right story is told at the right time, even a competition can become a chorus for change.”
As the summer begins to wind down, Jamie Schler offered us another beautiful recipe. This week, it’s a gorgeous Summer Fruit Compote and Vanilla Honey Madeleines perfect for when you need to disconnect, disengage, and disentangle from overwhelming reality.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Friday without the Pet of the Week! This week, we’re featuring foreign policy expert Tom Malinowski’s dog, Otto. Otto is a 6-year-old Basenji who has a slight infatuation with squirrels.
Well, there you have it Contrarians–another amazing week of pushback on our pages in the court of public opinion, as well as in the courts of law through the litigation our profits support. To help with all that, please consider becoming a paid subscriber if you are not one yet. Warmly, Norm
The big clown is finished in 2026 if the GOP doesn't figure out a way to tamper with voting machines. This blatant seat grab in Texas will be repelled by blue states recriprocating. I don't think the Republicans want to slide down that slippery slope, because they will upset a delicate balance. They've already awakened two sleeping giants—the formerly Republican voters who blindly trusted The Grifter and have been betrayed by him, and the previously buttoned-up, meek Democrats who tried to play by the rules. There are no rules anymore. This ham-handed attempt to steal our democracy is going to make us stronger and, as Lindsey Graham predicted before becoming a Trump sycophant, ruin the GOP for years to come. I'm not glad Trump was "re-elected," (I still believe he cheated), but I think his second stint in the Oval has galvanized a bigger majority of the country against him. He's a joke, a thief and a bungler, always has been, and always will be. Everything he touches goes down in flames. We can't let him do that to our country. So bravo to the Texas Democratic house members and to Bernie, AOC, Maxwell Frost, Chris Murphy and others who are taking the message to red districts and being welcomed in incredible numbers. And bravo to Norm, Jen, and all The Contrarian contributors.
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