This week, democracy had a big win in the court of public opinion with the loud verdict of the voters in Mississippi despite massive efforts to hamper them. And democracy overcame obstacles in the courts of law as well. We made new strides in our case to stop Donald Trump’s illegal D.C. golf course — and we entered the fray to block his monstrous arch on behalf of the Kennedy family. My colleagues and I were able to do our bit in all of those circumstances thanks, as always, to your paid subscriptions, Contrarians.
Let’s start with our and our partners’ fight to protect East Potomac Golf Links. At the end of October, Judge Ana Reyes of the District Court for the District of Columbia ordered a halt to further destruction in East Potomac Park, including stopping all tree removal. On Friday, the stakes escalated further. The legal team from Democracy Forward, Lowell & Associates, and Democracy Defenders Fund was in court seeking a temporary restraining order to stop the government from closing the course and the surrounding area.
We argue the closure is part of an illegal plan to build the new course, whereas the government claims — implausibly — that the sudden closure is for safety reasons and because of the lack of an operator. But, as the judge pointed out, the government itself just terminated the contract with the operator. They themselves are to blame for the problem. Now we await her ruling on the TRO. And following an explosive whistleblower report that documents related to Trump’s construction projects are being destroyed, the judge also delivered a stern warning to the Justice Department: “If I find credible evidence of any document destruction, I will start proceedings on sanctions or contempt within a zeptosecond.”
The golf course case was not our only pushback on Trump’s corrupt building spree in D.C. this week. After a federal commission approved construction on Trump’s gilded 250-foot arch, a judge temporarily halted the project. We have since filed a motion to join the case to block the arch on behalf of nine members of the Kennedy family.
As our complaint explains, this towering arch would obstruct historically important sightlines and cast shadows over gravesites and memorials to their deceased relatives and thousands of other American heroes buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Only Congress has the authority to make such decisions, not the president. Yesterday we filed additional proof in the form of declarations from Kennedy family members explaining the devastation that building the arch would cause to them and to the family gravesites. The declarations are factual but also deeply emotional. You can read them here.
Finally, moving to the court of public opinion: Mississippi! I wrote last week from Jackson, where I spent much of the past two weeks reporting on behalf of the Contrarian and providing legal support to the powerhouse Mississippi-led voting rights coalition. The state erupted in jubilation on Wednesday when incoming U.S. Sen. Scott Colom officially unseated the incumbent, Cindy Hyde-Smith.
That triumph of the voters — led by Black voters — happened despite the state’s anti-voter election procedures. Mississippi goes out of its way to make the act of voting unusually difficult. It remains one of only three states to not offer early in-person voting and is one of 13 that require voters to provide an excuse to cast a ballot by mail. For most voters in the state, Election Day is the only opportunity to vote, and polling places close at 7 p.m. In practice, this means that many Mississippians, particularly those in Black communities, must endure long lines simply to exercise their fundamental right to vote.
What’s more, the Mississippi secretary of state contracted with a third-party credit-reporting agency to provide data to county election commissioners, ostensibly to help identify and inactivate voters. Relying on this unverified and, in many cases, unreliable personal data, the effort resulted in more than 230,000 voters being knocked off the state’s voter rolls. So, when Mississippians showed up to vote, many were forced to cast provisional “affidavit” ballots because of discrepancies between the information in the voter rolls and their actual voter registration status.
But even in the face of these obstacles, Mississippi voters prevailed. Their success is a testament to the tireless work of local civil rights and voting rights organizations that have spent decades fighting to protect and expand access to the ballot. That includes the NAACP, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Fair Fight, Black Voters Matter, and so many others.
Scott Colom will be representing the state with the highest percentage of Black residents in the country, a state that sent our nation’s first Black senator to Congress in 1870. This is a moment of new beginnings for Mississippi. With this election, Mississippi has an opportunity to move from a state with some of the nation’s most significant barriers to voting to one that makes casting a ballot as accessible as possible. And Mississippi is showing the rest of the country that even historically deep red states are up for grabs. Gone are the days where Democrats can’t compete in the South.
The work my colleagues and I did on all of these matters was thanks to you, Contrarians. Your paid subscriptions help fund both our legal work and the great journalism at The Contrarian, as you can see below in my weekly roundup.
History in Mississippi
Mississippi Is the Most American Place in America
Ebony N. Archie wrote on a win that was both ceiling-shattering and historically inevitable. “No, Scott Colom’s win is not because someone had to tell Mississippi what to do or came in to save us. It’s the result of momentum that has been bubbling up from the soil and soul of generations.”
Mississippi and the Future History of America
Robert P. Jones wrote on his home state as a national bellwether for the winds of change. But Scott Colom’s victory signals that a majority of contemporary Mississippians have, finally, chosen to support a truly democratic society rather than a racist, fascist movement.
Black People Have Always Made A Way
Shalise Manza Young analyzed Scott Colom’s win as part of a long legacy of Black Americans surmounting conservatives’ efforts to reduce the electoral power of minorities — and the support deficit Democrats still need to make up. “Take it from a track coach: You cannot win any race that you do not enter.”
Hitting the Ground Running
Jennifer Rubin looked to the full extent of post-blue wave possibility. “Just as a new political reality emerged behind the Iron Curtain when the Berlin Wall came down, perhaps the 2026 midterms will knock down the MAGA wall of fascism and give way to a radically different sort of American politics.”
Democrats Have a Foreign Policy Mandate, Too
Tom Malinowski wrote on the golden policy opportunity voters have given Democrats. “We may get just one more chance to restore America’s moral reputation and capacity to lead in the world, in a way that respects the message voters sent on Tuesday.”
Alex Aronson argued that after last week’s legislative gains, Democrats must prioritize reining in the Roberts Court. “We should understand Trump and MAGA as symptoms of the rigged system, not its cause. The Supreme Court under Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has long been the central engine of authoritarian consolidation in the United States.”
Tim Dickinson spotlighted twelve new representatives who are replacing notorious members of the House. “The Blue Wave wasn’t just about quantity. … It’s also about quality.”
All the President’s Worst Men
Hegseth Escapes Impeachment; Vets Deserve Better
Jennifer Rubin marked Veterans’ Day with the unwelcome news of Pete Hegseth’s non-impeachment and an agenda to keep better faith with those who served. “The regime has shrouded itself in the trappings of military glory while treating shabbily those who are serving or have served.”
(Stephen) Miller Time at the New Women’s Health Task Force?
Jennifer Weiss-Wolf looked at one of the many bad-news repercussions of Stephen Miller’s appointment to White House Chief of Staff: He will now head Trump’s newly created task force on women’s health policy. “Holy dystopia.”
Russell Brand’s Cynical MAGA Conversion
Meredith Blake checked in on longtime bad guy, more recent MAGA and MAHA shill Russell Brand, who was sentenced this week in Britain to 10 years in prison for rape convictions. “Apparently, making America healthy again does not mean making women safe, fighting sexual violence, or paying attention to empirical evidence.”
National Insecurity
The Huang Affair and Trump’s Indefatigable Disregard for U.S. Intelligence Agencies
Brian O’Neill wrote on the scandal rocking the tech industry and beyond — newly former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s extramarital affair with an executive suspected of working for China’s intelligence service — as an indictment of how the U.S. handles foreign intelligence threats when they intersect with commercial and political interests.
Hegseth and Miller Have Gone Too Far
Keya Chatterjee called for an end to the National Guard deployment in D.C., which has lasted more than 450 days and will cost taxpayers more than $1.4 billion. “Every guard member could be home for the holidays this year, ready to serve their own states, which is what they signed up to do.”
Fighting Back
Speak Up On Senate Leadership; Block BAAJA
In this week’s Calls to Action: ways to make your voice heard on congressional leadership, petitions for defunding ICE and advancing immigration reform, how to protest the “giveaway to fossil fuel companies and Big Tech” Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA), how to support SNAP for Thanksgiving, and more!
The Contrarian Covers the Democracy Movement
The fight goes on. This week we saw protests (and celebrations) in Mississippi, Ohio, Nevada, 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.
How Democrats Can Win the South After 2026
On the podcast this week, Jennifer Rubin spoke with Mother Jones’s voting rights reporter Ari Berman about what Dems can learn from Mississippi as we look ahead to 2028 and beyond.
Cartoons, Culture & Fun Stuff
This week, our cartoonists covered the changing of the guard for better (‘I Must Be Dreaming’) and worse (The Master Speaks), as well as who’s going down with the ship (Out to Sea; all Michael de Adder).
Love May Be Blind, But Should It Be This Toxic?
Meredith Blake wrote on the latest season of Netflix’s hit reality show, which puts a lingering spotlight on problematic men and the women who want to love them. “This season felt less like a silly guilty pleasure than a 12-hour horror movie about toxic masculinity and internalized misogyny.”
Thanks NORM great work🙏🙏🙌🏻🙌🏻
Every Saturday gives us new reasons to Thank Norm and Democracy Defenders! So thank you again, Norm et al. You WILL Prevail!
If only "he" had a fraction of the interest in repairing the FAA infrastructure and many more things, as he does in his vanity boondoggles.