ICYMI: Media sleeps as Trump blatantly disregards constitutional norms

Posted on November 30, 2023 by kos

Why is the media ignoring Trump's direct threats to our Constitution?

Donald Trump keeps threatening our nation’s democracy in no uncertain terms, and yet the nation’s media insists on treating his proclamations as spectacle, when they’re not outright ignoring him.

Take Trump’s fascist declaration that his potential next administration would “root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country, that lie and steal and cheat on elections.” Historians have noted the alarming similarities to Adolf Hitler’s and Benito Mussolini’s eliminationist rhetoric, yet a Media Matters for America analysis found that our media could barely be bothered to care. Indeed, comparing the media’s coverage of Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables” comment to Trump’s “vermin” comment is … just go look for yourself.

Well, now he’s threatening the media, promising in a social media post to “come down hard” on MSNBC for its “constant attacks” on him. Clearly, Trump has no use for the First Amendment or the Constitution in general. Yet, can we expect the media to rally around its freedoms by calling out such outrageous threats? Don’t hold your breath. The media has a history of ignoring his threats, after all. If only his name were Hillary Clinton, perhaps then they’d be more suitably outraged.

ICYMI: Ivanka Trump in the fraud trial’s hot seat, Rick Santorum’s ‘sexy’ GOP logic

Posted on November 9, 2023 by Jen Hayden

Ivanka Trump takes the stand and is suddenly very forgetful

Ivanka Trump reluctantly took the stand in the New York civil fraud trial against Donald Trump and the Trump Organization, after repeatedly trying to delay her testimony or escape it altogether. By all accounts, she was more polished than her brothers, who testified last week, but she seemed to have a lot of problems recalling the details of her dealings as a Trump Org executive. Daily Kos followed the trial live, and you can read a full recap of her testimony here. Let’s just say she hasn’t done dear old dad any favors.

There are a lot of happy, tired (and possibly hungover) Democrats today

Democrats nationwide are still rejoicing after another night of electoral wins. Reproductive rights dominated in Ohio, where you’d expect Republicans to get the message loud and clear: We aren’t going back. But not Ohio Republicans! They immediately retreated to fantasyland and started plotting a new path to ending reproductive rights.

Other big winners include school librarians and teachers, who must be breathing a sigh of relief after scores of Moms for Liberty candidates went down in flames. And even though Democrats largely trounced Republicans on Tuesday, so many national media outlets seem addicted to the narrative of Democratic doom.

Meanwhile, the hosts and guests of Fox News are doing a lot of soul-searching at the moment. They can’t quite put their finger on why an agenda of ending reproductive rights and bullying librarians, teachers, and LGBTQ+ kids wasn’t the winning message they were banking on. Over on Newsmax, Rick Santorum’s “sexy” excuses for Republican losses really had us laughing.

Republicans immediately got to work breaking things again

Finally, with the clock ticking on government funding, Republicans are realizing they need to get the ball rolling or another government shutdown is what we’ll all have on the table this holiday season. Unfortunately, Republican disarray is deepening, and we are again careening toward a disaster unless they get it together.

ICYMI: Trump praises terrorists, calling them ‘very smart’

Posted on October 13, 2023 by kos

Donald Trump praises terrorists

Donald Trump has always been a terrible human being, but no one can say he wasn’t effective. He conquered the Republican Party and won the presidency by projecting power and strength. He also has an uncanny ability to tickle the conservative lizard brain, validating their most racist, sexist, xenophobic, and bigoted tendencies. However, those political instincts seem to have abandoned Trump lately. His low-energy, slurred-word, bizarrely meandering speeches (like this one and this one) are getting him in repeated trouble.

Trump has already angered his anti-abortion constituency by criticizing the draconian restrictions that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law. But today, Trump finally united his Republican primary challengers in outrage. First, he criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu because Netanyahu, in Trump’s words, “didn’t make me feel too good.” Second, Trump made sure everyone understood just how impressed he was by the terrorists attacking Israel. “You know, Hezbollah’s very smart, they’re all very smart. The press doesn’t like when they say [unintelligible],” he said. But just in case his admiration wasn’t clear enough, he restated his main point: “But Hezbollah, they’re very smart.” Good luck walking that one back.

The 2016 version of Trump would not have made this mistake, but that Trump wasn’t burdened with two-plus years of post-presidential grievances. Trump never got over Netanyahu congratulating Joe Biden on his victory in 2020. “Fuck him,” Trump said about Netanyahu at the time. For Trump, that anger now manifests as him praising terrorists.

Republicans still can’t govern

Trump isn’t the only challenge facing Republicans, who every single day prove their inability to govern. In the House of Representatives, the Republican majority still can’t get their act together to pick a speaker. While earning the official backing of a majority of the Republican caucus, Rep. Steve Scalise is still a long way from the 217 votes he needs from the entire House to become speaker. With enough “hard no” votes among nihilist Republicans to scuttle any leadership vote, Republicans remain paralyzed—and will continue to be until they cut a deal with Democrats. What could Democrats demand? At minimum: funding for Ukraine, Israel, and disaster relief; an omnibus bill to keep the government funded until after the 2024 elections; and an end to the baseless impeachment inquiry against Biden. Meanwhile, Rep. Kevin McCarthy wants his old job back, and he thinks pretending to be an elder statesman will get him there. His problem? He sucks at it.

So where is Trump in all of this? Ghoulishly using Scalise’s cancer diagnosis to undermine him.

ICYMI: Biden strongly condemns Hamas, says it doesn’t represent Palestinians

Posted on October 10, 2023 by kos

President Joe Biden condemns Hamas terrorism

Today, President Joe Biden spoke to the nation about Hamas’ terrorist attack against Israel and about the U.S. response to the ongoing violence. Biden stridently condemned the “pure unadulterated evil” of the Hamas attack, referring to it as a “slaughter” and a “massacre.” He noted that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people, said that Palestinians are pawns being used as “human shields,” and said, “This is terrorism, but sadly, for the Jewish people, [it] is not new. … We must be crystal clear. We stand with Israel. We stand with Israel.”

War Update: Israel, Ukraine, Russia, and Republicans

Russia is using the war in Israel to inject dangerous and false propaganda into the debate, and pro-Putin Republicans are gleefully taking the bait. “[An] account with over 350,000 followers on X (formerly known as Twitter) not only blames the Hamas attack on the U.S., but insists that it was all somehow done on orders from Barack Obama,” writes our own Mark Sumner. “Expect more such conspiracy theories, many more false claims, and for the worst of Republicans to continue using the dead in Israel for political gain.”

RNC chair's partisan remarks on Israel tragedy ignite controversy

War is breaking out, civilians are being massacred, but don’t worry—the Republican National Committee is thrilled. “I think this is a great opportunity for our candidates to contrast where Republicans have stood with Israel time and time again, and Joe Biden has been weak,” said RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel.

Anything but impeachment: This week’s picks from the Daily Kos Community

Posted on January 25, 2020 by Jessica Sutherland

Hey, Daily Kos Community! I don’t know about y’all, but it feels so good to not be watching the Impeachment Trial of Donald J. Trump this afternoon. I can’t be alone in that mood. I won’t waste any more of your time talking about that which has consumed us. Instead, I’ll go on ahead and send you into this week’s dreamy collection of great Community writing—a list that’s entirely free of impeachment content. Enjoy!

Indigenous youth occupy office of B.C. Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources

By Dan Bacher

Need another reason to be in awe of today’s young people? Here’s further proof that the kids are determined to save the world and save us all.

Happy Birthday, Michelle Obama

By AKALib

Forever FLOTUS is just so gosh dang pleasant and delightful. There’s never a bad day for a nice collection of some of her finest moments, but her birthday was definitely a good day for it.

There was no place for a Muslim journalist in 1980s America

By YasminaReality

A look back at life as a Muslim in America, by someone determined to tell the world’s most important stories since the 1970s.

Supreme Court to review "faithless electors" case

By ptalbert

As resistance to the Electoral College grows, four 2016 electors who didn’t reflect the wish of the voters they represent are headed to the nation’s highest courts.

I came back from "death"

By Eihenetu

This is not the story of a near-death experience. This is a story of redemption.

A country funeral

By Christopher Bauer

My gosh this story is beautiful. Just read it.

The 2020 “everything terrible Trump has done” year end summary report

By smallch

The Trump Omnibus has grown so large, it’s becoming overwhelming to the average reader. The heroes who collect the Popular Vote Loser’s bad deeds created this accessible summary of 2019. Take a look just for the scandals you may have already forgotten thanks to the most recent scandals (or the ones before that).

"It's local elections, stupid"

By kid oakland

Without local victories, there is not progress. It’s just not possible. 2020 is about registering voters, organizing locally and challenging for every seat that we can win, and some we can’t.

GOP Rep introduces a bill to let Christian jewelry company profit off Bible and military

By ChrisRodda

Florida man abuses his position of power for the benefit of one company that got busted using U.S. military insignia without permission.

Indiana legislators propose making abortion murder, arresting judges who strike down law

By ZawnVillines

Indiana’s newest forced-birth legislation is extremely draconian and unreasonable, just like anti-choice activists like it.

What happens when it's your town's turn?

By xaxnar

“When Anderson Cooper is late to your local disaster, you know something is wrong.” The media mostly ignored a horrific flood in Nashville back 2010, which impacted the resources the community received. As such natural events of devastation become ever more common, can society keep up?

Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day: Roy Moore

By republicinsanity

There is so much wrong with Roy Moore. The Daily Kos Community supported the fight to keep him out of the U.S. Senate in a 2017 special election, but he’s running again!

That’s it for this week, friends. How’d we do? Let me know in the comments! As always, feel free to drop a line in my Kosmail if you’ve got suggestions and submissions. Most importantly, keep writing! I love reading your work every day. We’re all so lucky you’re here.

Category: ICYMI