Gabe: This is response to your other email regarding questions that you might answer.
From your perspective, what's the strategy for the Democratic party? clearly, the next step is to win the house at the mid term. To me, the biggest question is WHO ? How do we find a leader that can guide us out of this mess and begin to win back support of those we lost last November. How do you cultivate leadership? I think the honeymoon w/ Donald will last about 3-4 months...at that point we'll need a credible leader to step forward and offer the counter points to the Trump agenda. Your thoughts?
Excellent questions and I share it's importance. I don't know is Gabe is the correct person to ask since one of his obvious strengths is true journalism and reporting, he is shying away from bias and opinion-based punditry for which I am grateful
Would be interesting to hear is opinion on this topic though. My greatest fear isn't Trump, it's that there won't be a credible alternative to Maga in 2028
Agreed but Trump's base is not why he won. He won because middle class voters that supported Biden in 2020 and Independents swung to Trump. These are gettable voters as Biden showed and fielding a sensible candidate (Slotkin? Buttigeg?) is key for 2028
Harris was a sensible candidate. She's pretty Centrist. Any candidate we run will be subjected to the propaganda barrage fear mongering left wing radical extremism.
Agree she was sensible and ran as a centrist. Thought she ran an excellent campaign. But disagree she was the best the Dems could offer. She grew as VP but is still not a skilled communicator and connector imo. She had to run away from some negative radical positions when she was in the presidential primary (i.e., defund the police) which did not make her trustworthy among voters first finding out about her
A reminder that on Election Day and the days leading up to it, the overwhelming US Google search was some sort of variation of "Did Biden drop out?". Let that sink in. On the Election Day. So people could figure out who to vote for 🤦. Post election polling showed that Harris wasn't considered trustworthy
My point is that technology is going to be leveraged to persuade ignorant voters against ANY democrat candidate going forward. The AI-powered propaganda machine is going to isolate and enlarge any tiny blemish or make up lies to discourage the vote. We have a "democracy" the same way Russia does. Kneeling at the shrine of centrism under the banner of "busines as usual" isn't going to work.
Both parties will leverage talking points for their candidates. It doesn't appear maga propaganda is the primary reason why Trump won reelection. It also didn't work well enough in 2020. The electorate wanted change after 4 years of economic and safety uncertainty
Gabe, This is one of the very best articles you have written (and I read them all). I think with some of these issues, Trump is like the dog who caught the school bus......now what? The consistency with which he has supported Putin, however, is very frightening and a ripple effect will likely affect us in the relationships with our allies well beyond this first blush. We may find ourselves having destroyed our safety nets, that we need, and given ourselves over to authoritarian rule......just as laid out in Project 2025. Time to start really worrying?
How can anyone, who is not a trump cultist, think “…the story of trump’s second term has been that of a powerful president…”. (The rest of the sentence was correct “…trampling over checks…”.) But powerful? Hardly. Bullying, arrogant, illegal, unconstitutional, hateful, deeply misogynistic, rabidly racist, xenophobic - there are many adjectives that fit trump far better than powerful.
When I think of powerful Presidents I think of Washington, Lincoln, both Roosevelts and LBJ (with regard to civil rights, not Vietnam). trump isn’t fit to be the gunk any of them stepped in. Powerful? Not even.
It seems your framing of power requires a prerequisite of goodness. But that is actually rarely the case in human history. The most powerful people are often the least benevolent. Those you listed are notable for being exceptions to the rule.
True. I realized that when I wrote my comment. I did so because the word ‘powerful’ can cause a strong emotional reaction, even a subconscious attachment. While trump does hold great power due to the office he holds he himself should not be described in lofty terms. He is absolutely not deserving.
He is extremely dangerous and that should be part of any description of him and his very deliberate, unconstitutional destruction of our government and society.
djt is the antithesis of everything that made America great. Political stability, strong alliances and honoring our agreements have kept us safe and made us prosperous. All that is gone or on its way out. Damn you mitch and damn the dangerously stupid maga cult.
Gabe, thanks for doing this research and sharing this in-depth piece.
I find that there is so much reporting and inflationary statements (often times from the White House itself), that it’s very hard to filter through and find the actual facts of what the government has done vs said in a speech/tweet.
As a layperson, how can we cut through all the noise from this administration to actually find the objective actions that they have taken (or not)? Are there any sources you recommend to keep up with the actual changes implemented?
What we're seeing here is the "Ready-Fire-Aim" approach to policy. To be blunt, the Trump-Musk administration is incompetent. Trying to test how much one can get away with by going balls to the wall now and retracting later is not even a strategy, but a sign of an impulsive person. The Founding Fathers (no angels themselves) must be spinning in their graves.
This proposal to use zero-base budgeting within the federal government isn’t exactly new to the Trumpist right. I remember seeing a complaint against the current expenditure basis in the late P. J. O’Rourke’s Parliament of Whores, which was published all the way back in 1991. So I think it a bit of a reach to say that the Trump-Musk agitation for a zero base is outside the mainstream within the Republican party, where they view the budget process as an obstacle to serious attempts at budget balance.
Trump's strategy is to act first, then wait for consequences, then decide to either reaffirm or reverse the action. Either way he can portray it as strength. "I am acting decisively with my mandate, but I also listening to the popular will." The fact that it is very chaotic, and causes damage that cannot always be undone, is of no concern to him.
Reading your "partial list of issues on which the second Trump administration has reversed itself" I couldn't help thinking about Trump's comment that his first administration was a ‘well-oiled machine.’
Given their talent at self promotion, each flip flop permits them to claim, e.g., that they have saved huge amount of $$$'s by cuts to CDC, COVID test kits, USDA but then also separately claim that are ensuring health of Americans, by adding CDC employees, maintaining test kits, and fighting avian flu. Who is paying attention?
Neil Young wrote a song in 2006 called "Let's Impeach the President". In it a metronomic chorus chants "Flip" "Flop" "Flip" Flop" etc. while Neil sings of the administration's lies and reversals. He would have a field day with the abundance of flip-flopping going on in these first few months. Perhaps he can put out a sequel.
Gabe: This is response to your other email regarding questions that you might answer.
From your perspective, what's the strategy for the Democratic party? clearly, the next step is to win the house at the mid term. To me, the biggest question is WHO ? How do we find a leader that can guide us out of this mess and begin to win back support of those we lost last November. How do you cultivate leadership? I think the honeymoon w/ Donald will last about 3-4 months...at that point we'll need a credible leader to step forward and offer the counter points to the Trump agenda. Your thoughts?
Excellent questions and I share it's importance. I don't know is Gabe is the correct person to ask since one of his obvious strengths is true journalism and reporting, he is shying away from bias and opinion-based punditry for which I am grateful
Would be interesting to hear is opinion on this topic though. My greatest fear isn't Trump, it's that there won't be a credible alternative to Maga in 2028
His base loves what he is doing.
Agreed but Trump's base is not why he won. He won because middle class voters that supported Biden in 2020 and Independents swung to Trump. These are gettable voters as Biden showed and fielding a sensible candidate (Slotkin? Buttigeg?) is key for 2028
Harris was a sensible candidate. She's pretty Centrist. Any candidate we run will be subjected to the propaganda barrage fear mongering left wing radical extremism.
Agree she was sensible and ran as a centrist. Thought she ran an excellent campaign. But disagree she was the best the Dems could offer. She grew as VP but is still not a skilled communicator and connector imo. She had to run away from some negative radical positions when she was in the presidential primary (i.e., defund the police) which did not make her trustworthy among voters first finding out about her
A reminder that on Election Day and the days leading up to it, the overwhelming US Google search was some sort of variation of "Did Biden drop out?". Let that sink in. On the Election Day. So people could figure out who to vote for 🤦. Post election polling showed that Harris wasn't considered trustworthy
My point is that technology is going to be leveraged to persuade ignorant voters against ANY democrat candidate going forward. The AI-powered propaganda machine is going to isolate and enlarge any tiny blemish or make up lies to discourage the vote. We have a "democracy" the same way Russia does. Kneeling at the shrine of centrism under the banner of "busines as usual" isn't going to work.
Both parties will leverage talking points for their candidates. It doesn't appear maga propaganda is the primary reason why Trump won reelection. It also didn't work well enough in 2020. The electorate wanted change after 4 years of economic and safety uncertainty
Gabe, This is one of the very best articles you have written (and I read them all). I think with some of these issues, Trump is like the dog who caught the school bus......now what? The consistency with which he has supported Putin, however, is very frightening and a ripple effect will likely affect us in the relationships with our allies well beyond this first blush. We may find ourselves having destroyed our safety nets, that we need, and given ourselves over to authoritarian rule......just as laid out in Project 2025. Time to start really worrying?
How can anyone, who is not a trump cultist, think “…the story of trump’s second term has been that of a powerful president…”. (The rest of the sentence was correct “…trampling over checks…”.) But powerful? Hardly. Bullying, arrogant, illegal, unconstitutional, hateful, deeply misogynistic, rabidly racist, xenophobic - there are many adjectives that fit trump far better than powerful.
When I think of powerful Presidents I think of Washington, Lincoln, both Roosevelts and LBJ (with regard to civil rights, not Vietnam). trump isn’t fit to be the gunk any of them stepped in. Powerful? Not even.
It seems your framing of power requires a prerequisite of goodness. But that is actually rarely the case in human history. The most powerful people are often the least benevolent. Those you listed are notable for being exceptions to the rule.
True. I realized that when I wrote my comment. I did so because the word ‘powerful’ can cause a strong emotional reaction, even a subconscious attachment. While trump does hold great power due to the office he holds he himself should not be described in lofty terms. He is absolutely not deserving.
He is extremely dangerous and that should be part of any description of him and his very deliberate, unconstitutional destruction of our government and society.
How many times must it be said. American is not a for-profit business and should not be run like one.
djt is the antithesis of everything that made America great. Political stability, strong alliances and honoring our agreements have kept us safe and made us prosperous. All that is gone or on its way out. Damn you mitch and damn the dangerously stupid maga cult.
He’s a buffoon…a child…actually an emotionally disturbed person who has dementia
Will the MAGA crowd who voted for him ever realize this or will Fox News keep lying???
Gabe, thanks for doing this research and sharing this in-depth piece.
I find that there is so much reporting and inflationary statements (often times from the White House itself), that it’s very hard to filter through and find the actual facts of what the government has done vs said in a speech/tweet.
As a layperson, how can we cut through all the noise from this administration to actually find the objective actions that they have taken (or not)? Are there any sources you recommend to keep up with the actual changes implemented?
What we're seeing here is the "Ready-Fire-Aim" approach to policy. To be blunt, the Trump-Musk administration is incompetent. Trying to test how much one can get away with by going balls to the wall now and retracting later is not even a strategy, but a sign of an impulsive person. The Founding Fathers (no angels themselves) must be spinning in their graves.
That's Musk's strategy. Trump just plays golf and preens for the camera
This proposal to use zero-base budgeting within the federal government isn’t exactly new to the Trumpist right. I remember seeing a complaint against the current expenditure basis in the late P. J. O’Rourke’s Parliament of Whores, which was published all the way back in 1991. So I think it a bit of a reach to say that the Trump-Musk agitation for a zero base is outside the mainstream within the Republican party, where they view the budget process as an obstacle to serious attempts at budget balance.
You are an excellent writer
Chaos is a hell of a way to lead. But it does get a lot of attention. Bingo!
Trump's strategy is to act first, then wait for consequences, then decide to either reaffirm or reverse the action. Either way he can portray it as strength. "I am acting decisively with my mandate, but I also listening to the popular will." The fact that it is very chaotic, and causes damage that cannot always be undone, is of no concern to him.
Reading your "partial list of issues on which the second Trump administration has reversed itself" I couldn't help thinking about Trump's comment that his first administration was a ‘well-oiled machine.’
Given their talent at self promotion, each flip flop permits them to claim, e.g., that they have saved huge amount of $$$'s by cuts to CDC, COVID test kits, USDA but then also separately claim that are ensuring health of Americans, by adding CDC employees, maintaining test kits, and fighting avian flu. Who is paying attention?
Runs US like he runs his ‘businesses’.
Chaos
Neil Young wrote a song in 2006 called "Let's Impeach the President". In it a metronomic chorus chants "Flip" "Flop" "Flip" Flop" etc. while Neil sings of the administration's lies and reversals. He would have a field day with the abundance of flip-flopping going on in these first few months. Perhaps he can put out a sequel.