Not that I believe even this Republican Senate will confirm Kennedy as HHS head, but America's adversaries are surely overcome with joy as the Trump regime does everything in its power to destroy public health.
BTW, journalists, this is not a "controversial" nomination. It's a completely bonkers move, and just this once maybe you should consider saying so forthrightly, and explaining why that is the case.
The Democratic party should use this inflection point to shift ground – from being the party of well-off college graduates, big corporations, “never-Tumpers” like Dick Cheney and vacuous “centrism” – to an anti-establishment party ready to shake up the system on behalf of the vast majority of Americans.
This is and should be the Lesson of the 2024 election.
To restate something I already posted, because I need to read it again, and maybe some of you do too:
The *reason* that the upcoming administration is bad is not because the blue team lost, but because the red team is going to use power to disrupt our lives and cause pain.
Therefore *all* resistance is, at its root, "living and helping others live un-disrupted lives". Fighting for blue-team wins is a tactic, not a goal.
Updated (see below)
Like you, I've been absorbing the news today. As I write this, it looks more and more possible that the American experiment will end in January.
I'll be back tomorrow, but right now I just want to wait and see.
PS: To all the journalists who barely deigned to notice the likelihood that the next president would be an outright fascist – and did nothing to stop him – you have my contempt.
Further thoughts in my newsletter:
Extremism won, and journalism helped On January 20, 2025, one of the supremely dangerous people in American history will re-occupy the White House, reclaiming all of the awesome powers of the presidency. Donald Trump and his extreme right-wing apparatchiks will issue a blizzard of executive orders, all designed to reverse
Excerpt from my latest "Cornerstone of Democracy" newsletter:
We are veering into catastrophic times – into a violent, corrupt, extremist era that renders our nation unrecognizable, all too quickly, and throws the entire world into destructive chaos.
If we are facing such a nightmare, journalists will have a simple, if agonizing, choice: Acquiesce to the regime. Or join the resistance.
Extremism won, and journalism helped On January 20, 2025, one of the supremely dangerous people in American history will re-occupy the White House, reclaiming all of the awesome powers of the presidency. Donald Trump and his extreme right-wing apparatchiks will issue a blizzard of executive orders, all designed to reverse
Dan Gillmor
Robert Reich
Tony Corsentino
Anil Dash
Moose Allain
Glyph
Aaron Rupar