The Social Contract with Joe Walsh

I sat down with freelance opinion writer Kimberly Ross. She doesn’t belong to either side right now. She will rightly criticize both sides. We discussed what it feels like to not belong to a political team these days. And even though I help Democrats because I consider MAGA a unique threat, truthfully, I’m in the same lonely spot Kim is in

Trump was handed a great economy. And he’s destroying it. Nothing but chaos, confusion, and tariffs. And btw Democrats, do not bail Republicans out. They created this mess, let them deal with it. And what happened over the weekend happens in authoritarian regimes. It should not happen here.

Trump is suppressing speech, and he’s using immigration enforcement to suppress speech. He’s cracking down on international students who are here on student visas and who are protesting in support of Palestinians. He’s trying to arrest and deport them. I’m hugely pro-Israel, but that’s not right. And we should be bigger and better than that.

Ten democrats joined every Republican in the House to vote to censure the Democratic Congressman who interrupted Trump’s address the other night. That’s ten Democrats who don’t get how unprecedented and scary these times are. Decorum & civility ain’t gonna cut it Dems. You wanna preserve our democracy? You gotta put decorum & civility in the rear view mirror for awhile.

A Hispanic Member of Congress gave the Spanish language rebuttal to Trump’s address. The official House Republican Twitter account called him an “illegal immigrant.” Disgusting, cruel, ignorant…but hey, in today’s Trump era, that tweet will get a bunch of high fives. Trump has made it permissible for people to be their very worst.

Trump gave a speech last night to a joint session of Congress. It was his first time in the House chamber, in the Capitol, post-January 6th. Remember January 6th? 4yrs and 2 months ago, Trump sent a mob into that chamber, into the Capitol to overthrow an American election. And last night he gave a speech there and people were supposed to listen to him and pay him some sort of respect? Never.

House Republican leaders have told their members not to hold any more in person town halls. Because voters at these town halls have made clear they’re not happy with what Trump & Musk are doing. And some of these confrontations with Republicans have gone viral. We must not let House Republicans get away with this. We must demand they sit in front of their constituents and hear their concerns. That’s their job.

Trump stands with Putin. He always has. But because that’s such a horrible truth, most of the world has understandably had a really difficult time accepting that truth. Until Friday. Friday made it crystal clear for all to see. And now the world knows that, as long as Trump is in the White House, America is not on the side of the free world. So damn sad.

Mike Madrid and I got together on Substack Live to discuss the current political landscape in America, the importance of engagement, strategic messaging, and the need for the Democratic Party to refocus its efforts. We also talk about the challenges posed by figures like Donald Trump and Elon Musk