The Social Contract with Joe Walsh

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

Democrats need to learn from Trump. Trump puts himself in front of a camera every day. Because this is all just a show to Trump. And Trump had always been about the marketing. That’s it. And when he’s in front of the camera, he lies. All the time. But Democrats have missed the boat here. They’re still playing by the old, cautious politician rules. They’re afraid of the open give and take. That’s gotta change. Fast.

I’m so sick and tired of the old establishment media putting these old establishment Democratic consultants on to bestow us with their old establishment wisdom. Fuck that. These guys are out of touch and Democrats need to stop listening to them. Democrats shouldn’t “roll over and play dead right now as Carville said. They should fight.

I sat down with progressive writer and thinker Jeet Heer to discuss what Democrats need to do to pull together an anti-Trump majority and win again. Trump didn’t win by a lot, but Democrats have real issues and need to make real decisions. Jeet and I don’t really agree on the direction Dems must go, but we agree Dems need to win. Because MAGA is a real threat to this country.