Dem the Torpedoes
Quitting While You’re Ahead?
The GOP fights to win no matter who gets hurt. Dems fight to lose no matter who could be helped. That was my first reaction to the news that eight Senators had broken rank with Democrats to advance a plan to end the shutdown—less than a week after sweeping elections and while still polling well on the issue. In recent days, the shutdown had become a game of chicken, but instead of the two cars racing toward each other, one of the cars was racing to end SNAP payments for the poorest Americans and to screw up air travel for everyone else. Paradoxically, the willingness (and even gleefulness) with which the GOP moved to harm Americans provided a structural advantage, while the math provided by the 2024 election provided a numerical one. The Dems were winning the shutdown at the polls, but there was little chance that the current GOP would have ceded ground the Dems’ big demand: extending the health care subsidies that are scheduled to expire. So where does this leave us? Most Democrat’s emotions will fall on a spectrum between expectation fulfilling disappointment and ‘throw the bums out’ fury. But the broader battle lines remain in the place, and will be even more pronounced if/when Americans start seeing their health care premiums go through the roof as the midterms approach. Meanwhile, even as the shutdown ends, the Trump administration is still doing everything it can to keep full SNAP payments frozen. At a moment when Dems just won elections focused on affordability, cutting off health care and starving people don’t strike me as winning issues. There’s no sugar-coating the fact that in the game of chicken, the Dems hit the brakes first. But the GOP could be driving right off a cliff.
+ “From a political perspective, Democrats won the messaging war. Over the 40-plus days of the shutdown, the public continued to blame Trump and the Republicans more than Democrats. More importantly, Democrats made the shutdown about health-care affordability. But that’s not the same as winning.” Dan Pfeiffer (paywall): Democrats lost the battle, but they may win the war. “Ultimately, the Democrats who caved reached two conclusions. First, Republicans were never going to extend the Obamacare tax credits ... Second, there was no limit to how many people the Trump administration would hurt during the shutdown.”
+ “The shutdown was a skirmish, not the real battle. Both sides were fighting for position, and Democrats, if you look at the polls, are ending up in a better one than they were when they started. They elevated their best issue — health care — and set the stage for voters to connect higher premiums with Republican rule. It’s not a win, but given how badly shutdowns often go for the opposition party, it’s better than a loss.” Ezra Klein in the NYT (Gift Article): What Were Democrats Thinking?
+ Josh Marshall: A Quick Take on Team Cave’s Big Win. “I have what I suspect is a somewhat counterintuitive take on the deal Senate Democrats’ Team Cave made with the Republican Senate caucus tonight. This is an embarrassing deal, a deal to basically settle for nothing. It’s particularly galling since it comes only days after Democrats crushed Republicans in races across the country. Election Day not only showed that Democrats had paid no price for the shutdown. It also confirmed the already abundant evidence that it has been deeply damaging for Donald Trump. But even with all this, I think the overall situation and outcome is basically fine. Rather than tonight’s events being some terrible disaster, a replay of March, I see it as the glass basically being two-thirds or maybe even three-quarters full.” (A few months ago, many of us would have been satisfied with a little condensation building up on the walls of the glass).
+ WaPo (Gift Article): The health care battle fueling the shutdown roils North Carolina politics. “The health care debate has become a ‘microcosm of the midterm’ in the battleground state as rising premiums hit.”
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Behind the Scenes
“It starts with the sound of helicopter blades whirring in the night sky and flashlights shining on an apartment building. Then the action music kicks in.” Chicago Sun Times: Watch how government propaganda techniques portray Chicago as a city at war with the feds. “Editing out the ‘tears and screams of the children and families’ helps DHS meet its goal of ‘normalizing’ the militaristic activity for the American public. And how does DHS make a video like the one from South Shore? Security footage from a nearby elementary school gives an answer. Obtained by the Sun-Times through a public records request, it shows a camera crew of at least nine people wearing street clothing filming the entire raid, some with neon Department of Homeland Security Office of Public Affairs vests.”
+ “Veteran ICE officers know face coverings are a bad look. But they’re not coming off anytime soon.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): Why They Mask.
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Move Fast and Make Things
“Backed by OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and his husband, along with Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong, the startup—called Preventive—has been quietly preparing what would amount to a biological first. They are working toward creating a child born from an embryo edited to prevent a hereditary disease. In recent months, executives at the company privately said a couple with a genetic disease had been identified who was interested in participating, according to people familiar with the conversations. Gene-editing technologies now in use for treatment after birth allow scientists to cut, edit and insert DNA, but using the process in sperm, eggs or embryos is far more controversial and has prompted calls by scientists for a global moratorium until the ethical and scientific questions get resolved. Editing genes in embryos with the intention of creating babies from them is banned in the U.S. and many countries.” But everyone knows that Silicon Valley billionaires don’t like waiting around. So ready or not... WSJ(Gift Article): Genetically Engineered Babies Are Banned. Tech Titans Are Trying to Make One Anyway.
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Add Some Feet to the Fleet
“Among the rarefied owners of the world’s largest superyachts, one floating villa is not enough. Sometimes you need two: one for the family, and another for the toys. This shadow yacht ferries the jet skis, helicopter and submarine. It also holds the smaller boat that zips you into Monaco in time for lunch at Le Louis XV. Or perhaps you have a chase boat, a speedy, smaller vessel with its own crew that rides alongside the yacht but is zippy enough for shorter day trips.” Bottom line, you need A Yacht for Your Yacht.
5
Extra, Extra
American Justice? “They said they were punished in a dark room called the island, where they were trampled, kicked and forced to kneel for hours. One man said officers thrust his head into a tank of water to simulate drowning. Another said he was forced to perform oral sex on guards wearing hoods.” NYT (Gift Article): ‘You Are All Terrorists’: Four Months in a Salvadoran Prison.
+ Resigning, Not Resigned: “President Donald Trump is using the law for partisan purposes, targeting his adversaries while sparing his friends and donors from investigation, prosecution, and possible punishment. This is contrary to everything that I have stood for in my more than 50 years in the Department of Justice and on the bench. The White House’s assault on the rule of law is so deeply disturbing to me that I feel compelled to speak out. Silence, for me, is now intolerable.” Federal Judge Mark L. Wolf: Why I Am Resigning. This probably won’t change Wolf’s mind: “President Trump has granted pardons to his former lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani and a wide array of other people accused of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, according to the Justice Department’s pardon attorney.” Trump Pardons Giuliani and Others Involved in Effort to Overturn 2020 Election.
+ ‘Pause and Effect: “The changes, expected within six months, represent a radical turnabout in what women have been told about hormone replacement therapy.” NYT (Gift Article): F.D.A. Will Remove Black Box Warnings From Hormone Treatments for Menopause. Meanwhile, our broader health politics just keep getting weirder. WaPo (Gift Article): ‘God is an anti-vaxxer’: Inside the conference celebrating RFK Jr.’s rise.
+ Same Aim: Supreme Court Denies Request to Revisit Same-Sex Marriage Decision. (This was somewhat expected as the case was perceived as weak. Don’t take it to mean same-sex marriage is safe from this court.)
+ Edited Out: “The memo suggested that the one-hour Panorama programme had edited parts of Trump’s speech together, so he appeared to explicitly encourage the Capitol Hill riot of January 2021.” BBC director general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness have resigned. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of BBC-edited Trump speech from day of Capitol attack with original. (It’s a bad edit. And the original is bad enough.)
+ Just a Little Outside ... the Law: “Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were charged with fraud, conspiracy and bribery stemming from an alleged scheme to rig individual pitches that led to gamblers winning hundreds of thousands of dollars.” (It’s a safe bet we’ll see more of these cases.)
+ Student Government: “On Tuesday night, a charismatic teenager eked out a victory in a race for a county supervisor seat in southeastern Virginia. Cameran Drew’s victory was notable not only because of his age (19) or the narrow margin of victory (10 votes), but also because of the opponent he beat: his former high school government teacher.”
+ Resistance is Fusili: “Italy’s biggest pasta exporters say import and antidumping duties totaling 107% on their pasta brands will make doing business in America too costly and are preparing to pull out of U.S. stores as soon as January. The combined tariffs are among the steepest faced by any product targeted by the Trump administration.” WSJ (Gift Article): Italian Pasta Is Poised to Disappear From American Grocery Shelves. (Finally, we’ll be rid of that damn pasta from Italy!)
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Bottom of the News
“For his only in-person interview since that snap turned him into an international curiosity, he appeared for the AP cameras at his home much as he did that Sunday: in a fedora hat, Yves Saint Laurent waistcoat borrowed from his father, jacket chosen by his mother, neat tie, Tommy Hilfiger trousers and a restored, war-battered Russian watch. The fedora, angled just so, is his homage to French Resistance hero Jean Moulin. In person, he is a bright, amused teenager who wandered, by accident, into a global story.” Fedora man unmasked: Meet the teen behind the Louvre mystery photo.
+ “Starbucks had teased the cup for weeks as part of its 2025 holiday rollout, and by dawn, customers were camping out for it. Some stores reportedly received just one or two units. Others ran out before opening. Social media posts accused employees of buying the cup before customers had a chance to. Videos of scuffles circulated online, turning a marketing stunt into a viral fiasco that played out less like a cozy seasonal debut and more like a Black Friday, free-for-all scramble.” (This is all completely crazy. But holy hell do I want one of these cups!) Starbucks made a $30 glass bear cup. Chaos ensued.