Max Berger

Something that’s so striking in these emails is how…unimpressive Epstein is. He comes off as a pompous, sub-literate lech. Yes everyone is so mortifyingly solicitous of him! All fawning and flattery! Why?????

Thomas Massie to CNN on the Epstein files: "This vote is gonna be on your record for longer than Trump is gonna be president. And what are you gonna do in 2028 and 2030 when you're in a debate … and they say, 'How can we trust you? You covered up for a pedophile back in 2025.'"

“We had to give the dictator what he wanted so that we could protect a super-majority requirement in the world’s least representative legislative body” is a wildly anti-democratic statement.

Neither the US senate nor the Democratic Party has proven itself capable of preventing tyranny.

The Epstein story gets a something that is tearing at the heart of the electorate: elite impunity. The idea that wealthy and powerful people can do terrible things *at scale* and face no consequences for them. Whatever political party actually stops it could rule the country for a generation.

He’s cooked.

As Karoline Leavitt concludes her press briefing and walks off, @andrewfeinberg.com asks: "What was the president doing with Virginia Giuffre for hours at Epstein's house?"

She did not respond.

Earnest post: there is increasingly direct evidence that Trump participated in child sex trafficking or at least knew about it.

He should resign, be impeached and removed from office, and prosecuted.

Even if you don’t think that WILL happen it’s important to say publicly that it SHOULD happen.

Anyone remember Trump’s first Attorney General nominee?

If this is what they are doing with the AI, what do you think they are doing with the much simpler and easier to control algorithm that chooses which posts you see and which of your posts are seen by others?

Define real

Wow, that’s crazy. Republicans lied and are screwing you over? Who could have seen that coming?

UPDATE — Here are the at least 10 congressional Democrats, 5 Democratic-aligned organizations, and 6 Democratic Senate candidates calling for Chuck Schumer to resign as leader:

In a normal political system that has strong parties, there would be a way for members to replace leaders like Schumer who disregard their preferences.

In the US, Democratic voters have essentially no mechanism to change the direction of the party leadership.

Authoritarianism can only succeed when democracy fails to deliver for working people.

Authoritarian parties can only succeed when the pro-democracy parties fail to fight for working people.

We need a new democracy and a new party system which can represent working people.

In the struggle against authoritarianism, the pro-democracy opposition needs ruthlessly strategic leadership.

Chuck Schumer ain’t it. It’s time for him to resign. We don’t have time for more Schumer Surrenders.

I agree with the conclusion, but think it’s more about habituation. Congressional Dems have terminal cases of DC brain and are incapable of thinking outside of the logic of the institutions they’ve grown up within.

I feel like we're in a weird world where the average Dem partisan, engaged voter is better informed than most of their representatives

On the one hand, we absolutely need to change the leadership and composition of the Democratic Party in Congress.

On the other hand, we need to build a movement to change the political system. We need to move to a multi-party system in a more functional, representative Congress.

On one level, the blame for the Democrats capitulation lies with the incredibly cowardly and stupid elites who won't fight authoritarianism.

On another level, we're seeing the failure of the two party system and the Senate to properly channel the demands of the voters into action in government.

This deal to reopen the government is fucking disgraceful.

Tens of millions will lose their healthcare. Trump will be emboldened.

This is exactly what’s wrong with Democratic Party leadership and why we need more people in Congress who will actually hold the line.

In a two party system with first past the post voting in single member districts, there is no real choice for voters disillusioned with their party.

In a multiparty system with proportional representation, parties actually have to compete to represent voters. We should move to PR.

In a functional party system, this kind of capitulation in the face of authoritarianism could mean the end of the Democratic Party.

In our system, it could mean the end of the two party system. Neither party can represent the pro-democracy majority. It's time for something new.

This is why we need to change the rules so we can have a multiparty system.

The average SNAP benefit per month is $177 a person.

The average ACA benefit per month is up to $550 a person.

People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives.

And working people want leaders whose word means something to them.

The reason people think the Democratic Party doesn't actually stand for anything is because it doesn't.

The people want a new, more modern political system which is designed to represent who we are and what we want.

A political system with more parties.
A political system without kings or oligarchs.
A political system that's controlled by normal people, not the billionaire few.

Our political system is fundamentally broken. It was not designed to represent the will of the people and it is incapable of doing so today.

The people don't want a king. The people don't want Democrats to surrender. The people don't want only two parties.

The people don't want any of this.

Funny story: the guy who ran Dave Brat's campaign was Waleed's nemesis from his undergrad poli sci classes. When we were doing Justice Dems, Waleed used to talk about how this random guy from his college ran a campaign to take out the Speaker.

And then Waleed was on AOC's first race.

This week, the US Senate and the two-party system have shown why they serve no purpose in a functional democracy.