Smart Dissent

Mike Johnson's downward spiral Speaker of the House is a tough job. But he's particularly bad at it.

New in PN: Mike Johnson's downward spiral

"His speakership is a story of chaos and failure at a time when he and his party should be racking up wins. Apparently, the Lord played a trick on his humble servant: He may have given Johnson the job, but He didn’t say he’d be any good at it."

Karoline Leavitt lies with impunity on Fox & Friends: "Don't forget -- a year ago, President Trump inherited the worst inflation crisis in modern American history from the Biden administration."

Leavitt dodges a question about if Trump will release the video of the second strike against a disabled boat that killed two survivors of the first one

graphic showing how food prices have risen in 2025, with coffee up 100% and ground beef up 14% among other items

seen on Maria Bartiromo's show

Rand Paul: "It has not been the history of the US to kill people who are out of combat. Even if there is a war, which most of us dispute -- that a bunch of people who are unarmed allegedly running drugs is a war -- we still don't kill people when they're incapacitated ... it's illegal and immoral."

Rand Paul: "This is an insane policy. It's inconsistent. It's not war. It's not the way we've ever done this. If we can blow up a boat in the ocean, what about when they get to Miami & put it in a truck? Can you shoot a grenade launcher at the truck? No! We arrest people b/c sometimes we're wrong."

"There need to be subpoenas for witnesses, for documents all up and down the chain of command. I think it’s appropriate that Hegseth is in the hot seat...but we need to remember that this whole campaign also goes all the way up to the president."

@tessbridgeman.bsky.social is so good in this chat:

Newsmax host to Leavitt on Trump's farm bailout: "It's not funded by tax dollars. It's funded by tariffs."


"That's right," Leavitt replies


(Tariffs are taxes on American importers)

The Trump administration is illegally dismantling special education. I started out as a special ed teacher. Some learners have more challenges than others, but all children benefit from the investment we make in them. No nation is better off when it shortchanges its own children.

After a backroom meeting with Donald Trump and a donation to the Trump ballroom, NVIDIA got a deal to sell the most advanced AI chip it has ever sold to China.

The NVIDIA CEO should testify under oath in Congress.

Trump is letting NVIDIA export cutting-edge AI chips that his own DOJ revealed are being illegally smuggled into China.

His own DOJ called these chips "building blocks of AI superiority."

Trump and Lutnick need to answer to Congress on why they are selling out US security.

During a visit to Washington in recent days, David Ellison offered assurances to Trump administration officials that if he bought Warner, he’d make sweeping changes to CNN, a common target of President Trump’s ire, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has told people close to him that he wants new ownership of CNN as well as changes to CNN programming.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison “offered assurances” he would drastically transform CNN if he bought Warner Bros. Discovery www.wsj.com/business/med...

Donald J. Trump * @realDonaldTrump The biggest threat in history to United States National Security would be a negative decision on Tariffs by the U.S. Supreme Court. We would be financially defenseless. Now Europe is going to Tariffs against China, as they already do against others. We would not be allowed to do what others already do! justthenews.com/government/dip... 11 ReTruths 37 Likes 12/8/25, 11:37 PM

It’s 2:37 a.m. ET

Hegseth Defense Collapsing as Fresh Leaks on Strikes Grow More Damning As new info makes Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s illegal killings look even worse, an expert in national security law explains why his case is imploding—and what must happen now to secure accountabi...

Trump's bombings are "murder" and "summary executions," says @tessbridgeman.bsky.social, and Hegeth should watch "where he travels when he’s no longer in office" due to potential prosecution by "international tribunals."

On the pod Tess powerfully lays out this case:
newrepublic.com/article/2041...

The males of MAGA manspread their insecurity Trump & Co. bring down the country to lift their fragile egos

Trump attacks female reporters because he's insecure about his own manhood. It's the man-baby administration. I wrote about this last week.

“You’re the most obnoxious reporter in the whole place. A terrible reporter.”

Trump again attacks a Black female reporter, ABC’s Rachel Scott, for asking about releasing the full boat strike video - which he said he would do 5 days ago

And the other journalists stay silent🐔

Trump Backtracks on Releasing Video of Boat Strike

The Trump regime has a lot of crimes to hide. That's why we see so many cover-ups.

The Indiana Senate’s elections committee just voted to advance the GOP gerrymander.

The matter was genuinely uncertain… but the three Republicans who were uncertain as of this afternoon all voted ‘yes,’ pushing it thru 6-3. Moment of truth on Thursday but a first win for Trump and Mike Johnson.

It's official: Rep. Jasmine Crockett has announced she's running for U.S. Senate in Texas.

Paramount launches hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. The move comes days after Paramount was bested by Netflix in a competitive bidding process to buy Warner Bros.

Important detail on Paramount's hostile takeover bid to buy WBD:

Paramount's financing partners include Jared Kushner's private equity firm, plus Saudi Arabia's, Qatar's and Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth funds.

Kushner's involvement was NOT publicized by Paramount.
www.axios.com/2025/12/08/p...

Indiana Senate Committee Advances Trump-Demanded Gerrymander Read more here.

🚨BREAKING: Indiana Senate Elections Committee voted 6–3 to advance a controversial mid-decade redistricting bill that would all but guarantee the GOP wins all nine of the state’s congressional seats. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

And to think there are media organizations that still refuse to call Trump a pathological liar.

Federal Court Tosses GOP Lawsuit Against Missouri’s Gerrymander Referendum Effort Read more here.

🚨BREAKING: A federal judge Monday dismissed Missouri Republicans’ attempt to stop voters from pursuing a referendum against the state’s newly gerrymandered congressional map. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

“I’d have no problem releasing the video”

“I didn’t say that, you said that. Fake news.”

5 days apart 😬

(From @therecount.com )

Christine Woods’ lawsuit forced the county to redraw local maps this year and create three majority black districts.

It’s way past time for every WH reporter to speak out to Trump’s face when he’s insulting female reporters. Is your access so critical that you’ll allow your colleagues to be abused?

Honduran Authorities Issue Arrest Warrant for Ex-President Pardoned by Trump

Breaking NYT:

The Honduran attorney general just announced that he issued an international arrest warrant for the country's former president, Juan Orlando Hernández, who was pardoned by Trump and released from a federal prison in the U.S. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/w...

Federal judge rejects Missouri AG’s push to block referendum on gerrymandered map • Missouri Independent A federal judge Monday refused to back Missouri’s Republican leaders efforts to block a statewide vote on a gerrymandered congressional map.

Important news in this piece:

—Missouri organizers say they’ve collected over 300,000 signatures to block the GOP gerrymander. (They have until Thursday to submit roughly 110,000 valid ones.)

—Federal judge rejects GOP lawsuit to toss the petition. missouriindependent.com/2025/12/08/f...

A photo of Jasmine Crockett

DALLAS (AP) — Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett launches bid for U.S. Senate in Texas, looking to flip a Republican-held seat.

Duffy: "I don't have a plan to reduce costs."