Verbal Promises and Institutional Trust

As anticipated in last week’s episode, the government did indeed shut down, and as of this recording Congress remains at an impasse. At the same time Donald Trump and Stephen Miller are trying harder than ever to foment street violence in blue cities and maybe even martial law. In this episode, Brian and Matt discuss:

* How the GOP’s ongoing Epstein coverup is prolonging the shutdown and making it likelier that they “lose.”

* The esoteric Beltway metaphysics of who gets blamed for government shutdowns.

* Why Democrats are winning the battle of public opinion despite Beltway consensus that they are to blame.

Then, would it really be “winning” the shutdown to force Republicans to renew Affordable Care Act subsidies, without securing any new constraints on Trump’s abuses of power? Would Democrats shut down the government again to have another fight centered more closely on Trump’s authoritarian abuses? Is the dictatorial overreach bad enough now that Democrats should simply withhold their votes under any feasible set of concessions? And which prominent Democrats are doing resistance politics most effectively.

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Further reading:

* Matt argues that “authentic” politicians are mostly just acting.

* Brian argues that “non-sequitur politics” are a bad basis for fighting fascism.

* Bharat Ramamurti imagines how Democrats could force Trump closer to compliance with constitutional rule.