The Catturd Deficit

How we feed fascism by surrendering rural districts to Republicans The Democratic Party's official stand for one year of this century—2008—was that Democrats should compete everywhere. Look up what happened! Since then, Democrats have let negative partisanship and the far right’s devouring of rural America scare them away from competing in too many places. And when that happens, it leads to things like JD Vance in the U.S. Senate. Michele Hornish, the executive director of Every State Blue, wants to change this. Her post “Do Not Obey In Advance: How Democrats Have Broken the First Rule” sold me on her mission. And we think everyone needs to know what Blue Ohio is doing and how small donors can make a big difference. This movement requires a long-term investment. However, it can also have almost immediate payoffs by helping turn out voters who could help send Sherrod Brown back to the Senate. Which really matters. Look it up. Listen and find out if you have broken the first rule. Catch up on all the episodes of “How are you feeling about democracy?” here. If you want to be a supporter of this podcast, please join us here at the earlyworm society – free or paid, your support matters.

Thanks to a 6-3 MAGA majority, Originalism is now your religion, whether you like it or not. Here's how we take our freedom back. Madiba K. Dennie has done the impossible in her new book.  The Originalism Trap tells the history of the conservative legal movement kicking freedom’s ass. Dennie deftly describes how this once-mocked doctrine now dominates our highest court and tens of millions of uteri–and may do so for the rest of our lives. Yet she manages to leave you with some optimism. This MAGA majority, perhaps more than any other Supreme Court majority in US history, is dominated by pious defenders of your right to practice their religion. And that religion is Originalism. And since this trap is now your religion, you should know where it came from, what it’s after, and how we escape it. And the perfect person to explain all this is Madiba K. Dennie. Catch up on all the episodes of “How are you feeling about democracy?” here. Transcript here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/108913125 If you want to be a supporter of this podcast, please join us here at the earlyworm society – free or paid, your support matters.

How we overcome the strategic racist demagoguery that lets billionaires divide and dominate us. Donald Trump epitomizes DOG WHISTLE POLITICS. That’s the verdict of  Ian Haney López, author of the groundbreaking book of that title that exposes the electoral strategy that has driven the Republican Party’s success in taking over the Supreme Court and engineering massive wealth inequality in the United States. But we rarely hear anyone talk anymore about how Trump deploys racism to engineer massive gains for his billionaire friends at home and abroad.  Part of that is that the left takes Trump’s racism for granted, believing it’s visible to anyone who cares to see it. Another part is Trump’s mastery when it comes to silencing the press and critics about his divisive smears by using what Haney López calls “Racist Theater.” And maybe the biggest reason is Democrats remain afraid to confront Trump’s purposeful divisiveness directly. Haney López, who is also the author of MERGE LEFT, which presents proven tactics for using a race-class narrative to oppose strategic racism. In that book and this interview, he presents a better way to defeat the favorite trick of America’s bloated, belligerent billionaires. Plus, he gets really pissed at JD Vance. Catch up on all the episodes of “How are you feeling about democracy?” here. If you want to be a supporter of this podcast, please join us here at the earlyworm society – free or paid, your support matters.

How the national media snoozed on what could be one of the biggest stories in recent American history. Sarah Posner covers the Christian Right, so of course, she was one of the few journalists covering one of the biggest stories of this election so far. The Republican Party is on the verge of an election win that could allow them to enact complete and total Christian Nationalism in the United States of America. This is true even though the far right’s signature policy, mercilessly banning abortion, is more reviled than ever. Rather than backing down, evangelicals have declared war on the separation of church and state and, thus, democracy itself. Sarah Posner, author of Unholy: Why White Evangelicals Worship at the Altar of Donald Trump, clarifies how America's most potent political movement is coping with the tenuous but massive success gained through amoral matrimony with Donald Trump. And she helps us understand what the far right thinks when they see abortion rights winning big, even in Kansas. Catch up on all the episodes of “How are you feeling about democracy?” here. If you want to be a supporter of this podcast, please join us here at the earlyworm society – free or paid, your support matters.

This is the third podcast we’ve done about Project 2025. And it’s the first one we’ve done after Project 2025 has become so well known that Donald Trump had to pretend to disavow it. Much of the credit for exposing the public goes to Taraji P. Henson, who made this abomination "the talk of the BET Awards.” And to John Oliver, whose full-episode deep dive into the plan to politicize the entire federal government focused on the personnel aspect of the plan.  The “how” of the plan is crucial, given that people are starting to become familiar with the ridiculously retrograde policy provisions. Swing voters – reluctant Dems and “double haters" – continually say they don’t believe Trump can make his dictatorial fantasies come true. And the mechanics of the people part of the plan prove that Republicans are ready to take Trump to the Fantasy Suite. One big reason John Oliver’s explainer was so good was that it was informed in part by Don Moynihan, who is the McCourt Chair of Public Policy at the McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University, at least until he moves to the University of Michigan in fall. Don focuses on “studying, teaching, and thinking about how governments function and how to make them better.” He’s also the Sultan of Schedule F, at least according to us, because he was one of the loudest voices warning about Trump’s radical plans for the federal government when they were first announced almost four years ago. Last Week Tonight picked the perfect person to talk to about Project 2025. And so did we. He gave us his perspective on how the piece came together, his view on what he would have added if there had been five more minutes in the episode, and his reaction to the avalanche of brutal anti-democratic rulings from the Supreme Court over the last month. Listen to “Taking Project 2025 personally” with Andra Watkins and “Thank you, Project 2025” with Thomas Zimmer. Catch up on all the episodes of “How are you feeling about democracy?” here. If you want to be a supporter this podcast, please join the earlyworm society – free or paid, your support matters.

You probably don’t know the name Walter Huss, but you certainly see his vision of the world alive today in the modern Republican Party. Seth Cotlar is a historian of the US Right teaching at Willamette University in Salem, OR, who is writing a book based on the 57 boxes of archival material from Walter Huss found at the University of Oregon library.  In his fantastic newsletter Rightlandia, Seth digs into Huss’ life, which includes a sudden rise to the top of the Oregon Republican Party followed by a nearly as sudden demise, along with a lifetime of trying to make a career and spark an uprising by weaponizing doubt against the government, medical science, and any minority group he could find, except fascists. Because, as you may have guessed, Huss was a fascist. Seth’s recent piece “The Art of the Racist Troll, ca. 1987” reads like a Coen Brothers movie about a Republican Party that once had an immune system that functioned enough to reject parasites like Huss. And it got me thinking about how we’re a coinflip from being ruled by a racist troll again. Seth gives us an outline of Huss’ story and why it matters. Then he indulges me in spitballing about what we could learn from Huss about defeating Donald Trump. Plus, Seth offers an excellent definition of democracy informed by his work on Thomas Paine, the greatest non-racist troll of all time. Catch up on all the episodes of “How are you feeling about democracy?” here. If you want to be a supporter this podcast, please join the earlyworm society – free or paid, your support matters.

“We're trying to win an election, and the right is trying to seize power by any means necessary.” Melissa Ryan helps people, policymakers, and institutions combat disinformation; you can see why. She has a clarity that comes from more than a decade in national politics and a coolness that comes from either some really good nature or nurture, probably both. And you can get that calming clarity she offers every week in her newsletter Ctrl Alt Right Delete. This is a quick interview, by our standards, that sprints point-by-point through some of the trickiest issues democracy faces now, with some excellent advice about what we, as earlyworms, can be doing now. She also makes a point that helps explain why this race is so close, though we all lived through the misery of Trump’s presidency. Our brains are begging us to go back to our last normal week. Catch up on all the episodes of “How are you feeling about democracy?” here. If you want to be a supporter this podcast, please join the earlyworm society – free or paid, your support matters.

Who can explain why Elon Musk is? A.R. Moxon can. Because A.R. Moxon could explain your nose to your face. His words levitate us over our sleeping bodies so we can see reality with a clarity life generally lacks. His new book of essays VERY FINE PEOPLE follows his critically acclaimed debut novel THE REVISIONARIES. And everything he writes dances off the page and into your consciousness. We wanted to talk to him about how Donald Trump became the law, square dancing, and what it was like to grow up among the very fine people. Catch up on all the episodes of “How are you feeling about democracy?” here. If you want to be a supporter this podcast, please join the earlyworm society – free or paid, your support matters.

What are the Americans who will decide the 2024 election thinking? Anat Shenker-Osorio is a legendary messaging expert and the host of the fantastic Words to Win By podcast. And she’s constantly in focus groups with the “double hater” and “disaffected swing” voters who will decide if this republic will embrace fascism.  So, she has a good idea of the challenges that Joe Biden, democracy, and we all face. Making the threat of Trump feel real somehow remains a real obstacle. But the good news is that the more voters know, the more they tend to lean Biden.  We spoke to Anat about embracing “freedom,” how to talk about the best jobs market of our lifetime without telling people to “Quit yer bitchin,” and why talking about Trump’s felonies is far better politics than imitating Trump at “the border.” Catch up on all the episodes of “How are you feeling about democracy?” here. If you want to back this podcast, please join the earlyworm society – free or paid, your support matters.

Ohio Republicans are clinging to gerrymandering like their extremism depends on it. Because it does. You’re probably not following the details of the fake controversy Ohio’s Republicans have generated around Joe Biden appearing on November’s ballot. And you shouldn’t be. That’s David Pepper’s job. The former chair of Ohio’s Democratic Party is now working with Blue Ohio to make sure Democrats show up everywhere in the state.  He gives us a brief on the current controversy and connects it to the bigger picture: Ohio’s Republicans are terrified of letting democracy work in the state. They don’t want to get new maps the way Michigan and Wisconsin have. They want to pick their voters, not the other way around. Because otherwise, they might lose. After listening to this episode, you’ll be convinced that Ohio’s GOP may be the most anti-democratic force in any swing state. And you’ll know at least one way to fight back. Catch up on all the episodes of “How are you feeling about democracy?” here. If you want to back this podcast, please join the earlyworm society – free or paid, your support matters.