I would argue, after that article in which Susie Wiles admits repeatedly that they know what they’re saying and doing is false but they’re doing it anyway to appease the man-child, that even the fanboys know things aren’t going well. But they’re just going to keep telling the emperor how nice his new clothes are because it is in their own self-interest to do so
At least a few are beginning to realize that it's *not* in their self-interest to do so -- not if they want to get re-elected. The question that needs to be asked, repeatedly, is "Who's actually calling the shots here?" I'm looking at the Big Money types who are chipping in to fund the horrendous ballroom (and, of course, those who have managed to restrain themselves, and those who are in the cabinet). For many decades they've found "democracy" an inconvenient impediment to their interests. Since the onset of Reaganomics, democracy has continually played second fiddle to those interests. It's no surprise that they don't know and/or don't care how democracy is supposed to work, at least in theory, or even how to put up a good front.
Dan, thanks for the quick turnaround on Trump’s speech. I couldn’t bring myself to watch it. Based on your comments it sounds like this was effectively an early Christmas present from the White House to the Democrats! My New Year’s wish is that they keep putting him out on the stump as much as possible.
Watch the clip Dan so graciously provided. Just under 2 minutes was all I could stomach , but certainly tells you everything you need to know about what he said. Angry, desperate lies. He is obviously trying to sound strong, but he failed. This is incredibly gratifying. Here’s hoping his poll numbers drop even more after this.
He's their guy, he got rid of Lina Khan for them. Now Zaslav can do the deal he said well before the election he wanted to do, and that he wanted a president who would let him do it.
Zaslav is CEO of Warner Bros/Discovery. They own CNN.
I agree with your analysis of the speech on substance Dan, but I’m less convinced it will hurt Trump in the short term. He’s no longer judged by conventional political standards. This wasn’t a persuasion speech, it was a loyalty ritual for his base and a signal to Fox and the far-right media ecosystem. In that space, incoherence and reality gaps don’t matter because the speech will be laundered, clipped, and reframed to reinforce grievance and dominance. Trump is teflon not because people believe him, but because many supporters no longer care whether he’s truthful. The damage from this kind of performance accumulates over time through lived economic reality and governing instability, but one speech alone won’t do it.
Thanks, Dan. I did not watch the speech, but reading about it, it occurs to me that Susie Wiles has terrible political instincts if she thought this was a great idea that would turn everything around. Also, how alarming is it that he was not riffing or doing his fucking “weave”—someone wrote that for him and thought it was a smart speech! I will have to listen for Favreau’s take on that! Happy Holidays to you and your family. 🎄
I’m pretty sure that Susie doesn’t have a clue what a chief of staff does. She is a glorified office manager and personal assistant, which is what Trump wants. She is there to enable his worst impulses, not to give advice. That’s probably a good thing. It is hastening his demise.
Trump is shameless about so many things but as much as anything else he’s a shameless braggart—even when the claims are absolutely false. That has of course worked well for him as a salesman and campaigner to the degree that his swagger has been perceived as confidence and competence.
His mantra: repeat something enough they will believe it, never accept blame, never apologize, always double down has been very successful with enough of the American people who are ignorant and gullible enough to want to believe it.
You almost can’t blame Trump for resorting to the tactics that have gotten him this far but it’s clear that his magic act has gotten so old and tired that almost everyone can finally see how the tricks are done.
Too bad Dems weren’t competent enough to pull the curtain back a little sooner.
Actually, I think Trump believes his lies, if vehement and persistent enough, can change reality. The Power of Postive Thinking. The Trump family church, Peale married him to Ivana.
Title in NYT - "In Combative Speech, Trump Tries to Deflect Blame for Economic Concerns".
Edited Title - "In Combative Speech, Filled with Lies and Disinformation, Trump Tries to Deflect Blame for Economic Concerns". With subtitle - "Stephen Miller is as talentless as he is evil". But, 35% of our fellow Americans are still drinking the Kool-Aid after 11 years, so there's that. Thanks for all you do Dan.
Tried watching for 7 minutes and 37 seconds thinking maybe something important was underway. I'm looking in the mirror today and asking myself how to regain that portion of my life that was completed wasted listening to Trump's drivel.
I remember the hand-wringing here back when Donald Trump was chaotically rolling out tariffs—that voters would never understand they raise prices, or that they’d buy the lie that “other countries pay the tariff.”
But the tariffs are deeply unpopular now, which suggests the opposite happened.
For all the media-bashing, they deserve credit here. They’ve been clear and relentless in explaining that American consumers pay tariffs—and that tariffs drive prices up. That message landed.
The same is true for coverage of the lawlessness of Trump’s deportation regime, the deadly boat strikes in the Caribbean, and the reckless damage being done by RFK Jr..
Democrats may have given up on the media too quickly. Despite unprecedented government threats, insults, and pressure—and constant criticism from the public—much of the press is doing exactly what it should be doing: telling the truth about this administration.
I haven't looked at him for years, much less listened to him, so I always appreciate your analysis. I have a question for the group: I receive Social Security (I earned it, of course, but am still grateful for it). My monthly payments for 2026 are going DOWN by $122.70 a month or $1,472.40 a year. This is because the Medicare payment doubled. I need some help: how is this helping with the affordability crisis? I am fortunate-I have other income, but that is still a significant loss to me. Have others had the same experience? Is anybody talking about this?
Medicare payment doubled? I’ll have to take a look at that. My glance at the numbers showed that mine and my husband’s increase in SS would cover the Medicare increases, not by a lot. Thanks for the alert. You’re right that’s significant, and unsustainable, just like our larger health care system.
Is it just me, or does Trump in that clip sound angry and desperate? Yikes. Somebody get that man a sedative. Or better yet, a trip to the rest home (a permanent one, please).
After listening to a few ‘trusted’ people recap, I decided I needed to listen to the speech. After about 3 minutes, I reset the playback speed to 2x (I had other things to do). Highly recommend. My Christmas wish is that we could set the playback speed for the next 3 years on about 10x. It would be intense, but worth it, if we survive.
So, just fyi: the Medicare payment that came out of my SS amount each month in 2025 was $370. For 2026 that monthly amount will be $649.20, so not double but a huge increase!! I feel this should be talked about more!
I would argue, after that article in which Susie Wiles admits repeatedly that they know what they’re saying and doing is false but they’re doing it anyway to appease the man-child, that even the fanboys know things aren’t going well. But they’re just going to keep telling the emperor how nice his new clothes are because it is in their own self-interest to do so
At least a few are beginning to realize that it's *not* in their self-interest to do so -- not if they want to get re-elected. The question that needs to be asked, repeatedly, is "Who's actually calling the shots here?" I'm looking at the Big Money types who are chipping in to fund the horrendous ballroom (and, of course, those who have managed to restrain themselves, and those who are in the cabinet). For many decades they've found "democracy" an inconvenient impediment to their interests. Since the onset of Reaganomics, democracy has continually played second fiddle to those interests. It's no surprise that they don't know and/or don't care how democracy is supposed to work, at least in theory, or even how to put up a good front.
Dan, thanks for the quick turnaround on Trump’s speech. I couldn’t bring myself to watch it. Based on your comments it sounds like this was effectively an early Christmas present from the White House to the Democrats! My New Year’s wish is that they keep putting him out on the stump as much as possible.
Happy Holidays!
Watch the clip Dan so graciously provided. Just under 2 minutes was all I could stomach , but certainly tells you everything you need to know about what he said. Angry, desperate lies. He is obviously trying to sound strong, but he failed. This is incredibly gratifying. Here’s hoping his poll numbers drop even more after this.
It’s disgusting that so many networks interrupted their programming to air a barrage of bullshit and lies live.
They wouldn’t give a dem president this kind of air time for a nothing speech.
The media’s coverage of him has been an abject failure for over a decade.
He's their guy, he got rid of Lina Khan for them. Now Zaslav can do the deal he said well before the election he wanted to do, and that he wanted a president who would let him do it.
Zaslav is CEO of Warner Bros/Discovery. They own CNN.
@Asawin Suebsaeng said it best: “The Trump administration keeps stepping on its own collective dick.”
Trump loves bragging about bringing back the phrase, “Merry Christmas.”
Well, Tone-Deaf DJ is the Yuletide gift Democrats should welcome with open arms.
Ask him about tariffs & his talent for stopping wars — and you’ve got yourself a 2026 campaign ad ready-made! 🎁
I agree with your analysis of the speech on substance Dan, but I’m less convinced it will hurt Trump in the short term. He’s no longer judged by conventional political standards. This wasn’t a persuasion speech, it was a loyalty ritual for his base and a signal to Fox and the far-right media ecosystem. In that space, incoherence and reality gaps don’t matter because the speech will be laundered, clipped, and reframed to reinforce grievance and dominance. Trump is teflon not because people believe him, but because many supporters no longer care whether he’s truthful. The damage from this kind of performance accumulates over time through lived economic reality and governing instability, but one speech alone won’t do it.
Thanks, Dan. I did not watch the speech, but reading about it, it occurs to me that Susie Wiles has terrible political instincts if she thought this was a great idea that would turn everything around. Also, how alarming is it that he was not riffing or doing his fucking “weave”—someone wrote that for him and thought it was a smart speech! I will have to listen for Favreau’s take on that! Happy Holidays to you and your family. 🎄
I’m pretty sure that Susie doesn’t have a clue what a chief of staff does. She is a glorified office manager and personal assistant, which is what Trump wants. She is there to enable his worst impulses, not to give advice. That’s probably a good thing. It is hastening his demise.
I’m so glad I opted for sweet, sweet silence over that foolishness last night.
I’ll happily donate to a plane ticket for him but he has to see what it’s really like… middle row, back of the plane and next to the bathroom.
Trump is shameless about so many things but as much as anything else he’s a shameless braggart—even when the claims are absolutely false. That has of course worked well for him as a salesman and campaigner to the degree that his swagger has been perceived as confidence and competence.
His mantra: repeat something enough they will believe it, never accept blame, never apologize, always double down has been very successful with enough of the American people who are ignorant and gullible enough to want to believe it.
You almost can’t blame Trump for resorting to the tactics that have gotten him this far but it’s clear that his magic act has gotten so old and tired that almost everyone can finally see how the tricks are done.
Too bad Dems weren’t competent enough to pull the curtain back a little sooner.
Actually, I think Trump believes his lies, if vehement and persistent enough, can change reality. The Power of Postive Thinking. The Trump family church, Peale married him to Ivana.
Title in NYT - "In Combative Speech, Trump Tries to Deflect Blame for Economic Concerns".
Edited Title - "In Combative Speech, Filled with Lies and Disinformation, Trump Tries to Deflect Blame for Economic Concerns". With subtitle - "Stephen Miller is as talentless as he is evil". But, 35% of our fellow Americans are still drinking the Kool-Aid after 11 years, so there's that. Thanks for all you do Dan.
Tried watching for 7 minutes and 37 seconds thinking maybe something important was underway. I'm looking in the mirror today and asking myself how to regain that portion of my life that was completed wasted listening to Trump's drivel.
I remember the hand-wringing here back when Donald Trump was chaotically rolling out tariffs—that voters would never understand they raise prices, or that they’d buy the lie that “other countries pay the tariff.”
But the tariffs are deeply unpopular now, which suggests the opposite happened.
For all the media-bashing, they deserve credit here. They’ve been clear and relentless in explaining that American consumers pay tariffs—and that tariffs drive prices up. That message landed.
The same is true for coverage of the lawlessness of Trump’s deportation regime, the deadly boat strikes in the Caribbean, and the reckless damage being done by RFK Jr..
Democrats may have given up on the media too quickly. Despite unprecedented government threats, insults, and pressure—and constant criticism from the public—much of the press is doing exactly what it should be doing: telling the truth about this administration.
I haven't looked at him for years, much less listened to him, so I always appreciate your analysis. I have a question for the group: I receive Social Security (I earned it, of course, but am still grateful for it). My monthly payments for 2026 are going DOWN by $122.70 a month or $1,472.40 a year. This is because the Medicare payment doubled. I need some help: how is this helping with the affordability crisis? I am fortunate-I have other income, but that is still a significant loss to me. Have others had the same experience? Is anybody talking about this?
Medicare payment doubled? I’ll have to take a look at that. My glance at the numbers showed that mine and my husband’s increase in SS would cover the Medicare increases, not by a lot. Thanks for the alert. You’re right that’s significant, and unsustainable, just like our larger health care system.
My payment went down too - the COLA didn't cover the hike - but the part B went from around 180 to 202, so not double.
yep, thank you. That is a 12% increase, so a lot.
Is it just me, or does Trump in that clip sound angry and desperate? Yikes. Somebody get that man a sedative. Or better yet, a trip to the rest home (a permanent one, please).
If Trump's instated goal in 2026;is to destroy the GOP, he's got the script and he's doing it. Go Donny
After listening to a few ‘trusted’ people recap, I decided I needed to listen to the speech. After about 3 minutes, I reset the playback speed to 2x (I had other things to do). Highly recommend. My Christmas wish is that we could set the playback speed for the next 3 years on about 10x. It would be intense, but worth it, if we survive.
So, just fyi: the Medicare payment that came out of my SS amount each month in 2025 was $370. For 2026 that monthly amount will be $649.20, so not double but a huge increase!! I feel this should be talked about more!