Week 43
By 
A lot happening this week.
Democrats gave up on the government shutdown. My feeling is that Congress should pass a budget in June or so for the next fiscal year and then get busy formulating laws and the budget to go with them for the next fiscal year. Shutdowns are a triumph of destructive politics over governance, refusal to budget in the service of politics. It’s all on Republicans, both now and in the development of these tactics.
That said, there is an inability on the part of some Democrats to recognize how far Republicans have gone. It’s understandable – my ability to take it all in flickers in intensity from time to time – but we need more in our elected officials.
Ending the shutdown ended Donald Trump’s current spree of hurting people to force the Democrats to his will. That took the heat off the Supreme Court to decide against him in an open-and-shut case on SNAP funding. The justices sighed in relief and wiped their sweaty brows.
Trump took some tariffs off food and other things. I worry a little that if this keeps prices down, he can regain some of the popularity he has been consistently losing, but he also continues to do unpopular things like kill fishermen on the open sea.
Tens of thousands of Jeffrey Epstein emails were released this week. They seem to add little to our understanding. Most are only pieces of conversations. Many are in a patois that can be interpreted in a number of ways. Adelita Grijalva could finally sign the discharge petition for a vote next week on releasing congressional investigation materials on Epstein.
A lot of anger is being expressed at Epstein’s activities and those who enabled him. This is an appropriate reaction to his abuses of girls he and Ghislaine Maxwell recruited for the purpose of abuse. But there are other emotions around the situation. Sorrow and pain are also appropriate reactions. I wrote a piece about that this week and immediately got the cynicism that avoids feeling such things. Anger and cynicism can drown out other voices, including the voices of the victims. Let’s not do that.
Trump is getting weak and panicky. A few Republicans are daring to disagree with him. The vote on the Epstein papers next week may peel away more.
Best comment on the auroras, which were record-setting.
In all the unpleasantness, I like to think that there were some kids who went out and looked at those lights in the sky and felt impelled to learn more.
Follow the court-watchers for the details of the lawsuits. Chris Geidner (LawDork, Bluesky), Roger Parloff (Lawfare, Bluesky), and the Just Security tracker.
As usual, keep it to things that have actually happened, not hypotheticals. What is actually happening is bad enough.
Caring for yourself and loved ones is resistance too. Post your pets and your aurora photos!
165 more weeks to go. What are you doing?
Previous weeks: Week 10, Week 20, Week 30, Week 40, Week 41, Week 42