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AS ALWAYS RON FILIPKOWSKI DOES AN IMPRESSIVE REVIEW!

Today in Politics, Bulletin 76. 2/21/25 Ron Filipkowski Feb 21 ∙ … WSJ reports that Trump has fired interim ICE Director Caleb Vitello because he is not happy with the deportation numbers so far. The WH told them he will remain with the agency in a different role. … The Associated Press has filed a lawsuit against the Trump Admin since they are banned from government events and functions because they are exercised their Freedom of the Press and speech rights under the 1st Amendment to call the Gulf of Mexico by its proper name. … After dooming the KC Chiefs in the Super Bowl by picking them to win before they lost big, Trump was back at it last night before the US national hockey team’s game against Canada, giving them a pep talk before their game: “I’ll be calling our GREAT American Hockey Team this morning to spur them on towards victory tonight against Canada, which with FAR LOWER TAXES AND MUCH STRONGER SECURITY, will someday, maybe soon, become our cherished, and very important, Fifty First State.” … Canada won 3-2. … After the game, PM Justin Trudeau posted on X: “You can’t take our country - and you can’t take our game.” … Canadians in the crowd didn’t seem like they were interested in becoming our 51st state either. … US consumer confidence dropped significantly for the second straight month, according to the U of Michigan’s new survey today. It was down another 10% from January, which is double the amount from last month. The main concern expressed from those surveyed was Trump’s tariffs. … A new CNN poll shows that 62% Americans think that Trump’s isn’t doing enough to address inflation. Trump promised to “bring down prices, starting on Day One,” but consumer prices over the last month rose more than any month since August 2023. … Bloomberg reports that Hooters is about to file for bankruptcy. Trump even killed Hooters. … We now have the answer on why Louis DeJoy resigned earlier this week less than halfway through his 10-year term as Postmaster General. WSJ reports that Trump is planning to disband the governing board that oversees USPS by executive order this week so he can take it over himself. Trump is expected to announce that the USPS will be placed under control of his Commerce Secretary. … Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA): “The Constitution gives Congress power to establish the US Postal Service. Which it did, by law, during George Washington’s admin. Its status as an independent agency was also established by Congress in law. The US Postal Service is wildly popular with the American people and its service is essential and irreplaceable. Nobody voted for this. It is brazenly illegal, unconstitutional, and corrupt.” … Mark Dimonstein, President of the American Postal Workers Union with over 200,000 members: “Firing the Postal Service’s Board of Governors and transferring control is an outrageous and unlawful hostile takeover, essentially a raid on an independently operated public institution.” … Trump has long talked about privatizing the Post Office, and there is no shortage of oligarchs who would love to get their hands on it. … James Carville was on Sean Hannity’s show last night: “The Republican party is against minimum wage, stands for more tax cuts for people making over $400,000 a year, wants to get rid of women's right to choose, wants to destroy Medicaid, would like to get rid of Medicare, supports Putin, and is weak when it comes to communist China. But the key issue is that in this century under Democratic presidents, 50 million jobs have been created and only one million jobs were created under Republicans. … Trump was not happy about Carville’s rant on his favorite show. He posted this on Truth Social after: “The Democrats, run by broken down losers like James Carville, whose weak of mind and body, are going crazy, and just don’t know what to do. They have lost their confidence and spirit - They have lost their minds!” … Sen. Chris Murphy today: “It’s 4AM. We are still debating the Republicans’ billionaire tax giveaway. We offered an amendment to say no tax cut for those making over $10 million a year. Every Republican voted no. So we tried $100 million. Every Republican voted no. So we tried $500 million! Every Republican a no. See what’s going on?” … Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was booed out of the building last night when he explained his decision to review cutting the high speed rail project between LA and SF. The project employs 14,000 people with strong wages. It has cleared every environmental hurdle and track is already being laid. Of the $13 billion spent, $10.5 billion has come from the State of CA and $2.5 billion has come from the federal govt. … Duffy was booed and heckled by outraged workers and citizens as he repeatedly lied about the project and claimed it was costing the federal govt “hundreds of billions of dollars.” … Republican Rep. Rich McCormick was also continuously booed and heckled by mostly older, white constituents in his GA district. One woman said she is a descendant of Patrick Henry, and wanted to know why he wasn’t doing anything to stop Trump’s “tyranny.” McCormick then complained that his senior citizen constituents were behaving like J6ers - “yelling just as loud.” … AJC reporter Patricia Murphy: “I covered so many Tea Party town halls in 2010 that I feel like this Georgia town hall is a complete replay. Voter reaction is a real thing, even if you just won an election.” … Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said that he and Jared Kushner have had discussions to bring together real-estate executives to develop Gaza: “We talked about convening people together from all parts of the world, master planners and developers and architects, talking about ideas and so forth.” … Aside from everything else wrong with this, just having serious public discussions about this is going to get a lot of Americans killed at some point. Not that Trump or Kushner care about that. … Trump said he is also serious about seizing the Panama Canal: “We have to take back the Panama Canal. It’s the most profitable thing ever built. Casinos are peanuts compared to this.” … CNN reports that the US Marshals Service has been ordered to deputize members of Elon Musk’s private security detail, despite not being trained or screened for the job. As a result of this unprecedented move, Musk’s security guards will now have the right to carry weapons on federal property and in federal buildings. … Musk also continued his feud with the astronauts who called him out for lying about Biden leaving them stranded in space. The guy is a habitual liar - every single person involved in this - the astronauts themselves, the ISS Commander - all said he is lying. Former Astronaut Sen. Mark Kelly responded to Elon: “Hey Elon Musk, when you finally get the nerve to climb into a rocket ship, come talk to the three of us.” … Musk really should be on his own inaugural Mars flight. After all, he should stand by his product and have confidence that it will work and be safe. Only fair. … Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman: “I spent some time pouring over the National Republican Campaign Committee's numbers: The committee has its lowest Jan off-year cash-on-hand total since 2015. They are saddled with $13.75M in debt - their 2nd largest debt total for January of an off-year since 2011. (They had $14M in 2023). They raised $4M less than the DCCC and have half as much as the DCCC in the bank.” … The NRCC’s primary role is to raise money to be strategically targeted and distributed to key House races around the country. Kevin McCarthy’s main strength is that he was a prodigious fundraiser, while Mike Johnson has always been one of the worst fundraisers historically during his time in Congress. … France's far-right party leader Jordan Bardella cancelled his speech at CPAC in DC after Steve Bannon concluded his speech with an Elon Musk-style Nazi salute: "I had been invited to make a speech on the links between the US and France, as well as the recent electoral dynamic of patriot parties in Europe. Yesterday, while I was not present in the room, one of the speakers out of provocation allowed himself a gesture alluding to Nazi ideology. I therefore took the immediate decision to cancel my speech that had been scheduled this afternoon." … Also Steve Bannon at CPAC: "The future of MAGA is Donald Trump! We want Trump in '28. A man like Trump comes along only once or twice in the country's history. We want Trump!” … Trump: “They tell me I'm not allowed to run again. I'm not sure. Is that true? I'm not sure.” … White nationalist AFPAC leader Nick Fuentes said MAGA is getting too fascist even for him lately: "Elon threw up a Roman salute. And then Bannon gets up there and says, 'I think Trump's gonna run in '28.' He goes, 'We want Trump,' and then he throws up a straight-up Roman salute. It's getting a little uncomfortable, even for me. Even I'm starting to feel like that guy in the picture that wouldn't hail Hitler." … When you’ve lost Nick Fuentes … … J6 defendants continue to get kicked out of CPAC by Chair Matt Schlapp with no reason given, and they are furious. Richard ‘Bigo’ Barnett, who put his feet up on Nancy Pelosi’s desk and stole items from her office, melted down at a security guard telling him to leave: “I went to prison for my country! CPAC every single day is kicking us out - disrespecting J6ers. I’m not the first J6er that was persecuted. And pardoned by Trump. Why would you kick J6ers out of CPAC of all places?” …J6 defendant Isaac Thomas refused to leave CPAC and was physically dragged and thrown out the door by security. … Yesterday, CPAC kicked out Oathkeepers leader Stewart Rhodes and Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio. Tarrio was then arrested today for assaulting someone who was protesting in DC. This is a bit of a abbreviated Bulletin today because I decided to write a mini opinion column at the end of this one based on what I saw at events around the country yesterday. I really feel like over the past few days the tide has begun to turn and people are rising up. That is what I wrote about. I am also attending a culinary festival tonight, which is why I had to get this out a little early. I believe in supporting local restaurants when I can, especially when you live in a tourist area and it is the off-season when they are struggling. I especially think doing those things are even more important right now. The bulletin yesterday was one of my typical lengthy monsters. If you missed it, you can read it here. Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. … The guy Kristi Noem and Homan hired to film migrants being arrested and deported so they can post the clips on social media for MAGA to experience nirvana is named Billy McLaughlin. He was previously the head of digital media for the NRA. … Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch’s New York Post responded to Trump’s deranged rant that Zelensky is a “dictator” by running a photo of Vladimir Putin of the cover with the headline: “THIS IS A DICTATOR!” … Primetime Russian state TV host Vladimir Solovyov said there is no daylight between Trump and Putin: "The phrases he is saying are so deep and so correct. They are in total alignment with the way we see things.” He then said that Trump demanding that Ukraine hold elections prior to any peace negotiations was “the cherry on the cake, an absolute cherry on the cake.” … United Help Ukraine is holding a rally in DC this Saturday at 2:00 at Lincoln Memorial. … Trump’s Special Envoy Keith Kellogg struck a much different tone than his Dear Leader after his meeting with Zelensky today: “A long and intense day with the senior leadership of Ukraine. Extensive and positive discussions with Zelensky, the embattled and courageous leader of a nation at war and his talented national security team.” … Zelensky sounded like he felt a lot better after the meeting with Kellogg: “A day of intense international work. My meeting with General Kellogg was one that restores hope, and we need strong agreements with the U.S. - agreements that will truly work. I have instructed my team to work quickly and very sensibly. Economy and security must always go hand in hand, and the details of these agreements matter - the better they are structured, the greater the results.” … “With Gen. Kellogg, we discussed the frontline situation, the need to free all our prisoners of war held in Russia, and the necessity of a clear, reliable system of security guarantees - one that ensures this war never returns and that Russia never destroys lives again. We all need peace – Ukraine, Europe, America, and the entire world.” … National Security Adviser Mike Waltz: "By the end of this, we're gonna have the Nobel Peace Prize sitting next to the name of Donald J. Trump." … I laughed. … Republican Rep. Troy Balderson (OH) told Chamber of Commerce members in his district that said some of Trump’s executive orders are “getting out of control. Congress has to decide whether or not the Department of Education goes away. Not the president, not Elon Musk. Congress decides and Congress has to do their work.” … Politico reports that when Transportation Sec Sean Duffy’s claimed that none of the federal employee cuts impact air safety, that was not accurate: “Over 130 of the fired employees held positions that directly or indirectly support the air traffic controllers, facilities and technologies that the FAA uses to keep planes and their passengers safe, according to the union that represents them, the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists.” … One employee told them that the people making the cuts simply don’t understand how their industry works: “Air traffic controllers cannot do their work without us. To put it frankly, without our team pilots would quite literally be flying blind.” … Rep. Don Beyer disputes the Trump Admin’s claim that nuclear inspectors were rehired: “They were not rehired. Unfortunately this is not true. I was contacted by a National Nuclear Safety Administration worker who was fired, then told her termination was paused, then told she was fired again. She says there were numerous others at NNSA treated the same way: nuclear safety workers fired without cause. Her and her colleagues’ jobs are important to keep the American people safe, and their work was mandated by law.” … Stephen Miller at CPAC: “Trump is laying off unproductive federal workers who are taking your tax dollars away from you.” … WSJ reports that when the Chinese fashion company Shein goes public later this year, FBI Director Kash Patel will be holding stock valued between $1-5 million that he was given to him by the company for “consulting.” Patel has refused to divest himself of the stock and will be eligible to trade them later this year. … Former Dep. NSA Charles Kupperman: “He should divest all of his interests if he is going to become director of the FBI. This is not a U.S. company and it’s a conflict of interest financially.” … KY Gov Andy Beshear was asked if he is running for president: “I’m Chair of the Democratic Governor’s Assn in 2026 and I have 36 races which are so important. But I love this country, and I hate to see how divided it is. I think we’ve got a duty to fix the problems that arose during our lifetimes. If there is another opportunity to do that, it’s something I would consider because our kids and our grandkids deserve a lot better than what they’re seeing right now.” … Beshear ruled out running for Mitch McConnell’s senate seat in 2026, so he’s definitely running for president in 2028. … Politico reports that journalist Molly Jong-Fast is trying to recruit someone to run against Rep. Jerry Nadler, and said if nobody steps up she may run herself: “If someone who is a good communicator and a serious Democrat will run for that seat, then I absolutely will not. If there’s someone who’s an AOC or a Maxwell Frost who will run, then I’d be just delighted.” … Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) sent letters to the heads of several fed agencies asking them why they refuse to communicate with members of Congress: “The Committee on Appropriations has a longstanding relationship with Agency career staff who are integral to providing the data used to inform our decisions. These staff have always conducted themselves in a professional way with integrity. Unfortunately, nearly all communication has stopped since Trump took office. My understanding is that these staff have been directed not to communicate with Congress.” … Mike Johnson was at CPAC and lamely claimed that he would have cut spending last year, but really needed Elon Musk to do it for him: “What Elon and the team are doing is what Congress has not had the ability to do. They are exposing this massive fraud, waste, and abuse that we have not been able to uncover because the Deep State has hidden it from us.” … NBC reports that Republicans in districts with a large number of Medicaid recipients are panicking over draconian cuts to the program in the House budget proposal. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis: “There’s a little bit of frustration among those of us who do have large Medicaid populations that we have not been engaged by leadership as much as some of the members of the Freedom Caucus in this process. And therefore, we are undecided on how we’re going to be voting.” … It just so happens that Mike Johnson district has the 5th highest percentage of Medicaid recipients. But since he has never had a challenger and is in a super-safe district that loves him for culture war issues, he couldn’t care less. Maybe they will when it hits home for them. I truly feel, for the first time since the election, the tide is turning. House Republicans took this week off and most of them are in their districts - especially the ones who are in tough swing districts - and they are getting an earful from their constituents. The policies of Trump, Musk, Vought and Stephen Miller are affecting people in ways that they did not anticipate. Now that they are dealing with the reality of that, they don’t like what they see. Musk’s rising unpopularity with the American people and his deranged ketamine-fueled 3:00 AM rants are like a giant anchor around Trump and this administration’s leg, dragging them under. Trump has never been popular - even many of the people who have voted for him think he has many contemptible personal qualities - so he doesn’t have the goodwill with a solid majority of the public to overcome a co-president with a 30% approval rating. Republicans in Congress care about self-preservation first and foremost above all other considerations. That is why they don’t cross Trump - they fear that he will endorse someone in a GOP primary to unseat them. But when they get to the point where they fear the ire of voters in their districts more than they fear Trump’s vindictiveness, that is when they will start to abandon him. It will happen incrementally, and it will only happen with a small percentage of them. But that will be enough to turn the tide in Congress because they cling to tiny majorities in both Chambers. Yes, Trump will continue to govern like an autocrat by executive orders. And unlike other former Republicans who continue to waste time and Democratic donor money trying to convince Republicans that Trump is Orange Man Bad and they should switch parties, I don’t put my faith in them. We have to stop wasting millions of dollars trying to win over a half-dozen Republican voters. If they have voted for Trump three times, after all he has said and done, they aren’t worth the time and money. The cost-benefit analysis simply isn’t there. But Trump and Musk’s approval ratings with independents are in the toilet. That is where we can reclaim the majority in races across the country. There are also voting demographics that moved to Trump for the first time in 2024 who are single-issue voters who we can get back, as long we talk about and address issues that concern them, which we have sometimes tried to ignore because they are controversial with a segment of our base. First and foremost on my mind as an example was Trump’s #1 issue that he exploited in 2024: immigration. I strongly disagree with the Trump/Miller/Homan policy towards immigrants. But I also believe that Democrats fumbled the ball on this problem from 2021-2023, then belatedly scrambled to try and put together a bipartisan border bill at the last minute because the polling was so bad for them on that heading into the election. Of course Trump and Mike Johnson were going to block it that bill - it was the best issue they had going into the election. But we can get some of the voters back who left us on that issue alone if we craft a sane and reasonable immigration policy. I realize that even a mild critique of what we are doing inevitably results in rebukes from some in the comments, but that will not stop me from expressing my opinion from time to time. The Republican Party does not tolerate criticism of their leader, but I like to think we are better than that and can handle an honest good-faith debate about issues - even controversial ones. I simply don’t want us to repeat mistakes we have made in the past. The separation of the Trump-Musk axis is important. That is also why Trump’s approval ratings going down is key. Trump DOES care about these. He is a sensitive snowflake and narcissist who wants to be worshipped and adored more than anything else. He also really does want to be considered a great president. When his approval plummets, Trump will never blame himself. He will look for someone else to blame - and that person will be Elon Musk. When that inevitable divorce comes, and it may take some time, it will not be pretty or amicable. So we keep pushing, keep exposing, keep truth telling. We also need to advance our younger rising stars because we have so many. I think many of them before 2025 were willing to wait their turn in the pecking order and let the party elders run the show. But that is largely over. They are asserting themselves in Congress, in the media, on social media, in fundraising, organizing. They realize that this is their time, and many are seizing the moment. They will help us offer a viable alternative to voters who are yearning to move on from this toxic era. There is hope!