Welcome back everyone, ready for another deep dive.
Oh, absolutely.
Always up for a good deep dive.
Well, today we're taking a look at this piece
from Electoral Vote published just last week on the 24th.
Okay, yep.
All about the current state of US politics.
It covers, well, a lot.
It really does.
Confirmation hearings, Trump's,
well, everything Trump's doing.
Oh, and don't forget the economy.
Right, which is, well, you know.
Let's just jump right in.
Robert Kennedy Jr.'s confirmation hearing.
Oh yeah, that's been a big one.
A lot of debate around that.
His views on vaccines specifically have been.
Yeah, I mean, selling anti-vaccine stuff
through his nonprofit, but also saying he's pro-vaccine.
Doesn't, doesn't quite add up, does it?
A lot of people are scratching their heads over that one.
Makes you wonder, you know,
if he were to become HHS secretary,
how would that, how would that play out?
Big question mark there.
And then the comparison to Nazi death camps, that's a...
Senator Warnock called him out on that directly.
He denied it, but...
Read the quote right there in the hearing.
Wow.
Hard to argue with that.
And then his own cousin, Caroline Kennedy,
shared some, well.
Interesting stories, you could say.
About his treatment of animals as a kid,
calling him a predator.
Right.
And that story about the dog.
Claimed it was a goat.
Still, pretty bizarre.
No wonder public health experts,
even Nobel laureates are against this nomination.
Even Rupert Murdoch spoke out against it.
So it puts Republican senators in a tough spot, doesn't it?
They want to back the president's pick, but...
The pressure from voters.
Yeah.
And Kennedy as well,
his qualifications are being questioned.
The article says a lot of them are afraid of Trump, frankly.
Retaliation, you mean.
Exactly.
If they vote against Kennedy.
Senator Cassie is a good example.
He's a doctor, he knows about vaccines.
But he's also up for reelection.
Tough choice.
It'll be interesting to see how he votes.
And then there's Pete Hegzeff,
confirmed as secretary of defense.
51 to 50.
Just barely.
Senator Tillis was hesitant, right, initially.
Hegzeff's history, you know.
The drinking, the assault, allegation.
It's a lack of experience too.
Tillis was seriously thinking of voting no.
But the pressure was intense, according to the article.
Magia supporters were threatening him.
John Thune was putting on the pressure.
And Trump himself, obviously.
Senator Joni Ernst even got involved.
They really wanted this win.
Feels like Trump's protecting his picks, you know.
Shielding them from the consequences?
Even if they're, well, controversial.
It's a pattern.
You see it again and again.
This Teflon Don thing, extending to his allies.
It's a thought-provoking idea, for sure.
The article also talks about Trump's first week in office,
broadly.
Trying to consolidate his power, they say.
Control any opposition.
Congress, the courts, the media, even.
He's already broken three laws, the article says.
Just in his first week.
Extended the TikTok ban without Congress.
Fired Inspector General, no notice.
And impounded funds that Congress had appropriated.
That's a direct challenge, isn't it?
Separation of powers.
Exactly.
It sets a dangerous precedent.
What will future presidents do if he gets away with it?
And then there's the Supreme Court.
Two justices likely retiring soon.
Thomas and Alito.
Trump could appoint two more justices.
That's a conservative majority.
For a generation, potentially.
Think about the impact that would have.
On social issues, the environment, everything.
This is a long game, the Supreme Court.
Trump knows his picks will have influence
long after he's gone.
Solidifies his legacy too.
Pushes his agenda, even after he's out of office.
This is just, this deep dive is already so much.
It is, isn't it?
We haven't even gotten to the economy yet.
Or this flooding the zone idea.
There's a lot more to unpack.
Plenty more to talk about.
Right, the economy, all those promises about lower prices.
The article points out, kind of ironic, but egg prices,
all time high.
Yeah, avian bird flu, they say.
That's what's driving it.
Not much any president can do about that.
They even have this graph, egg prices, since 2013.
It's pretty wild.
Steep climb.
But here's the thing.
Trump issues an executive order.
Blames Biden for these high prices.
Interesting.
Calls for action to lower them.
Shifting the blame, classic move.
But the order doesn't actually say how to do that.
More about appearances than substance then.
Seems like it.
And get this, the article points out.
Some of Trump's actions might actually
be making prices go up.
How so?
Tariffs, for one.
Already increasing costs for a wall for everyone.
And the lower interest rates.
Yeah.
Could lead to more spending, maybe even more inflation.
Drill, baby, drill, long run might not be so good
for prices either.
Environment too.
So he's blaming Biden, but his own policies.
Yeah, could be part of the problem.
Do you think people are buying it, this whole blame game?
Article says there's some skepticism
about whether Trump can actually deliver
on those economic promises.
If prices keep going up, it could hurt Republicans come 2026.
People vote with their wallets, after all.
Makes sense.
Now, this flooding the zone thing really caught my eye.
Ah, yes.
Steve Bannon's strategy from the first campaign.
Overwhelm everyone, right?
Media, the opposition, just too much happening all the time.
Constant barrage of actions, pronouncements,
hard to keep up with.
The article gives some examples.
Pardoned, Ross Ulbricht, the Silk Road guy.
Wow.
More troops to the border.
That speech at the World Economic Forum,
controversial, to say the least.
And he threatened a trade war.
With Columbia, all in one week.
It's a lot.
It's chaos by design.
It's about creating confusion.
So you can't tell what's real, what's not.
You just get tired of being outraged all the time.
Information overload.
It's hard to think clearly when there's just so much happening.
Control the narrative, I guess, what people talk about,
what they focus on.
Yeah, distract from any bad news, any criticism.
But could it backfire this strategy?
The article suggests it might.
Doing so much so fast, bound to make mistakes.
Like juggling, right.
Too many balls in the air.
You drop one eventually.
The Democrats are waiting for that.
Congressman Connolly, the article quotes him.
He says Trump's going to overreach, make blunders.
And they'll be ready to capitalize on those.
Imagine, like, an executive order,
unintended consequences, or the immigration policies.
If someone gets detained, a US citizen, by mistake.
That could turn public opinion against him fast.
Yeah, a big risk.
The article talks about polling, too.
Figure out where people are already against Trump.
Like birthright citizenship.
Democrats can focus their messaging there.
Mobilize opposition more effectively.
So it's a gamble for Trump, this whole flooding the zone thing.
It could work.
Keep him in control.
But it could also, well.
Blow up in his face.
Exactly.
The article goes on to a few other things.
The lawsuit against Metta, for example.
Oh yeah, that settlement.
25 million.
A gratuity, they called it.
Zuckerberg, he'd rather just pay up
than fight Trump in court.
Says something about who holds the power here.
Even the tech giants, they're careful around Trump.
Then there's Senator Warren.
Called out even Musk publicly.
Oh, about the budget cuts.
Yeah, that promised to cut 2 trillion
from the federal budget.
Warren, she released her own plan.
Detailed specific cuts.
DoD waste, Medicare Advantage, charter schools,
tax loopholes.
Very different approaches.
Warren's plan is very specific.
Musk's was more of a, well, a general idea.
We'll see if either of them actually gets
anywhere in Congress.
Long shot, probably.
The article mentions the Democrats.
They're electing a new DNC chair.
To replace Jayme Harrison.
Big moment for the party, right?
They need a strong leader to deal with everything
that's coming.
2026 midterms or just around the corner.
Fundraising, messaging, gotta figure out
how to win back some of those voters they lost.
Young black and Latino men, working class men in general.
It's a lot to handle.
Finding the right person for the DNC, that's crucial.
Absolutely.
On a positive note, the article says Democrats
won control of the Minnesota State Senate.
After some close elections and a special election.
Small victory, but still victory.
Shows they can still win.
Bill's momentum, you know.
And then there's former Senator Menendez,
sentenced to 11 years.
Corruption, right.
Bribery, abusing his power.
He was chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Reminder that corruption can happen anywhere.
On either side of the aisle.
He was a powerful Democrat, Menendez.
Fall from grace for sure.
First he was remorseful, then he changes his tune,
says it's a political witch hunt.
Hoping for a pardon from Trump now.
Playing to Trump's sense of loyalty maybe.
His dislike of the establishment.
We'll see if it works.
Wow, American politics, never a dull moment.
This article from Electoral Vote,
it's really got me thinking.
I know, right.
So much packed into just the first week
of Trump's second term.
It's kind of hard to wrap your head around it all.
It is.
That whole flooding the zone thing,
that's, I don't know, it's kind of scary almost.
Yeah, you almost become numb to it all.
All this news, all the time.
Information overload for sure.
It's hard to even process it all.
To know what to believe, what to focus on.
Makes it easier for misinformation to spread.
Propaganda too.
Yeah, it's a dangerous game they're playing.
So big picture, after all this deep diving,
what are your thoughts on, I don't know,
on the state of American politics?
What really stood out to you?
I think we're in uncharted waters, honestly.
Trump's operating in a way we haven't seen before.
He's breaking the rules, testing the limits of his power.
It's creating a lot of uncertainty here
and around the world.
For sure.
It feels like, I don't know, like a turning point almost.
Is this Trump thing, is this just a blip,
or is this the new normal?
That's the million dollar question, isn't it?
This article, it doesn't give us the answers,
but it shows us where we are right now,
what the key players are doing.
I guess it's up to us, the voters,
to pay attention, to get involved,
to make our voices heard.
Absolutely, democracy, it doesn't work
if we're just sitting back watching it all happen.
This deep dive has been, wow, it's been eye-opening.
Thanks for being here for sharing your insights.
Happy to be here.
It's important to talk about these things
to try to make sense of it all.
And for everyone listening, we encourage you
to check out this Electoral Vote article.
Read it for yourself, see what you think.
It's definitely worth a read.
Thanks for joining us for another deep dive.
Until next time.
See you then.