Monday, July 20, 2026
Voters Say Climate Change Is Making Weather More Extreme (& Want Workers Protected)
The charts above are from the Data For Progress Poll -- done between July 2nd and 5th of a nationwide sample of 1,164 likely voters, with a 3 point margin of error.
Democrats Hold A Significant "Enthusiasm" Advantage For 2026 Elections
The charts above are from the Washington Post / Ipsos Poll -- done between July 8th and 13th of a nationwide sample of 1,739 registered voters, with a 2.4 point margin of error.
Integrity Has No Place In The Trump Administration
The following post is by Robert Reich:
There’s been a lot of discussion this past week about the meaning of integrity.
You didn’t hear the word used directly; it was alluded to indirectly — in wondering whether Lindsey Graham was an immoral opportunist or clever pragmatist; in suspecting Todd Blanche of being more loyal to Trump than to the nation; in distrusting Erica Schwartz, Trump’s latest pick to lead the CDC, when she said she’ll never compromise on the science; in doubting that Jay Clayton, his pick for director of national intelligence, will tell Trump anything he doesn’t want to hear.
The word integrity is rooted in the Latin word integer, meaning “whole” or “complete” — living by your principles, choosing honesty over opportunism, making ethical choices that may be inconvenient or unpopular, maintaining your moral compass.
Graham’s public record of denouncing Trump on the Senate floor after January 6, 2021, and then becoming Trump’s most loyal Senate apologist revealed someone who traded honesty for influence — a person with little or no integrity.
Blanche, in his hearing to be attorney general, said he wanted to bring trust back to the Justice Department but then accidentally referred to himself as Trump’s lawyer —before clarifying that he “was” — had been —Trump’s lawyer. Blanche’s momentary lapse revealed a deeper conflict, as evidenced by his unswerving loyalty to Trump. He lacks integrity.
Schwartz, in her confirmation hearing, undercut her pledge to be guided by science in saying she believed Trump and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would “never” implement policies that aren’t scientifically sound. That’s enough to cast doubt on her integrity.
Clayton, in his confirmation hearing, repeatedly refused to say Biden won the 2020 election, causing Senator Jon Ossoff to ask Clayton: “You refuse to answer a basic question about who won a presidential election? But you ask to lead America’s intelligence community? Isn’t it humiliating to be unable to answer this question? To have to indulge the president’s delusions? We know, you know, everybody in this room knows the truthful answer to that question, why can you not give it?”
It is not possible to have integrity and be loyal to Trump. The two are in direct conflict.
No one can be honest in a regime based on big lies. As the poet, philosopher, and statesman Václav Havel put it, “If the main pillar of the system is living a lie, then it is not surprising that the fundamental threat to it is living in truth.”
So a choice must be made — personal integrity or loyalty to Trump.
In his book The Art of the Deal, Trump wrote that he preferred loyalty to integrity — as epitomized by his mentor, Roy Cohn.
History remembers Cohn for his ruthless bullying, profane braggadocio, opportunistic bigotry, lying, and more lying. Like Trump, Cohn was utterly without principle and prioritized personal power that could be leveraged for wealth, influence, and celebrity. In 1986, Cohn was disbarred by the New York State Bar for unethical conduct after attempting to defraud a dying client by forcing him to sign a will amendment leaving Cohn his fortune.
Yet in his book Trump praised Cohn for his loyalty, contrasting him with “all the hundreds of ‘respectable’ guys who make careers out of boasting about their uncompromising integrity but have absolutely no loyalty …. What I liked most about Roy Cohn was that he would do just the opposite.”
It is not possible for Blanche or Schwartz or Clayton or anyone else in Trump’s orbit — nor was it possible for Lindsey Graham — to be loyal to Trump and simultaneously maintain their own integrity. It must be one or the other.
Yet integrity is more important than loyalty. As Trump demonstrates time and again, someone lacking integrity is inherently untrustworthy. Such a person cannot serve the people of the United States.
Sunday, July 19, 2026
"Democratic Socialist" Label Is Not As Toxic As "Trump Endorsed" Or "MAGA Supporter"
The chart above is from the CNBC All-America Economic Survey -- done between July 8th and 12th of a nationwide sample of 1,000 voters, with a 3.1 point margin of error.
Most Don't Think Trump Is A Good Public Speaker
The chart above reflects the results of the YouGov Poll -- done on July 16th of a nationwide sample of 2,117 adults. No moe given.
Trump Gave A Rehash Of 4 Myths (None Of Which Are True)
The following is by Norman Eisen and Sarah Jackel at The Contrarian:
Trump didn’t claim that there was any actual interference in voting or election results. At no point did Trump say or point to any evidence that a single vote was changed or altered. Indeed, even White House conspiracy theorist John Solomon admitted as much to reporters afterwards. That’s because it did not happen. Audits, recounts, certifications, federal investigations, and more than 80 judges, including those appointed by Trump himself, have all uniformly rejected his attacks on the 2020 election.
What we got instead on Thursday was a rehash of four myths, all of which fall apart on close examination.
1. Myth: Purported Vulnerabilities in Electronic Voting and Ballot-Counting Systems Trump spoke broadly about vulnerabilities in voting machines, but he did not say there is evidence that voting machines or votes were breached. And that’s because they weren’t. He wants to scare you with the hypothetical, but truth is that our election officials put safeguards in place to minimize any vulnerabilities. Their dedicated work and vigilance ensure our elections work as intended, protected from technological exploitation.
2. Myth: China’s Acquisition of American Voter Data This is a scare tactic. Trump made wild claims about the compromise of election data, but let’s be clear: He did not say that votes were exploited or compromised. The voter registration data he is in a twist about actually consists of basic and publicly available data such as names and addresses — far less personal information than what the average American shares when ordering clothes on Temu.
3. Myth: Michigan Voter-Registration Investigation Again, there was zero evidence of voting fraud here. Trump didn’t point to any and can’t. Though there were isolated cases of irregularities in registration, local election officials flagged them in real time. Our elections systems worked as intended to unearth them. This is a backhanded endorsement, not a critique.
4. Myth: Noncitizens on State Voter Rolls Trump has made these wild claims of folks improperly registering over and over again using baseless allegations and wrong lists, such as the error-ridden and oft-abused Department of Homeland Security SAVE databases. The truth is that Americans follow voter registration laws and cast ballots in good faith, as we documented in our Democracy Defenders Action report with LULAC on The Big Lie.
Then there was the avalanche of documents Trump said would prove him right. They did just the opposite. For example, they show Russia, not China, was working to interfere in the 2020 election — to help Trump! If all of this is the best he and the election deniers have, they are in trouble.
Thursday was a flop — a predictable one. One of us (Norm) was asked by cable TV to do a curtain raiser for the speech. The forecast was for a comically loony mish-mash along the lines of other famous conspiracy theories, and boy did Trump deliver.
Trump lost in 2020. This will remain true no matter how many pieces of bogus evidence he invents or floats. The truth is Trump and his fellow election deniers are not just trying to prove bizarre counterfactuals about prior elections. They’re trying to fool us into doubting the next one.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)