Brian Beutler

@brianbeutler.bsky.social

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Off Message; Formerly: Crooked Media, TNR, Salon, TPM; Instagram: @babeutler; facebook.com/beutlerbrian

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Brian Beutler

"if there’s one problem we have never, ever faced in this country, it’s presidents who are afraid to exercise their authority. Or expand it. Or exceed it." radleybalko.substack.com/p/the-suprem...

The Supreme Court foldsradleybalko.substack.com Faced with the most potent threat to democracy in more than a century, our most revered institution didn't just fail to hold, it aligned itself with the threat

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Brian Beutler

Voters just blame whoever is President for whatever happens during their Presidency, which is a major reason why allowing the situation where the Supreme Court absurdly gets to make policy across whatever issue they want to persist is so deadly to Democrats

Stuff like this makes me bananas “For Antinya Walker, 19, who says she will be voting in her first presidential election this fall…said she believed Biden was against women’s rights. She blamed him for tightened abortion restrictions across the country”

In deep-blue L.A., Democrats feel worried, betrayed, stoic about Biden's futurewww.latimes.com Democratic voters in deep-blue LA County debated whether Biden should remain the presidential nominee following his disastrous debate performance last week.

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Brian Beutler

TRUMP: I am going to drop daisy-cutter bombs on Seattle just cuz BIDEN: I'll have the Bob Salad — ha, COBB Salad, whoops. NYT: Biden's Gaffe Sends Shockwaves Through Democratic Party; Trump Pledges Infrastructure Changes to Northwest

what are we doing here? he accidentally said million instead of billion and then immediately knew it and corrected himself. he didn’t “flub a line” and then “make an effort to correct himself,” he did the speaking equivalent of a typo that you know you’ve made and instantly correct

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Brian Beutler

The biggest issue with Biden coverage is that he’s now The Story, which means that most of the press is focused on The Story and not any of the context or consequences. If we were having a serious discussion about qualifications for presidency, age, and the two main candidates, I’d be fine with it.

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Brian Beutler

I really did not want to write this but in the end had no choice. danieldrezner.substack.com/p/the-codger...

The Codger-in Chiefdanieldrezner.substack.com In the wake of last Thursday's debate, Biden's staffers and supporters are starting to paint a picture. As the curator of the Toddler-in-Chief thread, this picture is disturbing.

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Brian Beutler

Reply to

Eileen Clancy

Release anything and everything about Trump that he can release within his executive power remit, starting with releasing Trump’s tax returns and forcing the IRS to complete an audit of his tax returns in the next 60 days.

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Brian Beutler

I’m glad Biden addressed the nation last night (proof of life and all) but his message amounted to: I will not use the vast power the court just gave me, but Trump will. Good for contrast, horrible in conceding the premise that there are two sets of rules.

A Better Way To Respond To The Supreme Court's Intolerable Immunity Decisionwww.offmessage.net Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

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Brian Beutler

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Brian Beutler

Every possible move is a bizarro, Sorkin fantasy. So, ask Congress to restore presidential guardrails. But until then: sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Biden has wide berth to govern now. He should use it for good and make Republicans stop him.

A Better Way To Respond To The Supreme Court's Intolerable Immunity Decisionwww.offmessage.net Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

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Brian Beutler

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Brian Beutler

The court is lawless and in league with Trump. They will view Biden’s unilateral disarmament as an invitation to further help Trump in the election. A better model for Biden is the one Dems (mostly) embraced vis a vis gerrymandering. www.offmessage.net/p/biden-resp...

A Better Way To Respond To The Supreme Court's Intolerable Immunity Decisionwww.offmessage.net Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

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Brian Beutler

It makes some sense for Dem officialdom to act unbowed before a damage assessment is complete. But once it’s done, we must insist Biden’s advisers be honest with themselves and then with him. And we can help make sure that happens.

What We Can Expect Of The People Closest To Joe Bidenwww.offmessage.net No one can force Biden to make a rational decision, but he certainly won't if the people he respects refuse to level with him—or with themselves.

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Brian Beutler

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Brian Beutler

An alternate needs to be treated as a course that *will* be taken if it’ll help the country save its democracy. Biden should be expected to marshal irrefutable evidence that a new ticket would somehow make things worse. Thus far, he has not come close.

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Brian Beutler

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Brian Beutler

Biden and his advisers don’t just need to be willing to read data clearly. They need to be able to perceive their environment clearly. www.offmessage.net/p/what-we-ca...

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Brian Beutler

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Brian Beutler

The premature data the campaign has cited thus far to make Biden seem like the safe choice actually underscores how precarious the situation already is. And that’s without imagining all the stumbles we can expect between now and November.

Alternates are already matching or besting Biden in polls, and they all have the advent of being able to speak extemporaneously.

Uh, doesn't the alternative have to marshal irrefutable evidence that the ticket would be better off. Given the costs of making a change the burden is even higher on the change course people.

The Supreme Court immunity decision makes the dilemma Democrats are facing even more important to resolve dispassionately.

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Brian Beutler

it’s been a few days now and that “black jobs” thing is still all over my tiktok

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Brian Beutler

One pretty clear dynamic on display this week is whose legal interests the Supreme Court cares about (corrupt politicians, hedge fund fraudsters, literal January 6 rioters) and whose it doesn’t (poor people) ballsandstrikes.org/scotus/grant...

Neil Gorsuch’s Judicial Humility Is Sanctimonious Horseshitballsandstrikes.org The Supreme Court's opinion in Grants Pass v Johnson reveals a lot about whose interests the conservatives care about—and whose they don't.

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Brian Beutler

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Quinta Jurecic

Both the “black jobs” remark and using palestinian as a slur are hopefully clarifying as to actual Trump’s ideology and worldview, in contrast with the imaginary trump some people have built up in their heads as the memory of his administration has receded

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Brian Beutler

Calling For Biden To Retire Is No Longer Knee-Jerk; Doubling Down On Him Is Confronting him with his weaknesses as a candidate can and should be part of a hard-nosed effort to convey the existential urgency of beating Donald Trump. @brianbeutler.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/brianbeu...

Calling For Biden To Retire Is No Longer Knee-Jerk; Doubling Down On Him Isopen.substack.com Confronting him with his weaknesses as a candidate can and should be part of a hard-nosed effort to convey the existential urgency of beating Donald Trump.

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Brian Beutler

I think this is spot-on from @brianbeutler.bsky.social

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Brian Beutler

New: If business leaders are *actually* down on Trump, and not just on the ~~~optics~~~ of supporting him, they should let it be known. Even if they’re worried about retribution, there are ways to make his unfitness clear. www.offmessage.net/p/the-busine...

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Brian Beutler

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Brian Beutler

Biden shouldn’t concede much to expand the unified front. His promise to nurture the recovery and protect rule of law are enough. But he and Senate Dems could entice execs to make their concerns clear. And execs should know that silence is complicity. www.offmessage.net/p/the-busine...

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Brian Beutler

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Brian Beutler

One thing they could do is stop contributing to the vibecession by pandering to people’s funhouse sense that the strongest economy in decades is actually weak. Another would be to say literally anything about what alarms them about the Trump agenda.

The Business Elites Who Know Trump 2.0 Would Be A Disaster Should Say Sowww.offmessage.net Even if they don't endorse Biden, total silence helps Trump, and it takes a unified front to win.

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Brian Beutler

Donald Trump wants to produce Bumfights, For Migrants, and the mortified response from his allies is telling: Whatever polls say about the appeal of restrictive immigration policy, most Americans aren’t sadistic bigots.

Trump's 'Bumfights For Migrants' Plan Exposes The Toxic Rot Of MAGA Nativismwww.offmessage.net Just because anti-immigration ideas can be made to poll well doesn't mean Democrats should assume the country is overrun by hatred.

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Brian Beutler

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Brian Beutler

Second, Dems should see this as proof that tailoring their political vision to survey data is wasteful. Trump proves constantly that toxic ideas can be made to poll well with the right rhetorical gloss ( just call ‘em tariffs!). Use that insight for good! www.offmessage.net/p/trump-bumf...

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Brian Beutler

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Brian Beutler

This carries two reminders for Democrats: First, don’t fear Republican culture wars, because Republicans almost always over interpret narrow survey data to say the US is a hatful country, and roll out the red carpet for politically toxic people and ideas. www.offmessage.net/p/trump-bumf...