The shutdown is on. Republicans are lying about it. They have the trifecta; they own the government. It’s on them. People on our side need to hold firm and not go wobbly. I’m not just talking about politicians. I’ve seen some social media bedwetting from people who excoriated Schumer for folding last time. It’s time to be fearless and keep the pressure on.

In the QOTD, Josh Marshall says something about the nature of dictatorships that reinforces a point that I’ve made to several people recently:

The one point that has resonated most strongly with me in recent months is that there is a consistent pattern with autocratic takeovers that succeed. They are imposed by presidents or prime ministers who, for contingent reasons, are actually very popular. Fujimori in Peru, Orbán in Hungary, Erdoğan in Turkey, Bukele in El Salvador. The pattern is the same. Either they tamed inflation or a crime wave or removed a deeply unpopular government. They did it in a window of overwhelming popularity. Trump is not popular. He’s actually quite unpopular. So I don’t think he can manage this if the opposition is concerted. So this is the right thing, really the essential thing, to do. A necessary but not sufficient condition of turning back this threat. So it’s essential to fight this. And what happens happens.”

A reminder that we’re at worst a Fifty-Fifty nation regardless of what Team MAGA thinks. Trump’s policies and persona are unpopular. MAGA cult members still think he’s funny, but the joke is on them.

Repeat after me: What Josh said.

The last word goes to the Neville Brothers: