DL Open Thread: Wednesday, August 27, 2025
Electoral Trend Emerging? Not just (or primarily) for Democrats. But for progressives:
Iowa Democrat Catelin Drey won a major upset on Tuesday night, flipping a deep-red seat in the state Senate and breaking the GOP’s supermajority in the chamber.
Drey defeated Republican Christopher Prosch by a wide 55-45 margin in a district Donald Trump carried by 11 points last year.
The most immediate impact will be felt right away. Drey’s defeat of Republican Christopher Prosch, following a shock win by Democrat Mike Zimmer in January, chisels the GOP’s advantage in the Iowa Senate down to 33-17.
Crucially, that means Gov. Kim Reynolds will no longer be able to rely solely on the support of fellow Republicans to confirm her picks for judgeships and state cabinet posts, since nominees must be confirmed by two-thirds of the Senate.
But the outcome may say even more about the broader political environment in Iowa. In three prior special elections in the Hawkeye State this year (including Zimmer’s), Democrats have run far ahead of last year’s presidential results.
Interest in the race was uncommonly high—and one-sided. Drey, a progressive organizer and marketing firm employee, raised more than $160,000 as of mid-August, dwarfing the $20,000 Prosch took in during that same timeframe.
To its credit, the Iowa Democratic State Party jumped in on Drey’s behalf. Victory ensued.
Meanwhile, the DNC Dithers Over Genocide:
The Democratic National Committee on Tuesday voted down a resolution calling for a suspension of military aid to Israel in the midst of a famine in Gaza that is a direct result of Israel’s near-total blockade on humanitarian aid.
NOTUS reports that, in the wake of the resolution’s failure, DNC Chairman Ken Martin announced that he “was forming a task force to continue discussion of the issue, indicating that the committee planned to consider a new resolution about the issue at a later date.”
That says it all.
Meanwhile, In Amerika:
Trump Names Election-Denier To Key Elections Post:
A Pennsylvania-based activist tied to President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election is now overseeing election security matters for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Heather Honey, of Lebanon County, is serving as the deputy assistant secretary for elections integrity, a political appointment in the department’s Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans, according to the department’s website.
DHS did not answer questions about Honey’s responsibilities, or whether she will still be able to both work in government and hold positions in several advocacy groups that push conspiratorial election claims.
Fascism’s New “Chief Design Officer”:
My directive is to update today’s government services to be as satisfying to use as the Apple Store: beautifully designed, great user experience, run on modern software. An experience that projects a level of excellence for our nation, and makes life less complicated for everyday Americans. I’d like to thank President Trump and his administration for creating this vision, and supporting America by Design.
I will do my best to make the U.S. the most beautiful, and useable, country in the digital world. If you’re interested in joining me at the newly established National Design Studioon this ambitious mandate, please reach out with a link to your work. Thank you for your attention to the details.
The alleged tech savant is supposed to unveil some initial results of his redesign of 26,000 websites by July 4, 2026, because of course President Donald Trump has to tie it to his jingoistic fetishizing about the 250th birthday of the country.
BTW, if you haven’t thought about this, you can bet that Trump and his inner circle have:
Nazi Germany used the 1936 Olympic Games for propaganda purposes. The Nazis promoted an image of a new, strong, and united Germany while masking the regime’s targeting of Jews and Roma (Gypsies) as well as Germany’s growing militarism.
For the first time in the history of the modern Olympic Games, people in the United States and Europe called for a boycott of the Olympics because of what would later become known as human rights abuses. Although the movement ultimately failed, it set an important precedent for future Olympic boycott campaigns (such as those in 2008 and 2014).
Once the boycott movement narrowly failed, Germany had its propaganda coup: the 49 nations who sent teams to the 1936 Olympics legitimized the Adolf Hitler regime both in the eyes of the world and of German domestic audiences.
E.J. Antoni, President Donald Trump’s problematic pick to lead the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, is expected to face a hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, or the HELP Committee, according to two people familiar with committee proceedings.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) chairs the committee and plans to hold the hearing in September for Antoni and four other nominees if Antoni can get his paperwork submitted in time, according to a staffer for a member of the HELP Committee.
The HELP Committee doesn’t usually hold confirmation hearings for BLS commissioner nominees. But Democrats on the HELP Committee and BLS advocates have been pushing for a close examination of Antoni’s record since his appointment was announced due, in part, to his lack of experience and MAGA bona fides.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), a member of the HELP Committee, called Antoni “an unqualified right-wing extremist who won’t think twice about manipulating BLS data and degrading the credibility of the agency to make Trump happy,” in a statement demanding Cassidy hold a hearing for Antoni.
Another committee member, Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), called Antoni “a devout Trump loyalist” in an Aug. 15 statement, and called for Antoni to appear before the panel.
“I also believe his appointment could have devastating economic impacts if the country and the rest of the world can no longer trust statistics coming out of this crucial agency,” Blunt Rochester said.
Good. Now keep it up.
Thank G-d I Didn’t Watch This. He did it in his first term–a Flatterython:
During a three-hour-and-17-minute televised part of a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Trump claimed personal credit for what he portrayed as far-reaching changes in the everyday lives of Americans during his seven months in office, as his subordinates stumbled over one another to sing his praises. The unusual session offered a striking display of unity around a president who has seized sweeping power as few U.S. leaders before him — and a chance for Trump to signal to his base that he is personally immersed in every detail of his rule.
“Mr. President, I invite you to see your big, beautiful face on a banner in front of the Department of Labor, because you are really the transformational president of the American worker,” Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer told Trump, referring to a three-story banner of his visage unfurled across the front of the Labor Department.
Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East and Russia, Steve Witkoff, took his turn pushing one of Trump’s personal quests: “There’s only one thing I wish for: that the Nobel committee finally gets its act together and realizes that you are the single finest candidate since the Nobel Peace, this Nobel award was ever talked about,” he said.
And so on. This, from the Washington Post, of all places. Might be a real good reporter on the market soon…
The News-Journal Sorta Covers Last Night’s County Council Meeting. I could have used the yays and nays since, uh, I wasn’t paying enough attention. Oh, and one more thing–I find the notion of any politician criticizing ‘political theatre’ to be absurd on its face. If not political theatre, what were the opponents engaging in last night?
What do you want to talk about?
LBR needs to be more out front with anything to do with the labor department since she can at least say she was secretary of the DOL here. She should be able to talk more about the need for honest stats and info.