curated news excerpts & citations
Charlie Sykes: Spooked by Reagan
How thin-skinned is the uber-touchy Donald Trump? As you may have heard: A single Canadian ad triggered an extraordinary presidential snit and new trade war. Trump was so upset that he cancelled trade talks with Canada and then slapped an additional 10 percent tariff on American consumers of Canadian products.
And in a brilliant example of the Streisand Effect, he managed to call international attention to the words of Ronald Reagan, highlighting his massive break with the conservative icon.
CBS: A cross-border landmark faces a restrictive new future
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Dean Obeidallah: GOP’s refusal to swear in Rep-elect Adelita Grijalva is a continuation of Jan. 6 and GOP’s rejection of democracy
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However, there is another aspect to this that demands more attention given it warns us of a far bigger issue with today’s MAGA Republican party and what we will be confronting in 2026 and beyond. And that is their rejection of elections when they don’t agree with the results together with using any means necessary–including illegal actions and violence–to retain power.Speaker Johnson’s history is relevant in explaining why he refuses to swear in Grijalva. He is not just an election denier, he “was the congressional architect of the effort to overturn the 2020 election” so that Trump could remain in power despite losing.
(Dean Obeidallah more…)
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NY Times: Keeping the House Absent, Johnson Marginalizes Congress and Himself
The speaker’s decision to hold the House in an indefinite hiatus during the shutdown is his latest move to diminish the role of the legislative branch — and his own post.
…“I’m the speaker and the president,” Mr. Trump has joked, according to two people who heard the remark and relayed it on the condition of anonymity because of concern about sharing private conversations with him.
(NY Times more…)emptywheel: Donald Trump and His Speaker-Puppet
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Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – October 26, 2025
Economist Paul Krugman probably didn’t have the Erie Canal in mind today when he wrote about the rise of renewable energy, but he could have. The themes are similar.
In his newsletter, Krugman noted that renewables have grown explosively in the past decade, spurred by what he calls a virtuous circle of falling costs and increasing production. That circle is the result of subsidies that made renewable energy a going concern in the face of fossil fuels. Today, he points out, reports like that of Vice President Dick Cheney’s 2001 energy policy task force warning that renewable energy would play a trivial role in the nation’s energy future would be funny if the Trump administration weren’t echoing them.
In fact, as Krugman notes, solar and wind are unstoppable. They produced 15% of the world’s electricity in 2024 and account for 63% of the growth in electricity production since 2019. Green energy will continue to grow even if U.S. policy tries to wrench us back to burning coal, “with important geopolitical implications,” Krugman writes. “China is racing ahead.”
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
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Allison Gill: $130M Pentagon Donor Has Ties to Jeffrey Epstein
That’s right. All roads lead to Epstein. Timothy Mellon is the heir to the Bank of New York Mellon, which was just sued by an Epstein survivor for funding Epstein’s sex trafficking ring for years.
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Raw Story: Trump’s favorite judge’s rulings undercut president’s $230 million refund demand: reporter
(Raw Story more…)
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Ruth Ann Crystal MD: COVID & Health News, 10/26/25
(Ruth Ann Crystal MD more…)Your Local Epidemiologist: RSV season is here. Here’s what you need to know
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Intercept: The Absurd Prosecution of a Man Who Posted a Charlie Kirk Meme
Larry Bushart Jr. posted trolling memes on a Facebook thread about a vigil for Kirk. He’s been in a Tennessee jail ever since.
(Intercept more…)
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Steward Beckham: The Ghost of Reagan Haunts the Future
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The Conservative Family Feud: Trump vs. Reagan’s Ghost vs. Reagan’s Fan Club
Never Trump conservatives, those still clinging to the sinking life raft of Reaganite nostalgia, were quick to dismiss the Reagan Foundation’s alignment with Trump. They argued Reagan was a free trader, a happy warrior for markets and alliances. They painted Trump as a populist heretic, yelling at the clouds about Chinese steel and Canadian dairy while Reagan would’ve charmed them into a free-trade handshake over Scotch.There’s even speculation that the Reagan Foundation caved to pressure. Maybe they wanted to avoid being backhanded online by the most volatile force in American politics. Maybe they’ve grown tired of defending a legacy that half the country misremembers and the other half no longer cares about.
Meanwhile, Trump, whose economic playbook is mostly just tariffs and vibes, insisted Reagan “LOVED TARIFFS.” In his telling, the Gipper was basically a proto-Trump, only with better diction and a sharper suit.
The funny part? Trump’s not entirely wrong.
Reagan: Free Trader in the Streets, Protectionist in the Sheets
The Reagan speech Ontario used came from April 1987. It was a national address warning Americans about the long-term damage of protectionist trade wars. But, and here’s the delicious irony, it was delivered literally days after Reagan imposed tariffs on Japanese semiconductors.That’s right. Reagan was warning against the dangers of protectionism while actively practicing it, not unlike a doctor telling you to quit smoking with a Marlboro tucked behind their ear.
(Steward Beckham more…)
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Steve Vladeck: When Can States Prosecute Federal Officers?
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Miles Taylor: Trump blocks disaster aid to Blue States, approves Red States
Trump Action Tracker
Timeline: Tracking the Trump Justice Department’s Anti-Voting Shift
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
Trump Pardons Database
Project 2025 Tracker
DOGE Tracker
ProPublica: Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Wired: 6 Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Civil Liberties
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