Sean Duffy wears a tie, takes no responsibility 

I hope everyone who had to travel for Thanksgiving got through it in one piece. But if you found yourself frustrated flying over the holiday, well, know that Donald Trump is deliberately making plane travel worse. He ended a Biden-era rule forcing airlines to pay you back if they delay your flight and has seriously damaged the air traffic control workforce, causing more delays. 

But Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is blaming you for miserable airport experiences. Specifically, the fact that you wear comfy pants and not a three-piece suit to fly. My colleague, Russell Root, has a hilarious video detailing how Duffy’s “plan” to fix air travel is nothing more than scolding Americans to look nicer at the airport. 

Funny, but also a reminder that when Republicans are telling you to take “personal responsibility,” it’s because they refuse to do their actual jobs. 

Don’t pull a Merrick Garland on Pete Hegseth

The big news this week is that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly ordered troops to kill defenseless people who were clinging to wreckage after what was already likely an illegal strike on a boat off the coast of Venezuela. It’s been hard to get the public to pay attention to the spree of these boat strikes, in part because Trump and Hegseth insist the victims are drug traffickers — a claim which we should not believe because they are liars and they offer no proof. But with this story, people are starting to realize they’re not being honest with us. (I know, shocking.) 

Hegseth’s alleged order to “kill them all” is a serious crime. Even if he can successfully argue the mission was legitimate defense operations — which seems dubious at best — it’s a war crime to kill people who have been captured like this. But if he can’t argue that this was legal warfare, then what he allegedly did is just plain murder. 

What we can’t expect, however, is for Hegseth to pay for his alleged crimes right now, or even in the next few years. Trump will shield him from accountability. If justice comes, it will have to be in 2029, when it’s likely a Democrat takes office. (Hoping Trump forgets to pardon Hegseth or becomes incapacitated before he has a chance to!) That’s when things get sticky.

We’re in the current situation because neither Joe Biden or his Attorney General Merrick Garland were willing to do what was necessary after January 6, and prosecute Trump swiftly for every crime he allegedly committed. By the time they got around to it, it was too late. There will be a lot of pressure on the next Democrat to let bygones be bygones, i.e., let Hegseth get away with what looks like murder. 

Democrats must resist this pressure. If there aren’t consequences for criminality in the Trump administration, Republicans will continue to break the law. We’ve been dealing with corruption, insurrection, and now alleged murder. Clearly, conscience doesn’t matter to them. Only punishment will work. 

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Why Democrats still have a weak floor and a leaky ceiling

Unfortunately, the current Democratic leadership leaves me deeply worried they don’t have what it takes to clean up our broken system. Yesterday, I nearly cried after reading an article about how House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has a “brilliant” new plan: Embracing the slogan “a strong floor and no ceiling.” Worse, he got the idea from a vanity book written by Manhattan venture capitalist and Democratic donor Oliver Libby.

I can’t stress enough how stupid this is. Exploding wealth inequality is the main engine of our nation’s economic woes. Promising a minimum standard of living to ordinary people is empty, if you’re unwilling to tax the rich to pay for it. Voters may not be as well-informed as they used to be, but even in our low-info age, they understand that if the rich are allowed to hoard all the money, that means there’s less of it for the rest of us. 

Once again, we’re brutally reminded that the reason the current Democratic party is feckless is that they put the interests of rich donors ahead of every other concern. Democratic leadership is convinced that the way to win elections is to flatter rich people, spend oodles of money on consultants and TV ads, and ignore the growing sense in the public that the Democratic party is corrupt and out of touch. And then they wonder why they lose elections, despite theoretically having policies most people prefer. 

I am somewhat sympathetic to why there’s a hyperfocus on fundraising. Money creates tangible goals. You can meet metrics on dollars collected, consultants paid, and focus groups conducted. It gives campaign management spreadsheets to put in quarterly reports. But votes are only counted on Election Day, after the job has ended. 

But being unwilling to stand up to wealthy interests makes Democrats look sad and weak. You may not be able to put a number on bad vibes, but it’s what loses you elections. 

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What we're reading this week

• “Why MAGA is coming apart at the seams,” Paul Waldman, Public Notice

• “Bari Weiss’s Big Secret Is That She’s Boring,” Alex Shephard, New Republic 

• “Give to Groups Defending Immigrants From ICE,” Michelle Goldberg, New York Times

• “The left was right about Larry Summers all along. Democrats didn’t listen,” Andrew O’Hehir, Salon

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