The Deal Is Done!

[Daily Kos Morning Roundup]( A morning roundup of worthy pundit and news reads, brought to you by Daily Kos. [Click here to read the full web version.]( - [The Deal Is Done!]( The Deal Is Done!, Michael A. Cohen, ”Truth and Consequences” on Substack Who won? Who lost? What does it all mean? Plus, why "better messaging" isn't really a thing. While we still need to get all the details about the final agreement, from the White House’s perspective, this deal appears almost too good to be true. It’s exactly the type of budget deal one might expect a Democratic President to make with a Republican-controlled House. And because this deal is nominally a budget agreement, it means that the country not only avoids a debt default but also a government shutdown at the end of the fiscal year this Fall. So why did it unfold this way? … Sixth, President Biden is a baller. I got a bunch of stuff wrong about McCarthy’s strategy, but one part I got right was that Biden’s repeated refusal to publicly endorse the 14th Amendment put the burden on House Republicans to make a deal. The GOP had to believe that Biden would not act unilaterally, and it appears they did. I’ll be curious to know what the history books say about Biden’s true intentions on the 14th Amendment. It’s hard to believe he wouldn’t have gone that route if his back was to the wall. But ultimately, it didn’t matter. But by sticking to his guns on not wanting to invoke the 14th Amendment, he forced the GOP to negotiate — and it worked. - [Biden’s underrated deal-making prowess strikes again]( Biden’s underrated deal-making prowess strikes again, Jennifer Rubin, The Washington Post President Biden’s capacity to overperform after an onslaught of negative press and Democratic hand-wringing is second to none. He did it with the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, NATO solidification and expansion, and now with the debt ceiling deal. It’s hard to conceive of an outcome more favorable to Biden. - [Daily Kos has been struggling to make ends meet for the past five months. We have a lot of work to do to get ready for the 2024 elections and could really use your help right now. Please donate]( - [Real DeSantis launch glitch was its fascism]( Real DeSantis launch glitch was its fascism, Will Bunch, The Philadelphia Inquirer Plus, how do you say ‘happy birthday’ to a 100-year-old U.S. war criminal? Once upon a time, it was one of the most anticipated events of the 2024 presidential campaign cycle. But when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis finally announced his GOP White House bid in an online audio-only venue, Twitter Spaces, last week, he must have been jealous of his host Elon Musk’s recent SpaceX rocket launch. At least that soared for roughly four minutes before it blew up. Not that many people even logged into the Twitter chat, but if you follow politics closely, you’ve probably read about the parade of technical glitches — the minutes of dead air, followed by a feed that repeatedly cut out and crashed in real time. Very few folks were still around when DeSantis told Musk — apparently without irony — that “American decline is not inevitable — it is a choice.” Meanwhile, the Floridian’s bold idea for making a splash with his campaign announcement instead got worse reviews than the Cats movie. Twitter users mocked it as a “#DeSaster.” - [The Fascistic Myth of Trump’s Special Connection to “Real America”]( The Fascistic Myth of Trump’s Special Connection to “Real America”, Thomas Zimmer, ”Democracy Americana” on Substack The mainstream political discourse needs to stop perpetuating ideas that form the bedrock of the extremist ethno-religious movement that has galvanized behind Trump “While we all may have been uncomfortable hearing people clapping, that was also an important part of the story,” Chris Licht said in the editorial call, “because the people in that audience represent a large swath of America. And the mistake the media made in the past is ignoring that those people exist. Just like you cannot ignore that President Trump exists.” There is a lot to unpack here. By “the people in that audience,” Licht referred to those who were all in on Trump, who cheered him on – representatives of the conservative base, Trump’s power bloc on the Right. Since the Republican primaries in 2015/16, these people have been unwavering in their support for and personal loyalty to Trump. Licht wants us to believe they speak for “a large swath of America” – a sizable portion, maybe even a majority, that is otherwise ignored, forgotten, due to the ignorance and arrogance of educated, mostly liberal elites in coastal urban centers. In this view, the MAGA movement is comprised of “regular folks” – a loaded term – to which Trump has a special connection. Therefore, the mainstream media has a duty to provide a prominent platform to Trump and his base because Trump embodies and gives voice to a populist uprising of “real America.” There is little empirical evidence to back up either of these claims - neither the “large swath” nor the “previously ignored” part stand on firm factual ground. Trump didn’t ride a populist majority into the White House, but a minority that was geographically spread out in a way that was ideally suited to one of the political system’s key non-majoritarian features, the electoral college. It’s also quite bizarre to describe Trump’s supporters as the forgotten and ignored: No other group has gotten more attention from mainstream media institutions and in the political discourse in general since at least 2016. - [Daily Kos t-shirts are going fast. Get one now and show your support for progressive, independent media!]( - [Who won the debt ceiling fight?]( Who won the debt ceiling fight?, Brian Rosenwald, ”The World According to Brian” on Substack Spoiler: it's Biden AND the Republicans Who won the debt ceiling fight? Observers seem deeply divided on this question, with both the far right and the far left seething over parts of the agreement, convinced their side got rolled. But the reality is far more complex than either fringe wants to acknowledge. - [The Democrats (mostly) won the debt ceiling fight]( The Democrats (mostly) won the debt ceiling fight, Jordan Weissmann, Semafor Democratic politicians generally avoided spiking the football — the White House soberly described the deal as “an important step forward that reduces spending while protecting critical programs for working people.” But reviews from pundits were more blunt. As Dan Pfeiffer of Pod Save America put it: "The devil is very much in the details, but it seems like President Biden and his team outplayed McCarthy." ICYMI: Popular stories from the past week you won't want to miss: - [Trump's lawyer quits just as shoe drops in classified documents case]( - [Debt limit deal reached; Republicans hard-liners are livid]( - [Ukraine Update: The battle of the worst Russians thus begins]( Want even more Daily Kos? 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